This is a memorial to the USS Barbel, a lost submarine from World War Two. The memorial is located at the Oregon Trail Veterans Cemetery south of Evansville, Wyoming.
The memorial is a surprising one for a Wyoming memorial, and I don't know what, if any, connection this submarine had with the state.
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U.S. Submarine Memorial.
I found your post while looking for photos of USS Barbel's memorial. Thank you for posting it.
ReplyDeleteYou asked the question, what, if any, connection does USS Barbel have to the state of Wyoming. The answer is, "perhaps nothing."
In the mid-1950's the United States Submarine Veterans of WWII decided to assign one of the 52 lost boats to each U.S. State to build a memorial for that boat and her crew. (N.Y. and CA got two each since they were the most populous state.) Beyond that, how and why each state "drew" the submarine they are responsible for is not known to me, but USS Barbel was assigned to the state of Wyoming.
Which at least partially answers your question of "Why is this here?"
Thank you for posting these photos and this memorial to Barbel's men, lost 67 years ago today (2.4.1945)
R.J. Hughes
Author, Surviving the Flier
ussflierproject.com
Thank you for commenting on the memorial and for providing details about this lost boat. I noted your blog provided added details, which was very interesting to read.
ReplyDeleteI am very interested in USA submsrines lost in the WWII. Thank you for your gallery!
ReplyDeleteI work with the brother of of one of these brave men, he recently honored me with allowing me to read his family's correspondence with him and then the USN after the USS BARBEL went missing, amazing to tie all this history together.
ReplyDeleteIf you could share any of the details on what you learned from that correspondence, we'd love to read it.
ReplyDeleteGenealogy Profile Link: RM3 Bernard Elton Duesler crew member of: USS Barbel (SS-316) http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Duesler-59
ReplyDeleteUSS Barbel (SS-316) Crew Member Genealogy Profiles: RM3 Bernard Elton Duesler http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Duesler-59 . MoMM3 Darrell Kentral Carnahan http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Carnahan-265 .
ReplyDeleteThanks for the added information on a crewman of the USS Barbel, and my apologies for the delay in approving the post for publication.
ReplyDeleteAs a US Navy Submariner, this lifts my spirits to see past brothers of the phin memorialized. I toll 54 bells every year in April during the birthday of the US subforce and to remember those still on eternal patrol.
ReplyDeleteThere is a website called oneternalpatrol.com that honors the memory of all the brave submariners who gave their lives during WWII. Unfortunately, some of these men have no photos to grace their memorial. If one of your family members perished during the war, please send their picture to the website.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe I found this site. I've been Googling random things all night. I was actually named after my great uncle, MoMM2 Otto Miles Peckins (some in the family spell it "Peckins and other factions spell it "Peckens". My mother gave me my middle name of Miles in his honor. I can't wait to tell her about this site. I know we have old photos and letters while at sea, along with a brief history we can send. I will be sure to get it to you. Thank you again!
ReplyDeleteI should have replied with thanks when you posted this item, my apologies for not doing so. having said that, I appreciate teh family recollection, which makes this tragedy all the more real for us today.
DeleteThank you for posting this. I stumbled across this post after checking on the status of the Lost 52 Project which is searching for the final resting place of lost subs to include the USS Barbel. My grandfather, Gunner's Mate, Third Class William Grinn Stewart perished onboard and his name is listed on the memorial. My father never knew him as he passed away while my father was a baby and our last names are different as my father was adopted by his stepfather. Thanks again for posting. -Major B. Smith, US Air Force
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting on our blog. It's heart rending, to say the least, to realize how these losses, which occurred so long ago, reverberate to this day.
DeleteMy Uncle was LTJG David William Burton, lost on the Barbel.
ReplyDeleteMy great uncle was also on this ship. They were so young
ReplyDeleteThere is a memorial of Barbel at the USS Batfish/Submarine museum in Muskogee, Ok
ReplyDelete