1999 - Shipmates reunited in Reno after 33 years. Karl ("Dutch") Krompholtz (L), Rik NilssonDutch had found my Cubby site on the web and sent me an email. We traded life histories and agreed to meet at the National USSVI convention in Reno, in September of 1999. We had a great time in spite of the 7,500 Harley bikers in town for a different kind of convention. I think we established that we were on different battle station teams, Dutch on stern planes, me on sonar/radar. There is a strangely similar parallelism to our civilian lives since leaving Cubby in the mid-60s.

(Wives' pictures undisplayed pending negotiations.)

Summer 2002 - First CUBERA Western States Reunion; Rik "Beachball" Nilsson, Al "Overboard" Sabatino, and Karl "Dutch" Krompholz at Rik's place near Medford Oregon, sucking down a few Foster's and reminiscing.

(Most of these B/W images were scanned from my original circa 1964 Polaroids) See also, NavSource.org for additional photos.

Forward engine room looking aft. Engines one and two are hidden behind the lockers and benches on port and starboard sides. On Guppy-II submarines like CUBERA, the propeller shafts were driven from large batteries by electric motors, both on the surface and submerged. The motor armatures were actually wound on the propeller shafts. The four sixteen cylinder General Motors diesel/generator sets (two in each engineroom) charged the batteries while on the surface. The CUBERA also had a snorkel, modified from the original Dutch design, that permitted running one or two engines at a keel depth of about 54 feet.

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Balao-class sub layout

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Interior diagram of Cubera
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Cubera's patch
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1946 "Disney" patch
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Cubera launches June 17, 1945 (Photo courtesy USSubvetsofWworldWarII.org)

CUBERA Crew photo at Destroyer and Sub Piers, Norfolk 1964.

Here I'm pretending to be operating the bow planes. I had a shipmate follow me around one night on below-decks watch in port and take shots in various rooms (compartments to you skimmers). At sea, lookouts manned the planes after clearing the bridge for diving. Bow planes controlled the depth, stern planes the angle. The large dial behind the wheel is the shallow depth gauge, that reads down to one hundred feet. The smaller one to the left of it reads down to one thousand feet. We could only operate down to about 650 feet, although the theoretical "crush" depth was 900 feet. We went to 660 once, by accident.

That's yours truly entering the forward engine from the crews quarters door. THe 400lb door is latched open, so we must be in port. I'm sporting a freshly-acquired 3rd-class chevron and "crow" on my left sleeve. With that and my dolphins, I rated a bunk space of my own - no more "hot-racking".

This was my hammock (the Navy called it a "rack") in "Hogan's Alley", a prestige location in the after battery compartment crew's quarters space. Before I passed my submarine qualification exam, I "hot-bunked" in the after torpedo room. That meant I shared a bunk between torpedoes with two other "non-quals", so the bunk never got a chance to lose the body heat from the guy who just got up to go on watch. The shiny vinyl mattress cover zipped shut to keep your stink in while other crew members were trying to sleep. The tight confines were offset by the fact that there was a ventilation duct right above my head! On the right is a net bunk bag holding shaving gear, wallet, shoeshine kit, qualification workbook etc. Good uniforms were pressed under the mattress, others rolled up in plastic and stowed in a small locker (not visible here).

Control room. I'm at what was known at that time as the ESM scanner. It scanned a wide band of radio emission frequencies and would display and record signal characteristics. I tracked several Russian trawlers down around Cuba with this gear. Above my head is the hull opening indicator panel, called the "christmas tree" - red lights meant an open hatch, green - closed, Hence the term "green board" signified all openings were shut and it was safe to proceed with the dive.

Radar watch in the conning tower. I had the air conditioning duct taped to keep the icy North Atlantic air off my forehead. Condensation dripped into the scope from there when it was cold, and I had to continually wipe the screen.

Crew's Mess. Left to right, QM3(SS) Billy Joe Price from Georgia writing a letter, big guy is "Suitcase" Simpson RM1(SS), the lead radioman. Seated is Jerome Leach, a seaman just relieved of lookout watch during stormy weather. We used to rotate the bridge personnel down for a coffee and a smoke. The dark streak is an artifact in the polaroid film.

In Toulon, we met a couple of French sub sailors in a local bistro. They took us on a tour of their boat, and we of course recipicaded...reciprotated...did the same. Here we are, (me on the far right) sloshed ti the gills, after consuming a great prtion of pickled vegetables from the jar visible in the lower right. We, of course, subsekwently... subsquently... ah, afterwards, we returned to the city (hic) and drank until we (hic) dropped.

Merrill (Gus) Negus and I having a smoke break in front of the starboard motor control cubicle, in the Maneuvering room. Below the deck under our feet was the motor room, containing the huge DC electric motors that powered the sub's screws (propellers). Gus was in the process of overhauling an engine - that's why he's so hard to see.

This is the port motor and engines control cubicle in the maneuvering room. I was standing a battery charge watch for qualification. The dials behind me indicated voltages and currents to and from the battery and generator. The box behind my head with the handle on top is a "battle lantern", a battery operated flashlight to be used when main and emergency lighting fails (a BAD situation).