{"id":255657,"date":"2026-10-03T12:13:51","date_gmt":"2026-10-03T17:13:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=255657"},"modified":"2026-10-03T12:14:06","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T17:14:06","slug":"johnny-lipes-uss-seadragon-appendectomy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/johnny-lipes-uss-seadragon-appendectomy\/","title":{"rendered":"He Cut Out an Appendix 120 Feet Underwater"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-yoast-seo-estimated-reading-time yoast-reading-time__wrapper\"><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__icon\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" data-icon=\"clock\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" style=\"display:inline-block;vertical-align:-0.1em\" role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\"><path stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" stroke-width=\"2\" d=\"M12 8v4l3 3m6-3a9 9 0 11-18 0 9 9 0 0118 0z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__spacer\" style=\"display:inline-block;width:1em\"><\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__descriptive-text\">Estimated reading time: <\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__reading-time\">12<\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__time-unit\"> minutes<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At 22, Navy medic Johnny Lipes faced an impossible choice aboard the submerged USS Seadragon: improvise an appendectomy with kitchen utensils and raw ether, or watch a crewmate die.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"590\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Wheeler_Bryson_Lipes-590x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"Johnny Lipes, USS Seadragon Pharmacist\u2019s Mate who performed an emergency appendectomy in 1942\" class=\"wp-image-255659\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Wheeler_Bryson_Lipes-590x1024.jpeg 590w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Wheeler_Bryson_Lipes-173x300.jpeg 173w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Wheeler_Bryson_Lipes-86x150.jpeg 86w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Wheeler_Bryson_Lipes-768x1333.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Wheeler_Bryson_Lipes-885x1536.jpeg 885w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Wheeler_Bryson_Lipes.jpeg 888w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 590px) 100vw, 590px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This is Johnny Lipes. When he was a 22-year-old Pharmacist&#8217;s Mate aboard the USS Seadragon in 1942, he performed a most amazing feat of personal bravery.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019ve been churning out these Monday morning GunsAmerica columns for years now. I am sincerely grateful that you keep reading them. You are the reason I get to do this. It is such a privilege.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Across hundreds of these pieces, we have explored feats of battlefield daring adequate to boggle the mind. The capacity of the human animal to do extraordinary things under conditions of mortal peril can both inspire and amaze. Today\u2019s story, however, is a bit different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The bravery shown here did not involve weapons, tactics, or close combat. The hero of this story was an unassuming 22-year-old Pharmacist\u2019s Mate 1<sup>st<\/sup>-class named Wheeler B. Lipes. He went by Johnny for some reason. However, military medics the world over are called simply &#8220;Doc.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Doc Lipes was the sole medical support aboard the US Navy submarine USS Seadragon. His qualifications were that he had served for three years aboard various other Navy ships as a lab technician. That&#8217;s it. However, when a crewmate\u2019s life teetered in the balance, this amazing young stud stepped up and did what had to be done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-yoast-seo-table-of-contents yoast-table-of-contents\"><h2>Table of contents<\/h2><ul><li><a href=\"#h-medicine-is-complicated-doing-it-underwater-is-worse\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"johnny-lipes-uss-seadragon-appendectomy\" title=\"He Cut Out an Appendix 120 Feet Underwater\" data-level=\"2\">Medicine Is Complicated. Doing It Underwater Is Worse.<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-uss-seadragon-120-feet-down-and-a-sailor-in-trouble\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"johnny-lipes-uss-seadragon-appendectomy\" title=\"He Cut Out an Appendix 120 Feet Underwater\" data-level=\"2\">USS Seadragon, 120 Feet Down, and a Sailor in Trouble<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-appendicitis-at-war-the-clock-was-already-running\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"johnny-lipes-uss-seadragon-appendectomy\" title=\"He Cut Out an Appendix 120 Feet Underwater\" data-level=\"2\">Appendicitis at War: The Clock Was Already Running<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-no-surgeon-no-operating-room-and-no-way-out\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"johnny-lipes-uss-seadragon-appendectomy\" title=\"He Cut Out an Appendix 120 Feet Underwater\" data-level=\"2\">No Surgeon, No Operating Room, and No Way Out<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-the-uss-seadragon-appendectomy-begins\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"johnny-lipes-uss-seadragon-appendectomy\" title=\"He Cut Out an Appendix 120 Feet Underwater\" data-level=\"2\">The USS Seadragon Appendectomy Begins<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-he-survived-the-surgery-then-came-the-fever\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"johnny-lipes-uss-seadragon-appendectomy\" title=\"He Cut Out an Appendix 120 Feet Underwater\" data-level=\"2\">He Survived the Surgery. Then Came the Fever.