Remember your friends, relatives, and those who gave their last full measure today, gents. It’s not about saving 25 percent on bedding.
Official caption: “USS Saratoga (CV-3), 5 November 1943, during the raid on Rabaul, New Britain. The gunner in this Navy bomber was killed by a Japanese 20mm shell from a Japanese “Zero” [Mitsubishi A6M2] during the raid from Rabaul. Upon the plane’s return to the carrier, the dead gunner’s finger was still clasped on the trigger of his 50 cal. machine gun. Saratoga also participated in the second Navy raid on Rabaul on November 11, 1943, and saw action in the bloody taking of Tarawa.”
Official U.S. Navy photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. 80-G-44094
One well-traveled Boston Terrier, YN1 Spar, in USCG service, circa 1944.
Original period caption:
Spar, a two-year-old Boston Bull pooch, was born for the sea. She shipped out as a wee pup and has served the Coast Guard well as mascot on the Coast Guard Combat Cutter Spencerat the time is sank a German sub in battle on the North Atlantic. An adventurer who likes action at sea and in waterfront beverage emporiums, Spar once bailed out of a crippled airplane over Newfoundland in the arms of her master, Coast Guard Coxswain Harold L. Mottard, of Boston, Mass. Here, Spar wears her dress blues, complete with first-class yeoman rating, campaign ribbons (earned), and wings for the plane jump. She’s going ashore between voyages.
National Archives Identifier 205583224, Local Identifier 26-G-08-22-44(1)
26-G-1517: Sinking of German submarine U-175, April 1943. The submarine was sunk off south-west of Ireland by USCGC Spencer (WPG-36) on April 17, 1943. Official Caption: “COAST GUARD CUTTER SINKS SUB: Coast Guardsmen on the deck of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter USCGC SPENCER (WPG-36) watch the explosion of a depth charge which blasted a Nazi U-Boat’s hope of breaking into the center of a large convoy. The depth charge tossed from the 327-foot cutter blew the submarine to the surface, where it was engaged by Coast Guardsmen. Ships of the convoy may be seen in the background.” Date: 17 April 1943. Official U.S. Coast Guard Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. (2017/09/05).
All in all, Spencer had a 43 year career, only retiring in 1980, likely the last Ameircan maritime vessel in service with a U-boat kill still stenciled on her bridge wings.
Official caption: “Commandoes of the 41st Royal British Marines plant demolition charges along railroad tracks of enemy supply line, which they demolished during a commando raid, 8 miles south of Songjin, Korea. 10 April 1951.”
NARA FILE #: 080-G-428242
If you are curious as to why the RMs of 41 (Independent) Commando are equipped with U.S. arms (the M1 Garands slung), its because the scratch unit was assembled from 219 men sent to Japan in civilian clothes in September 1950, then later married up with their green berets, battle dress, and boots, but had to rely on winter uniforms, weapons, and kit drawn from American stocks.
The above raid, which “involved transporting quantities of limpet mines and explosives ashore in rubber dinghies through the surf and currents” from the submarine USS Perch (ASSP-313), was highly successful in disrupting enemy rail lines and soon gave rise to the nickname the Royal Marines proudly adopted as a trademark of their mission in Korea, “the train wreckers.”
British Commando Unit on Deck of the USS Perch, at Japan, en route to Korea, 1 November 1950. NARA 80-G-421629
The RMs lost 31 very brave men in Korea, with 17 captured as POWs.
Some 85 years ago today, Brooklyn Navy Yard, 9 April 1941. The first American battleship commissioned in 18 years.
On the 1st anniversary of the German invasion of neutral Denmark and Norway, across the ocean in New York, a class-leading super battleship came to life. And, of note, she had a Chicago-born skipper, the son of Norwegian immigrants.
USS North Carolina (BB 55), the third ship to carry the name in the U.S. Navy, was commissioned this day in 1941, with her plank owner skipper, Capt. Olaf Mandt Hustvedt (USNA 1909), taking command of the most modern battlewagon in the fleet– packed with so much new technology that she was quickly dubbed “The Showboat.”
USS North Carolina during commissioning ceremonies at the New York Navy Yard, 9 April 1941. NH 44717
USS North Carolina commissioning ceremony, at the New York Navy Yard, 9 April 1941. Photographed by M. Rudolph Vetter. NH 96673-KN
USS North Carolina quarterdeck scene, during commissioning ceremonies at the New York Navy Yard, 9 April 1941. NH 44718
USS North Carolina officers and crew salute as the flag is raised for the first time, during commissioning ceremonies at the New York Navy Yard on 9 April 1941. NH 44719
Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox shakes hands with Captain Olaf M. Hustvedt, ship’s CO, during North Carolina’s commissioning ceremonies at the New York Navy Yard, 9 April 1941. At right is North Carolina Governor J.M. Broughton. NH 44721
USS North Carolina via 1938 Janes
North Carolina completed her shakedown in the Caribbean before the Pearl Harbor attack and, after intensive war exercises, entered the Pacific on 10 June 1942, with a long war ahead of her. Although fighting across the Pacific and being officially reported as sunk at least six times by the Japanese, she was a lucky vessel, suffering just 53 casualties.
