Wahoo and Tang exhibit planned for National WWII Museum

Legends of the Deep was recently contacted by The National World War II Museum in New Orleans regarding a new exhibit to feature USS Wahoo and USS Tang.

Seth Paridon, Manager of Research Services at the museum, solicited assistance in locating digital copies of images featured on Legends. These will gladly be provided. The future exhibits will tell the story of submarines in the Pacific war and detail the contributions of Wahoo and Tang, along with their respective COs. In addition, they plan to construct a full size submarine walk through which will be modeled after the USS Tang. 

Details will follow as they are made available. It should be an impressive exhibit!

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Mare Island Memorial Conducted

Bell tolls for 579 men, 7 subs lost

By Lanz Christian Banes/Times-Herald staff writer

A wreath is cast into the Mare Island Strait from berth 6 on Mare Island, part of SundayÕs memorial ceremony for submarines constructed at the shipyard that were lost in World War II. With his ancient, tremulous voice, John Berger blessed the seven wreaths that represented Mare Island's lost ships.

"The symbols will speak for us, for we cannot," intoned Berger, the chaplain for the USS Hornet in Alameda, on Sunday.

The wreaths were made by volunteers from plants and flowers found on Mare Island the day before, said Myrna Hayes, who organized the memorial.

This is the third year Mare Island's lost World War II-era submarines - the USS Pompano, Swordfish, Gudgeon, Trigger, Tullibee and Tang - were honored in a day-long series of ceremonies.

"What I found from the last two years is a tremendous longing by the people who come here today to honor the 579 (lost) men," Hayes said.

The Mare Island Naval Shipyard produced 22 submarines that fought in World War II. Seven did not come home.

In total, 52 U.S. submarines were lost during World War II, with a combined crew of about 3,500 men now on "eternal patrol."

Larry Maggini, who wrote a book about the USS Wahoo, gave a presentation at St. Peter's Chapel about each of the lost seven, weaving their stories with the early history of the American submarine.

Though submariners accounted for only 1.6 percent of Navy personnel during World War II, the submarine fleet had a 22 percent loss rate, Maggini said. Still, the Pacific submarine fleet was responsible for 55 percent of Japanese ship losses, he added.

The 30 or so people who attended the ceremonies, which began by raising a flag to half-staff at Morton Field, were offered a chance to tell their own stories at St. Peter's Chapel.

"The wives of the men of the submarine service went through hell, too. We ought to think of that also," said Don Dickson, 93, who served on the USS Skate.

After a reception at Quarters C on Walnut Avenue, the group went to Berth 6, where submarines were repaired during the war.

"This is a place they last moored and from whence they cast off from our log of memories onto their eternal patrol," Berger said. And with a bell tolling for each of the lost ships, the wreaths were cast into the Mare Island Strait.

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Tang Film in Pipeline

Charles Hinman forwarded this article to me today. It seems "Escape From the Deep" will be made into a feature film.

Duncan Jones to take on 'The Deep'
Brilliant Films to produce his second directing effort
By Stuart Kemp
June 1, 2009, 10:14 AM ET
LONDON -- Duncan Jones has surfaced with his sophomore feature.The helmer, who made his feature directorial debut with the Sam Rockwell starrer "Moon," will direct "Escape From the Deep" from an Alex Kershaw script based on the nonfiction tome of the same name."Escape" tells the story of a legendary World War II U.S. navy submarine that sank after a torpedo malfunction, leaving the crew stranded on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Faced with drowning, nine men made it out alive after swimming the 180 feet to the surface without getting the bends.The movie will be produced by U.S. production banner Brilliant Films, which also is developing the project via the company's in-house development cash pool.Brilliant Films president Joe Abrams said that Jones' "Moon" marked his arrival as a director to watch.Jones, whose father is rock legend David Bowie and who worked with Tony Scott in his early career, described Kershaw's book as a "powerful story that will come alive on the big screen."He said he hopes to create a "tense action movie" from the story.Sony Pictures Classics snapped up North American rights to "Moon" after it unspooled during the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. It will debut at the Edinburgh International Film Festival later this month.Brilliant's Joe Abrams and Rory Gilmartin will produce "Escape."

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Hollywood What If?

In talking to DaCapo Press about Alex Kershaw's new book about USS Tang's fifth and final war patrol, "Escape From the Deep", the subject of Hollywood came up. While no details were given and no production deals were imminent, at least from what I gathered, the word is they are interested in shopping the film rights. The book is certainly written with a cinematic flair.

So, what if a production company options the book and a script gets written? Who, as an imaginary, all powerful Hollywood producer, would you cast as 33 year old Dick O'Kane?

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"Escape From The Deep" Review

One week from today, Alex Kershaw's new book "Escape From The Deep" will be officially released -- just in time for Memorial Day. And a fitting tribute it is for the men who fought and died so bravely aboard the subject of the book, USS Tang (SS-306).

