This Saturday over 200 former crew members and family from the USS Clamagore SS343 Veterans Association will gather on the pier next to their boat (submarine) at Patriots Point to hold a memorial ceremony as part of their annual crew reunion. Their memorial program begins at 11 AM. The former crew members began arriving today and will spend the weekend in Charleston, touring the city, plantations, the H. L. Hunley submarine as well as Patriots Point.
USS Clamagore has been at Patriots Point since May 1981. Onboard Clamagore is an exhibit honoring the memory of the crews (3630 men) from fifty-two submarines lost in World War II. In submariner terms, these crews are considered to be on "Eternal Patrol," still at sea and guarding our nation.
USS Clamagore (SS-343) was built as a Balao-class submarine for World War II duty by Electric Boat Co. in Groton, Connecticut. She was launched on 25 February 1945 and commissioned on 28 June 1945, but the war would end before her crew could complete their training for combat. The boat (as submariners call their vessels) was named for the clamagore or blue parrotfish (Scarus coeruleus) found in the West Indies and along the Atlantic coast as far north as Maryland.
For more history of the Clamagore click here...
Watch a short video of a walk through of the Clamagore below.
Patriots Point welcomes the Clamagore Association and salutes them and their families for their service to our nation!