I knew this was the perfect setting for the USS ROCK cache
immediately! Our Summer Day Camp group always visited this park
every summer. At that time these rocks were off limits as vandals
had littered the place with broken glass bottles. The area has
since been cleaned up (although use caution hunting as there is
still an occasional piece of glass found). This is a large park
located in the Siberia of Wisconsin, Two Rivers. We lived in Two
Rivers (pronounced ‘Tri'vers’) for two years and it is cold
364 day of the year. Any wind from the North, South or East is “off
the Lake” and will chill to the bone. That said, we were always
very excited to go swimming on Neshotah Beach every year. Bring
your swimsuits and sand toys. This is an area for the family. This
cache is camouflaged and is a small Rubbermaid container containing
small trading items and the logbook. Enjoy!
There is no longer a need to verify your
find with the Secret Submarine Code Word.
Rock: A striped bass found in the
Chesapeake Bay region and elsewhere along the Atlantic Coast.
Keel laid: 23DEC42
Launched: 20JUN43 Commissioned: 26OCT43 with LCdr
John J. Flachsenhar in command
On 22 June 1944, ROCK, USS TILEFISH (SS-307),
and USS SAWFISH (SS-276) left Majuro in company as a
coordinated attack group. They were to patrol the Luzon Straits. On
18 July 1944, ROCK contacted a Japanese convoy of seven
large ships and three escorts.
At 0536 on 19 July 1944 she attacked submerged, firing ten
torpedoes, six of which hit their mark. She was subsequently depth
charged, but escaped undamaged. On 21 July, another enemy convoy
was contacted. The convoy consisted of six large ships and four
escorts. ROCK fired four torpedoes, two of which were
hits.
Again ROCK was hammered by depth charges and again she
escaped undamaged. The remainder of the time on station was
uneventful for the ROCK with the exception of weathering a
severe typhoon and witnessing the sinking of a Japanese submarine.
On this successful patrol ROCK was credited with damaging
two tankers, two transports, and a freighter. On 27 July 1944
ROCK left the area and returned to Pearl Harbor.
On 9 September 1944, ROCK left Pearl Harbor en route to
the South China Sea for her fourth war patrol. On 26 October 1944
she attacked a tanker, which had three escorts. She fired a salvo
of six torpedoes and scored three hits. On 27 October 1944,
ROCK fired nine torpedoes at USS DARTER (SS-227),
which had been stranded on Bombay Shoal, to prevent the Japanese
from examining her. Due to shallow water the torpedoes did not find
their mark. This patrol ended when ROCK left the area and
sailed for Fremantle, Western Australia, for her refit.
USS ROCK was the last of the Gato class submarine to be
built at Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co. There were a total of 10
Gato class subs built in Manitowoc.
Made 6 war patrols. Sank one ship and damaged 42,282
tons.
Decommissioned and struck from the Navy List
13SEP69 Sold for scrapping 17AUG72
Good Luck and Enjoy!
First to Find Honors go to: Cache_boppin_BunnyFuFu of Trivers,
WI on 6-6-04 Super Job once again!
Click To Rate This Cache
7-14-04 Added Cache Rating System
9/20/04 Disabled to verify loss and replace with a smaller
container that's easier hidden and harder to muggle.
10/07/04 - Cache visited on 10-6-04 for maintenance and event prep.
Replaced cache with smaller container. Removed Secret Submarine
Code Word requirement. Non-critical cache description changes. I
think that's everything!
2/5/05 Added COTM Ribbon and links page.
3-31-07 Removed old links and graphics