Liberty Station, San Diego
- Tony Boccia
- Jun 7
- 3 min read
On May 17th 2025, YCAPS sponsored a trip to historic Liberty Station in San Diego. This is the site of the old Naval Training Center, which was in operation from 1923 to 1997. Over a million recruits trained at NTC, and tens of thousands more went through technical schools here.
Much of the base was turned over to the city of San Diego in 1997, and on the grounds are dozens of buildings reaching back to 1918 as well as several important monuments. The history of the presence of the U.S. Navy in San Diego is proudly displayed throughout Liberty Station.
We began our tour at Ingram Plaza, named for Osmond Ingram, who in the First World War was killed in action while attempting to save his destroyer from a German submarine attack. There’s an enormous flagpole here, in the center of Liberty Station.
Following this, we examined some Second World War-era 3 and 5-inch guns. These would have been in use during the early stages of the war, before the advent of automatic weapons. Now, they sit proudly on Historic Decatur Street, adjacent to the 52 Boats Memorial.
The 52 Boats Memorial was the centerpiece of the tour; this monument is dedicated to the 52 submarines lost in the Second World War. We chose ten of them to examine, based on the history of the ship, its action in the war, or the history behind the ships that they sank. In brief, these are:
USS Amberjack (SS-219) - 3 Patrols, 3 ships sank for 28,600 tons. Causes of her sinking unknown; reports from IJN ships coincide with reports on USS Grampus, lost at the same time and location.
USS Bonefish (SS-223) - 8 Patrols, 31 ships sunk for 158,000 tons. During her third patrol sank the Suez Maru, at the time carrying 480 Allied POW's.
USS Cisco (SS-290) - No ships sank during her one patrol. Attacked and sunk by IJN Karatsu, formerly the USS Luzon, scuttled in Manila Bay by the Americans as the Japanese invaded in May 1942.
USS Darter (SS-227) - 4 Patrols, 4 ships sunk for 19,249 tons. Sunk Admiral Kurita Takeo's flagship IJN Atago in the Palawan Passage at the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Ran aground on Bombay Shoal; all hands survived.
USS Lagarto (SS-371) - 1 Patrol, 1 ship (IJN Submarine I-371) sunk. Wreck discovered in the Gulf of Thailand in 2005.
USS Wahoo (SS-238) - 7 Patrols, 27 ships sunk for 119,000 tons. Arguably the most famous submarine of the Pacific War; the wreck was discovered in 2006 in the La Perouse Strait.
USS Sculpin (SS-191) - 9 Patrols, 3 ships sunk for 9,800 tons. 42 Sailors survived her sinking; 21 were taken abord IJN Chuyo which was then torpedoed by USS Sailfish; all but one Sailor died.
USS Seawolf (SS-197) - 15 Patrols, 18 ships sunk for 71,600 tons. Sunk by USS Rowell (DE-403), the second submarine lost to friendly fire in the Pacific War.
USS Shark (SS-314) - 3 Patrols, 5 ships sunk for 32,000 tons. Sank the Arisan Maru, which was carrying 1,789 Allied prisoners of war; the greatest loss of life in American Maritime history. Four of the survivors of the Arisan Maru sinking were survivors of the Bataan Death March.
USS Harder (SS-257) - 6 Patrols, 20.5 ships sunk for 82,500 tons. Another famous submarine, 'Hit 'em Harder' was popularlized by its 'down the throat' tactics. The wreck was discovered in May 2024 in the South China Sea.
We wrapped up the tour at USS Recruit, a training aid for recruit training while NTC was still in operation. These days, you can only go inside the first floor, not to the bridge or weatherdecks, but it’s an impressive model nonetheless. It’s 2/3 the size of a Dealy-Class Destroyer Escort.
Although we did not have a large turnout for this event, it was a great opportunity to connect with local and naval history, and we look forward to hosting this event again in the future. I learned a lot building this tour paper; about submarines, recruit training, and San Diego itself. I will almost certainly host this exact tour again, along with others Watch this space for more historical context tours around San Diego!
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