Fourth Quarter 2014 The Below Decks Watch The Official Newsletter of the Coastal Carolina Base of the United States Submarine Veterans Inc. (USSVI) 2014 USSVI Class III Newsletter of the Year! USSVI Coastal Carolina Base Creed and Purpose Raises Awareness of the To perpetuate the memory of our shipmates who gave their lives in the pursuit of duties while serv- Submarine Service ing their country. That their dedication, deeds and The Members of the Coastal Carolina Base were very active in raising the supreme sacrifice be a constant source of motiva- awareness of the United States Submarine Service in the months of November and tion toward greater accomplishments. Pledge loy- December. The first public activity was to alty and patriotism to the United States of America participate in the Fall Belk’s Charity Sale. and its Constitution. Members sold tickets and participated in the event at Belk’s netting the CCB ap- In addition to perpetu- proximately ating the memory of de- $895. parted shipmates, we Later the shall provide a way for same day CCB all Submariners to gath- Members par- er for the mutual bene- ticipated for the first time in the Veteran’s Day Parade fit and enjoyment. Our in Jacksonville, NC. Member attendees reported that common heritage as the Submarine Veteran Float was very popular and Submariners shall be crowds stood and cheered as the Big, Black Submarine strengthened by cama- passed by. raderie. We support a Meanwhile, Base Secretary, Dog, represented CCB at strong U.S. Submarine the WWII Submarine Veterans Day event in Kings Bay, Force. Continued on Page 6 The organization will engage in various projects Qualified in U.S. Submarines? and deeds that will bring about the perpetual re- You are welcome to attend our meetings and join our Base! membrance of those shipmates who have given the Meeting Dates and Locations in Calendar on page 34 supreme sacrifice. The organization will also en- Bring your spouse! deavor to educate all third parties it comes in con- tact with about the services our submarine brothers performed and how their sacrifices made Newsletter Editor 910-232-4209 possible the freedom and lifestyle we enjoy today. Willam (Dog) Underwood [email protected] The Below Decks Watch Fourth Quarter 2014 The Official Newsletter of the Coastal Carolina Base Submarine Veterans Base Dues Contents Commander’s CCB Raising Awareness of Subs 1 Corner Are You Current Base Commander’s Corner 2 Base Dues Reminder 2 By Charlie Backes on Your Dues? SubVet License Plate 2 Dear Sub Sailors, Time to Vote 3 As I near the end of my A Glimmer of Hope - USS Clamagore 3 2015 Book of Members Update 3 tenure as Coastal Caroliina Base Dues =$10 Lost Boats 4 Base Commander, I have the Chaplain’s Corner 7 opportunity to see what prog- USSVI Dues = $20 Member Birthdays in Q4 8 ress, we have made. Send Checks made out to CCB Eternal Patrol 8 First of all I think overall membership Coastal Carolina SubVets Chuck Troyon on Eternal Patrol 9 involvement has increased. I believe we Virginia Class Submarines 10 to Terry Kuhn at VA Benefits Update 11 have a ways to go before we should be satis- 5905 Downrigger Dr., CCB Library 13 fied, but one of our stated goals as a USSVI Wilmington NC 28409 Base Logo Gear Available 14 base is that we have social events to meet Welcome to CCBs New Members 14 and get to know each other better. There Minutes of October 16th Meeting 16 have been a number of dinners that were Minutes of December 20 Meeting 20 lightly attended, but those that were there Gems from Jim 23 Membership Statistics 25 has a great time. Be on the lookout for more Notable 4th Quarter History 25 in the upcoming year. The Ditty Bag 26 A big step forward the development SSN 777 Update 27 of our submarine float. We have been in USS North Dakota Commissioned 33 three parades recently and six for the year. Silent Service TV Series for Free 33 CCB Calendar of Events 34 We won first place in the Non-Commerical Application to Join Base 35 group in the Wilmington Holiday Parade. We get a plaque and $100. The three we en- tered were Oak Island Christmas Parade, Wilmington Holiday Parade and Leland CCB Base Elected Christmas Parade. We had our largest mem- Officers ber turnout at the Leland parade, which was Base Gear the least planned of the three. I arrived just Available Commander after the decoration of the float (Timing is Story on Page 14 Charlie Backes everything). 