Eternal Patrol

[75thOVI]

The Trigger Maru I'm the Galloping Ghost of the Japanese Coast

by Constantine Guinness, Motor Machinist's Mate First Class (MOMM 1/c), United States Navy

I'm the galloping ghost of the Japanese coast.

You don't hear of me and my crew

But just ask any man off the coast of Japan.

If he knows of the Trigger Maru.

I look sleek and slender alongside my tender.

With others like me at my side,

But we'll tell you a story of battle and glory,

As enemy waters we ride.

I've been stuck on a rock,

felt the depth charge's shock,

Been north to a place called Attu,

and I've sunk me two freighters atop the equator

Hot work, but the sea was cold blue.

I've cruised close inshore and carried the war

to the Empire Island Honshū,

While they wire Yokahama I could see Fujiyama,

So I stayed, to admire the view.

When we rigged to run silently,

deeply I dived, And within me the heat was terrific.

My men pouring sweat, silent and yet

Cursed me and the whole damned Pacific.

Then destroyers came sounding and depth charges pounding

My submarine crew took the test.

Far in that far off land there are no friends on hand,

To answer a call of distress.

I was blasted and shaken (some damage I be taken),

my hull bleeds and pipe lines do too,

I've come in from out there for machinery repair,

And a rest for me and my crew.

I got by on cool nerve and in silence I served,

Though I took some hard knocks in return,

One propeller shaft sprung and my battery's done,

But the enemy ships I saw burn.

I'm the galloping ghost of the Japanese coast,

You don't hear of me and my crew.

But just ask any man off the coast of Japan,

If he knows of the Trigger Maru.

USS TRIGGER (SS-237) Departed on Eternal Patrol 28 March 1945 89 Souls aboard

USS TULLIBEE (SS-284) Departed on Eternal Patrol 25 March 1945 80 Souls aboard, 1 survivor

[75thOVI]

I'm considering this as a continuing series. Commemorating each United States Submarine on the date of her loss. We submariners call it being on "Eternal Patrol". And, somehow we sleep better knowing that the likes of Mush Morton, Sam Dealy, and Dick O'Kane are still guarding our shores.

[JRandomFreeper]

Hand salute.

/johnny

[DBrow]

So good! Thank you!

[Oatka]

Good idea. (crewmember USS Cobia (SS-245) and USS Picuda (SS-384)).

[henkster]

This is a good idea. But I thought O’Kane survived the sinking of Tang and finished the war in a POW camp.

[75thOVI]

I read about the “USS Peculiar” in Adm Fluckey’s book “Thunder Below”. Sir Isaac Newton said, “If I have seen further, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants”. It is on the shoulders of men such as yourself that the US Navy stands today.

[75thOVI]

RAdm O’Kane departed on Eternal Patrol 16 Feb 1994, and rejoined his shipmates aboard the USS Tang.

[cmsgop]

May God Bless the crew of the USS Dorado

[MasterGunner01]

And for some really scary reading here’s the Board of Inquiry Summary of Findings report on the uncontrolled deep dive and surfacing of USS CHOPPER (SS-342) on 11 February 1969. CHOPPER went into an uncontrolled dive from her initial 150 foot depth. Maximum depth of bow 1011 feet, stern 720, down angle more than 75 degrees. At first surfacing, CHOPPER exited the water at approximately 82 to 83 degrees and exposed the hull to the back of the sail. It slid back to a depth of 205 feet and then resurfaced at an angle of 40 degrees. The time from the start of this emergency until CHOPPER was on the surface: 5 minutes (1340 to 1345).

CHOPPER survived and made it home on her own power. However, she was so badly damaged by this incident that she was decommissioned and scrapped.

Here: http://www.ussvicb.org/poems-stories/A%20Summary%20of%20Findings%20Which%20Caused.pdf

[Notary Sojac]

For my dad (who wore his dolphins home) and for those who did not:

"The Trade" - Rudyard Kipling

They bear, in place of classic names,
Letters and numbers on their skin.
They play their grisly blindfold games
In little boxes made of tin.
Sometimes they stalk the Zeppelin,
Sometimes they learn where mines are laid,
Or where the Baltic ice is thin.
That is the custom of "The Trade."

Few prize-courts sit upon their claims.
They seldom tow their targets in.
They follow certain secret aims
Down under, Far from strife or din.
When they are ready to begin
No flag is flown, no fuss is made
More than the shearing of a pin.
That is the custom of "The Trade."

The Scout's quadruple funnel flames
A mark from Sweden to the Swin,
The Cruiser's thund'rous screw proclaims
Her comings out and goings in:
But only whiffs of paraffin
Or creamy rings that fizz and fade
Show where the one-eyed Death has been.
That is the custom of "The Trade."

Their feats, their fortunes and their fames
Are hidden from their nearest kin;
No eager public backs or blames,
No journal prints the yarn they spin,
(The Censor would not let it in!)
When they return from run or raid.
Unheard they work, unseen they win.
That is the custom of "The Trade."