Crew of January 1967 at San Francisco Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard

Over all photo of Officers, Chiefs and Enlisted crew

Crew of January 1967 at San Francisco Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard

Excerpted version of Officers, Chiefs and Enlisted Crew

Crew of January 1967 at San Francisco Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard

Far Left - The Officers and Enlisted

Crew of January 1967 at San Francisco Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard

Moving Right - The Enlisted Chiefs & Sailors

First Chief is QMC(SS) Andrews

Next to him is Chief Brown, I believe

Crew of January 1967 at San Francisco Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard

Farther Right - More Enlisted Chiefs & Sailors

Is one of the two Chiefs to the left of the COB EMC(SS) West - Leading Electrician?

Crew of January 1967 at San Francisco Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard

Far Right - COB and last of Sailors

COB: EMCS(SS) Jimmie Carnes

Mike Lanois, the on-board artist for this WestPac

This photo was taken in the Forward Torpedo Room. I think. This is Mike Lanois. Thanks to David Lorms, CS2(SS).



I do recall that he was a fellow non-qual working on his dolphins. He was a Torpedoman rating attached to the Forward Torpedo Room, under TM1(SS) Thomas.



He was a natural artist, and was a very personable fellow, with a good sense of humor, as we can see here by his demeanor. This photo was a bit out of focus, but it seems to fit his image well. For he saw things differently than most, with a humorous or good light, as I remember.

The After Torpedo Room Boss, TM2(SS) Stanley Swedbloom

Here is Stanley in the After Torpedo Room, during our 55 day submerged patrol. He is winding small stuff on a stanchion pole, to pass time away.



Stanley was one hell of a guy. It was rumored that he never showered or washed up in all of the 55 day submerged patrol that we see him pictured here. However, I never detected any foul odors from him. He was rather rough hewn, but a good boss to work for. I remember him to this day. But, alas, I understand that he drowned in 1970 or 1971 off a fishing boat off of San Francisco, California.

Well, here I am in Tubes Aft, but photographer caught me at the wrong time, with my eyes just blinked closed!

This is in the After Torpedo Room while submerged on our 55 day patrol. You can see the War Shot signs on the torpedo tube doors. This indicates that a live warhead is attached to the torpedo in each tube.



Well, we had to periodically draw each torpedo from its tube during the patrol, to check the mechanics and to re-coat the exterior of the torpedo, if needed. Then, we had to return it to its tube.

Well, here I am in Tubes Aft, again, working on small arms maintenance

This is in the After Torpedo Room while submerged on our 55 day patrol. I was assigned to be the Small Arms Petty Officer.



As such, I worked on .45 M1911A1 semiautomatic pistols and .45 Thompson submachine guns.

A .45 pistol is disassembled on the table. I had just taken it apart and cleaned it.

Here I am in Tubes Aft, again, having put together the Colt 45 pistol in the previous photo, after reassembling it.

This is in the After Torpedo Room while submerged on our 55 day patrol. The duties I did here helped pass time away after I qualified for my Dolphins.



Before that, most of my free time was spent tracing out each oil, water, ballast sea water, and fuel drop throughout the submarine, as well as tracing each electron, and qualifying on each piece of equipment, each duty for each station for surfacing and submerging, etc.

Here is TM3(SS) Kertz in Tubes Aft, working on the same Stanchion that Stanley Swedbloom was wrapping up

This is in the After Torpedo Room while submerged on our 55 day patrol. Kertz was one of several Tubes Aft crew. Wally Levander, who qualified along with me, a SN(SS), and Bill Perry, TM3(SS), rounded out the team.



Tubes Aft and Tubes Forward had an informal who's better thing going. Tubes Forward is usually taken as the top dog, while Tubes Aft is more taken as the dog's tail. Never really deserved, such titles are. We all did our work well.

This is in the After Torpedo Room while submerged on our 55 day patrol. Lt Carlier was the Weapons Officer. As such, he was in charge of Tubes Fwd and Tubes Aft, as well as the deck force when we were in port.



I thoroughly liked Mr. Carlier. He treated me well and we developed a very friendly relationship. I will remember him always.

