USS Somers Crewmembers Association

Happy Easter to all former Somers shipmates, their families and friends!

During this "Stay at Home" time I have spent the last 8 weeks designing a new Somers Challenge Coin to more accurately depict the history of "SOMERS." This new, larger Challenge Coin is explained in the attached. Somers 1st coin was 1-1/2", was 3/32" thick and weighed 1.1 ounces. The new coin is 2", is nearly 3/16" thick, weighs in at 2 ounces & is solid bronze. I have an initial order in for 100 coins that will be arriving very soon. The cost will be $21.50 each plus shipping, $1.50 more than our first coin. See the attached description and photos of the new and our first coin. The photos are a little blurry but the coins are clear and sharp. (Photos were taken with phone). I will send an email to you to respond and to take orders.

Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page. Seal of the US Department of Veterans Affairs Your VA Claim Exam, Compensation and Pension Greetings,...Continue reading

Thank you veterans for your service and sacrifices

This Day In Naval History - Nov. 19 1813 - Capt. David Porter, commander of the man-of-war Essex, claims the Marquesas Islands for the U.S. In the following weeks, he establishes a base to overhaul Essex and builds a fort. 1943 - USS Nautilus (SS 168) enters Tarawa lagoon for the first submarine photograph reconnaissance mission. It is later damaged by friendly fire from USS Santa Fe (CL 60) and USS Ringgold (DD 500) off Tarawa because due to the mission, Nautilus presence wa...s unknown to the vessels. 1943 - USS Sculpin (SS 191) is damaged by the Japanese and abandoned by her crew. Forty-one Sailors are taken as POWs, 21 of whom are taken on Japanese carrier Chuyo that is later sunk by USS Sailfish (SS 192). 1944 - USS Conklin (DE 439) and USS McCoy Reynolds (DE 440) sink the Japanese submarine I-37 100 miles west of Palaus. 1969 - Navy astronauts Cmdr. Charles Conrad, Jr. and Cmdr. Alan L. Bean become the third and fourth men to walk on the moon as part of the Apollo 12 mission.

This Day In Naval History - Nov. 18 1889 - The battleship Maine launches at the New York Navy Yard. 1922 - In a PT seaplane, Cmdr. Kenneth Whiting makes the first catapult launching from an aircraft carrier at anchor, USS Langley (CV 1), in the York River.... 1943 - USS Bluefish (SS 222) sinks the Japanese destroyer Sanae and damages the oiler Ondo 90 miles south of Basilan Island. 1944 - USS Blackfin (SS 322) diverts from her war patrol and picks up captured Japanese cryptographic and technical equipment, along with other secret documents, west of Camurong River on the north coast of Mindoro, Philippines. 1944 - USS Peto (SS 265), USS Spadefish (SS 411), and USS Sunfish (SS 281) attack the same Japanese convoy in the East China. Peto sinks army cargo ships Aisakasan Maru and Chinkai Maru. Spadefish sinks auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 156 and Sunfish sinks army transport Seisho Maru. 1962 - USS Currituck (AV 7) rescues 13 Japanese fishermen from their disabled fishing boat Seiyu Maru, which was damaged in Typhoon Karen. 2017 - The U.S. Navy's Undersea Rescue Command (URC) deploys to Argentina to support the South American nation's search for the Argentinean Navy submarine A.R.A. San Juan in the Southern Atlantic. The boat went missing on Nov. 15. The Argentinian Navy called off the ensuing rescue mission on Nov. 30 and shifted its focus to locating the boat and determining the cause of its disappearance.

This Day In Naval History - Nov. 17 1847 - During the Mexican-American War, 17 Marines and 50 Sailors from the sloop-of-war Dale land at Guaymas, Mexico. The Americans are pinned down in a brief fire-fight and their commander is seriously wounded before the defenders dispersed. 1863 - The screw sloop Monongahela escorts Army troops and covers their landing on Mustang Island, Texas while her Sailors shell Confederate works until the defenders surrender.... 1917 - USS Fanning (DD 37) and USS Nicholson (DD 52) sink the first German submarine, U-58, off Milford Haven, Wales, upon entering World War I. 1941 - Congress amends the Neutrality Act to allow U.S. merchant ships to be armed. 1944 - TBMs (VC-82) from escort carrier USS Anzio (CVE 57) and USS Lawrence C. Taylor (DE 415) sink Japanese submarine I-26 in the Philippine Sea while USS Spadefish (SS 411) sinks escort carrier Shinyo in the Yellow Sea. 1958 - USNS Chain (T AGOR 17), the first of the Navys new oceanographic research ships, is placed in service and serves with the Military Sea Transportation Service. 2018 - USS Sioux City (LCS 11) was commisiioned during a ceremony at the U.S. Naval Academy. The Freedom-variant is the Navy's 13th littoral combat ship to enter the fleet and the sixth of the Freedom variant.

