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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive
Patch contributed by Mike Smolinski

Trigger (SS-237)
Post War

Radio Call Sign: November - Charlie - Charlie - Foxtrot
To Additional Pages

Keel Laying - Commissioning
Active Service - Loss

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.
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Trigger 423k Article on the Posthumous Award for David Connole to his wife Vida and son Rick on Trigger's (SS-237) exploits at Nansei Shoto 11 March 1945. Article appeared in the Salisbury Advertiser, 8 August 1946.
 USN photo courtesy of Rick Connole, son of Commander David R. Connole, K.I.A. while commanding the Trigger (SS-237), lost with the entire crew of 89 on 28 March 1945.
Trigger 245k Vice Admiral Aubery Fitch presents a Posthumous Award for David Connole to his wife Vida and son Rick on Trigger's (SS-237) exploits at Nansei Shoto 11 March 1945.
USN photo & text courtesy of Rick Connole, son of Commander David R. Connole, K.I.A. while commanding the Trigger (SS-237), lost with the entire crew of 89 on 28 March 1945.
Trigger 164k Doctor Mom Chung, Ned Beach, former XO of Trigger (SS-237), Vida Connole and Roy Benson Trigger's (SS-237) former CO, on the occasion of the presentation of a replica of Trigger's "battle" flag to the USNA Museum, April 1947. This flag is still on display at the Museum. This also the day that Vida and Roy met, they started dating and were married one year later (in the USNA chapel). Roy later adopted me and was an excellent father.
BTW, Roy and Vida are buried in the USNA cemetery, near the grave of Ned Beach, and not far from Beach Hall (USNI, former USNA hospital).
USN photo & text courtesy of Rick Connole, son of Commander David R. Connole, K.I.A. while commanding the Trigger (SS-237), lost with the entire crew of 89 on 28 March 1945.
Trigger 800k After 64 years, Rick Connole is proud that the Trigger (SS-237) campaign flag is still on display. This flag was presented to the USNA Museum in April 1946 by Mom Chung and former Trigger officers. Photo & text courtesy of Rick Connole, son of Commander David R. Connole,K.I.A. while commanding the Trigger (SS-237), lost with the entire crew of 89 on 28 March 1945.
Photo added 12/22/10.
Trigger 260k A pair of CO's hold Trigger's (SS-237) Battle Flag; Roy Benson, Trigger's second CO on left, & Jack Lewis, her first CO on the right. Picture taken in April 1947 related to the memorial presentation of the flag to the USNA museum.
USN photo & text courtesy of Rick Connole, son of Commander David R. Connole, K.I.A. while commanding the Trigger (SS-237), lost with the entire crew of 89 on 28 March 1945.
Trigger2.90mTwo Page PDF article by Capt. Ned Beach of a New London, Conn 1951 newspaper article entitled "The Story behind the story of submarine Trigger (SS-564). Courtesy of Rick Connole, son of Commander David R. Connole, K.I.A. while commanding the Trigger (SS-237), lost with the entire crew of 89 on 28 March 1945.
Trigger 170k Article written by Capt. Ned Beach which appeared in the U.S. Naval Proceedings, Sept 2002 in the Publisher's Page, detailing his early experiences aboard the Trigger (SS-237).
Courtesy of Rick Connole, son of Commander David R. Connole, K.I.A. while commanding the Trigger (SS-237), lost with the entire crew of 89 on 28 March 1945.
Trigger 154k PDF article written by Capt. Ned Beach which appeared in the U.S. Naval Proceedings, April 1957 entitled "Unlucky in June, Hiyo meets Trigger (SS-237)."
Courtesy of Rick Connole, son of Commander David R. Connole, K.I.A. while commanding the Trigger (SS-237), lost with the entire crew of 89 on 28 March 1945.
Trigger 108k PDF article of the Trigger (SS-237) Sea Classics series detailing the boat's history with numerous photos, by Charles H. Bogart.
Courtesy of Rick Connole, son of Commander David R. Connole, K.I.A. while commanding the Trigger (SS-237), lost with the entire crew of 89 on 28 March 1945.
Trigger 170k PDF article written by Capt. Ned Beach which appeared in the U.S. Naval Proceedings, Sept 2002 in the Publisher's Page.
Courtesy of Rick Connole, son of Commander David R. Connole, K.I.A. while commanding the Trigger (SS-237), lost with the entire crew of 89 on 28 March 1945.
Trigger 315k Legendary WWII submarine commander, retired Capt. Edward L. "Ned" Beach, Jr., died 1 Dec. 2002 at his Washington, D.C. home. In addition to his superb naval career, he was an accomplished author and wrote, among many other works, the globally acclaimed piece of literature, "Run Silent, Run Deep" in 1955. The novel was made into a popular movie starring Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster. In an interview with All Hands Magazine, a U.S. Navy internal information periodical, he didn't like the movie because it wasn't true to the Navy that I saw and tried to describe." Beach is survived by his wife Ingrid, three children, and four grandchildren. U.S. Navy photo # N-0000B-001, courtesy of the U.S. Naval Institute / news.navy.mil.
Trigger 147k Memorial plaque of the Trigger's (SS-237) crew at Independence Seaport Museum, Philadelphia PA, July 2006. Photo courtesy of Wendell Royce McLaughlin Jr.
View the Trigger (237)
DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Web Site.
Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation
Fleet Reserve Association
Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
USS Trigger SS 237
On Eternal Patrol
ComSubPac Report of loss of USS Trigger (SS 237) March 26 1945 - 89 Men Lost
Trigger (SS-237) model courtesy of David Connole.
Trigger (SS-237) War Patrols on File courtesy of David Connole.
Ep-21 (1) - Victory At Sea ~ Full Fathom Five - HQ
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