Robbie was raised in Pittsburgh, Pa, and upon graduating from High School in 1943; he enlisted in the Navy, and did boot camp at Bainbridge, Md., volunteering for sub school out of boot camp. He was sent to Class A EM School, in fall of 1943, then on to battery school, gyro school then torpedo school. With all this knowledge, Robbie was sent to Tirante, a new construction sub then off to war, qualifying in January 1945. Following war's end Tirante and Robbie returned stateside and Robbie married his sweetheart Terry in Oct. 1945.
He left the Navy after the war but re enlisted in 1947 and went to ET school, then to Amberjack in Key West for four years, including 6 mo TAD aboard Odax. In 1952 he went to the Seawolf nuclear prototype in West Milton, NY.
Robbie then reported to Electric Boat in 1954 for commissioning of the Seawolf where he rose in rate to Chief, Warrant and then Lieutenant, earning his gold dolphins in 1958.
Selected by Rickover in 1960 as a projects officer, Robbie was kept very busy on assorted jobs until 1965 when he transferred to the sub tender Nereus as assistant repair officer, then to Sub Base, Pearl Harbor as Repair Officer until 1970. Robbie transferred to NAVSEC as Project Manager for Submarine Antennas in Washington D.C. and finally back to the west coast to Puget Sound Navy Shipyard as Submarine Type Desk Officer monitoring overhauls and doing the paper work and financial part of overhauls until his retirement as Commander in December 1974.
Robbie is very active in the USSV WW-II having
held many offices, both nationally and in the State Lockwood Chapter. He is a
founding member and Treasurer for SEATTLE BASE USSVI, Treasurer for the Tahoma
National Cemetery Support Group and the participates in the Tirante Association,
plus he tries to find time for fishing and trap shooting. Robbie and his wife
Terry make their home in Seattle.