This Day In Naval History - Nov. 16 1776 - The first salute of an American flag (Grand Union Flag) by a foreign power is rendered by the Dutch at St. Eustatius, West Indies in reply to a salute by the Continental ship Andrew Doria. 1798 - The warship Baltimore is halted by the British off Havana, intending to impress Baltimores crew who could not prove American citizenship. Fifty-five seamen are imprisoned though 50 are later freed.... 1942 - USS Woolsey (DD 437), USS Swanson (DD 443), and USS Quick (DD 490) sink the German submarine U-173 off Casablanca, French Morocco. 1963 - President John F. Kennedy, on board USS Observation Island (EAG 154), witnesses the launch of Polaris A-2 missile by USS Andrew Jackson (SSBN 619). 1973 - Skylab 4 is launched and recovery is performed by USS New Orleans (LPH 11).

This Day In Naval History - Nov. 15 1836 - Under the command of Lt. Henry H. Bell, the sloop-of-war Saint Louis conducts an exploratory expedition along the coast of Florida with four boats and 70 men. 1863 - Fort Moultrie opens a heavy evening bombardment on Union Army positions at Cummings Point, S.C., which also results in the Union monitor Lehigh running aground. Still under Confederate fire in the morning, the monitor Nahant is able to release her. Five sailors from Lehi...gh receive Medals of Honor for their heroic line work that frees their ship. 1932 - USS Indianapolis (CA 35) is commissioned. Toward the end of WWII, the Indianapolis was torpedoed by Japanese submarine I 58 in the Philippine Sea. Of the 1,196 crewmen aboard, approximately 300 went down with the ship. The remaining sailors faced exposure, dehydration, and shark attacks while floating with few lifeboats and almost no food or water. 880 lives were lost. 1942 - Navy SBDs (VS-10) and TBFs (VT-10), Marine Corps SBDs (VMSB-132), and Marine Corps and Army coast artillery and gunfire from USS Meade (DD 602) sink four Japanese transports off the northern coast of Guadalcanal. 1943 - USS Crevalle (SS 291) sinks Japanese army cargo ship Kyokko Maru off San Antonio, Zambales province, Philippines. 1944 - USS Frament (DE 677), while escorting captured Italian submarine Luigi Settembrini, collides with the sub 685 miles west of Gibraltar. Frament is damaged but Luigi Settembrini sinks. Frament rescues 14 survivors. 1944 - USS Barbel (SS 316) attacks a Japanese convoy about 250 miles east of Tourane, French Indochina, sinks transports Misaki Maru and Sugiyama Maru, then escapes searches by minesweepers W.18 and W.20. USS Batfish (SS 310) sinks Japanese supply ship Kurasaki north-northwest of Cape Bolinao while USS Jack (SS 259) sinks transports Nichiel Maru and No.2 Yuzan Maru.

This Day In Naval History - Nov. 14 1864 - During the Civil War, Acting Master Lothrop Wight and Acting Ensign Frederick W. Mintzer explore Confederate naval dispositions above Dutch Gap on James River, Va. Work on the Dutch Gap would allow Union gunboats to bypass the obstructions at Trents Reach. Wight and Mintzer provide valuable information regarding the positions of the Confederate ships and troops. 1906 - President Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first president to visit... a foreign country while in office, traveling to Panama onboard USS Louisiana (BB 19). 1910 - Civilian Eugene Ely pilots the first aircraft to take-off from a warship, USS Birmingham (CL 2) at Hampton Roads, Va. 1943 - USS Narwhal (SS 167) delivers 46 tons of ammunition and stores, disembarks a Navy officer at Nasipit, Mindanao and embarks 32 evacuees, which include eight women, two children, and a baby, who are transported to Darwin, Australia. 1944 - USS Jack (SS 259) attacks a Japanese convoy off Cape Padaran, French Indochina and sinks the freighter Hinaga Maru, while USS Raton (SS 270) attacks a Japanese convoy off the northwest coast of Luzon and sinks the merchant tanker No.5 Unkai Maru. Lastly, USS Ray (SS 271) sinks Japanese Coast Defense Vessel No.7 65 miles northwest of Cape Bolinao.

This Day In Naval History - Nov. 06 See 1941 BELOW: 1851 - The U.S. Navy expedition under Lt. William L. Herndon, which was exploring the Amazon valley and its tributaries, reaches Iquitos in the jungle region of the upper Amazon. The expedition covers 4,366 miles from Lima, Peru to Para, Brazil.... 1941 - USS Omaha (CL 4) and USS Somers (DD 381) intercept the German blockade runner Odenwald disguised as a U.S. freighter and board her after the German crew abandon the ship. They bring the ship to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where the boarding party is awarded salvage shares. 1942 - The first officer and enlisted WAVES from training schools report for shore duty at installations around the United States. 1951 - A P2V-3 Neptune patrol bomber assigned to Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron One (VQ-1) is attacked by two Soviet La-2 fighters over the Sea of Japan, about 18 miles from the Soviet coast near Vladivostok. All 10 crewmen are lost. Three days of search and rescue operations revealed no trace of them and they are declared deceased by the Navy in 1952. 1967 - Helicopters from USS Coral Sea (CVA 43) rescue the 37-man crew of Liberian freighter Royal Fortunes after she runs aground on a reef in the Gulf of Tonkin.

We are saddened to announce the loss of our shipmate, Jerry Daugherty, BT, DD947, Plank Owner, 1959-1960. Jerry was a member of the USS Somers Crewmembers Association since 2013. May he rest in peace with Fair Winds & Following Seas! Bob Plante Administrator... USS Somers Crewmembers Association See more