A LOOK BACK.

68jk09

68jk09

Joined
May 6, 2010
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16,224
Please take a few moments and pray for the 212 souls lost during the month of July of the forgotten men of our silent service during WW II. These gallant men are now lying entombed inside sunken submarines across the Pacific Ocean and are On The Eternal Patrol. Their faces can be viewed by linking to the following website www.oneternalpatrol.com

July 1, 1943 USS Runner (ss-275) On May 27th, Runner departed Midway Island on her 3rd patrol. She headed for the Kuril Islands chain and waters off northern Japan. She was never heard from again. Captured Japanese records indicated she sank a cargo ship on June 11th and another on June 26th off Kuril Islands. It is unknown how she met her fate was declared lost on July 1st. 78 souls lost. Runner received 1 battle star for her WW2 service.

July 4, 1944, USS S-28(ss-133). First commissioned in 1923, she conducted a total of 7 war patrols in the pacific and was 1 of the first US submarines to encounter Japanese antisubmarine tactics. During her career, she suffered from numerous mechanical problems ,torpedo misses and malfunctions. She met her fate by unknown means while training, conducting anti-submarine exercises with the USCG in Hawaiian waters off Oahu. 2 days later a slick of diesel fuel appeared in the area but the extreme depth exceeded the range of available rescue equipment. 50 souls lost. S-28 had received 1 battle star for her WW2 service.

July 26, 1944, USS Robalo (ss-273). On June 22, Robalo departed Fremantle Australia on her 3rd patrol. She was assigned to patrol the South China Sea vicinity of Natuna Islands. After transiting Makassar and Balabac Strait (which was well-known to be mined), she was scheduled to arrive on station around July 6th. But on July 2nd she sent a message spotting a Jap battleship convoy east of Borneo. No other messages were ever received from her again. On August 2nd, a note was dropped from a window of a secluded cell of a Japanese prison camp on Palawan Island, Philippines and picked up by another American POW. He managed to pass it on to Filipino guerrillas, furnishing info on 4 survivors. The note stated the Robalo was struck by a mine off the coast of Palawan Island and only 4 men managed to swim ashore. They made their way through the jungles to a small barrier northwest of the prison camp but were eventually captured and imprisoned for "guerrilla activities". On August 15th, the 4 prisoners were transported off the island by a Japanese Destroyer, never to be heard from again. 84 souls lost. Robalo earned 2 battle stars for her WW 2 service.
 
68jk09

68jk09

Joined
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svd385

svd385

Joined
May 22, 2009
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There are a good number of planes shown in the post, and I would say, if allowed, there are  several historic planes that would appear on my bucket list, if I found possible to do so.  Talk about great designs, field modifications and just the beauty of these birds in flight.
 
68jk09

68jk09

Joined
May 6, 2010
Messages
16,224
Please take a few moments and pray for the 306 souls lost during the month of August of the forgotten men of our silent service during WW II. These gallant men are now lying entombed inside sunken submarines across the Pacific Ocean and are On The Eternal Patrol. Their faces can be viewed by linking to the following website www.oneternalpatrol.com

August 1, 1942 USS Grunion (ss-216) On June 30th, Grunion departed Hawaii, heading for the Aleutian Islands for her 1st war patrol. She operated off Kiska throughout July sinking 2 Jap patrol boats and suffered intensive Japanese Anti-submarine attacks. On July 30th contact was made for her to return back to Dutch Harbor. Grunion was never heard from again. 70 souls lost. Her fate remained a mystery until 65 years later. On August 23, 2007, after extensive research and co-operation with a Japanese War historian, the 3 surviving sons of the commanding officer of the Grunion found their fathers submarine, intact on the ocean floor, in the Bering Sea, at a depth of 3,300 feet. The Japanese historian determined, the sub attacked the troop transport Kano Maru, firing 4 torpedoes. Only 1 hit and detonated. The sub surfaced to finish off the ship. However, the Kano Maru quickly returned fire with a 3inch deck gun scoring 1 direct hit on the conning tower, sinking the sub with no survivors.