Hustvedt, who was on Admiral King’s staff by Pearl Harbor and then on Ingersoll’s, went on to become Commander, Battleships, Atlantic Fleet, in 1943, then commanded Battleship Division 7 in the Pacific. He retired from the Navy in 1946 as a vice admiral, completing 41 years of service. He passed in 1978, aged a ripe 92, and is buried at Arlington, Section 7, Site 9044.
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Warship Wednesday 8 April 2026: Front Runner
USN Photo 80-G-08937 via the National Archives.
Above we see the Cramp-built Balao (not Tench) class fleet boat USS Tusk (SS-426), some 80 years ago this week, in April 1946, just after she was commissioned. Note her late WWII style “gunboat” arrangement with two 5″/25s and two 40mm Bofors clustered around her fairwater.
Remember, National Submarine Day is on April 11th, and Tusk, which never fired a torpedo in anger (that we know of), nonetheless has one of the most epic careers in naval history
The Balao Class
A member of the 180+-ship Balao class, she was one of the most mature U.S. Navy diesel designs of the World War Two era, constructed with knowledge gained from the earlier Gato class. Unlike those of many navies of the day, U.S. subs were “fleet” boats, capable of unsupported operations in deep water far from home.
The Balao class was designed to dive deeper (400 ft. test depth) than the Gato class (300 ft.) due to the use of high-yield-strength steel in the pressure hull.
Able to range 11,000 nautical miles on their reliable diesel engines, they could undertake 75-day patrols that could span the immensity of the Pacific. Carrying 24 (often unreliable) Mk14 Torpedoes, these subs often sank anything short of a 5,000-ton Maru or warship by surfacing and using their deck guns. They also served as the firetrucks of the fleet, rescuing downed naval aviators from right under the noses of Japanese warships.
Some 311 feet long overall, they were all-welded construction to facilitate rapid building. Best yet, they could be made for the bargain price of about $7 million in 1944 dollars (just $100 million when adjusted for today’s inflation) and completed from keel laying to commissioning in about nine months.
USS Roncador (Balao) class plans
USS Roncador (Balao) class plans
An amazing 121 Balaos were completed through five yards at the same time, with the following pennant numbers completed by each:
Cramp: SS-292, 293, 295-303, 425, 426 (12 boats)
Electric Boat: 308-313, 315, 317-331, 332-352 (42)
Manitowoc on the Great Lakes: 362-368, 370, 372-378 (15)
Mare Island on the West Coast: 304, 305, 307, 411-416 (9)
Portsmouth Navy Yard: 285-288, 291, 381-410, 417-424 (43)
Our subject is the only U.S. warship named for the cusk or tusk, a large edible saltwater fish related to the cod. The 14th and last submarine to be built by the Cramp Shipbuilding Company of Philadelphia, she was laid down as the future SS-426 on 23 August 1943, and launched into the Delaware River on 8 July 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Carolyn Park Mills, wife of RADM Earle Watkins Mills (USNA 1917) who was soon to take over the Maritime Commission from the retiring VADM Emory S. Land.
Mrs. Mills christens the future Tusk, 8 July 1945. Temple University Libraries, Special Collections Research Center, George D. McDowell Philadelphia Evening Bulletin Collection, SCRC 170
Launch of Tusk, 8 July 1945. The sign on her bow says she was paid for via War Bond Purchases made by the people of Philadelphia. There were eight war loan drives from 1942 to 1945. By the end of the war, 85 million Americans had purchased 185.7 billion dollars of bonds. Temple University Libraries, Special Collections Research Center, George D. McDowell Philadelphia Evening Bulletin Collection, SCRC 170
With the end of the war, construction slowed, and Tusk was only commissioned on 11 April 1946.
Tusk had a late war “gunboat” style arraignment, including two 5″/25s and two Bofors guns, along with points for detachable 50 cals
Her first skipper was CDR Raymond A. Moore, USN, who seems to just be a placeholder as he was replaced within a fortnight by CDR Marshall Harlan Austin (USNA 1935), who had commanded the Gato-class fleet boat USS Redfin (SS-272) on her 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th War Patrols, sinking a Japanese destroyer and four merchantmen to earn a Navy Cross.
These images were taken the day before her commissioning:
(Cold) War!
Under Austin, Tusk completed her shakedown cruise in the South Atlantic, visiting ports in Brazil, Curacao, and Panama from June to July 1946. She returned to New London in August and the week before Thanksgiving 1946, President Harry S. Truman, ADM William D. Leahy, and Annapolis Commandant, VADM Aubrey W. Fitch, toured Tusk while she was tied up at the Naval Academy.
Photograph of President Truman and Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy inspecting the USS Tusk, a submarine, during the President’s visit to the U.S. Naval Academy. Note the well-turned-out MM1 watch stander’s dolphins and hash mark on the sleeves of his cracker jacks. National Archives Identifier: 198606
Photograph of President Truman aboard a submarine, the USS Tusk, during his visit to the U.S. Naval Academy: (left to right) the President; Vice Admiral Aubrey Fitch, Superintendent of the Naval Academy; Fleet Admiral William Leahy, Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief; and General Harry Vaughan, Military Aide to the President. NARA 198648
Truman waves from Tusk’s conning tower. NARA 198649
The next year saw Tusk participate in a series of exercises and a minor collision with the hospital ship USS Consolation (AH-15).
