Lessons from My 98-year-old Dad: The Hot Running Torpedo

by Harper Brame as told to Marilynn Chadwick

I was barely 18 when I entered the Navy. But I have a lifetime of memories from my tour of duty as a submarine sailor. It’s been such a long time since I’ve thought about that blue whale. It’s funny how things can suddenly come to mind out of nowhere.

It’s sort of like the time we had a hot running torpedo on the sub. The captain quickly sent us to the front of the sub where we went below if we didn’t have required duties to bring it under control. There was a very real danger of explosion, and we had 24 loaded torpedoes. If that thing had gone off, I’d have beaten the rocket to the moon! I had heard that some torpedoes, when they finished their run, would randomly explode. Or they got too hot and heated up the dynamite. But our torpedomen, doing what they knew best, got the thing stopped.

In more technical language, on a World War II diesel submarine, a "hot running torpedo" was one that accidentally activated its propulsion system while still inside its launch tube. The risk of an internal explosion was one of the most immediate dangers we faced on the submarine. That was just one of the many potential problems aboard a diesel sub in that era.

During World War II, the United States lost 52 of their 200 submarines. That meant about one out of four were lost, making submarine service one of the most dangerous assignments. Over 3500 sailors perished. Forty subs were sunk by the enemy, but 12 went down due to mechanical failures, including hot running torpedoes. Some were lost for unknown reasons, never to be heard from again.

Submarines played a vital role in the Second World War. It took a lot of sacrifice and hard work from their crews. It was a dangerous job that left people submerged for hours to days in unfriendly waters.

Somebody needs to speak about this part of our country’s history. I don’t know how many have seen the things I have seen, and there are not too many World War II submarine veterans still alive to tell about it.

That’s why I’m telling these stories. I want my children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, and the next generation, to hear my stories about a great blue whale. But more importantly, I want to leave a legacy of life lessons about the cost of our freedoms, and of course, the value of our family and the faith we hold so dear.

To watch several short videos of Harper Brame sharing his stories, click here to view “Witness to War”