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Thread Number: 95556
/ Tag: Vintage Automatic Washers
WWII submarine laundry |
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Post# 1202137 3/23/2024 at 05:19 by mopar65  (Almont MI) |
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Thought someone here would enjoy this video as well.
Hopefully I posted this in the proper place. Anthony CLICK HERE TO GO TO mopar65's LINK | ||
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| Post# 1202150 , Reply# 2 3/23/2024 at 08:46 by Helicaldrive (St. Louis) | ||
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Aactually on second thought Maybe there weren’t any sheets. No doubt it was hot and humid, so what for. The mattresses were vinyl covered. Maybe they just slept in their clothes or underwear. Difficult unpleasant life. | ||
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Post# 1202152 , Reply# 3 3/23/2024 at 08:49 by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.) |
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Anthony,
Thanks very much for posting this video about US Submarine laundry during WWII. My Dad was on the USS Scabbardfish (SS-397),a Balao Class Submarine, during the war. He was a Fire Specialist in charge of plotting the trajectory of the torpedos. His sub was built in the Portsmouth Shipyard, so according to this video it probably was equipped with a Bendix FL for doing the laundry. In San Francisco at the Maritime Museum the USS Pampanito is part of the exhibit and is the same class sub that my Dad was on. Several years ago I went on it for the tour and it was quite an experience. These subs had a crew of 80 and boy are the quarters tight. After the war in the 60’s the USS Scabbardfish was sold to the Greek Navy and they used it as a training sub until January 1979. Below is the Wikipedia article for the USS Scabbardfish. Eddie CLICK HERE TO GO TO ea56's LINK | ||
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Post# 1202160 , Reply# 4 3/23/2024 at 12:55 by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.) |
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I forgot to add that my Dad was only 17 years old when he enlisted in the Navy and 20 when the war ended. It was required that all submariner’s be able to swim and they had to pass a swimming test before acceptance into the Silent Service. Dad couldn’t swim a stroke, but wanted to be a submariner because the chow and pay were the best of all the armed forces, and he had to enlist because he’d gotten into trouble with law with a group of fast friends he ran with, and because the judge said “either enlist or go to jail”.
So he had a friend that physically resembled him report to the Alameda Naval Station and take the required swimming test for him. This was pre-computer days and they didn’t ask for an ID, so that’s how this scheme worked for him. Dad’s feeling was if the sub was depth charged he couldn’t swim his way out of it anyway, and he’d learn to swim on the fly while in the Navy, which he did. I’m extremely proud of his service to our country. Eddie | ||
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Post# 1202169 , Reply# 5 3/23/2024 at 16:30 by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD) |
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Back in the late 70s or early 80s, there was a PBS documentary about life on a nuclear submarine. I do not remember much, but there was a shot of Westinghouse Space Mates under a counter. | ||
| Post# 1202185 , Reply# 6 3/23/2024 at 21:11 by Helicaldrive (St. Louis) | ||
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Great story Thanks for sharing it. Stressful existence indeed, and at such a young age. Difficult to imagine what our nation would be today if it weren’t for all the young men who served and sacrificed their lives in that war. | ||
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