 | SubmarineSailor.com Find a Shipmate Reunion Info Books/Video | Binnacle List (offsite) History Boat Websites Links |
| |||
| At random: "Submariners are a special brotherhood, either all come to the surface or no one does. On a submarine, the phrase all for one and one for all is not just a slogan, but reality.” -- VADM Rudolf Golosov of the Russian Navy |
 A little Sub HistoryModerators: Jump to page : 1 Now viewing page 1 [25 messages per page] | |
| Forums-> Submarine Discussion | Message format |
Ric |
| ||
Plankowner Posts: 9165 Location: Upper lefthand corner of the map. | Subject: A little Sub History A real Sea Dog.  Photo courtesy of The US Navy Submarine Force Museum Mascot of the USS Gar, "GARBO" She made at least 5 war patrols and earned her patrol pin.  Photo courtesy of The US Navy Submarine Force Museum Garbo's pups being held by CMoM James Ellis. Garbo was the perfect submarine mascot. A mongrel puppy so small she could be concealed in a sailor's white hat, she came aboard the USS Gar (SS 206) in Hawaii about the time of the boat's tenth war patrol. She and the crew took an immediate liking to each other, and she remained on board for the rest of the Gar's fifteen war patrols. The puppy made her home in the forward torpedo room. Whenever the sub got under way, Garbo stationed herself all the way forward on the bullnose and barked. Once each patrol she toured the Gar from stem to stern; as she arrived in each compartment, the crew there would come to attention. "She owned the boat and knew it," recalled Motor Machinist Mate Second Class Jim Bunn. Garbo earned the combat submarine insignia that she wore on her collar, along with a star for each successful patrol she made on the Gar. Under the heaviest depth charge attacks, when the gauges were leaking, light bulbs breaking, and fires breaking out, Garbo remained as playful as ever. Bunn said, "She should have gotten a medal for keeping our spirits and morale up when we needed it most." Anyone was welcome to pet her, but only the skipper, Lt. Cmdr. George Lautrup, Jr., and the cook, Red Balthorp, could pick her up. The skipper would put her on his shoulder and carry her up the ladder to the bridge at night for fresh air. One night while the Gar was running on the surface during a war patrol in the Palau Islands, Garbo stepped off the cigarette deck and vanished into the darkness. The C.O. Immediately began a dog overboard search. With the boat making frantic circles in enemy waters, a lookout finally spotted the mascot below the bridge, safe on the main deck. Between patrols, Garbo stayed with the crew at their hotel in Pearl Harbor. She joined in the ship's parties, and like some of her two-legged shipmates, she didn't know her limit. After lapping up too much beer, she tended to blunder into furniture. Garbo gave birth to two pups while the sub was en route to Ulithi; the father belonged to the USS Tambor (SS 198). The Gar's crew traded the pups to other submarines for cases of beer. At the end of the war, when the Gar returned to the States, Chief Motor Machinist Mate Jim Ellis took Garbo home with him. Excerpted from Sea Dogs by WILLIAM GALVANI http://www.pigboats.com/subs/206.html | ||
| BlackBeard |
| ||
Great Sage of the Sea Posts: 566 Location: Inyokern, Ca. | |||
| Flapper |
| ||
Master and Commander Posts: 1107 Location: Tucson AZ | Subject: RE: A little Sub History | ||
| BlackBeard |
| ||
Great Sage of the Sea Posts: 566 Location: Inyokern, Ca. | Subject: RE: A little Sub History Thanks for the help Flapper  BB | ||
| Jump to page : 1 Now viewing page 1 [25 messages per page] |
| Printer friendly version E-mail a link to this thread Jump to forum : |
| (Delete all cookies set by this site) | |
| Running MegaBBS ASP Forum Software v2.0 © 2003 PD9 Software | |
