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(Editor's Note: This information came to us from our friend and a literary agent in Nashville, Robbie Robison. He was on the submarine USS Archerfish and states this is the first biography ever done on a submarine. The book is now available.)
Excerpt from GALLANT LADY: A BIOGRAPHY OF USS ARCHERFISHCopyright 2004 by Don Keith and Ken
Henry. All rights reserved.
Preface
The archerfish…found in the islands between Australia and
India…does not appear to be all that different from any other fish.
Once you learn more about it, though, you find it is quite a unique
critter. This adept predator has the ability to hover just beneath the
surface of the water as it watches its prey sitting on a stem or branch
above. It waits patiently for just the right moment. When it's ready, it
spits an arrow of high-pressure water, stunning its victim, knocking it
from its perch. It then devours it and moves on in search of other
quarry. Archerfish was an apt name for a submarine. A sub also has
the ability to lurk beneath the ocean's surface, to patiently stalk its
prey, then to sneak up and shoot. But it's an especially appropriate
name for one particular sub. The USS Archerfish (SS-311) didn't look any different than
many of the other diesel-powered, Balao-class submarines that were being
hastily assembled and launched in the Portsmouth Navy Yard during World
War II. She was about the same size, had the same engines and was
equipped with the same weapons as the majority of her class. She carried
the same complement of crew, and, at least in her first commissioning,
had similar missions assigned to her as did her sisters that were being
constructed in Portsmouth at that same time. Once you learn more about this rather unique boat, though,
you'll see that the comparison to other submarines ends there. Like Forrest Gump or Woody Allen's Zelig character,
Archerfish had a knack for edging herself into the frame whenever
history was being photographed. Her war record was not necessarily that
remarkable, yet she had the distinction of sinking the largest ship ever
sent to the bottom by a submarine. When the Japanese surrendered, there
was Archerfish, proudly sitting in Tokyo Harbor, her crew sipping
"Tokyo Bay joy juice" (a mixture of grapefruit juice and
medical alcohol) in celebration. She sat out most of the Korean War and,
so far as we know, never played a single game of "blind man's
bluff" with the Russians during the Cold War. Still, her
super-secret mission during that period probably contributed as much to
the end of the stare-down with the Soviet Union as anything else did. It
was some of the members of Archerfish's crew who had a close encounter
with Fidel Castro's guerillas when the revolutionaries came down from
the mountains of Cuba near Guantanamo Bay. Then several other Archerfish
sailors were there to party with Castro's men when they claimed Havana
on New Year's Day, 1958. When a pair of divers set the record for the
longest buoyant free ascent from the ocean's bottom, it was Archerfish
who regurgitated those two brave men and sent them on their impossibly
long float to the surface. And with her role in that successful
experiment, she gave new hope for submariners everywhere that they might
survive a catastrophic accident aboard their boats. One day, while
routinely doing her job, it was Archerfish who glided over and
documented the deepest trench yet found in the Atlantic Ocean. Like their boat, Archerfish's crew was a reasonably good
metaphor for the all the others who rode the diesel submarines. At first
glance, they were no different from any of the brave men who have become
submarine sailors down through history, who have chosen to serve their
country in the cramped, claustrophobic confines of a boat that's
actually designed to sink. They were sons of fishermen and sailors, but
they were also sons of steelworkers and dirt farmers and big-city cops.
They came from cities near the ocean, where they grew up breathing the
sea air, and from the nation's heartland, where the only waves came when
the prairie wind blew across vast fields of wheat. But if you will take a closer look, you'll see that these
men were as unique as their beloved boat and its namesake fish. They were the ones who broke the standard rules of
engagement and, in the process, broke the back of the Japanese Navy.
Against all odds, they sent the aircraft carrier Shinano to the ocean
floor, the vessel's Japanese captain voluntarily going down with his
ship, dying in disgrace. They were members of the Navy's only
all-bachelor crew, whose antics rivaled anything on the television show
"McHale's Navy," and who were later dubbed the "Playboys
of the Pacific." It was a moniker they richly deserved. They were
the ones who steered their boat into exotic ports all around the world,
many of which had never seen a submarine before. The people in those
ports had certainly never seen the likes of the Archerfish crew. With
equal hospitality, the submarine and her crew welcomed on board
dignitaries, B-girls, royalty, surviving crewmembers of the Shinano,
school kids, a goat, members of the press, and Playboy Bunnies, among
others. They shot skeet off the bow, barbecued on the "cigarette
deck," and drew a tongue-lashing from John Wayne for not showing
him proper respect. They outlasted Japanese destroyers and survived a
treacherous fire. They worked hard and lived even harder. The men who became crewmembers of Archerfish were the lucky
ones. At one point in the 1960s, there were over 300 names on the
waiting list seeking a billet among the 60 or so who were fortunate
enough to crew Archerfish then. And also in the 60s, they were the ones
whose "home port" was moveable, a mere formality to keep the
paperwork straight as they steamed off for over a year at a time,
dodging icebergs and tropical atolls along the way. Follow along as we track Archerfish from her birth in New
Hampshire in 1943 until she died an explosive but noble death in 1968,
still characteristically serving her country by doing whatever she was
asked to do. Look at her more closely and you'll see how exceptional
this "typical" submarine was. You may well come to know and
respect her as her crewmembers did. As many of them still do. Biannual reunions draw scores of former shipmates and their
families. Her alumni, most of whom also served on other subs or ships,
choose to attend the Archerfish gathering, even if they pass up
get-togethers for their other ships. Somehow, they still manage to
dredge up new stories each time that no one has yet heard and produce
the photos and documents and corroborating testimony to prove them true.
Their well-maintained and extensive Internet site attracts thousands of
visitors. The shipmates who are still around keep in touch with each
other as if their service together was only last year or a decade ago,
not most of a lifetime past. One other thing. If you listen to them talk, they speak of
Archerfish as if she was as much a living entity as they. That's why
this is a biography. Her memory is still as alive with them as that of
their departed shipmates. She may have been made of steel and aluminum,
wires and pipe, but she lived and she died, just as so many of her crew
has. They are determined that neither she nor they will ever be
forgotten. But just like those submarine sailors whose remains are
forever lost in the deep, there is no solid ground above Archerfish's
head for a granite marker, no grave where wreaths can be reverently laid
in remembrance. No matter. Those who knew her well believe the best way to
remember her is to make certain her story is told. Told for the
Archerfish crewmembers still alive as well as for those on "eternal
patrol." Told for the thousands of submarine sailors who preceded
them and for those who still ply the planet's seas on the
"boomers" and "fast attacks," the nuclear boats.
Told for those who admire and appreciate the skill and bravery of those
who choose the all-voluntary "Silent Service," even as they
wonder about the manner of man who would do so. And told for anyone who loves a damn good story populated by
remarkable characters. We agree. This is the biography of a gallant lady, a diesel
boat, a gloriously unique submarine, and of her exceptional crew. This is the biography of Archerfish.
GALLANT
LADY: THE BIOGRAPHY OF USS ARCHERFISH
By
Don Keith and Ken Henry
ISBN: 0765305682
Forge Books 175 Fifth Avenue New York, NY
10010
Available wherever books are sold.
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