SRS-032

DELMONT NORMAN PACE

Torpedoman’s Mate First Class · Plankowner, USS Silversides (SS-236) · Lost with USS Runner (SS-275), 1943

Born / Died	26 Jun 1915 / 11 Jul 1943, lost with Runner (presumed dead 2 Jan 1946)
Service no.	272-05-45
Commissioning rate	TM1c (15 Dec 1941)
Silversides tenure	15 Dec 1941 – before 15 Jul 1942 (departure not yet recorded)
Patrols aboard	Not yet established (0 or 1)
Final rate	CTM(A)
Other vessels	Runner (SS-275, plankowner)

Prewar (1915–1941)

Delmont Pace was born on 26 June 1915. In 1930 the family rented a house in Birmingham, Alabama, for $23 a month and owned a radio. His father A.T. (42) was a salesman at a roofing company, his mother Mollie was 42, and Delmont (14) had a sister Louise (20), who kept books for a real estate firm, a brother Paul (16), who sold hamburgers, and three younger sisters. His enlistment date is not yet established.

On Silversides (Dec 1941 – 1942)

Pace commissioned aboard *Silversides* on 15 December 1941 as TM1c. He was gone before the second patrol sailed on 15 July 1942, since he joined the building crew of USS Runner (SS-275), which commissioned on 30 July 1942. Whether he made the first patrol (30 April – 21 June) is not yet established.

Patrol table pending: departure date and patrols aboard not yet established.

Later War (1942–1943)

He was a plankowner of Runner, a Gato-class boat, as TM1c and rose to Chief Torpedoman’s Mate (Acting). He was aboard when she was lost in 1943.

Death (1943)

Runner was lost with her crew, and the file dates Pace’s loss to 11 July 1943. His status was changed to presumed dead on 2 January 1946, and a page of The Birmingham News for 13 January 1946 is in the file. He was twenty-eight.

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Research Notes

• Date of loss: dod and mia_date are both 1943-07-11, which suggests an administrative date and not the date she was lost. Check against Runner’s terminal record. verify

• Departure: departure_dates is empty. Runner commissioned 30 Jul 1942, so the exit ROC should fall before 15 Jul 1942.

• 1930 census: Louise is “Gatrol (20, listed as daughter).” Age 14 fits the 26 Jun 1915 birth.

• Open: OMPF, enlistment, the 1946 newspaper text, presumed_dead source.

• Source notes (carried over, verbatim):

  1930 Census Birmingham, AL. A.T. Pace (42) and Mollie (42). Louise Gatrol (20, listed as daughter), Paul (16), Delmont (14), Evelene (11), Katrine (8) and Virginia (2). A.T. is a salesman at a roofing company. Louise is a bookkeeper for a real estate firm. Paul is a salesman at a hamburger stand. $23 rental, with a radio. Age 14 fits the 26 Jun 1915 dob.

Sources: 1930 census; The Birmingham News, 13 Jan 1946; Silversides muster; Runner commissioning ROC.