Morton and Wahoo

 

Most submariners know, the story so well.

And if you ask, they will surely tell.

Of a skipper named "Mush" and a boat called Wahoo.

They set the mark for courage, with an honorable crew.

Shoot the S.O.B.’s, was her battle cry.

Making seven war patrols, Wahoo’s record doesn’t lie.

Morton taught sailors, like O’Kane, Grider and Moore.

The art of submarine warfare, at the enemies front door.

From the Solomons to Honshu, Morton made the enemy pay.

His torpedoes hit their mark, in Wewak Harbor that day.

Alas in the end, Wahoo met her fate.

Exiting the Sea of Japan, through LaPerouse Strait.

Now Davey Jones looks after, those sailors so brave.

And the silent blue ocean, is their eternal grave.

But the legacy lived on, with a new ship of the line.

She was christened USS Morton, in nineteen fifty-nine.

The DD Nine Forty Eight, the saltiest ship in the fleet.

Her sailors talk of her proudly, wherever they meet.

But she too is gone now, as is the second Wahoo.

They have passed into history, as all Navy ships do.

But the names Morton and Wahoo, are almost like one.

And old salts remember, that "Mush" got the job done.

 

By John I. Chaffey SSBN619, SSN687, SSN639

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