Repaired in Philadelphia, she then conducted oceanographic work along the Atlantic shelf with Columbia University and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute
She ended 1947 at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for a Greater Underwater Propulsion Power Program (GUPPY) II conversion, one of 24 Balao and Tench-class subs that received the SCB 47 rebuild.
During the subsequent seven months, Tusk underwent significant modifications to enhance her submerged performance. Four high-capacity 126-cell batteries replaced her original batteries, which had half as many cells, bedded into larger wells. The hull was streamlined by adding a rounded bow, recessing anchors, capstans, deck rail stanchions, and cleats; and eliminating propeller guards, improving hydrodynamic efficiency.
Topside, her deck guns were removed and sail enlarged and refined to accommodate three new masts (snorkel induction, snorkel exhaust and ESM), the snork enabling diesel-powered operation at periscope depth and battery recharging while submerged. The periscope and radar mast were enclosed. A BQR-2 sonar was fitted with hydrophones under the forefoot and its electronics housed in the forward torpedo room. Likewise, her Elliot Motor Co. high-speed drive electric motors with reduction gear were swapped out for low-speed direct drive motors of 2,500 hp per shaft, up from 1,370.
Her step-side Portsmouth Sail had a thinner top than those fitted to other GUPPYs by EB, with a curved trailing edge, square windows, and a sharper lower forward edge. They also had a fitting for the sub’s SV radar screen.
These upgrades transitioned Tusk from a submersible to an actual submarine and, while her surface speed was cut by about two knots, her submerged speed rose from 10 knots to about 15 knots.
After her G.II conversion in early 1948, she emerged looking very different from her original 1946 configuration, and, amid the Berlin Crisis, conducted a simulated war patrol to the Canal Zone in June and July as part of her post-modernization shakedown.
Her skipper during the cruise was CDR Guy F. Guggliotta, USN, another wartime sub driver who had commanded USS S-28 (SS 133), Halibut (SS 232) on her 10th War Patrol, and Raton (SS 270) on her 8th War Patrol, earning a pair of Silver Stars in the process.
Tusk, post GUPPY II conversion with her step side Portsmouth sail, seen off the New London Harbor Lighthouse.
Tusk seen between 1948 and 1962 post GUPPY II conversion with her step side Portsmouth sail, NH 67826
Cochino’s Last Dive
Attached to Submarine Development Group 2 out of Newport for the first six months of 1949, she sortied to the North Atlantic that July with SubRon 8 for a series of multinational NATO exercises that saw her visit Londonderry and Portsmouth in the British Isles.
At this point, Tusk was on her fourth skipper, WWII sub captain CDR Robert Kemble Rittenhouse Worthington, USN, who had earned a Navy Cross during Balao’s 8th, 9th, and 10th Patrols after sinking over a half-dozen small vessels, adding to a Silver Star he earned as a junior officer on four patrols aboard USS Silversides.
As noted of Cochino by DANFS, “huge waves slammed the submarines’ snorkel so violently, and jolted the boat so severely, that the pounding caused an electrical fire and battery explosion, followed by the release of deadly hydrogen [chlorine] gas,” forcing the stricken sub’s crew to evacuate the surfaced boat in terrible weather, and hunker down on her deck.
The last known photograph of USS Cochino (SS 345) was taken in July 1949. She now lies in deep water north of Norway near 71.35N. 23.35E, sunk stern first on 0146 on 26 August 1949 with no personnel aboard.
Receiving the underwater sonar signal from Cochino “Casualty surfacing,” Tusk worked over the next 14 hours on the rough seas to save first Cochino herself, then, after a second battery explosion made that impossible, to rescue Cochino’s 77 embarked souls via a prow rigged between the two boats on the open sea. Tragically, Tusk wound up trading 11 of her own crew and an embarked Philco techrep (Mr. Robert Wellington) to Poseidon in the deal, with only six later recovered from the sea alive.
A depiction of the USS Cochino battery fire that led to the sinking of the submarine in 1949, and cross-decking to Tusk, by Stanley Borack.
Greater detail from Tusk’s deck log:
Tusk, packed with nearly 150 personnel, many of them injured and suffering from exposure, she made for Hammerfest Harbor, Norway, and tied up at 0845 on the 26th to immediately receive a Norwegian medical team aboard.
Besides an officer (LCDR Richard M. Wright) sent to a Norwegian hospital in Tromso and four men flown home to Westover AFB for transfer to the Navy hospital at Chelsea, Massachusetts, the remaining 72 Cochino survivors crammed aboard Tusk once again two days later tor the return trip back across the Atlantic, arriving at New London on 9 September for a home town welcome.
Truly an epic sea story.
The 1950 Silent Service installment “The Last Dive” (Season 1, Episode 22) covered Cochino and Tusk’s final 14 hours together. A young Walter Matthau, DeForest Kelley, and Leslie Nielsen portrayed Cochino crewmembers, with LCDR Wright appearing at the end of the show, having completed 14 months of medical rehab.
Continued Cold War service
Tusk was assigned to the Submarine School at New London, then Submarine Development Group 2, interspersed with regular Atlantic Fleet exercises.
