Ear on Chicago; Silversides

Tag game two, attention to muster, Baker, Brown, Corbin, Kraven, Drauss, Keepin, Kohenik, Corpus, Lars Brantz, Leiden. You're listening to muster of attack team two of the Naval Reserve submarine division 9 -225 of Chicago, Illinois. We're speaking to you from the United States Naval Reserve Training Center at the Naval Armory at the foot of Randolph Street on Lake Michigan in Chicago. We're going to do the story tonight of this submarine division 9 -225. Muster has just been completed and now some of the men will go to classes and we are going to do the story of two attack teams, attack team 1 and attack team 4, who will go aboard the submarine USS Silver Sides. Our guide on this program is going to be Lieutenant James E. Henry. At what time do they go to the submarine, Lieutenant? Immediately after muster, the two teams that are designated for

that evening go down and board the boat to perform the various functions of their training and the classes they'll go now to. The others will go to the classrooms and will break up into the different classrooms for other types of instruction in rate training. Now we're talking about submarine USS Silver Sides. Is that a real submarine? Yes it is. It's the SS236 of World War II fame. It actually has quite a combat record and maybe a few people will remember that it's the first submarine in which an appendectomy was performed, submerged, actually while they were off to pan somewhere by an enlisted hospital corpsman. It was considered quite a feat at the time it was done and later I believe it was duplicated by one or two other hospital corpsman. Well then this is a famous submarine that we're going to go aboard tonight. It is. It has quite a world war record. Well let's follow attack teams 1 and 4 then you and I and go on down to the submarine. I see

they're ready to leave. Roger. Well the sound you're hearing now is that of attack teams 1 and 4 coming down into the submarine. We came down just about 15 or 20 seconds before them so that we could record actually the teams coming down into the sub. Lieutenant Henry who is in charge of the submarine as I said is our guide and I want to ask him a few things about naval terminology. Now we came down from the naval armory. We walked actually outside and then down into the submarine. First of all Lieutenant what did we come down through there? We came down through the after battery hatch or the crew's quarters access hatch. That's the normal one for using in port. Steps leading up to the outside of the submarine probably 15 steps or so and when they get down to all within 6 feet of the floor some of them just about drop all 3 or 4 steps down. Now what room are we in now? We are in the crew's

mess and this is a room of about 10 feet by about 12 feet I guess something like that isn't it? I want to say something like that. Now to our left over here through a doorway what is that? That is the crew's quarters or where the crew's quarters would be in a normal submarine. We use it for a classroom but in a you can see the size of that knot would hold 36 bunks on an operating submarine. Further on that? Then in the engine rooms and the other operating rooms the maneuvering room where the electrical controls are and then the after torpedo room that's the stern of the boat that way. Then up this way is a bow. We have the control room and the forward battery or the osters quarters and then the forward torpedo room. And above the control room is the conning tower where the battle stations controls are. Well now what is the actual training period begin? Normally in the control room. Well let's go in there. You see there are three different groups on the boat right now and let's see there are four different groups on the boat right now and the ones that

are in different parts of their training will be in the different parts of the boat. I mean each group will not move from one group one on place on the boat to another place. They will stay in their own respective area for tonight's drill. Well we will actually simulate going down. That's right. In the control room we will simulate diving and the engine room will actually light off an engine. Start the number one main engine which is a nine cylinder Fairbanks Morris diesel engine 1600 horsepower. I might say that we're recording this at night approximately seven o 'clock at night and this sounds like it's going to be an exciting evening. So let's move ahead. Lieutenant Henry we have just passed through the control room up another hatch which contains about 15 or 16 steps and up to another deck. Now where are we now? We are now in the conning tower that's where the controls are for running the attacks of the submarine. There are very few men in here during normal cruising operations but during battle stations there are anywhere up to around a

dozen men in this small space. Now I understand that the attack crews are ready to go into a dive. Is that right? That is correct. We'll simulate a dive from this position here and the men are on the bridge ready to dive. We have an officer of the deck and two lookouts on the bridge who will come down and take the stations down below in the control room. Now we'd like to listen in as the officers and the men give their orders and pass them back and forth. I'm quite sure that neither I nor the listening audience unless some of them were members of the submarine crew in the war or in peace time will understand them completely but I think you can get from some of the things at least an idea of what the men are doing. So if it's all right with you I'd like to record your operation. Very well sir let's proceed then. Officer of the deck dive when ready. All right. Where are the reds? Where are the reds? Die! That's good. All right.

