Larry Barker
Tucked away among the ballfields and the bike paths at Albuquerque’s Bullhead Park is an obscure memorial marked by a pair of tarnished plaques. While the park is a place to relax and have fun, it has a solemn purpose too. Bullhead Park is named for a U.S. submarine sunk in the final days of World War II. The park is dedicated to the memory of the 84 sailors who perished aboard that vessel.
Fifty-two U.S. Naval submarines were lost fighting the Pacific war. Among the thousands of Sailors who perished were 24 New Mexicans. They came from Springer, Cuba, Albuquerque, Mora, Los Lunas, Gallup. All disappeared. We can only surmise their fates. Their bodies never recovered. There were no funerals. Family members never got to say goodbye. We know their names, but we will never know their stories of bravery and heroism.
They were young men like J. W. Saint from Carlsbad. “He died on October 3, 1944. It was shortly before his twenty-sixth birthday,” his grandson Phoenix Attorney Robert Mitchell says. Mitchell has compiled a chronicle of his grandfather’s short life. “He was only 25 when he died, so the sacrifice that he and many others like him made is just astounding,” Mitchell said.
Born in Carlsbad, James William Saint was the oldest of six children. While working in Mountainair, J.W. enlisted in the Navy and was assigned to submarine duty aboard the USS Seawolf. While on patrol off the coast of Japan in 1944, the USS Seawolf disappeared, the victim of friendly fire. A U.S. destroyer mistook the vessel for an enemy sub and sunk it. All 100 sailors on board perished. J. W. Saint was officially declared dead one year later. He was survived by his wife Marie and two children. The remains of the USS Seawolf have not been found.
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