One of her declassified Dev Group tests now in the public archives is one for the Naval Research Laboratory in 1957, which involved the use of a light pulse transmitter to communicate with aircraft while submerged at depths of 90 feet.
In November 1949, during maneuvers 175nm off the Labrador coast in 40-foot seas, Tusk struck her periscope on the screw of a Navy supply ship USS Aldebaran (AF-10), picking up minor damage but suffering no casualties.
In late 1952, Tusk was assigned to SubRon 10 for a six-month Med cruise with the 6th Fleet, visiting Malta, Gibraltar, Cannes, Piraeus, Izmir, and French Oran.
USS Tusk (SS 426) post GUPPY II conversion 1 August 1952 USN 477116
Tusk would make four further European cruises over the next two decades. Notably, this would include a visit to Fiumicino during the 1960 Rome Olympics, calling in Portugal to mark the 500th anniversary of Prince Henry the Navigator, and a 1967 cruise where she would visit Bremerhaven, Aarhus, and Göteborg.
USS Tusk sailing into Malta on one of her Med deployments, pre 1965
Jane’s 1960 entry for the Tench class, with both the Cramp-built GUPPY’d Tusk and Trumpetfish listed incorrectly as members. At the time, the Navy was also operating at least 80 Balaos, including NRF ships and those in mothballs.
Tusk also pulled three shorter Operation Springboard readiness deployments to the Caribbean, a region of growing importance post-Castro. As you can imagine, annual Springboard exercises involved high-profile mock ASW, amphibious landings, and fleet maneuvers around Puerto Rico. It was a common gathering for GUPPYs in the 60s and 70s.
Balao-class Springboard GUPPYs with North Atlantic sails: USS Bang (SS-385) preparing to tie up alongside USS Chivo (SS-341) at San Juan Naval Station, Puerto Rico, during Operation Springboard. Of note, the lowest point on the keel to the IFF antenna atop the lowered snorkel was 49 feet 8.25 inches, while the height to the top of the whip antenna is 78 feet from the keel. You weren’t going to submerge one of these bad boys in 10 fathoms! Bang’s skipper, CDR R.J. Carlin, is giving orders from atop her sail. The bow of a Canadian Ojibwa (Oberon) class SSK is visible in the lower left, and a U.S. Coast Guard HU-16 Albatross amphibian is flying low in the center background. Photograph by PHC CJ Wiitala, USN, released 14 March 1968 by Tenth Naval District Public Affairs Office. NH 98697
Further, Tusk was involved in at least two extensive polar ice operations, including with USS Tench (SS-417) on ICEX ’60 and SUBICEX 1-62 with Skate (SS-578) and Entemador (SS-340).
USS Tusk, USS Entemedor, and USS Skate dusted with snow, 1962, during SUBICEX
Tusk on ICEX March 1960 with Tench
Entering Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in July 1965, Tusk was given a six-month major overhaul that including removing all her engines, motors, and generators for rebuild, receiving a new periscope with a built in electronic sextant for taking star shots while still submerged, and picking up the tall streamlined fiberglass/plastic clamshell “North Atlantic” style fairweather typically seen on most American GUPPYs after the mid-60s.
The new sail allowed extra room for the growing number of masts and aerials, a higher observation platform for lookouts, and a more habitable position for watch standers while on the surface. Tusk also received the new Prairie Masker bubbler system, increased air-conditioning capacity, additional storerooms, and additional fresh water tanks as part of the modifications.
Balao class GUPPY II sister USS Catfish post refit 1960s North Atlantic sail. Tusk had the same layout.
Balao class GUPPY II sister USS Catfish post refit 1960s North Atlantic sail. Tusk had the same layout.
Rejoining the fleet in January 1966, Tusk was transferred to SubRon 8.
Submarine Squadron Eight at New London, 1968, with a wild mix of eight Cold War fleet boat conversions. Left to right: USS Sea Robin (SS-407)(GUPPY IA with Portsmouth style step sail); Tusk (SS-426)(GUPPY II w North Atlantic sail); Sea Owl (SS-405)(Fleet Snorkel w EB style step sail and large Project Kayo BQR-4A horseshoe passive sonar array); Sablefish (SS-303)(Fleet Snorkel w North Atlantic sail); Halfbeak (SS-352)(GUPPY II w North Atlantic sail); Blenny (SS-324)(GUPPY IA w North Atlantic sail) and Becuna (SS-319)(GUPPY IA w Portsmouth step-sail). The eighth unidentified submarine on the left has PUFFS passive underwater fire control arrays for the BQG-4 system. NH 88415
Tusk (SS-426) at New London, Connecticut, June 1, 1968, as part of SubRon 8. USS Becuna (SS 319) is across the pier. Sailors on deck, civilians observe from the pier. Courtesy of D.M. McPherson, NH 86627
By 1969, Tusk had been transferred to SubRon 2 but was still based out of her traditional New London home. She was known as The Front Runner, so dubbed “due to its reputation for excellence and high-performance.”
This was supported by her being awarded the Fire Control “E” for several consecutive years and the Battle Efficiency “E” for fiscal year 1973.