Here. All right. Bring more pressure to both. Very well 175 feet. 175 feet high. 175 feet. 10 degree down. 175 feet high. 10 degree down above the line. Low negative. Low negative high. 30 feet high. 30 feet high. Air scared to negative. That's about boy in the open safety. That's about boy in the open safety tonight. I'll have two thirds. I'll have two thirds. All right. Where's the cycle events? The cycle events. The cycle events. The cycle events. All ahead one

third. All ahead one third. All right cycle sir. As well ahead one third. All right. I'm from auxiliary's to see. I'm from auxiliary's to see. I'm usually circulate sir. Recirculate. I'm from auxiliary's to see sir. All right. auxiliary bending at the manifold sir. Stern planes take charge of your bubble. Take charge. Passing 170 feet sir. All right. 500 pounds bubble auxiliary to see sir. Aye. Reform every 500 pounds. Reform every 500 I .diwali 175 feet. Coffin 10 - Oh the Godzilla起er say sir. All right. To 1500 pounds bubble bogs or has she see sir. All right. überall ia the manifold sir. Hi. Secure auxiliaries of 2 ,500. Secure auxiliaries 2 ,500. Aye, sir.

Secure auxiliaries to see it. 2 ,500, follow us, manifold secures. Aye, shift your suction to forward trim. Shift your suction to forward trim. I'll make forward trim to see, sir. Mark your damp. 1 ,7 ,6 feet. Very well. 5 ,500, pump up for forward trim to see, sir. Mission event negative. Granted. Vent negative. Vent negative, all right. 1 ,000, pump for forward trim to see, sir. Secure at 1 ,500, secure at 1 ,500, aye. Native vinegar. Aye. 1 ,7 ,5 feet, trim satisfactory. Very well. Secure at 4 ,500, see, at 1 ,500, aye. That's about a good point to interrupt, I think, Lieutenant Henry. We've recorded approximately five or six minutes, I think, of the operation of a dive. One of the

noises that we heard right after they sounded the diving signal was the loud clang of what I assume is a hatch. Is that right? That is correct. That's the hatch from the conning tower to the bridge. And that's the only hatch that is open prior to submerging the submarine. Now I saw three men come out of that hatch and go down through this hatch again and down to the deck just below us. What were they doing up there? There were two enlisted lookouts and one officer of the deck. That's the normal complement of board day on the bridge of an operating submarine at sea. Now the officer of the deck actually went downstairs to issue the orders, is that right? Yes, sir. He went down to take his station as the diving officer. The officer of the deck will be the diving officer until when battle stations are sounded, then the engineer officer, normally the engineer officer, will perform the functions of diving officer and then that officer, whatever he may have been, will take another station. Well now, Lieutenant, we are down at 176 feet, 175 feet we were simulating.

Now I understand you're about ready to bring it up. What for? Now we're going to come up to take a look around for contacts. See if there's anything we can use to shoot at. Shoot at a periscope? We'll use number one periscope and raise it and take a look around the all the way around the horizon. And under battled conditions, of course, you'd be looking for enemy ships. That's correct. In this case, you'll be looking for something else, probably. Well, there won't be much else up there to look out, but the Chicago skyline, there will be a lot of people probably who do not know that the Chicago skyline can be seen through a submarine periscope. Well, that's an interesting item indeed. Well, a few fellows are prepared to go through this procedure. We're ready to record it. All right, Mr. Warren. Point up to a hunt to periscope depth. Periscope depth, aye. Ten degree up, bubble. Periscope depth, aye. Ten degree up, bubble, aye.

Passing 1 ,60 feet, sir. 1 ,60 feet. Very well. Passing 1 ,50 feet, sir. 1 ,50 feet. Ten degree up, bubble. Very well. Ten degree, bubble, aye. Passing 1 ,40 feet, sir. 1 ,40 feet. Very well. Passing 1 ,30 feet, sir. 1 ,30 feet. Mr. Cyclone, sir. Cyclone. Don't art. Take a sweep around. Report all contacts. Take a sweep around. Report all contacts. All right. One, two, zero feet. Very well. Flood auxiliaries from C. Flood auxiliaries from C. Flood auxiliaries from C. Passing 1 ,00 feet, sir. Aye. 1 ,00 feet Looks like everyone has a check -up. All, I had 2, 3rd... 5 ,00 fluttered in, sir.

Passed a 9 ,00 feet, sir. 9 ,00 feet. EE, sir, bubble, i. 1000 fluttered in, sir. Secured fluttering, aye. All ahead, 1 .30. Almost secured, perfect. Passing 8 ,00 feet, sir. Eight zero feet. Very well. That's all I want to do. Very well. Passing seven zero feet, sir. I'm seven zero feet. Delay the depth readings. Delay the reading time. Take charge of your bubble. Take charge of the bubble, ey. Berescobe is clear. Very well. Copperescole. What are made such around no contact? Very long. Contact. Berring. Mark. Well, we have the periscope up in a very interesting

and exciting procedure. Lieutenant Henry, who is in charge of the submarine, is now looking through the periscope, and is going to aim it on one of the buildings along Chicago's skyline. As we said earlier, actually in battle procedure, they would be searching the surface and the horizon for enemy ships. Since this submarine is on the surface of Lake Michigan, of course, there aren't any enemy ships around. Thank the good Lord for that. But we can see the skyline of Chicago, and I think that's friendly, isn't it Lieutenant? Yes, sir. It certainly is. And we have the wriggly building in the scope. The airliner is in low power, and then switched to high power. We can actually almost see the people working tonight over there tonight. They might be working at WBBM. I don't know. Sometimes they work at night, and sometimes they don't work so hard at night. Let's take a look. That's a little high for WBBM, because we're on the second and third floors. Of course, yes. Now you can see it. You're bringing it down a little bit.

