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History of the "Lost Boat" memorials for each state
In January 1960 each State Commander of Submarine Veterans of WWII, was requested to select a "Lost Boat" for his state to commemorate. California selected the USS. ARGONAUT. Records are not clear, but according to research, the USS GRAMPUS was assigned or selected to be commemorated by Washington D.C.
Later, at the end of 1984 or early 1985, California agreed to also include the USS GRAMPUS, along with the USS ARGONAUT. Since then, California and New York each have two boats and all other states have one.
How the San Leandro memorial was expanded
When Jim Carpenter, who spent almost 22 years on submarines, became President of the San Francisco Chapter of Submarine Veterans he learned there was no memorial site in California to honor the ARGONAUT and the GRAMPUS. Because he felt we needed to honor those lost crews he started a fund raising campaign to place a memorial at the submarine torpedo memorial in San Leandro. During the year prior to the memorial dedication Carpenter wrote numerous letters, contacting hundreds of submarine veterans all over the United States, and ultimately reaching his goal.
The marble plaques adjacent to the torpedo are inscribed
with the roster of crew members lost on the two submarines.
Complete rosters of lost crew members may be
seen in detail at the SUBNET websites:
Plaques were designed by Jim Carpenter.
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