LIBERTY STATION – On the 84th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Point Loma Association and its green-vested Mean Green Team honored lost World War II American submariners.
The event culminated with a wreath-laying at the 52 Boats Memorial at Liberty Station.
Each memorial shows the name of the submarine, when it was launched, who was in command, the circumstances of how it was lost, and the names and ranks of the soldiers who sacrificed their lives. The memorial’s design includes a planting of 52 American Liberty Elm trees, one for each lost boat. A flag flies at each monument on the anniversary of the boat’s loss.
On national holidays and other special events, all 52 flags are flown.
On Sunday, Dec. 7, the PLA, community members, local active-duty sailors, and retired submarine and veteran groups paid tribute to the more than 3,500 American submariners lost during World War II.
There was a short speaking program followed by the wreath laying at each of the submarine memorial markers.
“The Naval Training Center on which we stand is where hundreds of thousands of recruits were trained during a span of nearly 70 years,” said Beth Roach, PLA’s board chair.
“Countless veterans, active duty, and families call Point Loma home, and the community has been strengthened by our relationship with the U.S. Navy. “
Doug Smay, an associate member of the SD Chapter of the U.S. Submarine Veterans of World War II, followed Roach, discussing the origin of Liberty Station’s 52 Boats Memorial and its significance.
“I’m one of the lucky submariners who’s gotten to come back here for a third time,” said Capt. Phillip Sylvia Jr., the new commodore of Submarine Squadron 11, based in Point Loma. “As President Roosevelt proclaimed on Dec. 7, 1941, it is a date which will live in infamy.”
Less than 2% of U.S. sailors served in submarines, yet submarines would sink 55% of all Japanese ships lost in World War II. In the course of the war, American submarines would sink no fewer than 201 Japanese warships, sending 1,113 Japanese merchant ships to the ocean’s floor. At the peak of their efficiency, U.S. submarines were sinking merchant ships at a rate three times faster than Japanese shipyards could turn them out.
However, there was a terrible price to pay. 52 boats and more than 3,500 submariners — one out of every five — would fail to return. Officially, they were listed as missing in action. Theirs was the highest loss rate of any war unit in the Navy.
These men are spoken of as being on “eternal patrol.”
READ NEXT