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Serenity now! |
It appears I made a mistake - Mr. Leibold did not pass away - the article was simply talking about his life. The link I clicked on the read the article indicated he had passed away. I've read several books about the USS Tang. RIP Mr. Leibold. https://americanmilitarynews.c...ry-world-war-ii-sub/ This message has been edited. Last edited by: 4x5, Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice - pull down your pants and slide on the ice. ʘ ͜ʖ ʘ | ||
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Member |
Wow. That’s what I immediately thought, and still do. Wow! ========================================== Just my 2¢ ____________________________ Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right ♫♫♫ | |||
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Fighting the good fight |
If you haven't read about the USS Tang, it's really an amazing story. Leibold was on the exterior of the submarine, standing on the bridge, when it sank. He was able to swim clear after being briefly submerged, along with some of the other bridge crew. Even more amazingly, five men were able to successfully escape from the torpedo room in the forward interior of the sunken submarine and make their way to the surface, after it had already settled on the ocean floor at around 180 feet! Using either Momsen Devices (early crude rebreathers) or by simply exhaling continuously as they ascended (a risky emergency method known as "blow and go"), they were able to rise to the surface slowly enough to survive. It's believed that around seven others also attempted to ascend from the sunken sub, but died from drowning or decompression-related complications. These five survivors from the Tang's torpedo room represent the only Americans in history to ever escape from a sunken submarine without surface assistance. | |||
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Just because you can, doesn't mean you should |
Sad to see them (WW2 veterans) fading away now but the youngest are well into their 90's. ___________________________ Avoid buying ChiCom/CCP products whenever possible. | |||
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Green grass and high tides |
Thanks for posting 4x5. What an amazing piece of our history. Thank you is far to little to Mr. Liebold and his mates. May you all RIP. "Practice like you want to play in the game" | |||
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Member |
Fair Winds and Following Seas, Sailor, God Bless You | |||
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Repressed |
Rest in peace, Mr. Leibold. I had the opportunity to do a walk-through of the USS Bowfin, a sister ship to the USS Tang. It's quite astonishing what these brave men did in these boats. -ShneaSIG Oh, by the way, which one's "Pink?" | |||
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Fighting the good fight |
The USS Razorback, another sister ship to the USS Tang, is a museum ship in Little Rock, Arkansas that's also open for tours. | |||
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Official Space Nerd |
Dick O'Kane, the skipper of USS Tang, wrote a must-read book "Clear the Bridge." He was also on USS Wahoo under legendary Dudley "Mush" Morton. It's an outstanding book. Tang's sinking was not unique; USS Tullibee was also struck and sunk by one of her own torpedoes. The only way we know of these two is because they left survivors. It's possible other subs suffered the same fate, going down with all hands. Fear God and Dread Nought Admiral of the Fleet Sir Jacky Fisher | |||
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God will always provide |
"William ‘Bill’ Leibold, 97, of Escondido, served aboard the submarine Tang and is a U.S. Navy ‘living legend’ +++LINK+++ Aug. 31, 2020" What a remarkable man but I think he is still cheating Death. | |||
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I'm Fine |
Did they sail that up the river to Little Rock ? ------------------ SBrooks | |||
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Festina Lente |
I'd also recommend "Clear the Bridge", written by the CO, Dick O'Kane. O'Kane was a legendary XO and CO, credited with the most successful combat patrols of WW II. MOH, 3x Navy Cross, 3x Silver Stars, Legion of Merit, etc. I have two friends that served on one of our spec ops boats, the USS Parche. While they were at Pearl Harbor, one of the enlisted crew found RADM O'Kane's USNA class ring in the sand - he had lost it on the beach during WW II. They found him upon return to Mare Island (which is close to Petaluma, where RADM O'Kane retired), and invited him down to the base to give it back to him. My friend said it was an amazing event - after what was supposed to be a short ceremony, they sat in the wardroom with the legendary sub commander, and apparently swapped stories for the rest of the afternoon... https://www.amazon.com/Clear-B...9780528810589&sr=8-1 NRA Life Member - "Fear God and Dreadnaught" | |||
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Serenity now! |
Great story! Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice - pull down your pants and slide on the ice. ʘ ͜ʖ ʘ | |||
