USS R-12 (SS 89) - Seal Beach, CA - World War II Memorials / Monuments on Waymarking.com

The advancement of the submarine is a long and proud chapter in the history of the U.S. Navy. Through the efforts of the California Center for Military History and U.S. Submarine Veterans, a large memorial recognizes the name and crew of each submarine lost in World War II. The "World War II National Submarine Memorial - West" is located just outside the gate to the Naval Weapons Station in Seal Beach. Bronze plaques identify the officers and men that gave their lives during the war. The plaques surround a central display consisting of a torpedo, flag, and time capsule. Groundbreaking for the memorial took place on January 13, 1977.

(The following is from the Naval Historical Center's Web site; link appears below.)

R-12 (Lieutenant Commander E. E. Shelby) was lost between 1220 and 1225 on 12 June 1943 at Latitude 24° 24'30" North and Longitude 81° 38'30" West in six hundred feet of water with the loss of forty two lives. The personnel on the bridge, two officers including the Commanding Officer, and three enlisted men were the only survivors. Those missing consisted of four U.S. Naval officers, two Brazilian Naval officers and thirty-six U.S. Naval enlisted men.

At the time of the accident R-12 was engaged in normal operations off Key West, Florida, being underway to take up her position for a torpedo practice approach. She was rigged for diving (except main induction was open and batteries were ventilating into the engine room) and riding the vents. The Commanding Officer was on the bridge in the act of turning the Officer of the Deck watch over to another officer when the collision alarm was sounded from below and the report that the forward battery compartment was flooding was passed to the bridge. Although the Commanding Officer gave immediate orders to blow main ballast and close the hatches, the ship sank in an estimated fifteen seconds from the time the alarm was sounded until the bridge was completely under water.

It was the opinion of the Court of Inquiry that the cause of the loss of R-12 was unknown but probably was the rapid flooding of the forward part of the ship through a torpedo tube.

Property Permission: Public Access instructions: Park in the lot just off the main entrance to the Naval Weapons Station Access times: From: 12:00 AM To: 11:59 PM Website for Waymark: [Web Link] Location of waymark: 800 Seal Beach Boulevard Seal Beach, CA USA 90740 Commemoration: USS R-12 Date of Dedication: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   04/18/2010 senoritafish visited it