lessonslearned Tell Your Story Pass the Turkey
With help from an old hand, a newly commissioned naval officer provides a memorable Christmas dinner aboard a submarine in the Pacific during the Korean War.
I
n the winter of 1953, the diesel submarine USS Catfish (SS-339)
was on a six-month Western Pacific de-
ployment, operating out of Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan. It was the waning days of the Korean War, and the commanding officer was Lt. Cmdr. Norman C. Nash, who was a Naval Academy graduate, a terrific and respected leader, and a veteran of several World War II submarine combat patrols. In contrast, I was a newly commissioned ensign serving on my first submarine. In early December, Catfish loaded out
from Yokosuka for her fifth war patrol. I was the supply officer, a task given to the most junior officer. Fortunately, my lead cook, Harper, was an old pro, having done this many times before. He and Captain Nash were old shipmates. In fact, Harper had been Nash’s cook on the boat on which Nash had served as executive officer, and when Norm got orders to command Cat- fish, he insisted Harper come with him. We were going to be on patrol for about 50 days, including transit time, so I was fortunate to have Harper on my right arm. The skipper told me we would be on station over Christmas. He said he knew we did not have enough room for a lot of frozen turkeys, but he wanted two big birds, one for the wardroom and one for the crew. These would be supplemented by what we called turkey logs — loaves of meat shaped like bologna but made of turkey. When I told Harper, he said it was taken care of.
80 MILITARY OFFICER JANUARY 2017 I am about to reveal one of the best-kept
secrets of the Korean War. I had the mid- watch, midnight to 4 a.m. We were on the surface around 2 a.m., charging our batter- ies, when a request came up from control for permission to blow sanitary tanks. That was a normal procedure at that hour, so the request was granted. Shortly thereafter, Harper appeared on the bridge, and I knew right away there was a problem. Harper said he had put two
frozen turkeys in the crew’s shower to defrost. When they blew the sanitary tanks, they forgot to close the shower drain valve, and the turkeys had been blasted with some ugly stuff.
“What can we do?”
I asked. Harper said, “You
and I and the mess cooks are the only ones that know. The turkeys are taking a bath in our precious water right now, and the mess cooks will keep their mouths shut.” That Christmas dinner is one
The skipper … knew we did not have enough room for a lot of frozen turkeys.
I’ll never forget. Captain Nash sliced the turkey on the wardroom table and dished out the meat. I was last to be served, and for once, being last wasn’t so bad.
MO
— Robert J. Hurley is a retired Navy com- mander in Cape Canaveral, Fla. He is a Life Member of MOAA. For submission information, see page 4.
Military Officer seeks service-related anec- dotes that left an im- pression. See Directory on page 4 for submis- sion information. All submissions will be con- sidered for publication.
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