Wheeler Bryson Lipes

Emergency surgery In September 1942, while aboard the Seadragon, Lipes performed the first major surgery aboard a submarine when a shipmate (The patient was Darrell Dean Rector; he died in October 1944 in the sinking of the USS Tang (SS-306).) The Navy medical establishment was angered by the occurrence, and there was talk of a court-martial.

In popular media On December 14, 1942, the Chicago Daily News published an article by George Weller about the surgery. It won the 1943 Pulitzer Prize for Reporting. The events documented in the piece were incorporated into the film Destination Tokyo (1943) starring Cary Grant.

Lipes' heroic surgery was the basis of an episode on Cavalcade of America, a long-running radio series featuring historical dramas. The episode, titled "Pharmacist's Mate, First Class", aired on NBC's main Red Network on May 24, 1943. Michael O'Shea starred as the sailor based on Lipes in a program written by Stuart Hawkins. Lipes made an appearance at the end of the show.

It took a lttle over fifteen years, but Lipes' story finally made it to the small screen via "Operation Seadragon," a second-season installment of the entirely submarine-focused docudrama anthology series, The Silent Service.

Personal life Lipes was married twice, first to Myrtle Peterson from 1939 until her death in 1997; he was married to his second wife, Audrey, at the time of his death.