The Subchaser Archives web site has an updated look and navigational structure. There are still some items remaining on the "to be done" list, such as uploading old issues of the Archives Notes, but the core site is live in its new environment, and new materials are being posted daily.
The greatest change is that the six major sections of the site have a cleaner navigational design. The main page for each section lists the documents and sets in the section, so that you can jump to any item you want; and from there you can "leaf through" the entire section book-style using the links near the bottom. The menu on the left is also cleaner, with a simple drop-down menu for each section.
Note: There may still be some glitches for certain browsers. If anything looks wrong or doesn't behave nicely, please report it.
-- Todd Woofenden, Editor.
Pre-Release Notice: Hunters of the Steel Sharks: The Submarine Chasers of WWI
Available January 2007: The Subchaser Archives editor Todd Woofenden's new book on WWI chasers.
Period works by chaser commanders and crewmen (works like Millholland's Splinter Fleet of the Otranto Barrage and Moffat's Maverick Navy) are entertaining reading on WWI chasers based on personal recollections. But the history of this class of vessel remains largely untold.
Hunters of the Steel Sharks addresses this missing piece of naval history, presenting the story of the subchasers of WWI in context, based on extensive research of unpublished primary source documents. It covers early antisubmarine warfare devices and tactics, the design of the chaser, service of the chasers overseas, and several interesting and little-known tours of duty such as the chasers' involvement during the turmoil of the Russian Revolution, and in clearing the North Sea mine barrage in 1919.
Hunters of the Steel Sharks will be available from Signal Light Books. Visit the Signal Light Books web site for more information.
224 pages, 6" x 9", soft cover. Heavily illustrated. ISBN: 978-0-9789192-0-7.
New in The Chasers >> Photo Sets
Contracts for construction of chasers were awarded to many different boatbuilders across the country.
Just posted are several sets of photographs from the National Archives collection, showing the construction of chasers. Shown are operations in California, Washington and New York. A set posted previously shows chaser construction in Ohio.
New in The Chasers >> Stories - Unpublished
An account of life on SC 130 shortly after the war.
Elwood T. Hughes served as quartermaster on submarine chaser SC 130. After the Armistice, this chaser was among those assigned to serve along the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. Their mission was to receive surrendered Austrian war ships, perform various duties along the coast, and overall to help keep the peace amidst post-war tensions between the local Serbs, who wanted to form an independent state, and Italy, who wanted control of the region. Just posed is a segment of crewman Hughes' personal journal, describing some experiences during his stay in the region of Spalato, Dalmatia.
New in The Chasers >> Hull Numbers
In addition to the sets of construction photos above, Dan Treadwell has submitted quite a few very good photographs of individual hull numbers from the National Archives collection. Ten hull numbers not previously represented have been added to the collection:
SC 12, SC 20, SC 23, SC 36 and SC 38, SC 43, SC 113, SC 131, SC 214, and SC 375.