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Fighting the good fight |
Sadly, the US suffered from numerous issues with their torpedoes during WW2, including the Mk. 13 aerial torpedo used by torpedo bombers, as well as the Mk. 14 and Mk. 18 torpedoes used by submarines. Reports from submariners abound of faulty torpedoes exploding prematurely, failing to explode despite solid hits, or circling back to the firing sub (as in the case of the USS Tang). There were 24 confirmed reports of faulty torpedo circle runs, resulting in the sinking of two subs (the USS Tullibee and USS Tang), and 22 others having to dodge their own ordnance. And reading about the early naval battles in the Pacific involving torpedo bombers, you really empathize with the pilots. Torpedo bombers had to line up on enemy ships and fly low and slow, just to get into position to drop their torpedoes, making them sitting ducks. So these brave me would have to try to perform death-defying feats and be shot down in droves just attempting to get into position, only to have their torpedoes malfunction or fail in many cases. It was all a result of the US Navy refusing to spend the money on proper testing of the torpedoes during the lean pre-war years of the 1930s. Pinching pennies cost lives. | |||
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Serenity now! |
It appears I made a mistake - Mr. Leibold did not pass away - the article was simply talking about his life. The link I clicked on the read the article indicated he had passed away. Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice - pull down your pants and slide on the ice. ʘ ͜ʖ ʘ | |||
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Fighting the good fight |
They towed/pushed the USS Razorback up the Mississippi River and then up the Arkansas River, to its current berth on the Arkansas River in Little Rock. | |||
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Oh stewardess, I speak jive. |
Damn. What a story. Thanks. I'll stop snickering about 'Tang' now. | |||
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Oh stewardess, I speak jive. |
How deep (inland) can the US Navy and Coast Guard operate in our freshwater river systems, I wonder. From a navigable depth and width perspective. | |||
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Fighting the good fight |
It'll vary significantly between different vessels. Historically, these areas of operation have been divided into two (now three) separate classifications, with dedicated vessels for each type: "blue water" (open ocean), "brown water" (inland), and the newer intermediate category of "green water" (coastal areas/harbors/etc.). The Navy and Coast Guard have various small "brown water" vessels for inland waterway use, but they're not designed for oceangoing. "Green water" vessels are smaller, shorter distance oceangoing naval vessels designed for use primarily closer to shore/port. (These are usually defensive vessels, incapable of long distance naval power projection.) They aren't designed specifically for inland water, but are usually shallow/small enough that they could potentially operate partway up some larger/deeper rivers, if needed. But you're not sailing most "blue water" long distance oceangoing vessels very far up most rivers, especially with larger vessels like aircraft carriers. Even the smallest US destroyers have something like a 30 foot draught. There's some crossover too, like the Navy's new Littoral Combat Ships, which are long distance oceangoing vessels designed to be capable of also operating close to shore. Sort of "blue water" vessels with the capability of also operating in shallower "green water" areas, and with relatively shallow drafts of 13-14 feet they could also possibly operate partway up some rivers. | |||
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Official Space Nerd |
Practically all US WWII subs were named after sea creatures (there may have been exceptions, such as the older S-boats that only had numbers (S-42, etc) ). Some names were obvious fish names, such as Bass, Cod, Swordfish, while others were really obscure (try coming up with 250+ unique 'fish names') such as Cachalot (another name for Sperm Whale), Torsk, Odax, etc. There are some sub names that I believe will never be re-used. USS Shark was sunk with all hands in (probably) February 1942. The US launched the USS Shark II, which was sunk with all hands in October 1944. USS Scorpion was sunk with all hands (presumably striking a mine) in early 1945. A nuclear-powered USS Scorpion was lost with all hands in 1968; likely from the explosion of a defective torpedo, though this has not been proven and speculation will go on forever as to her real cause of loss. The US Navy commissioned the USS Tang (SS-563, as compared to the original SS-306) as the lead of a new class of diesel subs in the early 1950s. A Tang is a goofy looking reef fish (in Finding Nemo, he was the yellow one obsessed with bubbles). It never occurred to me that the ship's name could serve as a double entendre. . . Fear God and Dread Nought Admiral of the Fleet Sir Jacky Fisher | |||
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