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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Patch contributed by Mike Smolinski

Trigger (SS-237)
Active Service - Loss

Radio Call Sign: November - Charlie - Charlie - Foxtrot

To Additional Pages

Keel Laying - Commissioning
Post War

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is left to right
Presidential Unit Citation (3) - American Campaign Mdeal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (11)

Gato Class Submarine: Laid down, 1 February 1941, at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA.; Launched, 22 October 1941; Commissioned USS Trigger (SS-237), 30 January 1942; Lost to enemy action 28 March 1945, sunk by Japanese in East China Sea, all hands lost; Struck from the Naval Register, 11 July 1945. Trigger was awarded 3 Presidential Unit Citations and received 11 battle stars for her service in World War II.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 1,526 t., Submerged: 2,410 t.; Length 311' 10"; Beam 27' 4"; Draft 15' 3"; Speed, Surfaced 20.25 kts, Submerged 8.75 kts; Complement 6 Officers 54 Enlisted; Maximum Operating Depth, 300 ft; Submerged Endurance, 48 hrs at 2 kts; Patrol Endurance 75 days; Cruising Range, 11,000 miles surfaced at 10 kts; Armament, ten 21" torpedo tubes, six forward, four aft, 24 torpedoes, one 3"/50 dual purpose deck gun, two .50 cal. machine guns, two .30 cal. machine guns; Propulsion, diesel- electric, four Fairbanks-Morse diesel engines, HP 5400, fuel capacity 116,000 gal., four General Electric Co. electric motors, HP 2740, two 126 cell main storage batteries, twin screws.

