GRAHAM, Robert H.

ROBERT HAINES GRAHAM

Torpedoman’s Mate Second Class · Plankowner, USS Silversides (SS-236)

Born / Died	10 Jun 1920 / 7 Jun 2003
Service no.	265-81-20
Commissioning rate	TM2c (15 Dec 1941)
Silversides tenure	15 Dec 1941 – 10 Dec 1942
Patrols aboard	3 (11 ships credited, 53,377 t)²
Rate on leaving Silversides	TM1c (25 Sep 1942)
Final wartime rate	CTM(AA)(SS)
Other vessels	Kingfish
Service	5 Oct 1938 – 8 Oct 1958 (BIRLS)

Prewar (1920–1941)

Robert Graham was born on 10 June 1920. In 1930 the family owned a home at 690 Stony Ridge Road in Beaver Pond, West Virginia. His father, Robert L., was a machinist for the power company, and Robert was ten and one of seven children. He enlisted in the Navy on 5 October 1938, at eighteen.

On Silversides (Dec 1941 – Dec 1942)

Graham commissioned aboard *Silversides* on 15 December 1941 as TM2c and was advanced to TM1c on 25 September 1942. His file counts three war patrols with the boat, all under C.C. Burlingame. He left on 10 December 1942 and joined Kingfish on 8 February 1943, listed as coming from the Silversides flag allowance.

Patrol	Dates	CO	Credited sunk	Credited damaged
1	30 Apr – 21 Jun 1942	Burlingame	5 (25,627 t)¹	1 (10,100 t)
2	15 Jul – 8 Sep 1942	Burlingame	4 (15,250 t)	2 (5,750 t)
3	2 Oct – 25 Nov 1942	Burlingame	2 (12,500 t)²	0
Total			11 (53,377 t)	3 (15,850 t)

¹ Tonnage as credited in endorsements. Patrol 1 includes a submarine credit that was likely a log or other debris.
² Patrol 3 figures come from the ship’s history, not a patrol report. The total therefore mixes bases.

Later War (1943–1945)

In Kingfish he made six war patrols (3 through 8) and was advanced to CTM(AA) on 1 April 1944. He left on 31 July 1944, during her refit at Mare Island, for the Advanced Training and Relief Crew No. 4 there. On 29 March 1945 he was transferred from the relief crew to COMSUBAD Mare Island for further transfer. His nine documented war patrols are three in Silversides and six in Kingfish.

Postwar (1945–2003)

BIRLS gives his discharge as 8 October 1958, and his Find a Grave memorial lists him as a Chief Petty Officer, USN, in World War II and Korea. He died on 7 June 2003.

---

Research Notes

• Patrol count: TM1c on 25 Sep 1942 coincides with a flag-allowance transfer date, and patrol 3 sailed on 2 Oct. Confirm that three patrols is right before publishing. verify

• Name: the middle name comes from Find a Grave.

• Destination: his file has none for 10 Dec 1942.

• Open: place of death, obituary, 1940 and 1950 census.

• Patrol 3: secondary_source (ship’s history, not located on Fold3).

• Source notes (carried over, verbatim):

  1930 Census Beaver Pond WV. Robert L Graham (46) and Mary E (41). Jack (16), Mary J (14), Roger (12), Nancy (11), Robert (10), Doris (9), and Bettie (4). Owned home at 690 Stony Ridge Road, no value given. Robert L Graham was a machinist for the power company.
  TM1c on 25 Sep 42.
  USS Kingfish on 8 Feb 43. TM1c. Came from Silversides Flag
  To CTM(AA) aboard Kingfish on 1APR44
  Leaves Kingfish on 31JUL44 to Advanced Training & Relief Crew # 4.
  CTM(AA)(SS) transferred from ATRC # 4 to COMSUBAD Mare Island for FFT 29MAR45
  6 war patrols with Kingfish (3-8) left during her refit at Mare Island where she arrived end of June 1944, Graham left end of July for a Mare Island Based Advanced Training and Relief Crew. 9 total war patrols documented, 3 with Silversides and 6 with Kingfish

Sources: 1930 census; BIRLS; Find a Grave; Silversides muster and ROC; Silversides patrol indexes 1–3.