In the first set of photos in the book, the first image is a port quarter shot of an as-built fleetboat. The description reads "USS Wahoo (SS-238) departing Mare Island". For some reason the look of that photo never felt quite right to me. The general arrangement is correct for the most part. But I could never find the shot in any of the archival sets of Wahoo images.
Then today I noticed an image had been added to the USS Trigger (SS-237) page on NavSource. As I scrolled down, I found the identical uncropped shot (see below). It is clearly marked as Trigger. Whether it was intentional or not, the image denoted as Wahoo is in fact Trigger.
Upon closer inspection I can see a detail that always looked wrong: the aft deck gun. Trigger had a taller mount as seen in the image. All other photos of Wahoo at the same point showed the shorter 3" mount. The proper attribution of the subject helps settle the issue -- Wahoo didn't carry the taller mount.
The Trigger as Wahoo identification is not the only misrepresentation in O'Kane's book. Several of the interior shots in the first grouping are actually the USS Pompanito on display in San Francisco. This makes sense given the boat was near O'Kane's home and could provide views of all her main compartments.
For all those interested in fleetboat photos, I encourage you to browse navsource.org. It is a wonderful source of naval images.
2 comments:
Paul, Interesting information,Will check out navsource.org
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