Our friend, Claude Hitchcock, Hitch, was stationed at Pearl Harbor in the submarine service on 12-07-1941. They were out at sea. Hitch’s responsibility was to plot and determine when to fire a torpedo. He did this so well that in 1943 they moved him to San Diego to teach others. But back to the gun. We toured a WWII era submarine, the Bowfin, at Pearl Harbor. This gun is mounted on the conning tower of the sub. There are two larger guns aft of this one. Hitch’s sub was surfaced in the South Pacific somewhere. This was a necessary practice as the batteries had to be recharged and diesel powered subs could only do that surfaced. They would travel often on the sea and submerge for attacks or to evade an attack. It was a calm day where no enemy ships had been spotted and the captain let a lot of the men on the deck to get fresh air etc. Suddenly a Zero appeared. It spotted the sub made a big turn and dropped to do a strafing run. Emergency horns sounded and the men were scrambling for the four hatches and the captain was preparing to dive. Hitch climbed into the tower, manned the machine gun and shot down the zero. He was not formally trained in the use of the gun but in the submarine tradition you are given a primer of every other man’s responsibility. Hitch was awarded his first Silver Star for saving the boat. He would earn a second later. It is one of the highest honors the service presents.
Hitch was a wonderful man and a joy to be around. He spoke often of the submarine service, less about his role, but always with respect toward the submariners. His wife, Dottie, is nearing her 100th birthday. Hitch is buried at Arlington Cemetery. Our country was blessed to have men and women like this farm boy from Minnesota who joined the submarine service, cause they ate real well.
This day was really special. I wish everyone had an opportunity to visit Pearl Harbor and soak in the atmosphere of this memorial. More photos soon for National Park unit #319
