Museum

On Eternal Patrol #2

On Eternal Patrol

Dudley Walker Morton

morton-d-w-238 Dudley Walker Morton was born in Owensboro, Kentucky on July 17, 1907. At the Naval Academy, he received the nickname "Mushmouth," after a character in the cartoon strip Moon Mullins, whose large square jaw and prominent mouth resembled Morton's. The nickname was later shortened to "Mush."

Morton took command of USS Wahoo (SS-236) on December 31, 1942, after her second war patrol. He agressively conducted the boat and her crew through her next five patrols, compiling the best record of the War to that point. While exiting the Sea of Japan through the narrow La Perouse Strait on her seventh patrol, Wahoo was sunk with all hands by Japanese air and naval forces on October 11, 1943.

Admiral Charles Lockwood wrote, "When a natural leader and born daredevil such as Mush Morton is given command of a submarine, the result can only be a fighting ship of the highest order, with officers and men who would follow their skipper to the Gates of Hell…. And they did." Added Lockwood, "Morton lined up an impressive number of 'firsts' during the short ten months that he commanded Wahoo: first to penetrate an enemy harbor and sink a ship therein; first to use successfully a down the throat shot; and first to wipe out an entire convoy single-handed."

wahoo-wreck-stern Motron's boat, USS Wahoo, was found on July 28, 2006, in the La Perouse Strait by a team of Russian divers led by Vladimir Kartashev. The vessel is at a depth of 213 feet. A memorial ceremony for her officers and men was hosted by USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park on October 11, 2007. Over two hundred family members and friends of the Wahoo crew attended the event.

Secrets of the Sub

Vargas Girls

Artist Alberto Vargas became famous for his WWII watercolors depicting beautiful pin-up girls. "Varga girls" were so popular that many different artists immitated Vargas’ technique and approach to the female figure: an idealized female form eliciting sensuality and seduction. During the 1940’s his work was a hit amongst enlisted men who drew inspiration from them which inadvertently created high morale. The military was so influenced by this art that they adorned their vessels with it. Many military aircraft had Varga style girls decorating the nose of their planes, Varga girls were even printed on greeting cards and sent to enlisted men by their sweethearts. Inside the engine room aboard USS Bowfin, the crew posted a 1943 Vargas calendar, on which they doodled, wrote notes, and recorded their conquests of the sea.