"The Drum can't be beat!"

The USS Drum (SS-228), a Gato-class diesel-electric submarine, has been at home in Mobile, Alabama for nearly 40 years now. Since opening as a museum on July 4, 1969, the Drum has been a silent reminder to thousands of visitors of the 52 submarines and over 3,600 submariners who made the ultimate sacrifice in WWII. Still, many people throughout the southeast United States have no idea such a rare naval WWII icon is right in their own back yard.

Now residing on land nearby the USS Alabama (BB-60) battleship in Battleship Memorial Park lies the USS Drum (SS-228), the oldest American WWII submarine in existence. Why not plan a trip to Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile, Alabama where you can get inside of a WWII-era battleship and the USS Drum submarine? See the Visitor Info page here for more information on visiting Battleship Memorial Park as well as the surrounding area.

Use the navigational links at the top of each page to learn about her past, her present, and her future. The Drum has an impressive history and a lot of character. After looking over this website I hope that you will feel motivated to pay her a visit and maybe even help out with her upkeep.

You can find the USS Drum (SS-228) at the following coordinates: Latitude +30°40'52.40" North, Longitude -88°01'00.00" West.

The 2009 USS Drum (SS/AGSS-228) reunion was held Wednesday, June 17^th through Saturday, June 20^th at the Hampton Inn Mobile-East Bay/Daphne. The Memorial Service was held on Saturday, June 20^th at 11 AM in the Aircraft Pavilion at Battleship Memorial Park. Seven crew members attended. We are blessed to have these heroes of WWII still in our presence.

USS Drum will be featured in the upcoming Villani Rockill Productions/Mighty Moments Motion Pictures fictional film entitled "USS Seaviper". Ralph Villani is the director, producer, and co-writer. His father, P.J. Villani, served on the Drum in WWII for what would have been the 14th war patrol.

Click on the image to the right to view a .pdf file of a recent press release about the "USS Seaviper" movie.

The two minute video to your left was featured on Mobile's NBC 15 News on March 25, 2009 as a "Here's Darwin!" (Darwin Singleton) report. Lesley Waters and Tom Bowser talk with Darwin about the forthcoming "USS Seaviper" movie. Please ignore the misspelling of Lesley's name and the news anchor at the end who cites the incorrect war that Drum took part in.

The same film crew is also working on a documentary all about the Drum entitled "The Untold Story". It is expected to be released sometime in 2010, with partial proceeds going towards the restoration of the Drum.