USS Trigger (SS-237) - San Diego, CA
Posted by: 
Metro2
N 32° 44.226 W 117° 12.688
11S E 480187 N 3622162
This memorial records the names about 89 men who were lost when the sub was apparently sunk by the Japanese on March 28, 1945.
Waymark Code: WMT2V5
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 09/15/2016
Views: 1
This Memorial is one of dozens at San Diego's Liberty Station Park.
The memorial has a photo of the vessel..a submarine and provides a history which Wikipedia (
visit link) echoes:
" USS Trigger (SS-237) was a Gato-class submarine, the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the triggerfish.
Trigger's keel was laid down on 1 February 1941 at Mare Island, California, by the Mare Island Navy Yard. She was launched on 22 October 1941 (sponsored by Mrs. Walter N. Vernou), and commissioned on 30 January 1942, with Lieutenant Commander Jack H. Lewis (US Naval Academy Class of 1927) in command.
The submarine sailed for Hawaii on 22 May and reached Pearl Harbor the following week. She sortied for Midway Island with Task Group 7.2 (TG 7.2) on 29 May in anticipation of a Japanese attack on that island. Her station during the ensuing Battle of Midway was northeast of Midway, and she remained there without contacting any enemy shipping until she was ordered back to Pearl Harbor on 9 June...
Trigger (with new skipper Commander David R. Connole) stood out to sea on 11 March to begin her 12th war patrol and headed for the Nansei Shoto area. On 18 March, she attacked a convoy west of the islands, sinking the cargo ship Tsukushi Maru No.3 and damaging another. She reported the attack on 20 March, and the submarine was subsequently ordered to radio as many movements of the convoy as possible to help find a safe passage through a known mined area of the East China Sea. On 24 March, Trigger was ordered to begin patrolling west of the islands the next day, outside the 100 fathom curve, and to steer clear of restricted areas. On 26 March, she was ordered to join a wolf pack called "Earl's Eliminators" and to acknowledge receipt of the message. A weather report came from the submarine that day but no confirmation of her having received the message. The weather report was Trigger's last transmission. On 4 April, she was ordered to proceed to Midway, but she had not arrived by 1 May and was reported as presumed lost.
Postwar records indicate she torpedoed and sank the repair ship Odate on 27 March. The next day, Japanese planes and ships joined in a two-hour attack on a submarine heard by Silversides, Sea Dog (SS-401), Hackleback (SS-295), and Threadfin (SS-410) in adjacent areas. Threadfin was the only one of these submarines attacked that day, and she reported hearing many depth charges and several heavy explosions east of her after the attack on her ceased. Postwar Japanese records showed a Japanese aircraft detected and bombed a submarine on 28 March 1945. Kaibokan Mikura, CD-33, and CD-59 were then guided to the spot and delivered an intensive depth charging. After two hours, a large oil slick appeared.
Trigger was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 11 July 1945."