Weeda Stamps: News


FOX TALES ON STAMPS Edition #487 Friday, January 08, 2010
USS Bowfin
	On an early December morning we went down to Pearl Harbour and visited the submarine SS-287, the USS Bowfin. The Bowfin, also known as the "Pearl Harbor Avenger" was launched on December 7th, 1942, the one year anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. After a stellar WWII career and post-war service she was struck from the Navy list in December 1971. The Bowfin was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1986 and is now part of the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum and Park. To read more on the Bowfin, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Bowfin_(SS-287). The Bowfin's battle flag records the nationalities of the ships it sank. The dock and bus pictured at the bottom of the flag refer to the victims of her more audacious adventures. On the shore next to the docked Bowfin is a memorial dedicated to the 52 US submarines sunk during WWII and the over 3,500 dead sailors and officers. Just to add a bit of a philatelic flavour, here's a cacheted cover commemorating the launching of the Bowfin. This is a Bowfin, the fish that the submarine was named for. It is a primitive fresh water North American species. An aggressive and voracious predator, it lives in the lower Great Lakes and upper Mississippi area. The secondary deck gun on the Bowfin was a rapid fire 40 mm. It was used as anti-aircraft defence and as an auxilliary gun for surface targets. The main deck armament on the Bowfin was a four inch 50 calibre deck gun. This gun, designed specifically to be submerged, was to be employed on smaller surface targets not worthy of or appropriate for torpedoes. The Bowfin had six forward firing torpedo tubes. The forward torpedo room is a shrine to polished brass. The officers had their own separate wardroom. Here they could convene in a more private setting for meals, drinks and business. The captains cabin was the only solo accommodation on the boat. Gauges were placed at the foot of the captain's bed so he could immediately know the boat's disposition at a glance. Here is the Duty Officer's desk and typewriter. Not too far removed from a modern day office cubicle. Here are the large wheels that controlled the angle of the diving planes. You can see that there are speed handles that are strapped in the closed position on each wheel. These would have facilitated emergency diving or manoeuvering. The Bowfin had a crew of 10 officers and 70 enlisted men. The kitchen is very well laid out for such a small space. I wonder how they kept the plates from flying off the shelves in rough seas or combat. The mess looks as if it could serve two dozen at any one sitting. Note the stainless steel lips around the edges of the tables to keep the plates on (and to stop spilled hot coffee from landing in anyone's lap). The benches are on rollers so they can be tucked away when not in use. The radio room was a very important part of the submarine. Information on enemy convoys could be received either through high frequency or very low frequency radio waves. This is the generator and battery panel which allowed the engineers to manage the charging of the batteries and current to the electric motors. With an enlisted complement of 70 crewmen and very limited space, crew members practiced "hot bunking" where two or three sailors would use the same bunk in shifts. As the mattress was usually still warm from the previous occupant, it was indeed a "hot" bunk. During a patrol, as the torpedoes and supplies were expended, the interior of the submarine became a bit less crowded. This is the airlock and escape trunk. This was the way that the submarine could be exited or entered while submerged. The Bowfin also had four stern torpedo tubes. These were usually brought to bear when the submarine had already made an attack using the forward tubes and was retiring from the scene. Although this photograph isn't particularly clear, as the model was behind glass, it is a highly detailed cutaway of the Bowfin. Not only did it give us more context to the parts of the boat we visited, it also allowed us to see areas that we did not have access to. This is a view of the Bowfin from the Arizona Memorial. In the distance behind the submarine you can see the Aloha Stadium which seats 50,000 fans.
The Salvation Army Quiz
	Thanks to P.F. for this new quiz idea. We show you a head of state or famous person from a stamp without revealing what country he or she is from. You guess the name of the person. Send us an email with your answer. For every correct answer we will donate $1.00 to our favourite charity, the Salvation Army. Click here to go to the The Salvation Army International Home Page to see what services they offer to communities around the world.