Ramsey, Carl Raymond, GM2c

Following duty at New London and hydrogen tests at Washington, DC, USS S-26 (SS-131) sailed from New London on 10 December 1941, and arrived at Coco Solo, Panama on 19 December. Accidentally rammed by the submarine chaser Sturdy at night in the Gulf of Panama, S-26 sank on 24 January 1942 with the loss of 46 men. Three men (the captain, executive officer, and a lookout) survived. Though divers were sent down to the wreck over the following days, her hull was not salvaged. GM2 Ramsey was among the missing and was later declared dead.

Carl Raymond Ramsey was born October 2, 1917 in Fort Worth, Denton county, Texas, the oldest child of Clarence Wesley and Joy (Williams) Ramsey. In 1920 his family lived in McClain, Wayne county, Oklahoma, where his father worked as a laborer for the railroad. Carl had one sister, Bonnie Ruth. In 1923 his mother died and by 1930 he and Bonnie Ruth were living with their maternal grandparents, Francis and Emma (Pritchard) Williams in Burnett, Pottawatomie county, Oklahoma.
 
On March 14, 1935 he entered the Navy at Dallas, Texas. He served aboard USS Dorsey (DD-117) from 1935 to 1938 as a Seaman 1st class; USS Monocacy 1938-1939; USS Augusta (CA-31) in 1939 and USS Rigel (AD-13) from 1939 to 1940. He re-enlisted on December 5, 1940 at Los Angeles, California.

Carl reported aboard USS S-26 (SS-131) as a Gunner's Mate 3rd class on February 17, 1941. While aboard, his rate would later change to Gunner's Mate 2nd class.

Following duty at New London and hydrogen tests at Washington, DC, S-26 sailed from New London on 10 December 1941, and arrived at Coco Solo, Panama on December 19, 1941. On the night of January 24,1942, S-26 was accidentally rammed and sunk by the submarine chaser PC-460 (later renamed Sturdy) in the Gulf of Panama.

After escorting a division of four S-Class submarines out of the harbor of Balboa, Panama on the Pacific Ocean side of the Panama Canal, PC-460 executed a 180 degree turn to return to port. Although PC-460 did signal her intentions, the message was received by only one submarine in the formation and not the S-26. Although PC-460 noticed S-26 prior to the collision and attempted to back her engines and made evasive maneuvers, the two vessels collided. S-26 was struck amidships on her starboard side and sank within seconds.

 Three men (the captain, executive officer, and a lookout) survived, and three officers and 43 crew members were killed, including GM2 Carl R. Ramsey.

The sinking of the USS S-26 and her crew of 46 is a story of survival and ultimate tragedy. Thirty six brave men of the S-26 survived the initial sinking of their submarine and hoped that they would be rescued before time ran out. A message was sent up by trapped sailors stating that they were trapped inside the three middle compartments. The men sat for days in their â??ocean coffin" waiting for a rescue that never came.

GM2 Carl R. Ramseyâ??s name appears on the Tablets of the Missing, WWII West Coast Memorial, San Francisco, California.

 In September 2014 USS S-26 (SS-131) was discovered by Expedition S-26. She rests in deep water in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Panama.

References:
https://www.oneternalpatrol.com/uss-s-26-131-loss.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_S-26_(SS-131)
http://www.lost52project.org/S-26-Home.html
Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen saved on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.