<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-the-scar-proved-johnny-lipes-had-pulled-it-off\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"johnny-lipes-uss-seadragon-appendectomy\" title=\"He Cut Out an Appendix 120 Feet Underwater\" data-level=\"2\">The Scar Proved Johnny Lipes Had Pulled It Off<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-the-story-did-not-end-aboard-uss-seadragon\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"johnny-lipes-uss-seadragon-appendectomy\" title=\"He Cut Out an Appendix 120 Feet Underwater\" data-level=\"2\">The Story Did Not End Aboard USS Seadragon<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-more-extraordinary-world-war-2-stories-from-gunsamerica\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"johnny-lipes-uss-seadragon-appendectomy\" title=\"He Cut Out an Appendix 120 Feet Underwater\" data-level=\"2\">More Extraordinary World War 2 Stories from GunsAmerica<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-medicine-is-complicated-doing-it-underwater-is-worse\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Medicine Is Complicated. Doing It Underwater Is Worse.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"444\" src=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-30-at-05.00.37-1024x444.png\" alt=\"World War 2 Navy medics improvising medical care with limited equipment\" class=\"wp-image-255676\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-30-at-05.00.37-1024x444.png 1024w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-30-at-05.00.37-400x173.png 400w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-30-at-05.00.37-150x65.png 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-30-at-05.00.37-768x333.png 768w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-30-at-05.00.37-1536x666.png 1536w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-30-at-05.00.37-2048x888.png 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">WW2-era medics often just made do with what they had at hand. Doc Lipes took that to the very next level. Public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019m nominally on my fifth career. I started med school at 32 and have been a physician for nearly a quarter century now. I suspect I have seen most everything I am going to see in that weird, curious world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Like most everything else in life, being a doctor is not necessarily hard. You just have to be taught the basics and then do it a lot. The same could be said of bricklaying, earthmoving, carpentry, or electrical work. There are risks and techniques intrinsic to all of those professions. Experience informs the particular pitfalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What makes things go off the rails is when somebody is expected to do some of that highly technical stuff without the appropriate training. Jump on a table saw without having had anyone show you how to do it safely, and you can quite easily lose a finger or worse. I have seen that myself many times. Touch the wrong spot on that breaker box, and you\u2019ll immediately wish you hadn\u2019t. In the case of general surgery, it\u2019s really easy to screw that up if you don\u2019t know what you\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The human body is just breathtakingly complicated, but it is predictable. Most everybody\u2019s heart, liver, pancreas, and spleen are in the same places. When stuff goes wrong, we can generally tease out the details because so many smart people who came before us invested so much time divining the details. However, performing major surgery is not for the faint of heart. The folks who do that for a living have spent at least nine years after college learning how to do it safely. And then there was this guy\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-uss-seadragon-120-feet-down-and-a-sailor-in-trouble\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">USS Seadragon, 120 Feet Down, and a Sailor in Trouble<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"811\" src=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/USS_Seadragon_SS-1940819404-1024x811.jpeg\" alt=\"USS Seadragon Sargo-class submarine where Johnny Lipes performed the 1942 appendectomy\" class=\"wp-image-255660\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/USS_Seadragon_SS-1940819404-1024x811.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/USS_Seadragon_SS-1940819404-379x300.jpeg 379w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/USS_Seadragon_SS-1940819404-150x119.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/USS_Seadragon_SS-1940819404-768x608.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/USS_Seadragon_SS-1940819404-1536x1216.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/USS_Seadragon_SS-1940819404.jpeg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The USS Seadragon was a Sargo-class submarine laid down in 1938. It was named after a particularly flamboyant fish. Public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On 11 September 1942, the USS Seadragon was on a war patrol in the South China Sea. Our involvement in World War 2 was less than a year old, and nobody knew how things would turn out. This was not yet a one-sided fight. The Japanese Navy was giving as well as it took. Seadragon and her crew could die most expeditiously if the Japanese discovered their location. The nearest friendly military base was a hard week\u2019s cruise away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Seaman 1<sup>st<\/sup>-class Darrel Dean Rector had begun feeling poorly some three days prior. He complained of right lower quadrant abdominal pain and became nauseated, vomiting once. Within the first 24 hours, his temperature rose to 102.4, and his belly became rigid and profoundly tender. On the third day, Pharmacist\u2019s Mate Lipes informed his skipper, Lieutenant Commander W.E. Ferrall, that he suspected Seaman Rector of having appendicitis. This was bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-appendicitis-at-war-the-clock-was-already-running\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Appendicitis at War: The Clock Was Already Running<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Appendix_vermiformis.jpeg\" alt=\"Human vermiform appendix illustrating the organ at the center of the USS Seadragon emergency surgery\" class=\"wp-image-255677\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Appendix_vermiformis.