Heritage Officials Honor Submariners on 'Eternal Patrol'

In a wreath-laying and memorial service Sunday afternoon in Vallejo honored U.S. Navy submariners and submariners who died in service, officials with the Mare Island Heritage Trust said.

The free event started at 1:30 p.m.on Mare Island beginning at Commander Dudley W. “Mush” Morton Field, organizers said.

This is the ninth year for the event held on Mare Island where shipbuilders built 23 WWII submarines and seven of those are on ‘eternal patrol’, organizers said. The seven had 575 crewmembers on board, according to organizers.

The seven lost ships are the USS Pompano, USS Swordfish, USS Gudgeon, USS Trigger, USS Wahoo, USS Tullibee and USS Tang, organizers said. October is the month the USS Wahoo and USS Tang disappeared, according to organizers.

Navy officials said in 2006 they found the USS Wahoo off Hokkaido, a Japanese island.

--Bay City News Service