Tusk underway in Hampton Roads, Virginia, 11 February 1970, as part of SubRon 2. NHHC K-81809
USS Tusk 1972 Provided by Tom Robinson QM2 (SS)
While on her fifth European deployment on 12 August 1972, while off the coast of Spain, the well-traveled Tusk made her 10,000th dive and surface, a benchmark few submarines have reached. Of note, Tusk’s Balao-class sister USS Spikefish (SS-404) had set the 10,000 record first in 1960 and earned the title of “The divingest Submarine in the World,” which was later claimed by another Balao, USS Piper (SS-409), who logged 13,724 before her decommissioning.
Speaking of decommissioning…
Under the Cog
In 1960, the ROC (Taiwan) Navy embarked on the Sea Shark Project, designed to create a submarine force.
This morphed into the Wuchang Project and, in October 1964, after months of wrangling, Capt Wang Xiling, the ROC naval attaché stationed in Rome, overcame diplomatic difficulties and ordered two 58-foot SX-404 class midget-submarines with a displacement of only 40 tons from the Italian commercial shipyard Cos.Mo.S. SpA, Livorno. Two CosMoS CE2F/X100 human torpedo chariot-style frogman SDVs were acquired as well.
ROCN 58-foot SX-404 class midget submarine Haijiao (Sea Dragon) (S-1) between 1968 and 1973
To avoid complications, the components were shipped from Europe to Tamsui and then assembled in Taiwan by CoS.MoS personnel. The two SX-404 boats were commissioned on 8 October 1969 as Haijiao (Sea Dragon) (S-1) and Hailong (Sea Dragon I) (S-2), and were immediately put to work as training vessels of the Wuchang Submarine Squadron for the nascent ROCN sub force. The CNO of the fleet, ADM Feng Qicong, personally handed out the country’s first dolphin badges that day to the program’s members.
By late 1970, and with two years of midget sub operations under the ROCN’s belt, Capt Wang Xiling, then moved to the embassy in Washington, persuaded the U.S. to sell two submarines to Taiwan as training vessels, citing the need to enhance the navy’s anti-submarine warfare capabilities. In other words, “tame mice” for the ROCN’s two dozen destroyers and frigates to play with.
On 21 April 1971, the U.S. confirmed the planned handover of two surplus GUPPY IIs, initially designated “Project Poseidon” by the Navy, and renamed “Project Mercury” in December. In March, 1972, the first batch of ROCN personnel receiving the Project Mercury submarines arrived at the U.S. Naval Submarine School in New London for training.
Tusk’s sister, USS Cutlass (SS 478), was transferred to the ROCN as ROCS Hai Shih (Sea Lion) (SS 91) on 12 April 1973, her hull number later changed to S-791
By May 1973, with Tusk just returned from a three-month Caribbean training cruise that saw her call at Guantanamo Bay, Ocho Rios, Port au Prince, and Montego Bay, she welcomed aboard 81 officers and men from the Republic of China to commence training for turnover.
In anticipation of the new (to them) vessels, Taiwan laid up its SX-404s and redesignated the Wuchang Submarine Squadron as the Republic of China Navy’s 256th Squadron (Submarine) in August 1973.
On 18 October 1973, Tusk was decommissioned at New London and was simultaneously transferred, by nominal sale, to the Taiwan Navy. Her name was struck from the Navy list on the same day.
She became ROCS Hai Pao (Seal) (SS 92) in the same ceremony, with LCDR David H. Boyd, USN, turning over the boat to CDR Cheng Kuo-Yu, ROCN. Kuo-Yu had served in the Wuchang Squadron since 1969 and had spent seven months in Sub School in New London before beginning training on Tusk/Hai Pao.
Jane’s 1975 entry on the Cutlass/Hai Shih and Tusk/Hai Pao. They have since changed their hull numbers to S-791 and S-792
Amazingly, both of Taiwan’s GUPPYs, for decades the last remaining Balaos in service, are still in operation with the 256th Squadron, training ROCN submariners for the current front-line subs, the Dutch Zwaardvis-class ROCS Hai Lung (Sea Dragon) and ROCS Hai Hu (Sea Tiger), which were delivered in 1988.
Nonetheless, they are still officially combat-ready and undergo regular dry docking, inspection, overhaul, and sea periods.
ex USS Tusk, now ROCS 海豹(seal), SS792 circa 2005
ex USS Tusk, now ROCS 海豹(seal), SS792 internals
ex USS Tusk, now ROCS 海豹(seal), SS792 Zuoying Naval Base Oct 2017 Tuo Chiang-class corvette
ex USS Tusk, now ROCS 海豹(seal), SS792 circa 2014
ex USS Tusk, now ROCS 海豹(seal), SS792 circa 2014
ex USS Tusk, now ROCS 海豹(seal), SS792 sail
ex USS Tusk, now ROCS 海豹(seal), SS792 circa 2014 Keelung
ex USS Tusk, now ROCS 海豹(seal), SS792 circa 2014 Keelung
ex USS Tusk, now ROCS 海豹(seal), SS792 circa 2014 Keelung
ex USS Tusk, now ROCS 海豹(seal), SS792 control room
ROC President Tsai Ing-wen attended the “2017 Naval Goodwill Flotilla Launch Ceremony and Submarine Indigenous Construction Design Initiation and Cooperation Memorandum Signing Ceremony,” emphasizing that submarine indigenous construction is the most challenging aspect of the national defense autonomy policy and a responsibility of the Commander-in-Chief to the nation. The ROC Navy’s Tusk/Hai Pao (SS-792) is moored to Tsai Ing-wen’s left fore-south.
