Sennet's
Reunion will be Sept. 3, 4 & 5 in Orlando, FL.
Our
reunion will be in held in conjunction with the USSVI National
Convention which runs from August 31 to September 06, 2025.
There is information about the USSVI National
Convention, events and hotel reservations posted on the USSVI web
site at https://subvetconvention.org/
Although The USSVI Convention starts earlier and runs
later, Sennet's Reunion is Sept 3, 4 and 5 in
their convention facilities and at their host hotel.
The reservation form for the
host hotel is posted on the USSVI web site
at https://subvetconvention.org/
Room rates are $120.00 and $15.00 tax and add ons per night.
We will be able to use the USSVI vendor room, their hospitality room and attend the tolling of the
boats ceremony.
You do not need to pay the $30 USSVI registration fee
unless you want to participate in any of the other USSVI
scheduled events.
John
McMichael (64-68) has
generously volunteered to host our reunion. He is
working on a restaurant we can use for our dinner and maybe space
for our business meeting. If
you are planning to attend the reunion please notify John.
He needs a head count to organize the dinner.
If you have problems
booking your room, have questions and to let John know that you
are coming, Contact him at: Cob662@gmail.com or
Ph: (682) 309-7871.
U-Boats in World War
II
In
my last newsletter I wrote about the best and worst torpedoes in
World War II. I limited my discussion to the best and the
worst, because you could write books about all the other types of
torpedoes. For example: the Germans had patterns built
into some of their torpedoes to make circles
or reverse course and zig-zag. If the
torpedo did not hit a ship initially, it would then go
to the “pattern program” with the probability that it
would hit something in a 50–60 ship convoy.
So the
question arose, if there was a best and a worst torpedo in WW
II, was there a best and worst type of submarine?
That’s almost an impossible question to answer, because
u-boats operating in the Atlantic faced vastly different operating
conditions, doctrine and challenges from the
conditions submarines faced in the Pacific. For
example: The allies used a very effective convoy
system, while the Japanese did not. Likewise,
anti-submarine air patrols were much more effective in the
Atlantic. Bottom line, I could not devise an
effective scale to judge the best and worst types
of submarines. But I did uncover some interesting
comparisons. Here are some basics:
The Type VII
U-boat was 800 tons, 220 feet long, crew 50, 4 bow/1
stern torpedo tubes, carried 14 torpedoes, 1 88 mm deck gun, range
8,500 nm, surf 17.7 kts, sub 8 kts, test depth 750 ft.
The Type IX
U-boat was 1,200 tons, 250 feet long, crew 50-55, 4 bow/2
stern torpedo tubes, carried 22 torpedoes, 1 105 mm deck gun,
range 10,500 nm, surf 18-20 kts, sub 6-8 kts, test depth 750 ft.
The Balao class submarine was 2,400 tons, 300
feet long, crew 70-80, 6 bow/4 stern torpedo tubes, 24
torpedoes, 1 5-inch deck gun, range 11,000 nm, surf 21 kts, sub 10
kts, test depth 400 ft.
American subs were twice
as heavy, longer, faster, carried more torpedos, and had more
torpedo tubes than u-boats. American subs had more
room for provisions and even refrigeration, plus they had
a small machine shop in the engine room with a metal lathe, drill
press and other tools for fabricating parts in an emergency or
repairing the sub. This gave American subs the
ability to stay on station longer, a major
advantage over German subs.
The test depth for German
u-boats was almost twice that of other submarines, which
made surviving an attack more likely.
RADAR – American subs had
radar and used it very effectively. They could “follow”
a Japanese ship and do an “end-around” and submerge ahead of
the projected track. The Germans developed radar
detection equipment, but never actually had radar on their boats
until late in the war.
U-boats' diesels were much more
reliable than those in fleet boats. That said, fleet
boats had 4 diesels, and U-boats only had two.
U-boats had a smaller surface
profile, were harder to spot and could dive faster.
Not much difference in sonars
and batteries.
Torpedoes – we both had problems at first, but ended up
pretty much the same.
In Summary:
U-boats
sank almost 15 million tons of shipping during the war, but it did
not affect the outcome. American shipyards and
industry were able to overcome these losses.
American subs sank about
6 million tons or 56 percent of all Japanese ships. It
changed the course of the war, because the Japanese shipyards
couldn’t replace those losses, and their economy was dependent
upon imports.
The Germans lost over
700 submarines and 30,000 men out of a strength of 1200
submarines.
The Americans lost only
52 subs and 3500 men out of a strength of about 250 submarines.
Two huge factors that I
did not discuss were doctrine and training. Maybe in
the next newsletter.
Donations . . .
Contributions
from our generous supporters help make our newsletters, website
and reunions possible. Simply said, they reunite friends.
Make your check payable to: USS
Sennet SS-408 Reunion Fund
and mail to Ralph Luther. His address is below in the Ship's Store information.
Ship's Store . .
.
Ralph
Luther stocks a
limited supply of Sennet
unique submarine
items like:
T-Shirts
– Size XXL only - Navy blue shirts with the Sennet logo
embroidered above the pocket and a submarine veteran screen print
on the back - $22
Hoodies – Size XXL only - Submarine
veteran screen printed on back - $30
Ball caps - $14
Ships
patches (cloth) - $5
Submarine wife pins - $5
Prices
do not include postage. Contact Ralph Luther by email for
availability and total cost. All revenue goes 100% into the
Reunion Fund. Make checks payable to: USS Sennet SS-408
Reunion Fund and mail to:
USS
Sennet SS-408
c/o
Ralph Luther
107 Wood Side Dr.
Summerville, SC
29485-9301
Email: rluther107@gmail.com
Eternal Patrol . .
. Recently
we learned of the passing of these shipmates:
LTJG David
C. English (1963-1965) departed January 11,
2024.
MM2(SS) Elwood V. "Woody"
Seiler (1957-1960) departed March 15,
2025.
EN1(SS) Donald E. Shoesmith (1965-1968)
departed December 02, 2024.
EM3(SS) James E.
Skillman (1965-1966) departed April 20, 2023.
We will remember our
other departed shipmates at our reunion Memorial Service.
Special
thanks to Ron & Connie Bycroft (1966-68) who send
condolence cards to the families of deceased crew members.
Binnacle
List . . . These
shipmates are facing some serious challenges and would like to
hear from you. A simple email, card or phone call means so
much to them. Find out more info about your friends on the
Sennet web site page “Binnacle
List.”
RM2(SS)
Robert J. “Bob” Mullin (1958-1960) has Alzheimer's and
lives in a memory care facility in Rutland, VT. Cards or
letters may be sent to his son, and he will share them with Bob.
Robert Mullin
c/o Kevin Mullin
118 Ox Yoke Dr.
Rutland, VT 05701-9301
Green
Board,
Stan
Pollard
USS
SENNET (SS-408)
All Hands Newsletter
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