SSN651 1974-1977

" Adak 1 and 2 were taken in the fall of 1977 when we made a 24 hour pit stop in Adak, Alaska in the Aleutians for some quick repairs. Hands down the grimmest place to be stationed that I've ever seen. No shore power, so we had to steam in port, but even so most people got a couple of hours off the boat.

Most of us headed to the base exchange to restock on goodies. It so happened that we pulled in just before Hump Night, and one of the events scheduled was a "beauty" contest. Several of the competitors headed for the women's wear department to get an edge. A little while later, several of us were standing in line at the checkout counter when an agitated young female clerk came rushing over to the cashier: "I have a bunch of sailors trying on DRESSES!!". The cashier replied, "It's all right, dear- they're submariners". Everyone in line immediately started holding hands. I don't recall who won the beauty contest, but the hit of the show was a gent called "Squatty" wearing a gold lame evening gown and high heels. Captain Daughters was laughing so hard he couldn't make the award presentation."

The Queenfish spent many a time working around the island of Maui, Hawaii. Sometimes she went there for pleasure too. The town of Lahaina has no facilities for a ship to moore. So when a ship visits it must anchor out. Jim has a great story about their adventure off Lahaina:

" Lahaina 1 and 2 were taken during a dependent's cruise to Lahaina in Maui in the fall of 1975. I don't know if you did any of these, but they were something different! The boat was packed with kids, wives and sweeties. It was rather jarring, though, to go to the conn and see the planesman's wife on the stick ("Just a little more up bubble, honey"). We doubled up on these runs with the USS Coucal (SR-8). We had to anchor about a mile off shore and our hook wouldn't reach, so we just tied up to the Coucal and used her boats.

We did another dependent's cruise to Maui in the summer of 1978, but things didn't work out so well. A storm blew up unexpectedly trapped most of the crew on the beach, including the CO and XO. Meanwhile, the boat started rolling into the hull of the Coucal. Soon after, the Coucal's CO told us that his ship was taking on water due to buckled frames, and that we had ten minutes to cast off or be cut loose!

With just the duty section on board, I think we set a record for reactor startup and bringing steam into the engine room. I don't think there were more than 20 or 25 of us on the boat, but we managed to get underway. As we headed out, the QM reported that he could see through the periscope the CO and the rest of the crew jumping up and down on the pier waving at us to come back. Sorry, guys. We were unable to dive because it was too rough to clear away the topside gear, so we ran back to Pearl on the surface. Long night- no watch reliefs, of course.

When we pulled into Pearl the next day, a very anxious CO and XO were waiting on the pier, having flown back. I believe the senior officer onboard was M.B. Keefe, the Engineer;

Every year Seattle, WA holds it's "SeaFair" celebration. The Navy always sends a fleet of ships called the "Seafair Fleet" The photo on the left is from the Seattle Post-Intelligence, the caption follows:

"THE NUCLEAR Submarine Queenfish and the hydrofoils Pegasus, center and High Point do a turn around Elliott Bay as part of the U.S. Navy's Seafair Fleet greets Seattle. The fleet also includes the replenishment ship Wichita, the destroyer Gray and the guided missile cruiser Steratt. Welcoming ceremonies were held at pier 46 aboard the Steratt. Two sailors were named king and prince of the fleet."

P-I Photo by Grant M. Holler