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Appendix_vermiformis-400x300.jpeg 400w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Appendix_vermiformis-150x113.jpeg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This is the human vermiform appendix. Vermiform means worm-like. We&#8217;re still not completely sure what that thing does. Public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">September 1942, on board a submarine in a combat zone, was a wholly different world from the one we live in today. As an example, at the outset of World War 2 the total national stockpile of penicillin was adequate to treat a mere ten patients. Poor Lipes knew what was happening, but he had very little with which to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We have long claimed that we didn\u2019t really know what the appendix was there for. Divining the purpose of the heart, lungs, and liver is easy. The appendix, not so much. We now appreciate that this little finger-sized pouch is the repository for beneficial gut bacteria. However, you still do just fine without it. The issue is what to do if that rascal gets properly agitated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If the appendix gets a little stool stuck in it, it can become infected. The organ then fills with pus, swells, and dies. If left to its own devices, the appendix will eventually burst like a balloon, spilling vile gut contents into the pristine peritoneum. Without the timely surgical removal of a rotten appendix, appendicitis is typically a death sentence. That thing has to come out right sharpish. All of this was running through the mind of Pharmacist\u2019s Mate Johnny Lipes as he held his confab with the commander of the USS Seadragon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-no-surgeon-no-operating-room-and-no-way-out\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">No Surgeon, No Operating Room, and No Way Out<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"674\" src=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/USS_Prometheus_AR-3_sick_bay_-_NH_1-1024x674.jpeg\" alt=\"World War 2 USS Prometheus sickbay compared with the tiny medical space aboard USS Seadragon\" class=\"wp-image-255678\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/USS_Prometheus_AR-3_sick_bay_-_NH_1-1024x674.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/USS_Prometheus_AR-3_sick_bay_-_NH_1-400x263.jpeg 400w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/USS_Prometheus_AR-3_sick_bay_-_NH_1-150x99.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/USS_Prometheus_AR-3_sick_bay_-_NH_1-768x506.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/USS_Prometheus_AR-3_sick_bay_-_NH_1-1536x1012.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/USS_Prometheus_AR-3_sick_bay_-_NH_1-2048x1349.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This is the sickbay on the USS Prometheus, a US Navy fleet repair ship laid down in 1907. This facility was absolutely palatial in comparison to the glorified broom closet onboard the Seadragon. Public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They didn\u2019t have the stuff they needed to perform an appendectomy, even if they had somebody who knew how to do it, which they didn\u2019t. The medical support facility on board a WW2-vintage submarine was about the size of a small closet. With the boat submerged at 120 feet and the Japanese Navy dominating the seas above, Lipes took stock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lipes chose the wardroom mess table as his operating theater. He had a grand total of twelve hemostats, a bottle of ether, some gauze sponges, a little chromic catgut suture material, and a packet of scalpel blades without handles. The cook helped him sterilize the instruments in boiling water. They sourced several sets of rubber gloves and some pajamas and soaked all of that in the alcohol they used as torpedo fuel. Lipes press-ganged an officer named F.P. Hoskins into service as the anesthesiologist. Hoskins improvised a face mask out of a tea strainer and a piece of cloth to administer the raw ether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The problem with cutting into the human body is that blood is reliably opaque. Surgeons use retractors to hold the flesh clear and a suction device to keep the wound tidy while they work. Seaman Lipes had none of these things. He obtained five tablespoons from the mess, bent them backwards so he could use them as retractors, and sterilized them in boiling water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-the-uss-seadragon-appendectomy-begins\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">The USS Seadragon Appendectomy Begins<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"778\" src=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-29-at-20.40.29-1024x778.png\" alt=\"Improvised surgical suite aboard USS Seadragon during Johnny Lipes' emergency appendectomy\" class=\"wp-image-255661\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-29-at-20.40.29-1024x778.png 1024w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-29-at-20.40.29-395x300.png 395w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-29-at-20.40.29-150x114.png 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-29-at-20.40.29-768x583.png 768w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-29-at-20.40.29.png 1430w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The improvised surgical suite onboard the Seadragon was