As we head through the Fourth of July weekend, it's a good time to reflect on the holidays as observed on a chaser in and shortly after WWI.
The U.S. submarine chaser crews spend the fourth in some interesting places, from Corfu, Greece to Archangel, Russia. In the case of the chasers that first reached Base 25 in 1918, it would have been their first Independence Day overseas, at a brand new and fairly isolated base. The following year, these chasers were scattered all over. This photo shows SC 338 in Spalato (Split). Others would have been in ports in France or thereabouts, while a few were celebrating the holiday with festivities on Kego Island in the White Sea.
Best wishes to everyone for a Happy Fourth of July, wherever you may be, this year.
--Todd Woofenden, editor