This Fallen Navy Profile is not currently maintained by any Member.
If you would like to take responsibility for researching and maintaining this Fallen profile please click
HERE
Casualty Info
Home Town Provence, OK
Last Address Ardmore, OK
Casualty Date Feb 26, 1944
Cause KIA-Body Not Recovered
Reason Other Explosive Device
Location Pacific Ocean
Conflict World War II
Location of Interment Provence Cemetery - Ardmore, Oklahoma
Wall/Plot Coordinates (memorial marker)
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
USS Grayback's (SS-208) 10th war patrol, her most successful, was also her last. She left Pearl Harbor, 28 January, 1944, and by 25 February had sunk three ships and damaged three others. On 27 February she sank another ship but was apparently attacked by carrier based aircraft (according to Japanese reports) and sunk. Chief Motor Machinist's Mate Stanford was listed as Missing in Action and later declared dead 12 January 1946.
Comments/Citation:
Service number: 3558446
Submarine war patrols: USS Grayback (SS-208) - 1st through 10th
Navy Unit Commnedation
For outstanding heroism in action during the Seventh, Eighth, Ninth and Tenth War Patrols in the restricted waters of the Pacific. Tracking her targets relentlessly in wide coverage of her assigned sectors, the USS Grayback boldly penetrated formidable enemy screens to strike at every quarter. Repeatedly forced to deep submergence by unusually heavy depth charging, she continued to launch her torpedoes against strongly escorted convoys with deadly purpose and, under the superb handling of her skilled officers and men, achieved a notable combat record in vital ships sunk or damaged and contributed essentially to the steady weakening of the enemy's shipping strength and to blocking of his life line of supply. Ceaseless in her vigilance and daring in her sustained offensive, she fought gallantly throughout numerous grueling patrols, rendering distinctive service in thwarting the war efforts of a fanatical enemy until she failed to return after the overwhelming counter-attack suffered during her Tenth War Patrol. The USS Grayback leaves behind her an inspiring tradition of intrepidity and aggressiveness, reflecting the valor, the daring seamanship and fortitude of her ship's company.
The information contained in this profile was compiled from various internet sources.
The medical history of Mare Island dates from the day the sloop-of-war USS
Warren arrived; her medical officer, Assislant Surgeon John M. Browne, USN,
became Mare Island's pioneer medical officer in 1854.
Medical facilities of the Navy Yard consisted of the sick bay of the Warren ,
from 18 September 1854 until relieved by the frigate USS Independence on 2
October 1857 . The Independence served as station and receiving ship for the
yard until 2 November 1862 and provided its entire medieaJ facilities until 1863 .
In that year an old granary was moved to near the berth of the Independence
and converted into a temporary hospital of twenty-four beds. This makeshift
structure was used until 1870, when the first permanent hospital was completed,
with Surgeon W . E. Taylor in command.
The new hospital, on the southern part of the island, was a brick !itructure
situated part way up the slope of a hill facing the northeast. The hospital grounds
consisted of 51 acres.
The first hospital, with a capacity of eighty beds, was used until 1898, when
an earthquake so severely damaged the building that it was condemned and torn
down. Congress appropriated the sum of $1 00,000 for rebuilding, which was
completed on 3 April 1900.
By 1912 the capacity of the hospital had increased to 220 beds. During World
War I the erection of four H-typc ward buildings and five single ward buildings
increased the capacity by 1,000, in addition to which tents with wooden platforms
provided cover for 500 more beds.
In the period between World Wars I and" many of the World War I temporary
ward buildings were removed or converted to other uses. Modernization of the
hospital started in 1928 with the construction of a five-story, L-shaped , reinforced
concrete wing, extending to the northwest. By 1941 this wing was duplicated
on the southeast side. In 1943 the hospital reached a capacity of 1,167 beds,
and during World War II it reached a peak capacity of 2,281.
