White Rats

I am not sure how long Chuck served aboard the Guavina till he was transferred to the USS Queenfish SS 393. And I am not sure how long he served aboard the Queenfish, but I do know she was one of his favorite duty stations!

USS Queenfish SS 393

A Queenfish Patch

Another Queenfish Patch

He was at Mare Island for at least a couple of years and then the Queenfish was ordered to to Pearl Harbor and he rode her to Pearl Harbor. Submarines were called Boats by the sailors who served aboard them. The Boats were always referred to in the female gender. He spoke of his time aboard her often.

He was later transferred to the USS Volador SS (490). He came aboard her on December 14, 1950 and served on her till April 18, 1952.  During his time aboard these Boats, all of the maneuvers were in the Pacific and the trips were referred to as West Pac runs.

  

USS Volador Patch

USS Volador SS 490

There were always sea stories, and I don’t always remember the details of which stories happened on which Boats or the runs of any of the Boats before my time with him. 
I just remember some of the best ones that Chuck told.  All of the stories I tell you are from memory.

He told them so often, and he was such a great storyteller, they stuck in my mind.  I want to record them or at least as many as I can remember before I can’t remember at all anymore. Most sailors had nick names and unless I knew someone personally, and knew their real names, I only knew them by their nick name.

On one of the West Pac runs, one of Chuck’s buddies was called Lippy, and he had a great taste for Sake. He was hitting it pretty hard, and all his shipmates were concerned about him drinking so much!

They rode him hard teasing him, and told him, “ Lippy if you keep drinking that rice wine you’re gonna start having DT’S and you’ll be seeing things that aren't there.”  He just laughed, and ignored them and kept on drinking the rice wine every time he had liberty, and went on the beach.

They got more and more concerned about him drinking so much and they decided they would play a trick on him and maybe get his attention.

Some of the guys went shopping on the beach, and bought a dozen white rats, and brought them back to the Boat in a little cage. When Lippy went ashore on liberty the next time, they turned them loose in both the engine rooms before he came back to the Boat.

They knew when Lippy would come back; because they knew what time he had to stand his watch in the engine room. When he returned he was feeling no pain, but not too drunk, or so he thought to stand his watch.

They all went about their business as usual, and most of them could see him, at least all the guys in the engine rooms could and everyone on the Boat knew about what was happening.

After he changed out of his civvies and into his dungarees he came into the forward engine room to stand his watch.

It wasn’t long before he began to see the white rats, and at first, he would walk over and look at it and then shake his head and rub his eyes, and then get busy doing something. But soon he would see another one and would do the same thing again.

Someone might walk through the engine room and he would ask them, “ Do you see anything unusual in here tonight”, and they would answer, “ No Lippy, why do you ask?”,  and he’d say, “Ah never mind”, and then go back to work.

Several White Rats

After a little while he would see another one or two or three; because they were running around everywhere in the engine rooms. Finally one climbed up on top of the engine cover and it sat there and looked at Lippy and wiggled its little nose at him. Lippy walked over and stood almost nose to nose with the rat.

Chuck said, “I was watching him and he would reach his hand out to touch the mouse, and almost did and then change his mind and shake his head. He would stand there nose to nose with this little guy, but he was afraid to touch it. He thought he was seeing things.”

And then he asked me, “C.B. do you see anything out of the ordinary in here tonight, and at the same time he was nose to nose with the rat and the thing was wiggling its nose at him.”

Chuck asked him “What are you seeing Lippy, are you seeing pink elephants or what?” And Lippy would answer. “Nothing I ain’t seeing nothing, I just asked that’s all!” This continued for awhile. The guys were dying with suspense, and about to pop trying to keep from laughing.

A White Rat

The last time Lippy stood nose to nose with the little guy and almost reached out and touched him, and he asked, “ C B are you sure you don’t see anything in here that doesn't belong in here?”  Chuck asked gruffly, “Lippy what the hell is it that you think you are seeing?”

Chuck reminded him that they had cautioned him about drinking too much Sake.  He said, “Nothing, I don’t see a thing, but I don’t feel so good, I think I’ll get somebody to relieve me and I’m gonna hit the sack.”  

Chuck said, “When he left and went to his bunk in the after torpedo room, all of us just cracked up laughing, and it took most of the rest of the night for us to catch all those white rats and get them off the Boat so Lippy wouldn't find out that we had played a trick on him, but it did get his attention and he backed off on drinking Sake, but never admitted that he saw anything.”

No one ever told him that they had tricked him, and he never said a word to anyone about seeing all of those white rats. The guys got a lot of mileage out of that sea story for a long time. It was told and re-told many times.

Submarine sailors who rode those old snorkel Boats were, except for leave and liberty; confined 24/7 to a space approximately 310 feet long, more or less a few feet or about three fourths the length of a football field, but only about 27 feet wide give or take a few inches. There were at least 75 to a 100 men aboard give or take a few at any given time.

They did have quarters in the barracks, but did not spend a lot of time there, this was just a place to stow their extra gear, clothes and things. And home was the Boat wherever she was, either underway at sea or docked.

When they were underway and at sea which was a great deal of the time; because they were sea going sailors, and if they were not on watch, their only entertainment was movies, playing cards or other games, drinking coffee, and telling sea stories, and believe me the sea stories were endless, and some of them were priceless, the stories helped keep them sane!

The Submarine Force was a smaller Fleet within the US Navy, and most of the sailors who rode those old snorkel Boats were like extended family, most of them knew each other whether they were west coast Boats or east coast Boats. If you were in for even one hitch you got to know most of the others either personally or by reputation through the sea stories!