When the first two domestically built Haikun (Seagull)-class SSKs arrive in service in 2026 and 2027 (?), Cutlass/Hai Shih and Tusk/Hai Pao are expected to be retired with the 40-year-old Dutch boats rotating to fill the roles of the old GUPPYs.
The President of Taiwan presides over the naming and launching ceremony of the prototype submarine built domestically, the future ROCS Haikun (SS-711), on September 28, 2023.
Epilogue
Tusk’slogs and plans are in the National Archives.
There is at least one blog and one crewmember reunion group (who last met in 2017) to cherish Tusk’s memory and those who served on her.
Her U.S. service is remembered in Cold War classic maritime art.
“Cat and Mouse” by Wayne Scarpaci shows the GUPPY II USS Tusk (SS-426) with a Lockheed (P2V) Neptune flying overhead in ASW training.
Her skipper during the Cochino rescue, CDR Worthington (USNA ’38), had been on subs that earned a dozen battle stars and sunk 100,000 tons of shipping during WWII, earning him a Navy Cross, Silver Star, and three Bronze Stars. He didn’t need more medals. He retired from the fleet as a Captain on the staff of the Twelfth Naval District in San Diego in 1962, capping a very busy 24 years of active service. Worthington received an M.S. in Physics and Electronics from UCLA and worked for Lockheed Corporation on the design and construction of the pioneering submersible Deep Quest,which achieved a depth of 8,000 feet during a test dive. Leaving Lockheed in 1975, Worthington returned to the sea, sailing as master on several ocean vessels in Caribbean and Alaskan waters. He passed away in 1996, in San Diego, leaving a wife and two children behind. His papers are in the U.S. Naval War College Archives, of which he was an alumnus.
Thanks for reading!
Meminisse est ad Vivificandum – To Remember is to Keep Alive
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Here we see, some 85 years ago this month, a spick and span SB2U-3 Vindicator, on 25 April 1941. Note the “meatball” national insignia and the aircraft’s ribs showing through its fabric fuselage. The Navy’s first monoplane scout-bomber, the Vindicator, entered squadron service with the VB-3 High Hats (now the VFA-14 Tophatters) in 1937, but was soon replaced by the better SBD Dauntless.
U.S. Navy picture via the NARA 80-G-3042
The above new production SB2U-3 (BuNo 2050) was delivered to Marine Scouting Squadron Two (VMS-2) on 14 March 1941, part of just 57 such aircraft ordered for the USMC in 1939.
On 1 July 1941, VMS-2 was redesignated Marine Scout-Bombing Squadron 231 (VMSB-231).
BuNo 2050 was later destroyed on the ground with six other “spare” Vindicators of the squadron when the Japanese attacked Ewa Marine Corps Air Station on 7 December 1941, the rest of the unit being sent aboard USS Lexington (CV-2) during the first week of December to reinforce some place few had heard of, far off Midway Atoll.
231’s sister Vindy squadron, VMSB-241, would give its best during the battle.
Obsolete fabric-covered SB2U-3 dive bombers of Marine Scout Bombing Squadron 241 taking off to attack the Japanese fleet striking force on the morning of 4 June 1942, during the battle of Midway. Part of Marine Aircraft Group 22 (MAG-22), they would earn a Presidential Unit Citation for their role in the epic naval clash.
The next time VMSB-231 met the Japanese in 1942, it would be from SBD Dauntless dive bombers, as the Corps was busy divesting itself of the old Vindy. No Marine SB2U-3 remains in existence, with only a sole Navy Vindicator, SB2U-2 BuNo 1383, on display at the NNAM in Pensacola.
Now in its 107th year of service, the “Ace of Spades” of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMA) 231 is still around today, transitioning from AV-8Bs to F-35s.
Some 75 years ago this week, IC-92646, an M8 Greyhound armored car of “Groupement Sizaire”, fords a river near Mao Khe in French Indochina, sometime between 31 March and 5 April 1951. Note on the front of the hull the anchor insignia of the French army’s colonial troops, a badge that earned such men the nickname “Marsouins” or porpoises.
ECPAD Réf. : TONK 51-37D R7
Colonel Robert Sizaire’s scratch Mobile Group (groupe de mobile, or GM) was formed in late January 1951 and was a two-battalion experimental blend of light infantry and light armor, with the former carried via halftracks and the latter built around 18-ton M-24 Chaffee (the French used 1,250 of the little “Cadillac tanks” in the 1950s-60s) and Greyhounds.
Crossing a bamboo bridge by the first elements of the “Sizaire” group armed with M24/29 FM LMG and MAS 36 rifles. Note the “Chapeau de Brousse” bush hats.
The M-24 Chaffee “Angouleme” of Group Sizaire, with riders from the 6th BPC (paras) and local Thai partisans (beret) differentiated from the bush-hatted tankers and grenadiers.