August 6, 1945, USS Bullhead (ss-332). On July 31st, Bullhead departed Fremantle Australia on her 3rd war patrol. Her orders were to patrol in a 3 sub wolf pack in the Java Sea and Subic Bay in the Philippines. On August 6th, Bullhead reported she passed through Lombok Strait. That was the last word ever heard from her. Post war Jap records revealed she possibly met her fate via a Mitsubishi bomber attack, claiming 2 direct hits on a surface submarine in the same area Bullhead last reported from. 84 souls lost. Bullhead received 2 battles stars for her WW2.

August 13, 1944, USS Flier (ss-250). On August 2nd, Flier departed Fremantle Australia for her 2nd war patrol, sailing for the coast of Indochina via the Lombok, Macassar and Balabac Straits. On the night of August 13th, while transiting Balabac Strait on the surface, she struck a mine and sank within 30 seconds. Only 14 of the 86 crewmen bailed out of the sub, and, of them, 8 survived the swim ashore. Friendly natives guided them to a coast watcher, who arranged for them to be picked up by submarine , USS Redfin, on August 31st. In 1998, the last surviving crewmen of the 8 who swam ashore, Ensign Alvin Jacobson JR, along with his 2 sons, traveled back to the Philippines, met with the former guerrillas who saved his life. They ventured out in a boat to where he thought the USS Flier had gone down, changing declassified US Navy co-ordinates of the supposed sinking area. In 2008 Alvin Jacobson JR died at 86, leaving behind to his sons, an extensive life of research, trying to find his lost shipmates. The family continued the quest and on February 1, 2009, the US Navy announced the discovery of the USS Flier resting in 330 feet of water, at the exact spot were Ensign Alvin Jacobson JR said it lies. (Watch the Smithsonian Channel on 5-1-2011 8pm , discovery of the USS Flier)

August 24, 1944, USS Harder (ss-257). On August 5th, The most famous Jap destroyer killer, USS Harder departed from Fremantle Australia for her 6th war patrol, assigned with 4 other submarines in a wolf pack headed north to the South China Sea off Luzon. Up until August 24th, the group had sunk 9 vessels and severely damaged a Jap destroyer. At Dawn, August 24th, off Dasol Bay, USS Harder engaged a Jap destroyer ,which turned out to be a captured and converted 1920's US Destroyer-ex USS Stewart(DD-224). She was hit with 15 rapid depth charges, which ended the Harder?s career with all hands. 80 souls lost. Harder received 6 battle stars and the Presidential Unit Citation for her WW2 service.
 
M

mack

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68jk09

68jk09

Joined
May 6, 2010
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I know this was posted here before by one of the posters but i just thought due to the excellent content i would re-post it for those who may not have viewed it before.......    A great collection of FDNY history by FF George Tufte FDNY Photo Unit........ to really view each photo in his extensive collection after clicking on "SLIDESHOW" on the upper left i would suggest slowing the speed of the slides to about 10 seconds each by using the plus / minus icons at the bottom of the screen....while viewing note some of the Nozzles & tips used in these pictures from a different era........  http://picasaweb.google.com/FDNY614/FDNYInTheBravestTradition?authkey=Gv1sRgCKO01cb02ejCZA&feat=email#


 
68jk09

68jk09

Joined
May 6, 2010
Messages
16,224
Please take a few moments and pray for the 561 souls lost during the month of October of the forgotten men of our silent service during WW II. These gallant men are now lying entombed inside sunken submarines across the Pacific Ocean and are On The Eternal Patrol. Their faces can be viewed by linking to the following website www.oneternalpatrol.com

October 3, 1944, USS Seawolf (ss-197). On September 21, Seawolf departed Brisbane Australia on her 15th war patrol, bound for Manus Island. On September 29th, she reached Manus Island, refueled and sailed the same day carrying supplies and 17 army personnel to the east coast of Samar. On October 3rd, she exchanged radar signals with the US Sub Narwhal (ss-167) in a US Navy designated submarine safety zone near the Morotai area. But nearby, at about the same time, the Japanese sub Ro-4I, attacked a US convoy sinking the US Destroyer USS Shelton. A US plane from Midway spotted a submarine in the safety zone submerging and dropped 2 bombs on her anyway. Marking the area with die. The US Destroyer USS Richard M. Rowell proceeded over the submerged submarine, heard a series of dashes and dots on their sonar that made no sense. They believed the sub was trying to jam their sonar, so they dropped hedgehog charges which followed with underwater explosions and debris rising to the surface. This is believed to be the demise of the Seawolf. 102 souls lost (85 crew members and 17 army personnel). The Seawolf received 13 battle stars for sinking 71,609 tons of Jap shipping during WW2.

