Submarine Veterans Keep Memories, History Alive

On a little outcropping of land, four miles inland from where the Toms River spreads out and feeds water from the Pinelands into Barnegat Bay, a bell-ringer tugged a rope, ringing a small bell hanging from a wooden cross, as the shimmering river smacked against the bulkhead just a few feet away.

Once. Twice. Three times. Sixty-five times in all.

One ring for each of the 65 submarines that went out to sea and never came home, over the history of the U.S. Navy’s submarine fleet.

The members of the Jersey Shore Base of the U.S. Submarine Veterans marked Memorial Day for the 10th straight year in South Toms River, at the memorial installed to honor those who lost their lives serving aboard submarines.

The memorial -- a Mark 14 torpedo from World War II mounted on a base, surrounded by stones and bricks inscribed with names of those who sponsored the memorial or honoring someone’s memory, with small stone columns and a heavy chain -- was established by the borough of South Toms River in 1997.

Part of the reason it was based there, however, is historical: some of the earliest tests of submarine theories occurred in the Toms River, conducted by Simon Lake.

Lake’s name has been overshadowed in submarine history by that of John Holland, Bob Cloupe of Lanoka Harbor, vice commander of the Jersey Shore Base, said. But Lake played a crucial role in the development of submarines and the U.S. Navy’s fleet. Holland -- for whom the Holland Tunnel between New Jersey and New York is named -- won the first submarine building contract with the Navy in the 1890s, according to an article by Edward C. Whitman on the U.S. Navy’s website titled “The Submarine Heritage of Simon Lake.”

Lake, who was born in Pleasantville, moved to Toms River with his family when he was a boy and attended public school in Toms River, according to his autobiography, “Submarine: The Autobiography of Simon Lake,” as told to Herbert Corey. In the book he recounts flipping over a canvas canoe in the Toms River to see how long he could breathe in air trapped beneath it, then lamenting how he didn’t think to accurately record the amount of time.

Those early tests and his early drawings led to the development of the Argonaut, the first submarine vessel to travel a great distance under water. He sailed it from Norfolk, Va., to Sandy Hook, in 1898, partly on the surface, but also beneath the surface, including riding out a storm on the bottom of the ocean, according Whitman’s article. That feat resulted in a congratulatory telegram from Jules Verne, author of “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea,” which had inspired Lake as a boy, according to SimonLake.com, a website maintained by Lake’s great-grandson. The telegram can be seen on that website here.

While Lake was primarily interested in marine salvage, his designed influenced modern submarines, Whitman said.

The submarine memorial in South Toms River honors another piece of local Naval history: the heavy chain that surrounds the memorial came from Admiral Farragut Academy, the former military prepatory school that sat on the banks of the Toms River in Pine Beach for decades.

That school -- which was founded in 1933 but closed in 1994 as enrollment dwindled -- boasted a few prominent alumni, but none more famous than astronaut Alan Shepherd, the first American in space and the fifth person to walk on the moon.

The buildings of Admiral Farragut are long gone now, and its presence is fading from the memories of many -- much like the fading memories of those who served in World War II and the Korean War.

“I joined the submarine veterans in 1995 because I wanted to hear about it (World War II ) from the men who were there,” Base Commander Michael Bost said after Monday’s service. “I wanted to hear their stories before we lose them.

“Now we’re starting to lose the Korean War veterans too,” Bost, of Howell, said.

That is why the ceremony on Memorial Day is important, the veterans said, to keep the memories alive.

It began with the sounding of the dive horn by secretary Charlie Gromek, and a benediction from Dick Rieger. A prayer was read by Douglas Ripley, chaplain of the South Toms River Police Department.

Bost then read off the names of the submarines lost in combat as well as in accidents at sea, with Dan Staruch ringing the small bell for each ship lost.

South Toms River Mayor Oscar Cradle thanked the veterans for their service, and said it was important to honor the dead, ”who gave their lives in the ultimate sacrifice for this country.”

Bost then read “A Submariner’s Poem,” and a bugler played taps.

Run silent, run deep/ For freedom we fought to keep/ How we spent so many days/ Beneath the shimmering waves

A terrible foe we fought/ And our lives; and freedom bought/ Now our souls forever lie/ Restlessly beneath the waves/ So silent now, so deep

For it is not enough for you to weep/ For we shall not have died in vain/ Lest you forget what we gave/ We gave our lives, freedom to save

For if you forget our deeds/ Then we shall never sleep/ Though we lie so silent, so deep

Cloupe said the group has been working on an addition to the memorial that will include a stone engraved with the names of the submarines that have been lost along with the names of submarine veterans who’ve received the Medal of Honor.

Fundraising for the addition is “about 95 percent done,” Cloupe said, and the Jersey Shore Base expects to unveil the addition on Veterans’ Day, Nov. 11. (You can contact him by email at robclo510@aol.com to assist in the fundraising or to donate to the effort.)

Bost hopes the effort will attract more submarine veterans to the group.

The Jersey Shore Base has 52 members, Cloupe said, and the New Jersey North base has about 160. The New Jersey South Base has about 170 members, he said.

“We know there are a lot more out there,” Bost said.

To get in touch with the group, visit the Jersey Shore Base Submarine Veterans website here.

Submarine veterans who participated in the ceremony included Elwood “Woody” Seiler; Ken Ross; Bob Reilly; Karl Lomberk, E.M. Villalobos and Bill Aberle, who also serves as commander of the New York Base, Bost said. Also present was Gloria Lang, widow of member Harry Lang.

(Photo credits: Karen Wall)