Sherman Luther SHIRLEY (VETERAN)
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Additional SHIRLEY Surnames in PULASKI County
SHIRLEY, Alta MSHIRLEY, BarbaraSHIRLEY, Bobbie ASHIRLEY, Calvin WSHIRLEY, Connie LynnSHIRLEY, Connie LynnSHIRLEY, Delbert AllenSHIRLEY, Dewell EldridgeSHIRLEY, Dora LeeSHIRLEY, Edna RSHIRLEY, Ernest WayneSHIRLEY, Ernest R.SHIRLEY, Faye E.SHIRLEY, Floy M.SHIRLEY, Florence IreneSHIRLEY, HazelSHIRLEY, Huston C.SHIRLEY, JewelSHIRLEY, Jerry DewayneSHIRLEY, Jim "Bo"SHIRLEY, JimmySHIRLEY, Juanita ElmaSHIRLEY, Juanita MarieSHIRLEY, Kevin AllenSHIRLEY, Lucy M.SHIRLEY, OdealSHIRLEY, Otis LSHIRLEY, Paul JSHIRLEY, Samuel StephenSHIRLEY, Sheridan ASHIRLEY, Thomas AndrewSHIRLEY, Thomas ESHIRLEY, Vera FrancesSHIRLEY, Willie MaeSHIRLEY, William HenrySHIRLEY, Wilbur A.SHIRLEY, Woodraw E
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Submitted: 3/1/12 • Approved: 3/10/12 • Last Updated: 7/18/13 • R657739-G0-S3
US Navy
September 14, 1905 - May 23, 1939
Sherman Shirley was a crewman who drowned in the accidental sinking of the United States Submarine Squalus (SS 192)during final sea trials on May 23, 1939 off the Isle of Shoals near the Portsmouth Navy Yard.
The disaster made national headlines as the Navy fought rigorously to save the survivors of the sinking 240 feet below the surface off Portsmouth, New Hampshire. In the only success rescue of crew members from a sunken submarine, the Navy saved 33 men who survived the initial accident with the use of the McCann Rescue Chamber designed by the late Swede Momsen, who also directed the rescue efforts. Unfortunately, Sherman Shirley was not among the rescued. He was among 26 who drowned from the initial flooding in the aft end of the boat.
Shirley was among the most reported of the Squalus victims because he was scheduled to be married during the upcoming weekend. Ironically, the man who shut the water tight door saving the other 33 men, but sealing the fate of those aft was to be his best man.
It took the Navy 4 months to raise the Squalus. Victims like Sherman Shirley were escorted home for burial by a surviving crew member. In Shirley's case, it was his best man and he was laid to rest in September 1939.
A prominent grave stone commemorates Sherman Shirley. It notes "Gave his life for his country when the Squalus sank May 23, 1939." And this quote appears at the top of the stone, "May there be no moaning of the bar when I put out to sea." I don't know the source of the quote, but I found it interesting.
The raised Squalus was renamed the "Sailfish" but retained the SS 192 designation. The Sailfish made it through WW II with many close calls, but won a Presidential Unit Citation for its 10th Patrol when they sunk the first Japanese aircraft carrier in December 1943 during a typhoon. The conning tower of the Squalus/Sailfish remains as a memorial at the Portsmouth Navy Yard to commemorate the loss of the Squalus and especially her crew members and also to the spirit of the boat that found success in WW II and came home to Portsmouth, NH as the Sailfish.
Inscription:
May there be no moaning of the bar when I put out to sea.
Gave his life for his country when the Squaulus sank May 23, 1939.
Photo and Information are kindly given by David Pike david.pike51@gmail.com
Contributed on 3/1/12 by tootied
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Record #: 657739