October 7, 1943, USS S-44 (ss-155). On September 26th, the S-44 departed Dutch Harbor on her 5th and last patrol. On the night of October 7th, west of the northern Kuril Islands, she made radar contact with what she thought was a small merchantmen and closed in for a surface attack. In fact, the small ship was a Jap Destroyer Ishigaki, which opened fire with a deck gun, striking the S-44 in the control room and forward battery room. The S-44 raised a white flag and abandoned ship, but the Jap Destroyer continued firing. Only 2 men survived the sinking and were captured. They were sent to the secret Jap Naval Interrogation Camp at Ofuna and tortured. They spent the last year of WW2 in the Ashio copper mines of Japan before being repatriated by Allied forces at the end of the war. 56 souls lost. S-44 earned 2 battle stars for WW2.

October 11, 1943 USS Wahoo (ss-238). On September 13th, probably the most famous US Submarine of WW2, The USS Wahoo, left Midway Island with a fresh load of the new Mark 18 electric torpedo?s, (rather than the problematic defective Mark 14 steam torpedo?s) and headed for the Sea of Japan via La Perouse Strait. Commander "Mush" Morton was reluctantly given permission to enter and hunt in the Sea of Japan, since his last patrols were marred with constant torpedo failures. The Plan was for Wahoo to enter the Sea Of Japan on Sept 20th, followed days later by the USS Sawfish. The Wahoo disappeared. Post war Japanese records revealed from Oct 5th to the 11th, a sub sank 4 ships in that area totaling 13,000 tons. On Oct 11th, a Jap anti-sub plane spotted a submerged submarine trailing oil. A combined air and sea attack was commenced, apparently sinking the submarine with all hands. 79 souls lost. In any case, the Wahoo was never heard from again. Until- July 28, 2006, a team of Russian deep sea divers lead by the "Wahoo project" (family of missing crew members), and a retired Japanese Admiral, found her intact, sitting on the bottom of the La Perouse Strait, at 213 feet. The site is now a designated war memorial. The Wahoo earned 6 battle stars for her WW2 service. Note: Read the book "Wahoo: The patrols of America?s most famous submarine", by Richard O?Kane

　

October 12, 1943 USS Dorado (ss-248). On October 6th, with all her sea trials proven successful, Dorado sailed from New London Conn, bound for the Panama Canal. She never made it. On October 12th, a US PBM Mariner patrol plane out of Guantanamo Bay Cuba, attacked a submarine on the surface that it believed was outside the restricted area with three Mark-47 depth charges and a 100 lb bomb. About 2 hrs later, the plane sited a second sub and tried to exchange recognition signals. This second submarine opened fire on the plane. Post war German records revealed the 2nd submarine that fired on the plane was U-Boat U-518, and was laying fresh mines in the area. . Dorado was never heard from again and it is believed either the US Plane sunk her with the depth charges and bomb or she detonated one of the U-Boats, fresh laid mines. 78 souls lost - Note- Dorado soon to be discovered due to 1970's reports by passing commercial aircraft, of a submarine conning tower that sticks up from the sandy bottom just off the coast of Mexico, a handy reference point for pilots. However, since the 1970's, drifting sand has covered the site. This possibly supports the theory that the 1st bombing killed the crew, but left the boat drifting along the bottom of the Caribbean Sea until she grounded in shallow water near the coast.

