1998 Honoree
Branch: Navy ** Served In: WWII
Zenneth Chamberlain joined the U.S. Navy in August 1941. He served with amphibious forces at Casablanca, Sicily and Salerno. Following service in Europe, Chamberlain joined the Submarine Service and was assigned to Pacific duty aboard the Sea Owl. The Sea Owl completed three war patrols in the South Pacific where it sunk a Japanese destroyer, a destroyer escort and other enemy vessels. At one point, Chamberlain’s sub was depth charged for fourteen continuous hours. More than one-third of Japanese combatant ships and two-thirds of enemy merchant tonnage were sunk by American submarines during World War II. The Navy lost 3,505 submarine crewmen during the war and 52 American submarines were sunk.