WILKE, Elroy F.

ELROY F. WILKE

Machinist’s Mate Second Class · Plankowner, USS Silversides (SS-236) · Retired Chief Engineman

Born / Died	25 Jun 1914 / 21 Dec 1997
Service no.	321-19-99
Commissioning rate	MM2c (15 Dec 1941)
Silversides tenure	15 Dec 1941 – 25 Sep 1942
Patrols aboard	2 (9 ships credited, 40,877 t)
Rate on leaving Silversides	MoMM1c
Final rate	ENC
Other vessels	Swordfish, Tinosa (SS-283, plankowner), Puffer
Service	28 Sep 1937 – 15 Apr 1957 (BIRLS)

Prewar (1914–1941)

Elroy Wilke was born on 25 June 1914. In 1930 he lived in Union Township, Iowa, working as a farm helper on the family farm. He enlisted in the Navy on 28 September 1937, at twenty-three. The Iowa benefits application puts his first foreign service from 16 September 1940 to 7 October 1941, and Swordfish appears among his boats.

On Silversides (Dec 1941 – Sep 1942)

Wilke commissioned aboard *Silversides* on 15 December 1941 as MM2c and made her first two war patrols under C.C. Burlingame. On 25 September 1942, as a MoMM1c, he was transferred to ComSubDiv 102 “for duty,” the date of the boat’s mass transfer to the flag allowance that included Walter J. Czerwinski and Michael L. Esposito. The remarks note that he and his brother left the ship on the same date.

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)
Total			9 (40,877 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.

Later War (1943–1945)

He was a plankowner of USS Tinosa (SS-283) when she commissioned on 15 January 1943, and left on 1 January 1944 for the Puffer flag allowance, which in the same month took Glenn K. Hickman from Tinosa to Bluefish. The Iowa benefits application gives overseas service from 15 December 1941 to 17 March 1944, when he left Puffer for Mare Island. He came home until the end of the war, and returned to Tinosa as a CMoMM on 15 September 1945.

Postwar (1945–1997)

The Iowa application gives a second overseas span from 15 September 1945 to 11 September 1947. The 1950 census finds him in Arnolds Park, Iowa, a Chief Engineman in the Navy. He retired after twenty years of service, and a photograph records him at his retirement ceremony as a Chief Engineman at the U.S. Navy Recruiting Station in Minneapolis, inspecting the crew. He later became president of the Submarine Veterans of World War II and wrote from Denver, Colorado, seeking veterans of the submarine service. BIRLS gives his discharge as 15 April 1957, and he died on 21 December 1997.

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Research Notes

• Brother: the pointer’s remark says Wilke “and his brother both leave the ship on the same date, 25 Sep 42 to COMSUBDIV 102 for duty.” The brother is not identified. verify

• Foreign-service dates: from the Iowa benefits application. The 15 Dec 1941 – 17 Mar 1944 span matches his Silversides start and the Puffer departure.

• Retirement photo and “Submarine vets sought” clipping: undated and unsourced in the file.

• 1950 census: “Arnold Park” in the file is read as Arnolds Park, Iowa. verify

• Open: OMPF, Swordfish and Puffer dates, obituary.

• Source notes (carried over, verbatim):

  1930 Census

  Left Silversides as an MoMM1c on 25SEP42
  Two WAR PATROLS with Silversides
  Left Tinosa as an MoMM1c on 1JAN44
  Iowa Benefits application fills in his service life well.

  • 16SEP40 to 7OCT41
  • 15DEC41 to 17MAR44
  • 15SEP45 to 11SEP47
    Above are the dates of foreign service Departure to return. He came back to the states after his Tinosa tour and was home until the end of the war.
    He returns to Tinosa as CMoMM on 15SEP45 which continues the transfer date accuracy of the IA Benefits. He was transferred from Puffer to Mare Island on 17MAR44 and then his foreign service begins again on 15SEP45 when he returns to Tinosa.
    “Chief Engineman Elroy F. WILKE, U.S. Navy, inspects the crew of the U.S. Navy Recruiting Station, Minneapolis, Minnesota, during a ceremony in which Chief Wilke was accorded full honors, prior to his retirement after twenty years of faithful service to his country. The only time an enlisted man may walk before an officer is during this ceremony.”
    Submarine vets sought
    “In an effort to locate all veterans who served on submarines, Elroy F. Wilke, president of the Submarine Veterans of WW II organization, is asking veterans to contact him at 7827 Quivas Way, Denver Co.,80221.
    Officers and enlisted men who served in submarines from 1917 to Dec. 1 1941, are eligible for associate membership. Those who served on a submarine or submarine relief crews from Dec. 1, 1941 to Sept. 1 1945, have exclusive privilege of membership.”

Sources: 1930 and 1950 census; BIRLS; Iowa benefits application; Silversides and Tinosa musters and ROCs; Silversides patrol indexes 1–2.