October 17, 1944 USS Escolar (ss-294) On September 18th, Escolar left Midway on her 1st war patrol, bound for the Yellow Sea. The Escolar was teemed up with the USS Croaker and USS Perch under Commander Millican, leading a coordinated attack designated "Millican?s Marauders". On Sept 30th, when Escolar was estimated to be north of Bonin Islands, a listening post received a partial message from Escolar stating, " attacked with deck gun boat similar to Ex-Italian Peter George Five OTYI". Escolar was forced to break off transmission and the engagement with the gunboat. The USS Perch and Croaker reported they received intra-ship communications with Escolar until October 17th, reporting her last position and coarse. Escolar was never heard or seen again. 82 souls lost. No information could be gleaned from post war Japanese records, but it was known, the Yellow Sea was mined.

On October 24, 1944 USS Shark (ss-314). The Shark was lost during her 3rd war patrol, probably in the vicinity of Luzon Strait, while participating in a co-ordinated attack group with submarines USS Sea dragon (ss-194) and Blackfish (ss-221). On the 24th, Shark radioed she had made radar contact with a single freighter and was going in for the attack. She was never heard or seen again. 90 souls lost. Post war Japanese records revealed the single freighter was actually the Japanese Destroyer Harukaze ,who found the Shark submerged and dropped more than 20 depth charges, resulting in bubbles, heavy oil, cloths and cork, coming to the surface. The Shark received 1 battle star for her WW2 service. Note: The book Up Periscope is about the USS Shark

October 25, 1944 USS Tang (ss-306). On September 24th, USS Tang, Commanded by Congressional Medal Of Honor recipient ,Lt. Commander Richard H. O?Kane (former xo of the USS Wahoo before she disappeared) ,left Midway Island on her 5th war patrol, which turned out to be her last and most famous submarine patrol of WW 2. On September 27th, she sailed for the Formosa Strait. The Tang was never heard from again. - Until - the end of WW2, when Lt Commander O?Kane was rescued from a Japanese prison camp by Allied forces , 90 lbs and one week from dying. He along with 8 crewman survived the destruction of the Tang, telling an incredible story, which can be read in the book "The Bravest Man" Richard O?Kane and the amazing submarine adventures of the USS Tang. In short, from Oct 11 to Oct 25, Tang sunk 10 Japanese vessels from 2 convoys. One transport remained afloat and dead in the water. Tang fired her last torpedo to finish off the transport and the torpedo circled back, striking the Tang in the stern, causing a violent explosion. The Tang sank by the stern and bottomed at 180 feet. Of the 9 men on the bridge, only 4 were able to swim through the night before being picked up eight hrs later. There were survivors still trapped inside the Tang. Escape was delayed by constant depth charging and battling an intense electrical fire that was melting the interior bulkheads. Some crewman gave up on their fate and simply went into there bunks to sleep, refusing to try the Momsen Lung. 13 crew members eventually escaped from the forward room using the Momsen lung and only 5 made it to the surface. The 9 were picked up by a Japanese Destroyer and placed with victim?s of Tang?s recent handy work, who were also rescued. The 9 American Submariners were brutally beaten through-out their voyage. The 9 eventually wound up at the secret Japanese Naval Interrogation Camp for captured US submariners at Ofuna, where Lt Commander O?Kane received extra beatings and tortured, but never divulged any US Intelligence. All 9 survived the end of the war. 74 souls lost. The Tang received 4 battles stars and 2 Presidential Unit Citations for her WW2 service. She was credited with sinking 31 ships in 5 war patrols which remains unequaled to this day.

 
68jk09

68jk09

Joined
May 6, 2010
Messages
16,224
ENG*53 INTERNATIONAL PUMPER......  http://www.elbarriosbravest.com/pics/DK%20&%20Friend%20E53.jpg                                                                                                                                      .............................................................................................                                                                                                                                                          http://www.elbarriosbravest.com/pics/DK%20In%20E53.jpg
 
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guitarman314

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Mar 8, 2007
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  I remember that rig regularly coming to relocate @E60. E53 was always relocating to E60 up until around 1970-71 when E312 took over.  Companies that had this type of rig originally assigned to them were: 35, 53, 58, 59, 69, 73, 91, 94, 283 & 290. One was crushed by a wall collapse in Harlem where L40 lost their '63 Seagrave tiller. E283's was in a major accident with their's and a few years later E294 had one that was involved in a gasoline fire inside quarters resulting in severe injuries to a firefighter. 
 
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