910-791-0844 The float in the parades attracted a lot [email protected] of attention and was well received by all the crowds. Many times people of all ages Vice Commander would look and say, with a surprise in their voice, "Look a submarine!". A few might Chuck Fletcher 910-523-0622 have mistook the sub for a torpedo, but we [email protected] quickly corrected them. Many applauded and thanked us for our service which was heart warming for all the subvets. Secretary Fundraising was successful this year. Do You Have Your Bill Underwood (Dog) The two Belk sales earned us well over 910-232-4209 SubVet License Plate $1500.00 for the year. I will propose that we [email protected] Yet? continue this as long as Belk offers the sale. Treasurer I worked the day of the sale again this fall Terry Kuhn and earned the base and additional $179.39 Forms available at meet- 910-251-5797 for the four hours I was in the store. If you ings and at the following [email protected] have other suggestions for raising money let link: Coastal Carolina Base us know. https://edmv.ncdot.gov/ Generally Meets Every Other Month I will close by wishing each of you a VehicleRegistration/Spe rd very Merry Christmas and a successful New on the 3 Thu or Sat of the Month cialPlate/Detail?PlateID= See Base Calendar on Page 33 for Year. PRIDE RUNS DEEP!! More Details and Special Meetings 21#term= 2 The Below Decks Watch Fourth Quarter 2014 The Official Newsletter of the Coastal Carolina Base Submarine Veterans Time to Vote A Glimmer of Hope for New CCB Officers for the USS Clamagore (SS 343) Your Nominees Are: Base Commander Chuck Fletcher Base Vice Commander Gerry Rowe Base Secretary Bill Underwood In November CCB Secretary, Bill Un- derwood attended the USS Clamagore Re- Base Treasurer union in Kings Bay, Georgia. At that Terry Kuhn meeting, of course, a sig- nificant concern of the at- tendees was the fate of the You can also vote for write in candidates. beloved SS 343 submarine. Butterbean Dixon will soon email ballots to Also attending the reunion each CCB Member. To Vote, Please mark your was Joshua Richardson, a ballot as directed and email back to Knoxville Tennessee busi- Butterbean. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO VOTE! nessman inspired on a mis- New Officers Will Serve sion to save the Clamagore April 2015 - April 2017 and bring it to Knoxville. PLEASE VOTE! Josh is not a submarine Continued on Page 15 Book of Members The Book of Members project contiunes to progress. The base is collecting pictures of each member and autobiographical descriptions of each member’s Submarine Service experiences. Base Secretary, Bill Underwood, is taking pictures of each member attending each meeting. Commander Backes displays the Book of Members at Base meetings to encourage participation. We are still missing pictures and autobiographies for most of the Base Members. A suggestion was made at the last meeting to write the autobiography for those who don’t submit one. In the true spirit of the submarine brotherhood, we have composed an autobiography for Dilbert Kilroy, TM3 (SS) (page 15). Please get your write up in to Charlie so we don’t have to write these for you! [email protected] 3 The Below Decks Watch Fourth Quarter 2014 The Official Newsletter of the Coastal Carolina Base Submarine Veterans Boats Lost in October USS Seawolf (SS-197) Lost on Oct 3,1944 with the loss of 83 officers and men and 17 US Army troops when she was sunk just north of Moritai by USS Rowell, a Destroyer Escort (DE). In this tragic error, Rowell mistook Seawolf for a Japanese submarine that had just sunk another Destroyer. Seawolf ranks 7th for enemy ships sunk. USS S-44 (SS-155) Lost on Oct 7, 1943 with the loss of 56 men when it was sunk off Paramushiru, Kuriles. S-44 was on her 5th war patrol after attacking a target thought to be a merchant on the surface, S-44 found herself in a losing gun battle with a heavily armed Japanese destroyer. Two men were taken prisoner and survived the war. USS Wahoo (SS-238) Lost on October 11, 1943 with the loss of 79 men near La Perouse Strait. Under command of one of the great sub skippers of World War II, LCDR "Mush" Morton, Wahoo was on her 7th war patrol. Wahoo had won a Presidential Unit Citation and ranks 5th in the number of enemy ships sunk. She was lost to depth charges dropped by a Japanese patrol aircraft. USS Dorado (SS-248) Lost on October 12, 1943 with the loss of 78 when she was sunk in the western Atlantic near Cuba. Newly commissioned, she had departed New London and was en route to Panama. She may have been sunk by a U.S. patrol plane that received faulty instructions regarding bombing restriction areas or a German U-boat that was in the vicinity.