U.S.S. COD Submarine Memorial
A National Historic Landmark
www.usscod.orgFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
U.S.S. COD Reenacts Historic Dutch Sub
Rescue on Saturday, July 12, 2008
CLEVELAND – U.S.S. COD Submarine Memorial will commemorate the 63rd anniversary of its rescue of the crew of a Dutch submarine during the final weeks of World War II with a reenactment of that historic event on Saturday, July 12, at 3 p.m., at its dock on Cleveland’s North Coast Harbor.
The brief program will include reenactors portraying members of the wartime sub crews who will use rubber boats to transfer the crew and flag of the Dutch sub O-19 (letter O, not zero), which grounded on a reef deep in enemy waters in July, 1945. Once the crew and flag were safely aboard, COD destroyed the Allied sub with torpedoes and gunfire to prevent its capture by the Japanese. The present day COD crew will salute the event and simulate the destruction of O-19 by firing COD’s 7-ton main deckgun following the flag transfer.
Don Stuart, a resident of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, was one of the 97 crewmen aboard COD during the 1945 rescue. The octogenarian will attend the reenactment and will speak during the brief presentation aboard COD. Local and national Dutch officials will also attend the commemoration of the only international sub-to-sub rescue in history. A picnic on COD’s grounds will follow the event.
On July 8, 1945, the Dutch sub O-19 accidentally hit and grounded on Ladd Reef during a night transit of the South China Sea. Unable to free herself, O-19 radioed for help. Allied naval commanders redirected COD, which was rushing a sick crewman to a hospital at the time of the grounding, to render assistance to the Dutch sub. The captain of the COD risked the life of his sick crewman to rescue the 56 Dutchmen aboard the stranded O-19. The improving health of the crewman and Allied air patrols allowed COD to spend two days trying to pull the O-19 free. By the second day it was apparent the Dutch boat was lost and the crew was transferred aboard COD for the three-day trip to safety. During the trip COD was home to 153 men, a wartime record!
The two crews became instant friends that day on Ladd Reef and that friendship continues between them to this day.
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CONTACT: Paul Farace, curator, cell (216) 408-6991, pfarace@att.net,
sub: 216-566-8770.