Size	Image Description	Source
233k	Destroyer *Okikaze* sinking 2-43 viewed through Trigger's (SS-237) periscope.	USN photo courtesy of Rick Connole, son of Commander David R. Connole, K.I.A. while commanding the Trigger (SS-237), 28 March 1945.
378k	Trigger's (SS-237) crew poses for a group photo April 1943 at Pearl Harbor.	USN photo courtesy of Rick Connole, son of Commander David R. Connole, K.I.A. while commanding the Trigger (SS-237), 28 March 1945.
328k	The Trigger (SS-237) crew with battle flag....includes Benson and Beach (first 2 officers pictured on the left). Circa Dec. 1943.	USN photo courtesy of Rick Connole, son of Commander David R. Connole, K.I.A. while commanding the Trigger (SS-237), 28 March 1945.
64k	The Trigger's (SS-237) CO, Lt. Comm. Roy S. Benson, receives a Gold Star in lieu of a second Navy Cross at a ceremony honoring his and *Trigger's* exploits after she arrived at Pearl Harbor on 8 December 1943 following her seventh war patrol.	USN photo courtesy of Rick Connole, son of Commander David R. Connole, K.I.A. while commanding the Trigger (SS-237), 28 March 1945. Partial text courtesy of DANFS.
215k	The Trigger's (SS-237) CO, Lt. Comm. Roy S. Benson, receives a Gold Star in lieu of a second Navy Cross at a ceremony honoring his and *Trigger's* exploits after she arrived at Pearl Harbor on 8 December 1943 following her seventh war patrol. Among the ships damaged or sunk included the aircraft carrier *Hiyo* which limped into Tokyo Bay and was out of action for almost a year.	USN photo courtesy of Rick Connole, son of Commander David R. Connole, K.I.A. while commanding the Trigger (SS-237), 28 March 1945. Partial text courtesy of DANFS.
134k	This close up of the bridge of the Trigger (SS-237), was taken in August 1944 during refit at Mare Island. Details of the compass repeater target bearing transmitter and alarm switches are seen behind the protective venturi shield. The hatch leading to the conning tower is at right on the deck. The pole in the center of the photo is the mast for the "SJ" antenna. This shot was taken from the port lookout platform.	USN photo #19-N-83827. Photo and text courtesy of The Floating Drydock, Fleet Subs of WW II by Thomas F. Walkowiak.
120k	This close up of the fairwater looking aft along the starboard side of the Trigger (SS-237), was taken in August 1944 during refit at Mare Island. The black circles show new items installed during this refit which include "SJ" radar, venturi shield, 4"/50cal.deckgun and searchlight.	USN photo #19-N-83829. Photo and text courtesy of . The Floating Drydock, Fleet Subs of WW II", by Thomas F. Walkowiak.
55k	Trigger (SS-237) probably at Mare Island after her refit, August 1944.	US Navy photo from DANFS Joe Radigan, MACM, USN Ret.
63k	Bows on view of the Trigger (SS-237), date and location unknown.	Courtesy of Silent Victory, by Clay Blair Jr.
159k	Trigger (SS-237) record of ship's kills during her 12 war patrols.	Courtesy of ussubvetsofworldwarii.org
95k	A fleet boat returning from patrol displays a major drawback of pre-WW II U.S. submarines design: light anti-aircraft guns had to be taken out and set up before they could be used. A water-cooled 0.50, the standard prewar weapon, is shown on deck forward of the bridge. This boat may be Trigger (SS-237), whose commanding officer originated the practice (very visible here) of drilling holes at the turn of the deck to let out the air in the superstructure more quickly so as to speed diving.	Photo & text courtesy of U.S. Submarines Through 1945, An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman. Naval Institute Press.
195k	The officers of the Trigger (SS-237) pose for a photo taken onboard in May 1944, possibly at San Francisco. Those identifiable are LT Edward (Ned) Beach Jr. (standing on the far left), the man in the cap to the right of Ned Beach is *Trigger's* then CO, the famous Robert E. "Dusty" Dornin, and I think LCDR F. J. Harlfinger is to his right.	USN Photo # 3177-44, courtesy of Darryl Baker. Partial text courtesy of Pete Donatucci.
458k	Roy S. Benson (CO) scrapbook (officers in Hawaii, bearded officers) with other Trigger (SS-237) mementoes.	USN photo courtesy of Rick Connole, son of Commander David R. Connole, K.I.A. while commanding the Trigger (SS-237), 28 March 1945.
213k	*Coast Defense Vessel No. 17, at Yokohama, 13 April, 1944, representative of two of the class of ships which sank the Trigger* (SS-237), *Coast Defense Vessel No. 33* and *Coast Defense Vessel No. 59, according to Submarines Lost Through Enemy Action*.	Photo from A. J. Watts, "Japanese Warships of World War II", courtesy of Aryeh Weterhorn.
117k	*Awaji, a type B* escort, at Osaka, January, 1944, representative of - the *Mikura, which sank the Trigger* (SS-237). according to Submarines Lost Through Enemy Action.	Photo from A. J. Watts, "Japanese Warships of World War II", courtesy of Aryeh Weterhorn.
347k	Trigger (SS-237) returns to Guam, 17 November 1944.	USN photo courtesy of Rick Connole, son of Commander David R. Connole, K.I.A. while commanding the Trigger (SS-237), 28 March 1945.
635k	I.R. Lloyd drawing of the Trigger (SS-237) being engaged by a Japanese warship, place and date unknown.	USN photo courtesy of Rick Connole, son of Commander David R. Connole, K.I.A. while commanding the Trigger (SS-237), 28 March 1945.
14k	Map showing the general area where the Trigger (SS-237) was at the time of her loss.	Photo courtesy of sailwx.info.
152k	In memory of the Trigger (SS-237)	Photo courtesy of Tom Kermen.
19k	David Rickart Connole, Commander (Commanding Officer) of the Trigger (SS-237) at the time of her loss.	USN photo courtesy of oneternalpatrol.com.
117k	The wife of a World War II U.S. submarine veteran, tosses a flower into a reflecting pool to honor the memory of one of the 52 submarines lost during World War II at the National Submarine Memorial-West on board Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, Calif. On this Veterans Day, the Submarine Veterans of World War II transferred ownership of the memorial to the U.S. Navy. The following text is from The Coming Fury by Bruce Catton., pg. 478. "Major Sullivan Bullen of Illinois was killed in the battle, and just before it he had written to his wife, Sarah, to tell her that he believed he was going to be killed and to express a tremulous faith that could see a gleam of light in the dark: "But O Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth and float unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you in the gladdest days and in the gloomiest nights, always, always, and if there be a soft breeze upon your chest it shall be my breath, as the cool air fans your throbbing temple it shall be my spirit passing by. Sarah, do not mourn me dead; think I am gone and wait, for we shall meet again!"	U.S. Navy photo N-1159B-021 by Journalist 2nd Class Brian Brannon, courtesy of news.navy.mil.
48k	Trigger (SS-237) men at Guam, February 1945. In a little over a month, the boat and crew would be M.I.A. In Memorium: In the Second Book of Shmuel (Samuel), 22nd chapter, 5th through the 20th verses, translated from the original in Hebrew and published by the Koren Publishers of Jerusalem, Israel, 1982, can perhaps aptly describe the fate of the crew and all other U.S. submariners who died defending their county: "When the waves of death compassed me / the floods of ungodly men made me afraid; / the bonds of She'ol encircled me; / the snares of death took me by surprise; / in my distress I called upon the Lord, / and cried to my G-D: / and he heard my voice out of his temple, / and my cry entered into his ears. / Then the earth shook and trembled; /the foundations of heaven moved / and shook because of his anger /...the heavy mass of waters, and thick clouds of the skies /... And the channels of the sea appeared, / the foundations of the world were laid bare, / at the rebuking of the Lord, at the blast at the breath of his nostrils. / He sent from above, he took me; / he drew me out of many waters; / he delivered me from my strong enemy, and from those who hated me; for they were too strong for me. / They surprised me in the day of my calamity: / but the Lord was my stay / He brought me forth also into a large place: / he delivered me because he delighted in me./"	US Navy photo, courtesy of Theodore Roscoe, from his book "U.S. Submarine Operations of WW II", published by USNI.