The people selling it can't even get the boat's name right. For those who were wondering, USS Trigger (SS 237) and her 89 officers and crew have been on eternal patrol since going deep for the last time in March 1945. (I've posted about the Trigger before, in passing on one of my favorite WWII submarine poems.)
While the listing doesn't say who the seller is, I'm assuming it originally got into private hands sometime after the ship was lost; the boat probably left the ceremonial bell behind at home when she went on patrol. The last patrol originated in Guam, but the bell might have been left behind in Pearl before an earlier patrol.
It seems to me, as it does to the crew over at Martini's BBS, that this bell should be in a submarine museum somewhere, rather than in private hands. While I don't think it'd be feasible to get a group together over the Internet to bid on it, I'm wondering if anyone knows the OIC at the Submarine Force Museum in Groton; (I knew the two previous OICs pretty well, but not the new guy). It seems that he should have a pot of money sitting around for use in acquiring important submarine artifacts. So, if anyone knows LCDR Christopher Slawson, you should drop him an E-mail and find out if he plans on bidding. If not, maybe an E-mail campaign to someone (Congressmen? Newspapers? Famous Bloggers?) would be in order...
If anyone else has any good ideas, let me know. The bell goes up for auction on February 1st.
Staying at PD...
Update 2235 15 Jan: I should point out that the link to the auction is also posted over at the daily news round-up at Ultraquiet No More, where we've taken the desk and the chair from The Sub Report for this week for the submarine news roundup watch...
Put this data point in raw news at TheSubReport roundup linked from Rontini's BBS and wrongly posted the Sub's name from the Christie's site, since corrected.
ReplyDeleteGlad you went more in depth in this post I'm in agreement with the Rontini crew, it needs to be in a submarine museum somewhere.
Hey, I found your blog via that fancy feature that let's people see who has common interests, music, books, etc that you do. You came up b/c one of my favorite books is Thunder Below by Fluckey. That was a good read.
ReplyDeleteBack when I was 15 I really had an interest in WW2 subs. I was a tour guide up at the Cobia in WI at the time. But obviously you've seen a few more subs than I have. My interests have shifted more broadly in military history, but I still recall my interest in WW2 subs fondly. Well, really no point to my comment.
I guess I could ask if you have ever been to the Cobia in Manitowoc, WI?
Well, July 3, 2013...Just now hearing about this...Any news on what became of the Trigger's ship's bell? I'm just doing some "web-surfing", and research for building a 1/72scale model of a Gato-class sub...I want to build one that came out of Portsmouth, NH Navy Shipyard...
ReplyDeleteTHANKS!
My Grandfather Lewis Roy Payne was one of the 89 hands lost on the Trigger. What has become of the Trigger's bell?
ReplyDelete