DOC SAVAGE 64
THE SUBMARINE MYSTERY
JUNE 1938
Western Historical Manuscript Collection: This story started out with the title “The Buccaneer.”
The story begins with the sinking of U. S. S. Swordfish. This name choice is probably based on the fact the keel for an actual ship in the U. S. Navy named USS Swordfish (SS-193) was laid down in October of 1937.
The basis for the submarine sinking in the story may be based on the sinking of the USS S-51 which sank on September 25, 1925 after being rammed by the steamer City of Rome. Only three men of the submarine’s compliment of 36 men escaped the doomed craft. The accident occurred near Block Island, Rhode Island.
However a more likely candidate may be the sinking of USS S-4 which sank after a collision with the Coast Guard cutter Paulding. This accident occurred near Provincetown, Massachusetts, which is closer to the story’s location of Boston. The submarine was eventually salvaged and received a new commission in 1928. She was sunk in May 1936 after having been stricken from the Navy roster.
The September 3, 1937 issue of Time Magazine has an article on the Spanish Civil War and “pirate” attacks on warships by “mystery submarines.”
The main villain in the story has the odd name of Prince Albert. It also happened to be the name for a very popular brand of pipe tobacco. Prince Albert was also the husband of Queen Victoria.
So why did Lester Dent pick such an odd named for a villain? I think the answer goes back to Dent’s days as a telegraph operator prior to his becoming a pulp author. The Prince Albert tobacco can was a useful tool to telegraph operators who used it as an amplifier. An empty tin would be wedged against the telegraph sounder. This would create a distinctive sound that helped the operator distinguish his messages from those of other machines who were in the same room.
Dent’s choice of the name for a villain was just another one of his inside jokes. There's also the old joke about the kid calling up the store and asking, "Do you have Prince Albert in the can?" Followed by the "Well you better let him out!" remark. Doc's troubles in the story begin when Prince Albert puts him in the can (or the van.)
http://mysite.du.edu/~jcalvert/tel/sounder.htm
The majority of this story takes place on a remote island in the South Atlantic Ocean. There are several islands to choose from if readers want to pick an actual location upon which the story may be based. Tristan da Cunha is a good candidate where the residents speak a kind of Georgian dialect.
Doc is kidnapped by having his car forced into a van.
This story recycles some ideas from The Silver Death Heads such as the idea of having a private submarine secretly built.
Monk and Ham are rendered unconscious after they are forced to drink Mickey Finns.
Tear gas is used to subdue Doc and his crew.
Oxygen pills from The Mystery Under the Sea are used.
The pit in which Doc, Ham, and Monk are imprisoned in within the castle comes from The Majii.
The passage where Doc swims out to the submarine is similar to The Sea Angel.
Doc loses his temper and breaks a man’s jaw.
The villains are killed by poison gas.
Amelia Earhart was known for several famous feats. She was the first woman to fly the Atlantic solo (May 1932) for which the US Congress awarded her the Distinguished Flying Cross. Three months later, she became the first woman to fly solo across the United States. In 1935, she soloed from Hawaii to California.
The female aviator disappeared on an around-the-world flight on July 2, 1937 in a Lockheed L-10 Electra. Accompanying her was navigator Fred Noonan. When last heard from, the aviators were flying in the vicinity of Howland Island in the Pacific and low on fuel.
But in the annals of Doc Savage her doppelganger reappears in The Submarine Mystery. Portia Bowen or Duchess Portia Montanye-Norwich as she is formally known is a female aviatrix or some renown.
Readers learn this from her friend China Janes who explains that Portia has been missing for the last two years even though it hasn't been a widely known fact. Now she has suddenly reappeared. Dent's homage to the missing aviators was part of a popular wish that the pair were still alive, marooned on some tropical island, and awaiting rescue.
Life often imitates art but not in this case. After disappearing in the Pacific Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan were never seen again. Since then countless tales have grown into a long list about mysterious prisoners, Japanese naval facilities, espionage, and such until they are not legends.
June 5, 1938 – The St. Petersburg Times reports that a cadet at the Florida Military Academy received the Doc Savage Award from Street & Smith.
June 14, 1938 – Work is officially completed on the silver storage vault at the West Point Bullion Depository at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.
June 22, 1938 - Joe Louis meets Max Schmeling in a rematch. Schemeling is defeated two minutes and four seconds later.
