...Why they were called " Pig Boats"... a nostalgic looksee....

I thought fer those old bubbleheads that might enjoy stir'n up some memories...I'd put t'gether this here post about the "Guppy's".....and fer those who never had the priviledge to see what a WWII "Fleet-Boat" submarine was like...here are some photygraphs fer y'all....

When I found this pic...it was labeled the Foward Torpedo Room...but I only see four(4) tubes...at any rate...we all know what it is....it's one of the Kick-Ass business ends of the submarine (fleet boats had a Forward and Aft Torpedo rooms). There was sleeping bunks fer 10-16 men and an Escape Trunk, a Head (toilet)...as well as a compliment of torpedos....

Fer those of you unfamiliar with the old deisel boats...there were nine(9) compartment...so naturally I'm gonna start at the bow...that's the picture yur lookin at now. The next compartment was the Forward Battery..."Officers Country". I don't have any pix because it was comprised of Staterooms fer the Captain and Officers, a Radio Room...as well as a Wardroom. Ya really didn't want to go there...it usually meant an ass chewin fer somethin ya did wrong (at least that was the case fer this bubblehead)...so ya just passed through on yur way frum the Forward Torpedo Room to the Control Room....Oh...and BTW...under the deck (floor)...there be one huge ass set of batteries that stored the electrical power to run the boat's electric drive motors and anything else electrical.....

...how many of y'all out there remember standin this watch on the Bow and Stern planes.....

Here's a couple a pix...memories..oh memories. Now what the Bow and Stern planes did was control the Dive and the angle of the boat underwater (sorta like underwater wings fer the submarine)...Bow planes on the right...Stern planes on the left. You would use those gauges to set yur depth and control the angle of the boat. The OOD (Officer of the Deck) would give an order somethin like this "....set for 2 degree's down bubble"...and yur response was ..."2 degree's down bubble aye Sir"...or "make your depth periscope depth"...about 60 feet if'n I recall correctly.

OK...continuin on...y'all will notice that the one pic above is "redish"...well sir, thats cause the picture was probably taken at night. When "Rigged for Red", only red lights were on throughout certain parts of the boat. This served two purposes...one..if the boat was on the surface...and some of the hatches were open up through the Conning Tower...yur enemy might just be able t'see that ambient or reflected light...and then you were screwed. The second reason was fer your eye's. If'n you were needed on the Bridge (outside open area at the top of the Conning Tower) or had a "Lookout watch"...when you got topside...comin frum an area with red light helped your eye's adapt much quicker to the darkness.......

Now Sir...if'n y'all look at the red picture...on the left side you'll see a ladder...this took you up to the area everyone has seen in the old classic Submarine movies...the Conn....and here's some various pictures frum differant boats as to what the Conn looked like......

Now...the picture with the wheel in it is the helm of the submarine...where the boat is steered frum. In that picture there are the Port and Starboard annunciators ( for ordering speeds to the Maneuvering/Engine Room), the compass and other equipment. Remember...the Helmsman cannot see outside the Boat, surfaced or not, he takes his orders frum the OOD....who...hopefully has an idea where he's going. Of course two of the other pictures show the well known submarine periscope...

The picture with the control board is the Torpedo Fire Control console...this is what you see in the old WWII sub movies as the skipper orders "Fire One" and then he or someone else punches a button (the Red buttons over the control boards) and the torpedo is on its way. In a WWII fleet boat..there were six(6) torpedo tubes in the Forward Torpedo Room, and four(4) in the After Torpedo Room...the board on the right is the Forward Torpedo Room....

Here are some other Conning Tower pix frum other boats.....

OK...continuin on aft...the next compartment was the "Social Center" for the boat....it was where we ate all our meals, studied for our "Qualification", played cards...usually Cribbage, talked with yur mates about girls, home, girls, yur last shore leave, told each other lies about how many times we got laid when on "liberty", sex, "Quals", women, which Officers were OK and which ones were dicks and did I mention.... .anything to do with females....The After Battery.

The After Battery contained the Galley (Kitchen), the Dinningroom, a "Skuttlebutt" (water fountain) and the birthing compartment. Also...under the deck was another huge set of storage batteries for propulsion and such. BTW...this is where the wurd Skuttlebutt came to be associated with gossip or information. Men would be getting a drink of water...talk with each other about the latest ships information...and then later...some other mate might ask you..."Whats the skuttlebutt".

Now the first pic's are the galley and dinning hall...

This next photygraph is the Birthing area where y'all slept. Usually there were more men on the sub than there were bunks fer sleepin...so...ya did somethin called "Hot-Bunking". That's were one man...coming off duty from a watch...would wake up another mate who would either be his relief or someone else's relief...and when he got out of the bunk...you got in. The bunk was still "hot" from his body heat...hence..."hot-bunking". BTW...this was great on a North Sea run...climbin into a nice warm bed...mmmmm...felt great! Not so good on a Caribbean "Rum Run".....

Well...got four compartments t'go. After ya passed through the After Battery you entered the Forward Engine Room which contained two(2) huge Fairbanks-Morris Diesel engines...big powerfull mutha's they were....the odd thing was that as loud as they were...if'n you were standin an engineroom watch they would actually lul you to sleep if'n you weren't carefull...

The After Engine Room was of course a repeat of the forward engine room...also containing two Fairbanks Morris diesel engines......

Next...we have the Maneuvering Room. This is where all the correct allignments of electrical equipment and sequencing of the electric drive motors and speed/revolutions took place by placement of the large levers you see in the photo......

...and...the After Torpedo Room of course looked very much like the Forward Torpedo Room except there were only four torpedo tubes. There was also another escape trunk.....

OK...so why...you might ask...were they called "Pig Boats"?

Well sir...put between 70 and 100 men into a tube containing four huge diesel engines burning...what else...diesel fuel, God only knows how many other types of chemicals...and two(2) Fresh Water Distilling pieces of equiment that only worked some of the time.

Now...on the USS Piper SS409...we were lucky if one "Still" was working at any one time...and of course the distilled water that was produced was to be used for cooking, drinking and showers...but since only one still was functionin most of the time...what do you think the fresh water was used fer...NOT fer showers...that's fer sure.

Now sir...we then coup all those men up in this tube fer periods of time ranging frum one week to as long as five or six months...get'n the picture yet? If yur cruise was a Caribbean or Med cruise...on certain occasions the Skipper would stop the boat in the middle of the ocean or sea and have "Swim Call".....jump over the side and have a ball...as well as cleanin up a bit. This however was a mixed blessing....because although you got clean and refreshed...you were now covered with SALT...and no way to wash it off. Try sleeping on a hot night in a hot submarine with salt all over yur body mate...

OK...so not only do you have all the persperation odors of all those men...but all their other bodily odors.....I think ya know what I mean. And then sometimes the Sanitary Tanks ( held all the sub's sewage for periods of time) would have problems with a sticking external valve needed to expell the sewage over-board...and you can only imagine the lovely aroma circulating throughout your environment......

So...put it all together and you have the life of a bubblehead on a "Guppy" fleet submarine in the 50's and 60's....and you now know why they were affectionately called "Pig Boats".

Y'all take care and may God Bless ya.........Cookie......