November 2016 Meeting Notes

We began the November meeting with Tolling the Boats lost in November and December, followed by birthday wishes for our members, introductions, and the officer reports.

Old and New Business
Auburn Veterans Day Parade – We started off the business portion of the meeting with a recap of the Auburn Veterans Day Parade (you can see some photos here). As usual, it was a good time. We had four USSVI Bases represented, each with a float, the Silent Service Motorcycle Club (SSMC), and two of our World War II veterans were the parade Grand Marshals. We received a nice thank you from the Auburn Special Events Coordinator and we were awarded the Harold Page Memorial Award for the parade. Because the city only provided one plaque, we voted to purchase three extra plaques and send them out to the other bases. Thanks again to Ric Hedman for helping to organize the parade this year.

Harold Page Memorial Award plaque

Veterans Day Ceremony – Keith Watson also gave a recap of the Veterans Day Ceremony at Tahoma National Cemetery.

Holiday Luncheon – The Seattle Base USSVI Holiday Luncheon is set for Saturday, December 3 at the Meydenbauer Yacht Club in Bellevue WA. It is a great end of year event for all submarine veterans and associates. There is only about a week to reserve your place. The registration form for the event can be found at this link and in the latest issue of the newsletter.

2017 USSVI Calendars – The 2017 USSVI Calendars had not arrived in time for our November meeting. But they will be available at the Holiday Luncheon on December 3, so there is another reason to attend! Be sure to bring along some extra money to pick up your copy.

2017 USSVI calendar cover

Hail and Farewell – Outgoing Sr. Vice Commander John Roberts was on hand to say good-bye to the group before his move to Texas and we had a chance to thank him for all the good work he did while he was with us. We wish all the best to John and his family. This was also Carl Minor’s first meeting as our new Sr. Vice Commander. Carl will also be taking on responsibilities for the Seattle Base’s Kaps for Kids program and our annual Tolling the Boats ceremony.

November Program:
November’s program was an in-depth look at one of our submarine shipmates by Ric Hedman.

Ric Hedman giving his presentation

The story was about Alfred Gustave Prien, the who was watching the “Christmas Tree” control panel during the ill-fated dive of USS Squalus (SS-192) in 1939. Ric started out by talking about what was known of Prien’s early life and that he joined the U.S. Navy in 1932. He went on to talk about Prien’s life. There isn’t much on his early duty stations, but he was at the submarine base at Coco Solo Panama before being ordered to USS Squalus in 1939. After being rescued from the sunken submarine, Prien and other survivors were taken to the hospital, treated, and release as seen fit. After the long inquiry into the sinking, the men were reassigned with Prien going to the USS R-2, which was operating as a submarine school training ship out of Submarine Base, New London. In 1940, Prien got orders back to Portsmouth and to the crew of the new submarine Triton (SS 201). Triton was commissioned two months later. Sea trials and shake down cruises, training exercises and mine laying drills kept Triton in the Portsmouth area until July 1, 1941 where he met his future bride, Mary Marconi. Prien was still on Triton at the start of World War II and would go on to serve on USS Sunfish, USS Queenfish, and USS Trepang during the war. After World War II, Prien let the Navy and settled in Portsmouth, NH. He died in 1957 in a boating accident and is buried in Portsmouth.

Ric also shared a photo of the submarine that were operating in the naval exercise Fleet Problem 14 in 1933. Ric talked about the boats and what the exercise was all about.

The program was an enjoyable look at one of the men that was involved in a historic submarine service event.