ROBERT C. CRAMER
Electrician’s Mate Third Class · Plankowner, USS Silversides (SS-236)
| Born / Died | 21 May 1920, Springfield, IL / 3 Nov 2000 |
| Service no. | 337-07-71 |
| Commissioning rate | EM3c (15 Dec 1941) |
| Silversides tenure | 15 Dec 1941 – 2 Apr 1942 |
| Patrols aboard | 0 (departed before patrol 1) |
| Rate on leaving Silversides | S1c (reduced 25 Mar 1942) |
| Other vessels | Flying Fish (SS-229), Sperry, Stingray (SS-186) |
| Service | 11 Jul 1938 – 12 Oct 1944 (BIRLS) |
Prewar (1920–1941)
Robert Cramer was born in Springfield, Illinois, on 21 May 1920. Nothing is yet recorded of his family or boyhood. He enlisted in the Navy on 11 July 1938, at eighteen.
On Silversides (Dec 1941 – Apr 1942)
Cramer commissioned aboard *Silversides* on 15 December 1941 as EM3c. The muster remarks record that on 23 March 1942 he left his station before being properly relieved, and that a deck court on 25 March reduced him to Seaman First Class. On 2 April he left the boat for the U.S. Naval Hospital at Mare Island for treatment. Silversides sailed on her first war patrol on 30 April, so he made none.
| Patrol | Dates | CO | Credited sunk | Credited damaged |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| none |
Later War (1942–1944)
He made one war patrol in Flying Fish (SS-229) and was then sent to Sperry. Stingray (SS-186) also appears among his boats. The dates for all three are not yet recorded.
Postwar (1944–2000)
BIRLS gives his discharge as 12 October 1944. The 1950 census finds him in Fullerton, California, working as an embalmer at a mortuary, with his wife Maxine (28). He died on 3 November 2000.
Research Notes
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Deck court and reduction: from the muster remarks. It happened during fitting out and training, before patrol 1, and stays in the narrative as a record of Navy disciplinary procedure.
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Mare Island treatment: no link is established between the treatment, his later discharge and the BIRLS entry “Unemployed – CDD registrant – Disabled.”
verifywith OMPF. -
Discharge date: 12 Oct 1944 shares its day and month with the loss of Dorado (12 Oct 1943, per August F. Ballman) but not the year. Confirm the BIRLS year and whether the match means anything.
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Later boats: order and dates of Flying Fish, Sperry and Stingray are unresolved.
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Open: family and census before 1950; obituary.
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Source notes (carried over, verbatim):
One war patrol with Flying Fish, then sent to Sperry. Discharge date is the loss date for the Dorado.
1950 Census Robert C. Cramer (29) and Maxine (28). Robert is an embalmer in Fullerton, CA.
Sources: Silversides muster remarks; BIRLS; 1950 census.