In September 1942, Pharmacist's Mate Wheeler Lipes performed an emergency appendectomy aboard a United States Navy submarine.

After the war, Petty Officer Lipes remained in the Navy and later received a Medical Service Corps commission in 1951.

Positioned in enemy waters and lacking standard medical equipment, Lipes performed a successful appendectomy using kitchen instruments such as spoons and tea strainers.

"Doc" Lipes, as he was called, had no formal surgical training and just three years of medical experience as a hospital lab technician at the time of the surgery.

[4] Lipes's heroic surgery was the basis of an episode on The Cavalcade of America, a long-running radio series featuring historical dramas.