Well, that's a good view of the wriggly building. A very good view indeed. And I can see, well, tonight they're working, because I can see a couple of boys over there spinning some records. Well, Lieutenant, that's very interesting. Indeed, I'm glad you went through this procedure because, well, it gave me a chance to look at this Chicago skyline through a submarine periscope. And as you said, it's something that very few people really know can be done here in Chicago. Now, let me ask you just one or two questions about some of the terminology that I heard. First of all, what is this bubble they keep talking about down there? The bubble is a term used to designate the angle, either up or down. It's a term used to keep the straightening out the difference between the amount of planes that the planesmen are using. The planes move up and down in order to keep the confusion

from being, you know, the ball of planesmen is saying actually the order to the bubble is to the stern planesmen. And in order to keep him to tell him what angle he want to boat while you tell him how much up bubble or how much down bubble he want, rather than how much planes to use. Do you ever take this submarine out to Lake Michigan? No, we don't. This submarine does not have any propellers, or we call them screws, and they have no screws aboard, because there is an agreement between Canada and the United States that there will be no submarines operated on the lakes. During the war, they built submarines up in Manitouac. In fact, I served in a submarine that was built in Manitouac, and they used to test them up off there, but they had some kind of an agreement to bypass the other agreement for during wartime. Lieutenant, for people who may have joined this program late, I want to explain that some of the procedures that they have been hearing in the naval terminology is that of the United States Naval Training Center here in Chicago. And this is the naval armory, and we're aboard a submarine, and actually going

through the procedures that the Navy goes through out on the ocean. Here is the commanding author of the submarine division, Lieutenant Commander Nichols. Well, perhaps we can talk to Lieutenant Commander Nichols. I'll walk around the hatch here just a moment. May I ask you, sir, how often the group meets here? Well, we meet every Thursday night. And do you go through this type of procedure every week? Well, part of the crew does every week, yes. And I understand that some of the other crew are part of the crew goes to classes. Is that right? Yes, we have formal class study and operational submarine training. How many members do you have in this crew? Well, we average around 115. Just exactly what is the naval reserve? Well, it's the body of mostly ex -Navy people. I mean, active Navy people have gone out to an active duty and retained a reserve status. And it also embodies certain recruits into the reserve program.

Will these boys be going into the Navy after their training here? Yes, they will. They will put in on the average of two years of active duty. Fine, thank you very much. And by the way, we want to thank you for allowing us to come down and take a look at your operation. Well, we're glad to have you bored. Now back to our guide, Lieutenant Henry. Lieutenant, here we are at Periscope Depth. And I know that you're not giving us the exact depth of the submarine, but we'll say that it's under 100 feet. Now, the next thing is to surface. When do we do that? You're about ready to do surface? We're about ready to surface the boat now. Alright, let's listen to that procedure. Stand by the surface, four main engines. By the surface, I prepare the surface, four main engines, prepare the surface, four main engines. Put watertight doors on the latch, close the boat, get flappers. All of them, sir. Aye. An induction

in fire position, sir. Aye. An induction in power off, then shut rate of service below. Very well. Surface. On out from its tail we borrow about 25 minutes from the edge of the cabin, while we dock You're about ready? You're about to see here. You here? There you are. I start the low pressure blow. I start the low pressure blow. Mark your depth. 3 -0 feet. 2 -9 feet. 2 -8 feet. 2 -7 feet. 2 -6 feet. 2 -6 and holding. Oh well, crack the hat. Crack the hat. Crack the hat. Open the hat. Look out

to the bridge. Look out to the bridge. Run the low pressure blower for 12 minutes. One minute blow. One minute blow. Off through the deck to the bridge. Off through the deck to the bridge, aye. Negative refletting. Very well. Well, we're back to the point where we started. The officer of the deck has just come up through this hatch below us. Through this conning tower. And up the hatch above us and out onto the deck. So that's the complete procedure. The boat has gone down to 175 feet. We actually went through what would be battle stations. And we almost shot a torpedo off at the rigly building. Now we're back up on the surface. And it's been a very interesting procedure indeed. Now, Lieutenant Henry, there's a couple of questions I'd like to ask you about this