Here is the boss of Tubes Forward, TM1(SS) Don Thomas

This is in the Crew's Mess while submerged on our 55 day patrol. Thomas was a big guy and friendly, too. He, as I remember, used his time during this patrol to study his Forest Ranger course. I do not know how long after I left Diodon that he went on to his Forest Ranger quest, or was leaving that for after retirement from the Navy.



You may note the large coffee urn to the right. This provided the fuel 24 hours a day for all us submarine sailors. The kitchen can partially be seen through the serving window to the upper left in this photo. Through it for 6 meals a day came the great food.



The 3 main meals were served, of course. But, between each main meal was a soup call meal, with hot soup and sandwiches, or custom orders of this and that. Note the 7 day menu behind Thomas and the other papers displayed for movies, soup calls, etc.

Here is our Yeoman, Brian Slagle

This is in the Control Room while submerged on our 55 day patrol. Brian is either playing music for the crew or listening to the tape himself.



You may note the mouth to mouth artificial respiration instructions on the cabinet side to the left in this photo. Behind him may be the Diving Officer.



Note all the switches, dials, gauges, etc. in the location here.

Here is Dennis Wheeler, FNEM striker

This is in the Control Room while submerged on our 55 day patrol. Dennis made EM3(SS) later. Here he is, just about where we saw the officer in the previous slide was with the music.



Dennis was a member of Submarine Division 12-31 Reserve Unit, as I was, before joining the Diodon. He was quite a nice and friendly buddy for me.

He liked motorcycles, and I he had one shipped back to the United States from Japan, before we departed WestPac 67.

My first wife-to-be and I met him again after I left Diodon, during a visit to the Oakland hills park. He had that very motorcycle that day.

Here is Dennis Wheeler, at work in the Control Room

This is in the Control Room while submerged on our 55 day patrol. Dennis is working here, as part of the EM Gang. I think he is recording readings at various times, checking on the sub's electrical systems and battery condition.



After I got him to pose for the previous photo, I snapped his picture here, showing him at work.

Here comes one of the Officers' stewards, Renato Duplon

This is photo shows Renato coming from the Forward Battery (Chiefs berthing and Officer's Country, and the Yeoman Shack) into the Control Room. He is carrying somebody's shoes, which he may have just shined. Renato, a very nice and well mannered fellow, went on to become a 1st Class Engineman.



Stewards took care of the officers. There were two or three of them, as I recall. They would prepare the meals, serve and clean up after each meal or soup call. They would maintain the officers clothing and berthing and support them, as appropriate.



Each steward had to qualify in submarines, just like every other crew member.



To the right in this photo, you can see a sound powered phone. Each one had a station dialer, so each station could call any other station, i.e. Tubes Forward from Control, Control from Tubes Aft, etc.

Here she is. My beloved Diodon (SS-349), ah, so crudded up from sea growth after a 55 day hot, humid, alas dirty surveillance patrol. This photo was taken in Yokosuka harbor. We had to clean all that crud, outside and within the superstructure.



You get a nice view of the Snorkel apparatus: The intake is seen rising several feet above the exhaust.



Alas, after all these years, who are these fine sailors? I think it is ETR3(SS) Barry Lebens coming up at the start of the gangway.



Looks like ET3(SS) Gary Grimes on the gangway just about to come aboard?



Who is that shipmate on the sail top? Jay D. Mack remembers him as an IC3, a quiet kind of guy, but cannot quite recall his name.



There is Mr. Cooper, the Engineering Officer and possibly the Topside Watch near the bow. Who is the Topside Watch?



Any Diodon crewmates of that time, please help!

Here I am, again, clean shaven, in Buckner Bay, Okinawa, post 55 day patrol

This is photo shows the bow section of the Diodon. Note the teak decking. Behind me, to the left is the in-port guard railing for the Escape Trunk access to the Forward Torpedo Room. Behind me, the right, is the emergency buoy, used to mark the location of a sunken submarine.

However, on WestPac tours, the forward buoy, and the after buoy, near the After Torpedo Room were welded in place. This was to prevent them from floating to the surface and marking our position, if we were to be depth-charged.