austere in the extreme. Public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The skipper served as the scribe for the procedure, documenting progress every few minutes throughout. LT Hoskins began dripping ether into Seaman Rector\u2019s face at 1046. Lipes improvised a scalpel blade holder out of a hemostat and made his initial incision at 1107. It took him an hour and 23 minutes to locate, isolate, and amputate the diseased appendix. His makeshift retractors worked perfectly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lipes treated the appendiceal stump with phenol and alcohol and began closing the wound in layers. He used and accounted for 71 surgical sponges along the way. The intrepid Pharmacist\u2019s Mate sprinkled sulfanilamide powder into the wound atop each layer as he sutured it closed. Seaman Rector regained consciousness after 2 hours and 52 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">71 gauze sponges is a lot. The amount of blood Seaman Rector lost is not documented, but I suspect it was prodigious. That Doc Lipes kept his head and got this thing done\u2026while submerged at 120 feet in a cramped submarine in an active war zone&#8230;is pretty darn impressive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-he-survived-the-surgery-then-came-the-fever\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">He Survived the Surgery. Then Came the Fever.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"789\" src=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-30-at-05.09.05-1024x789.png\" alt=\"USS Seadragon sailor Darrel Dean Rector recovering after Johnny Lipes' improvised appendectomy\" class=\"wp-image-255679\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-30-at-05.09.05-1024x789.png 1024w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-30-at-05.09.05-390x300.png 390w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-30-at-05.09.05-150x116.png 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-30-at-05.09.05-768x591.png 768w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-30-at-05.09.05.png 1296w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Seaman Rector needed a decent hospital with some hot nurses and a bunch of fancy machines. What he got was a lab tech and some kitchen flatware. Public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Seaman Rector wasn\u2019t out of the woods just yet, not by a long shot. Six hours after surgery, he began to sip a little water. At his 18<sup>th<\/sup> hour post-op, Rector spiked a fever of 103.6. His respiration climbed to 50 breaths per minute, and his pulse reached 144 bpm. The unfortunate young man was clearly trying to get septic and die.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lipes had access to oxygen, but he didn\u2019t have a mask to administer it. When Rector\u2019s condition became grave, Lipes cupped his hands over the sick man\u2019s face and ran the O2 tube into them. This resulted in a significant improvement in the sailor\u2019s condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By post-op day 4, Rector was clearly on the mend. Thirteen days after his improvised appendectomy, the kid was back to full duty. Six weeks after the operation, the Seadragon pulled up to a berth at a friendly port.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-the-scar-proved-johnny-lipes-had-pulled-it-off\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Scar Proved Johnny Lipes Had Pulled It Off<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Gersdorff_p21v-768x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"Historic wartime medical treatment illustrating the challenges of repairing battlefield injuries\" class=\"wp-image-255680\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Gersdorff_p21v-768x1023.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Gersdorff_p21v-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Gersdorff_p21v-113x150.jpeg 113w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Gersdorff_p21v-1153x1536.jpeg 1153w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Gersdorff_p21v.jpeg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Tragically, we have ample experience repairing the human body, usually as a result of stuff we did to it. Sometimes, however, that yet remains a fairly inexact science. Public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The submarine squadron Medical Officer examined Seaman Rector in port and discovered a well-healed surgical scar that was neither tender nor inflamed. The excised appendix had been preserved in alcohol. An Australian pathologist dissected the vile thing and found it to have been both ischemic and blackened. Had Doc Lipes not gotten the diseased organ out of Seaman Rector, the young man most assuredly would have perished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Military courage comes in many forms. Sometimes that means diving on top of a sputtering hand grenade or charging an enemy machine gun nest. Others involve bending a bunch of spoons into DIY surgical instruments and cutting a friend\u2019s belly open on top of a mess table because you know that he\u2019s going to die if you don\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-the-story-did-not-end-aboard-uss-seadragon\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Story Did Not End Aboard USS Seadragon<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"732\" height=\"940\" src=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-29-at-20.43.14-1.png\" alt=\"USS Tang crew before the submarine's final World War 2 war patrol\" class=\"wp-image-255663\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-29-at-20.43.14-1.png 732w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-29-at-20.43.14-1-234x300.png 234w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-29-at-20.43.14-1-117x150.png 117w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 732px) 100vw, 732px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">These