This could almost pass for Italy in 1944. However, it is the square at Sept Pagodes (now Phả Lại part of Hải Dương Province, in Vietnam’s Red River Delta) where the members of the “Sizaire” group are gathered, circa March 1951. Note six M-24 Chaffees, at least 13 M3 Half-Tracks, two Jeeps, and a GMC CCKW “Deuce-and-a-Half” 2.5-ton 6×6 truck
The Sizaire Group, combined with the 6th BPC (6th Colonial Parachute Battalion), platoon of the RICM (Colonial Infantry Regiment of Morocco), a company of African riflemen (from 30e Bataillon de marche de tirailleurs sénégalais), and Lt Nghiem Xuan Toan’s Tho partisan company, successfully defended the isolated Mao Khe and Ben Tam outposts on Provincial Route 18 (PR 18), between Bac Ninh and Hong Hai against a determined attack by the Viet Minh TD (Trung Doan) 36 and 209 regiments in between 29 March and 5 April– later reinforced by elements of three divisions– with the tanks being crucial in the counter-attack that broke the back of Giap’s guys.
Advance of M24 Chaffee tanks from the “Sizaire Group” towards Mao Khe across the Tonkin landscape. In the foreground, the M24 Chaffee “Metz” tank, bearing the number 5 on its turret.
Mao Khe with a knocked-out Sizaire Group Greyhound after the fighting.
The fighters of Dong Trieu (these are the first elements of the “Sizaire” group), the day after a night of fighting. In the background, a damaged watchtower. Note the bush hats, MAT-49s, and M1 Carbines.
While successful, the poor road network made even light armor problematic in Indochina– a boogeyman of later suffered by American/ARVN M-48s and M-113s– and Sizaire’s unit was soon broken apart and sent its separate way.
The M24 Chaffee “Angoulême” tank (registration number IC-93003) fell into the water when the scrap metal bridge collapsed.
The column of M24 Chaffee tanks, under the command of Colonel Sizaire, is stopped in April 1951. In the foreground, an M24 Chaffee tank is stuck in the mud, seen from above; it bears the number 6 on the turret; in the background, the M24 Chaffee tank registered IC-93016 and bearing the number 12 on the turret.
Who was Sizaire?
Colonel Sizaire at the wheel of a jeep, March 1951. His passenger is General de Lattre de Tassigny, at the time the French commander in Indochina. Note that Sizaire’s cap has the colonial troops’ anchor.
Born in 1904 in Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Sizaire’s father, Emile Vital Pascal Sizaire, was a literature professor in his 40s who left his position at the university to meet his death as a field officer at Verdun in 1916. Does it get any more old republic?
Our younger Sizaire went on to make the military his career. Enlisting as a volunteer in 1922, he fought against the Rif in Morocco, within a unit of Senegalese riflemen (23e RIC). Passing through Saint-Maixent in 1926, he served in a variety of positions in the colonial forces, taking his bride, Lucienne, while stationed in Bamako (French Sudan) in 1931, before assignments in Algeria (1932) and Indochina (1935).
A junior officer during the Battle for France, leading a company of the 12th RTS (12e Regiment de Tirailleurs Senegalais), he was redeployed to Dakar and finally to Morocco under Vichy orders. Post Torch in November 1942, he cast his lot with De Gaulle and, as a battalion commander (Chef de Battalion) with colonials of the 4th RTS participated in the liberation of Corsica (Operation Vesuvius) in September 1943, the capture of the Italian island Elba in June 1944 (Operation Brassard)– his battalion capturing Monte Tambonne and the German batteries at Aquabonna– and the August 1944 Dragoon Landings which led to the liberation of Toulon and Southern France that August, picking up an American DSC in the process. After the Battle of Colmar in 1945, he finished WWII as the second in command of the 21e RIC (the old 4th RTS), standing on German soil.
It was as a colonel commanding the 21e RIC that he arrived in Indochina in April 1946, joining the fight against the Viet Minh. Once the 21e RIC was sent back “home” to Africa, Sizaire remained in-country as colonel of the newly arrived 3e RIC. Sent back to France in 1949, he flew back to Indochina to join his “Marsouins” in late January 1951, setting up his Groupement Sizaire as detailed above.
He went on to become the French commander in Laos (commandant les Forces du Laos) until January 1953.
Then came a brigadier’s star and command in Brazzaville for the next four years, where he helped stand up the army of the newly independent Congo. After serving as the commandant of the NATO Defense College in 1959, Lt. Gen. (Général de corps d’armée des troupes coloniales) Sizaire was moved to the retired list in 1964 after helping create and equip the Cameroonian Army. He held numerous decorations, including two Croix de Guerre, and was a Grand Officier of the Légion d’Honneur
He then spent a decade as mayor of Cayeux-sur-Mer. He passed in Picardy on a Saturday in the summer of 1975, aged 71, leaving behind three children and a host of grandchildren.
It looks like we are closer than ever to NASA’s 322-foot-tall Artemis II Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft to lift off from Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center.
