The US submarine S-26 (SS-131) was lost on January 24, 1942, when it was accidentally rammed by the US subchaser PC-460 in the Gulf of Panama, 14 miles west of San Jose Light. Lost with the submarine were 46 officers and crewmen.

There was so much going on in January of 1942 that the world little noticed the tragedy of the US Submarine S-26. The families of the lost men were deeply touched, I'm sure, as were those who were involved in the attempted rescue efforts.

We can compare and contrast the coverage of the loss of S-26 to that of the recent loss of the Russian submarine KURSK. In the first, a handful of ships and their crews vainly worked to locate the missing sub. When they had some communications with her, it only served to deepen their frustration and feelings of helplessness. In the recent tragedy, we watched live world-wide video coverage from both above and beneath the water, heard moment-by-moment descriptions of the efforts to reach the submariners trapped beneath the waves. In the end, though, the outcome was the same - a crew that could not be reached in time to be helped. We mourn the loss of both crews, and indeed, of all who are lost at sea, past and present, of all countries.

PC-460 started life as the yacht ELDA, 154', 380 T., built in 1930 by Consolidated Shipbuilding Corp. in Morris Heights, New York. In 1940 the US Navy acquired the yacht from Mr. Arthur Davis of New York City and converted it to a Patrol Craft for war duty, giving her the designation PC-460. She arrived in the Panama Canal Zone area on 13 November, 1940. She was operating at night with a number of submarines, including S-26, in the eastern (Pacific) approaches to the Panama Canal. The submarines were running on the surface, and PC-460 signalled that she was leaving the group. Apparently, only one of the subs received the message, however. PC-460 turned, cutting deeply into the pressure hull of S-26 and sinking her. Only the two men on the sub's conning tower survived, being thrown clear. The patrol craft was badly damaged also, and limped from the area, leaving other ships to attempt a rescue/salvage opoeration.

Photo courtesy of Ernst Reustle

One of the first on scene was USS BARRY (DD-248). In Balboa at the time of the accident, she was dispatched immediately to aid in the search. My father was present, aboard BARRY. He reports in his journal that two message buoys were found, on January 25th and 26th. The first buoy contained the message that 36 men were alive in the central compartment on the sub. By January 27th, however, it was evident that no one was going to be able to reach them, and that they were most likely all dead by then.

No, this is not an event that centers on four stack destroyers, although there were several on scene in the search and rescue attempt. Rather, it is a tale of the emotions that one seaman has for all other sailors - a common bond that transcends rating, ship type, and even nationalities. My father was deeply moved by this experience. I think his emotions alternated between sadness and angry frustration. He often spoke of this tragedy, telling me of it again just months before his passing in 1998. There was talk of the CO of PC-460 being incompetent, drunk, emotionally unstable. There was the frustration of being just a few hundred feet away from the men below, and powerless to help them. There was the trauma of reading messages written by those men, yet not being able to communicate hope to them.

Now we've seen this tragedy replayed on our TVs, in our living rooms, in real-time. Now we have experienced for ourselves the sadness that those four-stacker sailors felt in the warm waters off Panama in 1942.

Excerpts from my father's Journal from the time of this incident:

This page, and all contents, are Copyright (C) 2000 by Kenn Anderson,Sr., Scranton, PA. (USA)