ANOTHER HISTORICAL TIDBIT

On the old Cracker Jack boxes of goodies we used to snack on as kids was a young man dressed in a blue sailor suit (see insert). Some one at a veteran's event at the newly restored Depot site referred to that uniform as their Cracker Jack uniform. They were our dress blues that we wore on liberty and for official Naval events. Does anyone remember?  One could buy a fitted set of dress blues at a commercial shop that were form fitting and were excepted for liberty, but not on the base at official events. About all I could fit into now would be the sailor hat, much less a skin tight set of custom made dress blues.  On the submarine we laid the blues under the mattress on our bunks to keep them pressed and to make more room in the tiny lockers we had for clothing.  My tour of duty was 1943 - 1946 and I don't remember any reference to a Cracker Jack uniform.

Yes, space was a bit limited on a submarine so there were  few sets of golf clubs or tennis racquets.  See the movie Operation Petticoat with Tony Curtis for a hilarious account of nurses aboard a pink, yes, submarine.  No such luck for this nineteen year old kid from the state of Maine. We came aboard with our gear in a heavy canvas sea bag as our suitcase (certainly no room for lockers) and I still have mine.  Some articles of clothing were rolled to fit into the sea bag better.  Our clothes pins were eight inch lengths of small cording with metal tips and washed articles were tied to a sub’s deck railing (when in port and not submerged) or over the ship's engines when at sea.  One had to be on the good side of the motor macs so your drying skivvies didn't become an oiler's rags.  Speaking of skivvies, the owner's name was sometimes printed on the underwear if it was sent to a commercial laundry (rarely for the enlisted men, but more common for the officers).  One very green young officer flushed his skivvies into the intricate toilet (called the head ) to cover up for an "accident" and when the system was dismantled to unplug a blockage there wasn't much doubt as to who had plugged up the works.  There was the name, Bob Ashe, in black indelible ink and I'm glad I wasn't in his shoes (or skivvies).

All personnel on a submarine must qualify on board ship to earn the coveted dolphins as proud submariner when he has learned to operate and understand the equipment aboard.  I'm sure the wearing of the dolphins for one Bob Ashe was delayed by several weeks.  As long as the ship's baker (me) fully under stood the operation of the cook stoves and how to reach the men's stomachs (birthday cakes helped), the plumbing, wiring, and torpedo guiding was left to the other 84 enlisted men and officers.