ANSWERS: Sub Questions of the Week from 10 AUG 2012

For background please refer to original post.

Submarine Questions of the Week with Answers

1) What name was given a book telling of SS-197's exploits under its C.O., F.B. Warder? ANS: U.S.S. SEAWOLF Submarine Raider of the Pacific.

2) What year was the above referenced book published, and what war-time notice is printed on its jacket? ANS: 1945. A box (inside front dust jacket) labelled IMPORTANT explained that the volume of paper used to print the book's 197 pages comported with the minimum usage of paper mandated by wartime restrictions due to lighter-weight pages and a substantial increase in words per printed page. Readers were assured the smaller bulk "in no way indicated that the text has been shortened".

3) The first two submarines commissioned USS Seawolf were lost at sea. Are submariners generally superstitious, and how do you know? ANS: No, submariners are generally not superstitious. Submariners have been individuals with exceptionally strong
desires and capacities to control their own fates. Despite historically heavy losses, volunteers continue to present themseleves for submarine service. M. E. has covered this topic before here and here.

4) What may be wrong with the description of the enlarged SS-197 photo shown below the photo captioned USS Seawolf SS 197 Officers & Crew Aug. 5, 1940, Portsmouth, NH in the captioned link? ANS: Close examination of the men beyond the first two rows discloses ambiguity in numbers of men in each of the last three rows. Red circles therefore may be erroneously applied. By the way, that is 'Fearless Freddy' Warder at center of row one.


5) Referring to the same enlarged photo, could it have been bad luck to be the first man in each row of the photo considering those identified as on Eternal Patrol? ANS: Despite appearances, absolutely not; no one was killed during photography.

6) Of the 420 U.S. submarine commanders who took subs into WWII combat and survived, almost all made the rank of Captain. How many besides Fearless Freddie also made Admiral, however? ANS: Sixty of them went on to become Admirals.

Submarines are always silent and strange.