Bell Tolling Ceremony held for Lost Submariners
By MC2 Ronald Gutridge
COMSUBPAC Public Affairs

Release Date: 8/11/2010

(PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii) – The monthly tradition of a bell-tolling ceremony was held at the Submarine Memorial Chapel, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam today, to perpetuate the memory of the submariners and the submarines that were lost in the month of Aug. throughout World War II.

Submariners past and present gathered to honor and remember their costly sacrifices for our nation. Cmdr. David Bynum, Naval Submarine Support Command Chaplain, spoke in memory of the five submarines that were lost: USS Bullhead (SS 332), USS Flier (SS 250), USS S-39 (SS 144), USS Harder (SS 257) and USS Cochin (SS 345).

"This ceremony is dedicated to those gallant Sailors who made the supreme sacrifice for their country while performing their duties with honor, integrity and courage," said Bynum. "Today we are here to pay tribute to the submarines that are on eternal patrol."

The bell that hangs in the steeple of the Submarine Memorial Chapel, and tolled in remembrance, was donated from the crew of USS Argonaut (SS-166) right before her last patrol, one she never returned from. On Jan.10, 1943 the entire crew of 105 was lost as the submarine was sunk by Japanese destroyers.