Taking a refreshingly different tack from previous work such as "Unrestricted Warfare", "The Bravest Man" and Tang skipper Richard O'Kane's classic memoir "Clear The Bridge!", Kershaw spends little time on the first four war patrols of the US Navy's most successful WWII submarine. Instead, he jump starts the story at the end of her fourth patrol. What follows is an almost cinematic retelling of fifth patrol action, her tragic loss at the hand of her own malfunctioning torpedo, the daring escape by crew members trapped 180 feet below the surface, and their brutal imprisonment in a Japanese prisoner of war camp for the remaining nine months of the war.

For those looking for a meticulous depiction of battle tactics, they will have to continue to rely on previous works. Little new is learned about Tang's actions. Kershaw's focus is not on rudder orders and galley menus but the emotional ride experienced in one of the most famous of all war patrols. The human element is stressed in the personal stories of the central players and their interrelationships. Though the narrative is relatively short in length, a bit over two hundred pages, Kershaw brings an entirely new depth to the understanding of these well known events.

Naturally, the figure in the center of everything is Medal of Honor recipient Dick O'Kane. And though his death in 1992 prevented Kershaw from interviewing him personally, his research, in particular the time he spent with the late Rear Admiral's family, coupled with his consummate writing skill, enabled him to bring O'Kane fully to life. Details of his childhood, marriage, and family relationships round out a "proud yankee" known principally for fearless heroics and consummate devotion to duty.

Kershaw's attention to detail does not overlook the rest of the crew either. The personalities, backgrounds, and personal relationships between crewmen are firmly established. They are then studiously revisited during the terrible hours of Tang's sinking when close friendships, such as Clayton Decker's and George Zofcin's, were torn apart by death. And those who escaped, like Bill Leibold and Floyd Caverly, forged new bonds in order to survive.

It is in his depiction of the desperate fight for survival aboard the sunken Tang that Kershaw's prose shines brightest. The chaos and struggle is brought vividly to life as the trapped crew fights their way to the only working escape trunk in the forward torpedo room. Again, Kershaw's focused research brings a richness of personal detail from first hand accounts. This plants the reader firmly in the action and into the survivor's heads as they await their chance to escape, endure the excruciating pressure of the escape trunk, and slowly make their way from the inky depths to the surface.

Their reward, of course, was captivity. And again Kershaw brings a personal focus to the beatings, interrogations and privations that previous works have lacked. I was surprised to learn that O'Kane advised his men to tell the Japanese what they knew and not to lie, while refusing to divulge the secrets he carried himself. However, the rest of the Tang men strayed from their skipper's orders on this occasion and did their best to confuse their captors.

At war's end all nine Tang survivors remained alive in varying degrees of health. O'Kane had suffered the most and was very near death. His choice to recuperate in Hawaii before presenting himself to his family varied with the eager desire of the rest of the men to return home. Again Kershaw gives fresh insight into the postwar lives of each man, their faithfulness to each other through the years, and to the friends they left behind. The book ends with O'Kane, in the midst of his final struggle with Alzheimer's, pulling his daughter towards the ocean repeating, "We have to go save them." A poignant image of a captain who never forgot, and never got over, his crew.

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Wahoo and Tang Family News

Got two updates from Charles Hinman at the Bowfin Museum yesterday to pass along regarding the USS Wahoo and USS Tang extended families.

Freida Barker, the 107-year old mother of Wahoo crewman RT1c Max L. Mills, was recently profiled in the Kokomo Tribune. Mills joined Wahoo for patrol six and was lost on patrol seven. Unfortunately, Mrs. Barker was unknown to the Bowfin prior to last October's memorial services in Pearl Harbor for the boat so she did not receive the information in time to attend. However, she has been informed of Wahoo's discovery and is much relieved to finally know what happened to her son. To read the article online, click here: http://www.ktonline.com/local/local_story_090203716.html.

Due in part to the impending publication of Alex Kershaw's new book on Tang, "Escape From The Deep", several parties have been gathering information in order to search for the boat's wreck. As a result of this activity, the Bowfin Museum is compiling information for a Tang Family Network in order to keep relatives of those who served, or were lost, aboard Tang abreast of the latest developments. If you are a Tang family member, or have contact information for one, please contact Charles Hinman at the USS Bowfin Museum: education@bowfin.org.

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"Clean Sweep" T-shirt Error

In the last Wahoo Gazette email blast I mentioned the great "Clean Sweep" t-shirts made available at the Wahoo Memorial event by the Morton family. At the time I thought these were still available through the Bowfin Museum at Pearl Harbor. Charles has informed me this is no longer the case. So, please refrain from contacting Charles about them since he no longer has any in stock and will not be getting more in the future.

Speaking of t-shirts, a new USS Tang item has been added to Legends' Clean Sweep Store. It is made from 100% organically-grown cotton and features an "athletic department" logo as seen below. Order a size up for a loose fit as they are designed to run small. You can see all the offerings here: http://www.cafepress.com/cleansweep. Proceeds go to support Legends' website and research.

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