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), our reunion host, needs help finding a restaurant for our reunion dinner and the memorial ceremony for the departed. John says maybe a shipmate in Florida can find a place where they have a separate room. It doesn't have to be anything fancy. If you can help contact John at Cob662@gmail.com or
phone (682) 309-7871.
When the WWII Sennet veterans stopped holding reunions, Ralph Luther (64-68) founded the current Sennet Reunion Organization. He personally hosted most of our reunions. Ralph also managed the funds and stocked the ship's store. He brought a lot of shipmates together again, revived a lot of youthful memories, and honored our fallen crew members. In short, Ralph did it all, and we can never thank him enough for that.
Unfortunately Ralph has told me that he will not be able to come to the reunion due to health issues and other circumstances. Ralph sends this message to the crew:
Time does take its toll. I doubt that there will be another Sennet reunion in the future. It was great and much fun seeing old crew mates, and I didn't do those reunions alone. I had a lot of help from everyone, wives included. We are all getting older and like the Sennet decommissioning eventually comes. To all, my doors are open, and you are welcome.
 Cheers, Ralph
USS Sennet was decommissioned on December 02, 1968.
Almost 57 years have passed since then, and our ranks have been drastically thinned by old age, poor health, and death. Two years ago 18 crew members mustered for Sennet’s reunion. This year only 11 crew members answered the call. Likely very few would be able to attend a future reunion.
It’s time to decommission the Sennet Reunion Organization.
There are no plans for future Sennet Reunions after this September.
U-Boats in World War II
There is a really interesting and informative web site at https://uboat.net. Here are a few tidbits I gleaned from it:
- The average age of u-boat commanders on patrol in WWII was 28 years old.
- The youngest commander on patrol was Ludwig-Ferdinand von Friedeburg on U-155. He got underway on Sept 9, 1944 and was only 20 years, 111 days old. There was another 20 year old u-boat commander and six that were only 21 years old. All of these came late in the war when Germany was short on manpower.
- The oldest commander on patrol was Bruno Mahn on UD-5 (ex Dutch submarine). He got underway on Aug 30, 1942 and was 54 years, 270 days old. Two other commanders were in their 50’s.
- Otto Kretschmer, the top u-boat ace, sank 47 ships (274,418 tons) and damaged 5 ships (37,965 tons). In March 1941 his luck ran out. His boat, U-99, was badly damaged in a depth charge attack. He managed to surface the boat and save all but 3 of his crew. He was taken prisoner and spent 6 ½ years in allied captivity. He returned to Germany in 1947, and in 1955 Otto Kretschmer joined the Federal German Navy. He retired in 1970 with the rank of Admiral of the Fleet. He died in the summer of 1998 following an accident while on vacation.
- Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat on U-196 (a long range type IXD2) holds the record for the longest war patrol. He left Kiel, GE in Mar 1943, patrolled the South Atlantic and Pacific and returned to Bordeaux, FR in Oct 1943 (225 days). In May while on patrol, he fired two torpedoes at a target off South Africa, but only one torpedo launched, leaving the other lodged in its tube armed and ready to detonate. The potentially catastrophic hazard was removed by diving the boat at a steep angle until it slid out of the tube. During all this, convoy escorts dropped four depth charges on the boat, but without causing any damage.
- Admiral Karl Dönitz, commander of the U-boat force, estimated he needed 300 U-boats to defeat the Allies (100 in repairs and training, 100 in transit to/from op areas, and 100 in actual combat zones). When the war started in Sept 1939 he only had 26 ocean going U-boats. In Aug 1942, 3 years after the war began, the number of U-boats at sea reached 100 for the first time (some of these boats were inbound or outbound from bases). For the next 11 months the number rarely dipped below 100, reaching as high as 159 boats at sea in Apr 1943. In early Jun 1944 over 100 U-boats were at sea at the same time for 10 consecutive days, then the number dipped below 90, never again reaching its former strength.
- The U-505 was captured in June 1944 and is on display in the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. She has an interesting bit of history that probably is not mentioned in the museum’s description. The U-505 made a total 12 patrols under three different commanders. While outbound on patrol ten, east of the Azores in Oct. 1943, U-505 came under heavy depth charge attack. Peter Zschech, her commander, apparently broke down and took his own life with his service pistol in the control room of the boat. The second in command, Paul Mayer (26 years old), took command, evaded the pursuers and returned the boat to Lorient, FR in Nov. 1943. This is the only known case during the war.
From The Quartermaster's Notebook
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:
EM2(SS) James L. Brannon (1962-1963) departed May 08,
2025.
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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