USS SILVERSIDES
300 FEET BENEATH THE SEA WITH A BURSTING APPENDIX !!!
sub, an appendectomy had to be done in one of the least hospitable places on earth.
  A WWII era sub was a surgeouns nightmare of indescribably unsanitary conditions. But in a tiny crews mess turned operating room, Moore and his tream of voluteers removed the gangrenous organ from young Platter. All while submerged in enemy waters! Six days later, Platter was back on duty.
The SILVERSIDES was the site of one of the three famous appendectomies performed in submarines during the war. Stuck out at sea on a war patrol, a flare-up of an appendix created a life and death scenario.
  No doctor on board, no operating theatre, no nurses, and days or weeks from any friendly port. What do you do?
WWII Pharnacist Mate 2nd Class
Rating
Submarines were not assigned ship's doctors. The Pharmacist Mate stood in as the ship's "doc".
He was a storied "Corpsman" of the Navy's Medical Corps. Corpsman were the Paramedics of their day. They stood between life and death aboard ship and with marines on the line.
  On that fateful day in 1942, it was clear to PhM1c Moore that Fireman Platter was in serious trouble.So for the second time onboard a US Navy
Patient, Fireman 2nd Class George Platter on Left. Famed "surgeon", Pharmacist Mate 1st Class Thomas Moore on right.
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