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The United States Navy Memorial

Navy Memorial Honoring the Men & Women of the Sea Services

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S-26

Ship Designation: 
SS-131
Date Lost: 
Saturday, January 24, 1942
Collision with PC-460
Under the command of LCdr. E.C. Hawk, submarine S-26 sank following a collision with USS PC-460 at 2223 on January 24,1942, about 14 miles west of San Jose Light in three hundred feet of water, with the loss of 46 men. ... Three survivors, including two officers (one of which was the CO) were on the bridge at the time of the collision and were rescued. One other of the bridge watch, an enlisted man, did not survive. ...The circumstances of the collision were as follows. S-26, in company with S-21 (SS 126), S-29 (SS 134), and S-44 (SS 155) were escorted out from Balboa on January 24, 1942 by USS PC-460. At 2210, PC-540 sent a visual signal to the submarines to proceed on duty assigned, and that she was returning to port. Apparently, only S-21 received this message. Shortly thereafter, PC-540 struck the starboard side of S-26 in the vicinity of the torpedo room and she sank within seconds. Salvage operations began immediately but were unsuccessful due to the depth of water.

Lost At Sea Log

Number of sailors in this log: 42

Name Service Branchsort ascending
EM 2c Glen Anderson USN
Cox Lloyd Love USN
F 1c Steven Rifkin USN
F 2c George Baranick USN
MM 1c Bennie Homic USN
CTM Herbert Shattuck USN
MM 1c Clinton Bauer USN
MM 1c Harry Kassebaum USN
TM 2c William Seibert USN
Sea 2c Alvin Baumbach USN
Matt 1c Nathaniel Johnson USN
CRM John Schmutz USN
Sea 1c William Biebuyck USN
CTM Joseph Gill USN
Ens Harry Taylor USN
Y 1c Harry Brown USN
MM 2c Robert Gamble USN
Ens Joseph Stubbins USN
MM 1c Edwin Burchart USN
RM 3c James Dawson USN

Pages

Prepared by: J.P.O’Hara, CDR, USN (Ret.)