sailors crewed the USS Tang on her last war patrol. The Tang sank 33 enemy ships prior to falling prey to her own errant torpedo. Public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tragically, Seaman Rector was later assigned to the USS Tang. The Tang was the most successful American combat sub of the war. On 24 October 1944, on her fifth combat patrol, the Tang was struck by its own malfunctioning torpedo during a furious combat engagement in the Formosa Strait. Rector was among the 78 crewmembers who perished in the sinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Inexplicably, the US Navy\u2019s Bureau of Medicine and Surgery initially threatened to court-martial Lipes for performing surgery without the proper credentials. As a physician myself, I think those guys needed to reevaluate their priorities. Lipes prevailed and remained in the Navy, eventually earning a commission and retiring as a Lieutenant Commander in 1962.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"765\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ANCExplorer_Wheeler_Bryson_Lipes_grave-765x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"Wheeler Bryson Johnny Lipes grave at Arlington National Cemetery\" class=\"wp-image-255658\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ANCExplorer_Wheeler_Bryson_Lipes_grave-765x1024.jpeg 765w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ANCExplorer_Wheeler_Bryson_Lipes_grave-224x300.jpeg 224w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ANCExplorer_Wheeler_Bryson_Lipes_grave-112x150.jpeg 112w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ANCExplorer_Wheeler_Bryson_Lipes_grave-768x1028.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ANCExplorer_Wheeler_Bryson_Lipes_grave.jpeg 956w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 765px) 100vw, 765px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">LCDR Lipes was a hero buried among heroes at Arlington National Cemetery. Arlington photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After leaving the military, Lipes took a job as a hospital administrator, eventually serving as CEO of a 1,000-bed teaching hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. He later became president of the Memorial Medical Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. In February of 2005, Doc Lipes was finally awarded the Navy Commendation Medal for his heroic actions back in 1942, 63 years after the event. The great man succumbed to pancreatic cancer two months later at age 84. In a world dirty with heroes, Pharmacist\u2019s Mate 1<sup>st<\/sup>-class Johnny Lipes was indeed a hero of the highest order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-more-extraordinary-world-war-2-stories-from-gunsamerica\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">More Extraordinary World War 2 Stories from GunsAmerica<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/m1-carbine\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"johnny-lipes-uss-seadragon-appendectomy\" title=\"He Cut Out an Appendix 120 Feet Underwater\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The M1 Carbine and The Story of War Hero Jack Lucas<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/m1911-in-italy\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"johnny-lipes-uss-seadragon-appendectomy\" title=\"He Cut Out an Appendix 120 Feet Underwater\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Browning\u2019s M1911 and the Tale of a U.S. Combat Engineer in Italy<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/the-pearl-harbor-niihau-incident-a-tidy-little-war\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"johnny-lipes-uss-seadragon-appendectomy\" title=\"He Cut Out an Appendix 120 Feet Underwater\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Pearl Harbor Ni\u2019ihau Incident and Origins of Ruger&#8217;s .22 Pistol<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At 22, Navy medic Johnny Lipes faced an impossible choice aboard the submerged USS Seadragon: improvise an appendectomy with kitchen utensils and raw ether, or watch a crewmate die.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":255679,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_specdata_upc":"","_specdata_placement":"manual","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,772],"tags":[102,636,4674,4675,2836],"featured":[],"hunt365":[],"class_list":["post-255657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-gunsamerica-authors","category-will-dabbs","tag-feature-articles","tag-history","tag-johnny-lipes","tag-navy","tag-will-dabbs"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.5 (Yoast SEO v28.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Johnny Lipes and the USS Seadragon Appendectomy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"At 22, Navy medic Johnny Lipes performed an appendectomy aboard a submerged WWII submarine with spoons, ether, and raw nerve.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, 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Turn-ons include vintage German machineguns, flying his sexy-cool RV6A airplane, Count Chocula cereal and the movie \u201cAliens.\u201d www.word-monkey.com Experience: -Professional Writer-thousands of publishing credits for dozens of titles -Mechanical Engineer\\\/Practicing Physician -Instrument-rated Commercial Pilot -Sunday School Teacher\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.word-monkey.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/will.dabbs.9\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/drwildmanmd\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gunsamerica.com\\\/digest\\\/author\\\/willdabbs\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Johnny Lipes and the USS Seadragon Appendectomy","description":"At 22, Navy medic Johnny Lipes performed an appendectomy aboard a submerged WWII submarine with spoons, ether, and raw 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