surfacing. First of all, why do we surface? Why don't you continue to stay under water? Well, up until the advent of the Nautilus are the world's first atomic power submarine. All submarines had to come back on the surface to recharge their batteries. When they're submerged, they run on their batteries. Unless they're running under snorkel, which means they're still using air. They're practically on the surface. They're leaving a big bulb for the snorkel intake up there in order to take air to the diesel engines. So for a lot of weight. It does. And for most in purpose, you might as well be on the surface. So actually, prior to the snorkel, we should be on the surface and to charge batteries with the engines. Well, now, Lieutenant, there's one thing that you said that I think I ought to repeat in our earlier conversation that is extremely interesting to me, is the fact that at full speed, this submarine could not stay below the surface more than a half an hour. Is that right? That is a World War II submarine. A

full speed, it couldn't stay below more than a half hour. And the Nautilus can stay below at full speed indefinitely. Indefinitely. That is the beauty of the Nautilus. Not the fact that she can make such high speed because we even have submarines that can go faster than she can. Well, you men of the submarine service certainly have something to look forward to. I think the submarine services gives the young men of today the finest chance to get into a brand new field that there can be had anywhere in the world. Well, now, Lieutenant, we have surfaced. What would be the next procedure that you'd go through? Once on a surface, now we've got to shift from the electrical power to the diesel engines. And let's go back in the forward engine room and actually light off the diesel engine and show how that's done. Alright, fine, let's go. Lieutenant Henry and I have come back now to the engine room. And we're going to listen as one of the engines has started up. Lieutenant, what goes on back here? Oh, quite a number of operations going on back here. Right now

you hear the ventilation motors. And this man on the engines will start his all his pumps and bake check his water pressures and then roll the engine and then start the engine with air. How does he get his signal to roll that engine? He's already got the signal. He gets it from electrical switch actually from the light that tells him that he's going to light off that engine. This is number one main engine and we've heard the command for all for a number for four main engines. So he's standing by to start the engine from that command. Alright, now just a moment ago, I saw the red lights light up and as he called it a little while ago, looks like a Christmas tree light. Why don't we talk to this gentleman here? Now, this is Charles Susser, Jr., engineman first class US Navy, who is one of the shipkeepers. He's in charge of the engine. Charles, what I'd like to do now that we have the red lights on is to actually go ahead and go through the procedure. Now, what do you do first? First, we open up the forward engine room induction so we can get

it to the engines. Are we going to assume that you've done that right now? Second, we take and roll the engine over to see that it's free, that there's no water in it and that you will not jam. Go ahead. Did it three times? We did it three times just to take a good check on it and be positive of it. Then we start up a fuel transfer pump to get pressure, fuel pressure to our engine. You pushed a button on there and again a red light goes on. That's correct, that tells that the pump has started. That sound I hear is the pump, I guess, isn't it? The pump. Now, what are you doing down there, Charlie? Then we open up a valve so fuel can get to our engine from a detached pump. Right now we have approximately 34 pounds of fuel pressure to the engine. All right. Now our engine is ready to start. So we started.

We checked the gauges to see that they are reading normal pressures and temperatures. And it worked out for you, Charlie. Take a check here, it doesn't run away. Now the engine is ready to give it over to the maneuver drill. We're taking cut in the trip and switch. Bring up the motor, telegraph, the ready. Now an overnome has to drill the engine. What was the bell for? That was a stop bell from an overnome telling me to stop the engine. We're all done with it. Now I don't know whether we recorded what you were saying while the engine was running because it was very loud. So it was only brief, so why don't you tell us briefly what you said. Well, what I said, after

the engine started, you take a check at all your gauges to see that the temperatures and pressures were normal and your rpm were correct. Then you put in the generator trip and switch so the maneuvering room can cut the engine in on the line. Then you ring up maneuvering to tell them that they have control of the engine. That is how we're operating. They have control of it now. They have control of it now. Of course it's off now, but thank you very much Charles for talking to us and explaining that. All right, thank you very much. Well, that said, we've taken a dive aboard the USS Silver Sides. It's been a very exciting experience indeed for Iran Chicago to go through this dive on one of the United States Navy's submarines. Actually, as you know, we did not go down. We stayed on the surface of Lake Michigan and simulated a dive to 175 feet and then back up to the surface. Lieutenant Henry, we want to thank you very, very much for taking us on this tour of the submarine and be sure and pass along our

thanks to all the boys for their cooperation. It certainly has been a pleasure. We'd be glad to have you anytime. And that's the story of the United States Naval Reserve submarine division 9 -225. This is Hugh Hill speaking. Ting an exciting procedure. Lieutenant Henry, who is in charge of the submarine, is now looking through the Periscope and is going to aim it on one of the buildings along Chicago's Skyline.