CMoMM (SS) Arthur L. Stanton Chief of the Boat (COB)

CMoMM (SS) Arthur L. Stanton Chief of the Boat (COB). Albacore.

Rate: Chief Motor Machinist's Mate (Chief of the Boat) , Service Number: 268 05 60 , Birth Date: March 13, 1916 , From Wauchula, Florida , Decorations: Silver Star, Purple Heart , Submarine: USS Albacore (SS 218) , Loss Date: November 7, 1944 , Location: Off the coast of Northern Japan , Circumstances: Struck a Mine and Lost with all Hands

, Arthur Stanton was one of four children born to Mary Ellen Williams Stanton and Harry W. Stanton on March 13, 1916. The actual year of his birth is in dispute because he fibbed his age to get into the US Navy Submarine Service. Soon after marrying his childhood sweetheart Doris Sloat, Arthur fibbed his age and and got into the Navy Sub School in 1931; training at the Great Lakes Base and in Norfolk, VA. After several years in the Navy, Arthur went back to civilian life taking his bride and his machinist training to a phosphate company in Brewster, FL. The family expanded to include son Kenneth and daughter Annetta., World War II broke out and Arthur re-enlisted in the Navy Submarine Service leaving his young family in Wauchala, FL with Doris' parents except for brief times when they joined him in Kittery, ME and Groton CT, where he received more training., Arthur was shipped out to Honolulu, HI and assigned to the submarine USS Albacore (SS 218). He loved subs and even wanted to continue service to his country after a major injury to his hand resulted in a medical discharge. He challenged the discharge and got back into the thick of the war in the Pacific., Albacore left Pearl Harbor on October 24, 1944, topped off fuel tanks at Midway Island on October 28, and was never seen again. Years after the war, Japanese records showed that on November 7, 1944, Albacore hit a naval mine close to the shore at northeastern Hokkaido, Japan. The entire crew went on "Eternal Patrol," as the submarine community calls the duty of lost submariners., In recognition of CMoMM (SS) Arthur L Stanton's and Albacore's entire Crew's supreme sacrifice for their country, The Navy asked Doris Stanton Jowers, COB Stanton's Widow to Sponsor the newly built USS Albacore (AGSS 569)., On August 1, 1953, Doris with her Maid of Honor Anneta, participated in an elegant Naval Military Affair when Doris pulled all five feet of her energy up and crashed the champagne bottle on Albacore's Bow, becoming the first wife of an enlisted man to have that honor. What a relief! Doris was pure determination to have not broken the bottle, meant bad luck for Albacore and her crew. Albacore slid down the Building Ways and into history., Doris' escort for the Christening Ceremony was RADM Charles Momsen USN, Commandant of the First Naval District, Naval Diving pioneer and inventor of the Momsen Lunch which first enabled submariners to escape from a sunken Sub., Anneta Stanton Kraus, Albacore's Christening Maid of Honor, has been a dedicated, Life-Long Benefactor of Albacore and Albacore Park. During one of her many visits to Albacore Park, she informed a local newspaper reporter that: "Albacore and Albacore Park are sacred Ground to me and the Stanton family. Coming here is so special to me. My father doesn't have a grave (having been lost at sea), so this is where I come to pay my respects."