Man seeks relatives of officer killed in WWII

On Nov. 7, 1944, the World War II submarine USS Albacore was lost in action near the coast of Shikoku, Japan.

Among the 85 men aboard who were lost was Torpedoman 2nd Class Petty Officer Perry Aubrey Collom, the son of the late Homer Bevel and Lola Collom of Somerton.
 
Today, more than six decades later, Jim Converse of Kansas City, Mo., is helping organize a memorial ceremony in Oregon for the Albacore and its crew, and he's looking for anyone with connections to crew members to invite to the event.
 
Converse, a Navy veteran who has compiled information on the Albacore, thinks there may still be friends or relatives of Perry Collom in the Yuma area who might want to attend the Nov. 11 memorial dedication to the submarine in Beaverton, Ore.
 
Bob M. Lee, with the Oregon Loggers chapter of the United States Submarine Veterans of World War II, said, in a telephone interview, "After the war, each state was assigned at least one of the 52 lost submarines and charged with the task to build a memorial to its designated vessel. The Albacore is Oregon's."
 
The USS Perch SS-176 is the designated vessel for Arizona.
 
"The memorial is designed to look like the bow of a submarine coming out of the sea  - 15 feet high at a 60-degree angle. Bow planes are extended, and are being engraved with the name of each lost crewman. A short wall extends outward from the bow to simulate streaming water," Lee said.
 
Information from the Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet explained, "Albacore has been awarded the Presidential Unit citation for her second, third, eighth and ninth patrols, ones in which she sank enemy combatant vessels.
 
"Her record of enemy combatant ships sunk is the best of any U.S. submarine. She sank a total of 13 ships, damaged five, during her first 10 patrols.
 
"Enemy information available indicates that Albacore perished by hitting  a mine. The explosion occurred on Nov. 7, 1944, while Albacore was submerged, and was witnessed by an enemy patrol craft. The craft reported having seen much heavy oil and bubbles, cork, bedding and various provisions after the explosion," the Pacific Fleet report reads.
 
For the memorial, Converse said an intensive search is under way for any family or friends with connections to those lost on the submarine, to attend.
 
"There's going to be a time capsule for families and friends to leave something of the lost man's as a remembrance, something to show that man is still in their memory and hearts," Converse said.
 
"We have had reports that relatives of Lt. Cmdr. H.R. Rimmer, the commander of Albacore, will attend the dedication," Converse said.

Anyone who would like to attend the Albacore dedication can call Lee at 503-244-9933.
 
Perry Collom initially was declared missing in action following the submarine's sinking. It was not until November 1945, a year later, that Collom's parents were notified he had been killed in action.
 
Bernice Roberge, now living at Pinetop, has ties to Collom. She said, "Perry Collom was a stepbrother. We had the same father. I don't remember too much about him, because I was only about 10 when we learned of his death. Years later my sisters Ruth (Steen), now deceased, and Lola Mae Kelly of Chandler, and I were told about the submarine sinking.
 
"Our dad had lived in Somerton from 1922 until moving to Yuma in 1945. He died in 1991. I'm pleased about the memorial, it will be a way to remember," Roberge said.


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Pam M. Smith can be reached at psmith@yumasun.com or 539-6856.