Sighted Sub
Early in the war, an affectionate epithet for the Armed Guard circulated in Navy circles: “Sighted Sub—Glub Glub.” This uncomplimentary perception changed as the war wore on and these units proved their effectiveness. The phrase itself was a takeoff from one of the most famous phrases in U.S. naval history.
On January 28, 1942, Donald Mason was piloting a Lockheed Hudson twin-engine aircraft on antisubmarine patrol out of Argentia, Newfoundland. After hours of boredom staring at an empty sea, an alert crewman spotted the thin, characteristic wake of a submarine periscope breaking the surface. Mason attacked at once, dropping two bombs from an altitude of about 25 feet, straddling the periscope. With the detonation of the bombs the submarine was seen to lift out of the water and then to sink vertically. Minutes later an oil slick was observed bubbling to the surface.90 Shortly thereafter Mason radioed an historic four-word message back to base: “Sighted sub, sank same.”91
Donald Mason was probably following protocol to keep radio traffic to a minimum. However, he gives us a lesson in effective word power. Fewer is usually better. The apostle John was able to communicate the complete Christian gospel in only twenty-six words, showing the beauty and simplicity of Christ’s message in a way that makes it easy for us to succinctly share the good news with others:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
—John 3:16