USS Snook (SS 279) Memorial

The USS Snook (SS 279) Memorial is on display in North Little Rock Riverfront Park in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The memorial displays a Mark 14 torpedo and is dedicated to the 52 submarines that were lost during the Second World War. The memorial was originally located at MacArthur Park in Little Rock, Arkansas.

photo of uss snook memorial

The memorial was constructed by the Arkansas Diamond Chapter of the United States Submarine Veterans of World War II. When the veterans group was formed in the 1950’s, each state was asked to create a memorial for 1 of the 52 lost submarines; California and New York were asked to make 2 memorials. Arkansas was awarded the honor of displaying a memorial to USS Snook (SS-279).

USS Snook (SS-279) was commissioned in the United States Navy on October 24, 1942. The submarine completed 8 war patrols and sunk 17 Japanese ships. Snook was last heard from on April 8, 1945, in the South China Sea. The submarine was declared overdue and presumed lost with all hands on May 16, 1945, while on her ninth war patrol. The cause of her loss is unknown to this day.

The following 84 men were aboard USS Snook (SS-279) when the submarine was lost:

Robert Brown AdamsStephen Partridge GardnerCharles Morgan
Erven Eugene Jack BagbyJack Junior GlassJohn Lawrence Morgan
Russell Leigh BaumVictor GregoriniGeorge Charles Olson
Richard Stanley Billingsley, Jr.Andrew GrindzakGlen Colbert Page
Kenneth Patrick BolgerJack Eugene GroatJohn Shelton Parker
Ben Alvin Branum, Jr.Paul Henry GruppNorman Phillips
Ned Erskine BrowningAndrew Thomas GuthrieJohn Bernard Regan
Sidney BrownsteinRaymond Lloyd HughesMartin Lambuth Register
Robert Karl BurdickDavid John HurleyWalter Joseph Rehbit
Leo BurgerRobert Ralph IngramWilliam James Rodney
Claude Robert BusbyHarold Malcolm JohnsonArthur Malone Russell, Jr.
Danford Anthony ByronJoseph Johnston, Jr.Richard Louis Schoen
John Edward CaveHarry Fenner JulianWilliam Clarence Schramm
Benedict Anthony CesarePaul Frederick Keiser, IIRonald Leroy Schwendemann
James Durward ChoateWilliam Ernest KelloggJohn Francis Scully
Edward Perkins Clark, IIFrancis Joseph KlostermanWilliam Everett Shelton
Delmer Lemar CrawfordNorman Thomas KramerBen Silvia
George Loren CrawfordThomas William Lamont, IIJohn Calvin Sloan
James Anthony CrossWilliam Thomas LangErnest Leopold Spence
William Lory DolphLawrence Wilbur LundgrenRobert R. Sukola
Charles John EckenrodeIsadore Irving LunkenHoward Thomas Toulson
Clarence Foster EdmundsFrancis Raymond ManeyHarold K. Wagner
Warren Preston EllisJohn Gordon ManleyJohn Franklin Walling
Harry Robert Etkin, Jr.Ones William McEntyerAndrew Williams Welch, Jr.
William Stanley FarrelJames Edward McGahanJames Albert Will
John Courtland FelabomRalph Marion McGuire, Jr.Robert Emmett Wood, Jr.
Donald Wilson FryDonald John McNeillRobert Eugene Wood
Anthony GambardellaVincent Paul MlynekJames Nichols Wright