Interestingly, three of the four (all but Koch) are F-18 pilots, with both Glover and Wiseman being Naval Aviators who logged combat hours with VFAs from carriers. Meanwhile, Hansen stood QRA with the RCAF’s now-disbanded 441st TFS on NORAD tasking out of Cold Lake. Of note, the RCAF motto is Sic Itur Ad Astra (“Such is the pathway to the stars”), which tracks.
Two with Wings of Gold! Official crew portrait for Artemis II, from left: NASA astronauts Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Wiseman, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. Josh Valcarcel/NASA
They have a heady task ahead.
It will be the first time Artemis and Orion are on a manned mission.
It will be the largest moon mission in terms of crew, with the Apollo trips having three members.
Although they are just sling-shotting around it and not landing, it will be the first time a spacefaring crew has gone to the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972– back when analog technology and slide rules were standard.
NASA expects that on 6 April, Artemis II will break Apollo 13’s record of 248,655 miles from Earth, making its four humans the furthest-traveled in known history.
Finally, when they come back home, they will reenter the atmosphere in excess of 25,000 mph, the fastest humans have done such a feat. Now that last tidbit is the pucker factor in an expedition filled with pucker factors.
You can watch the launch live on NASA’s YouTube channel with a targeted launch time of 6:24 p.m. EST on Wednesday.
America’s last living “triple ace,” BGEN Clarence Emil “Bud” Anderson, was laid to rest this week at Arlington, having passed at age 102.
He was interred in section 38, joining his beloved wife of nearly 70 years, Eleanor Cosby, who was buried in 2015.
A horse-mounted honor guard draws the casket of retired Air Force Col. Clarence “Bud” Anderson during his interment at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., March 30, 2026. Anderson, a World War II fighter pilot, died May 17, 2024, at the age of 102. (Eric Dietrich, Air Force)
If you have ever seen a classic American war bird with an “Old Crow” nose art, an ode to the cheapest whisky of the time, it is a salute to Bud who used the moniker on his first aircraft at age 22, P-39Q, tail number 42-20746, then kept using it on three different P-51Bs during his first WWII combat tour with the 357th FG at Leiston Airfield, England, and famously on P-51D 44-14450, Code B6-S, on his second tour. Finally, on F-105D 60-5375 as Wing Commander of the 355th TFW stationed at Takli Air Base in Thailand during Vietnam.
He flew 116 individual combat missions that resulted in 16 downed German aircraft and one shared combat victory between March and December 1944, earning him triple ace status.
As a fighter pilot, test pilot, and combat and operational commander, Anderson logged over 7,500 flight hours and flew more than 130 types of aircraft. His many decorations include five Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Legions of Merit, 16 Air Medals, and the French Legion of Honor and Croix de Guerre.
Appropriately, Bud’s services this week saw a double flyover: first by four F-35s, followed by four World War II-era P-51 Mustangs, two of which bore Old Crow livery.
RC Tan 1, today part of the 1.ª División’s II Brigada Blindada, was originally established on the 1st of February 1826, just as the Regimiento 1 de Caballería, and celebrates its regimental day every March 1st.
Formed as a hussar unit, its first regimental commander was a Paris-born Dutchman, Charles Louis Frédéric de Brandtzen, who is remembered as Carlos Luis Federico de Brandsen in Argentina.
Before emigrating to South America to fight the Spanish, Brandtzen/Brandsen served in Napoleon’s ministry of war, then picked up a junior officer’s commission in the Italian cavalry, served in Russia in 1812, and the German campaign in 1813, moved to a French regiment with a captain’s commission, and served through Waterloo, earning a Legion of Honor.
“The Grande Armée Crossing the Berezina,” by Polish artist and army officer January Suchodolski (1866). Of the 50,000 members of the Army of the Kingdom of Italy that marched as part of Napoleon’s Grande Armee into Russia in 1812, just 2,500, Brandtzen included, survived the campaign.
Losing his France privileges as a Bonapartist, he served in the Argentine Regimiento de Granaderos in the Chile campaign in 1817-19, then was commander of the Peruvian Legion of the Hussars of the Guard, eventually promoted to brigadier general in the Peruvian military.
He was a captain on the field at Nazca, Peru, on 15 October 1820, when a force of 250 Peruvian mounted grenadiers under Lt. Col. Manuel Rojas bested 700 fine Spanish cavalry under the command of the Marquis de Quimper.
Federico de Brandsen painted by Jean-Philippe Goulu
Brandtzen/Brandsen arrived back in Argentina just in time for the country’s war with Brazil and led the newly formed Regimiento 1 de Caballería, which now carries his name, and was killed in action at Ituzaingó in February 1827, dead at 41, and is remembered throughout Argentina as a hero.
Converted from horses to tanks only in 1968 (!) when they hung up their chargers for surplus M4 Shermans.
The Argentines used so-called “Repotenciado” (repowered) model Shermans, converted from British Firefly IC variants, as late as the mid-1980s. These carried a L/44 FTR 105 gun and a Ford V8.
Today RC Tan 1 operates the Tanque Argentino Mediano (TAM), a domestic 30-ton main battle tank (made with German help) that uses a 105mm gun and has been in service since the 1980s, and the 20mm Rh-202-armed TAM VCTP infantry fighting vehicle.
The regiment has five campaign streamers, including the cordón de Ituzaingó, earned with Colonel Brandsen at its head.