Just to the left of my feet you can see the safety rail, used at sea for deck crew to tie them selves to when it was needed to go onto the deck. This railing goes past the Sail and to the stern of the Diodon. It was mandatory to be secured if on deck.



An unhappy event occurred on another submarine in WestPac. A cook and a mess cook were throwing weighted garbage bags over the side from the sail door. They were NOT secured. A large wave came along and washed them both overboard. They were both lost at sea.

Here are the Duty Chief, RMC(SS) Looney and the Topside Watch, ET3(SS) Grimes, in Buckner Bay, Okinawa

This photo shows the Quarterdeck section of the Diodon. ET3(SS) Gary Grimes is smiling for my picture taking, and he has a camera in his hands, too. We traded cameras and snapped each others pictures. You may see another crew member to the right, but I cannot identify him here.



Note the Ship's Bell. You can see part of the Topside Watchstander's watch station box. Note the teak decking. It ends just after the Sail begins. You may note the change in texture of the deck to a smoother finish with wider strippings.

That denotes the beginning of fiberglass "clam shells" which extend almost to the very stern of the Diodon. You can see them on the adjacent submarine. There is a non skid matting on the deck (that has been added since we are in port) which the gangway is riding on. Just aft of the matting, to the left of the Duty Chief, is what I remember to be a ship's salvage connection.



If Diodon sank within shallow enough water, recovery divers could attach air hoses from the surface to blow into flooded areas

Here we are at the After Engine Room Hatch, Topside, in Buckner Bay, Okinawa

Well, here we see the following Diodon crew members, with the help of Bluemex, Abraham Sanchez:

Two of his Engineers, in the work overalls - EN Herbie Edwards leaning over the After Engine Room deck hatch, and EN Gary Nestor to the right, wearing the cap. Nestor and Edwards were good buddies and almost inseparable. Note the ever present coffee cups on the deck near the hatch.

You can also see the open After Torpedo Room Hatch, and two unidentified crew aft of there, an Officer or Chief and enlisted on the stern.

Here we are on the Mud Tank, Topside, in Buckner Bay, Okinawa

Well, here we see later that evening two Diodon officers, Ensign Harry Sells (left) and LT. Rich Becker,, burning confidential to secret papers. Behind Mr. Sells is the Flag Pole, but the flag has been taken down, since the sun has set.

Rich Becker, the officer with the brimmed combination cap is the one we saw in the 55 day submerged patrol photo in the control room with the music.



I am on the Mud Tank, shooting forward to them, without a flash. I was using a Yashica Lynx Range Finder camera, with a single, permanent lens, but with a 1.4 aperture lens with an excellent light gathering capability. I cannot remember the other details of the camera, since it is long gone. But the pictures remain.

Here we are ashore, in Buckner Bay, Okinawa

Well, here we see earlier that day, with some of the crew playing a game of baseball.



We see Chief Looney, the Duty Chief, who we saw in the Topside photo, coming ashore for something. He is looking at the game going on. I recognize after these many years the following Diodon crew:

Here is SKSN(SS) Don Gaddis approaching, in Hong Kong

R&R in Hong Kong, B.C.C. is over, and we are about to depart - and experience the fire and flooding at sea on the 2 starboard engine exhausts you see here. in this photo.



Don is approaching me, answering me that he will snap my picture. He is holding a multi-purpose wrench used on deck fittings, etc. He later made SK3(SS) while I was aboard.



Note the following in this photo:

Here I am, Topside, in Hong Kong

We are about to depart Hong Kong in this photo. My maneuvering watch station was the After Capstan Operator. So, here I am. However, I had to be on station before the diesel engines started and through departure into the stream. That meant that when the diesel engines started and were beginning to warm up, I was enveloped with clouds of black diesel exhaust. Ah, Diesel Boats Forever!



SKSN(SS) Gibbons has used my camera to snap my picture. We had spent 3 days in Hong Kong. The communists had been tossing bombs into the streets before we arrived, and after we left. However, while we were there, not a bomb exploded.



Note the following in this photo:

My old, scratched up working Diodon Belt Buckle, 1967

Diodon Christmas Card from 1967