American history.

[harry]

I am looking for help from American posters,who may be researchig American newspaper archives.In 1947,probably the latter end of that year,two American submarines,leaving from St George,Bermuda,for America,collided underwater not many miles from that Island.I have made several requests to various American agencies for information,to no avail.I believe an accident of that sort would have been widely reported.They were able to surface and return to,I think,Bermuda.I had a boozy night out,the day before departure,with a crew member from one of the vessels.It ended with being thrown off the submarine.I would like to know the name of the two submarines.I am compiling a little history of myself,to pass on.

[Errata]

1947 or 1987? I know there was a collision between an American and Russian sub there in 1987...

[harry]

Thanks Errata,but it was definately off Bermuda in 1947 while I was a member of the British army stationed there.Only time Iv'e been to Bermuda.This is a long shot,but I believe if I could name the submarine,maybe,just maybe,the log of the vessel may be archived somewhere.I'm pretty sure the American seaman was put under arrest,by vessels personnel,and that would have been logged.The accident was headline news in the Bermuda paper.I did once contact them,but the excuse was unless a specific date could be given they could not spare personnel to search.The nearest I can give is probably Autumn of 1947.I served there from January 1947 untill early 1948,when a situation in Honduras caused the Battalion to addopt a defensive position in that country,in face of threats of incursion by a neighbouring country.
Regards,

[lynn cates]

Torsk

Hello Harry. there was a submarine, "Torsk" which collided with a destroyer, 27 May, 1947. But this seems to be off the New England coast.

Cheers.
LC

[The Good Michael]

harry,

I found this list. There were two incidents in 1947 http://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/2008/P3481.pdf

This is a bit about the ship Spikefish: Post War service and fate

Her training duty was interrupted by an overhaul from 7 April to 22 September 1947; a cruise to Bermuda from 25 September to 2 October 1947; and another overhaul at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard from 16 May to 8 July 1948. Spikefish operated from New London making training cruises along the east coast from Bermuda to Nova Scotia until 30 April 1955. On that day, she and Piper (SS-409) sailed for the Mediterranean and deployment with the 6th Fleet. Spikefish returned to New London on 8 October 1955 and resumed her normal training duties until early 1963. On 18 March 1960, Spikefish became the first United States submarine to record 10,000 dives.

Spikefish was redesignated an Auxiliary Research Submarine AGSS-404 in 1962. She was decommissioned on 2 April 1963 and was struck from the Navy list on 1 May 1963. She was subsequently sunk as a target in August 1964 off Long Island, NY.

Spikefish received three battle stars for World War II service.

[Errata]

Well, I know there was a US Coast Guard base there at the time... And I know they have CG historians, my mother is one (she concentrates on CG aviation). You might ask them. I think they have a web site devoted to major accidents, and I think that has contact information to ask questions.

[harry]

Many thanks for the help and interest I am reciving.I have gone through sites of naval accidents and emailed several persons without result, but the new information you are giving looks promising
Regards,
Harry.

[Debra A]

Harry,
Here is a news clip about the Oct 1947 Naval maneuvers near Bermuda that I mentioned to you. I haven't been able to find any sort of submarine accident reported yet but there are quite a few articles about these 'war games' so I'll check through them and see if there are any clues.

There are a couple of mentions of the submarine Mike mentioned-Spikefish. I'll post anything that may be useful to you in your search.


New York Times Oct 27th 1947

[The Good Michael]

Debs,

I was thinking that perhaps the asphyxiation incident on the Spikefish that occurred around this time translated into an accident to the British sailors and that Harry has been thinking of the death of a sailor as the result of a collision because that is how he heard it originally.

Mike

[harry]

I am sorry I cannot,because of an ongoing eye problem,spend time on my computor.I have to give it away for a while.Thanks for the response and I'll get back when the problem has cleared.
Regards,
Harry.