SSC: How did you end up in the Navy and in submarines?

Harry Hall: I grew up in the small Missouri town of Boonville, located on the Missouri River, midway between Kansas City and St. Louis on what was then Highway 40 that passed down the Main Street.  I graduated at age 17 from High School in May 1945 while the war was still hot in the Pacific.  Several of my male classmates who had reached 18 were drafted out of school, and two had been killed. 

After graduation a friend and I immediately enrolled in Central College, Fayette, MO.  The college had contracted with the Navy for V-5, V-9 and V-12 officer programs and we took mathematics classes with Navy boys, as civilians.  This prompted us to enlist for two years in the Navy on July 10, 1945.  The capture of the German U-505 by the USS Guadalcanal had appeared in our hometown newspaper on May 18, 1945 and we caught the excitement of "submarine fever".

Like thousands of others, the "Bomb" was to be our saving grace.  Dropped on August 6th, it delayed our entry and ended hostilities, but soon we were in the Navy's San Diego boot camp.   Five out of our boot company, and from close hometowns in Missouri, sought applications for submarine school and were accepted.

Submarine school at New London gave us our first taste being a submariner.  We passed the physical tests.  The impact of the pressure of the cast iron diving bell being dropped to a short depth in the tower, the 50 # air pressure chamber, the 100' assent from the bottom of the tower to the surface, the smell of Diesel fuel and the excitement of the school boats going to deep sea out the Long Island Sound exit caused us to realize we had made the right decision.

Our class left submarine school and headed to our boat assignments, some at San Diego and the others to Pearl.  I was assigned to the USS Queenfish SS 393 and rode the General Butler to meet her at Pearl.  Cmdr. Frank Shamer was the Skipper and Lt. Cmdr. Jack Bennett was my XO.

A year and a half on the Queenfish was one of the best experiences of my life, with several submarine firsts.  We were the first electrical crew to build their own battery cells, changing from Ghould to Exide Iron Clad, first underwater tow of another submarine although not highly successful, and the first to install General Electric slow speed motors, eliminating the bull gear noise.

After a research run along the International Date Line testing specific gravity and temperature of ocean water at various levels, we cruised past the Arctic Circle several hundred nautical miles and eventually returned to Pearl.   My enlistment was up and I wanted to get home to use my GI Bill and get married.  I jumped the boat on arrival at Pearl, took no addresses, and lost contact with all my friends.

SSC: What rekindled interest in your submarine past?

Harry Hall: Busy in college and career, the Queenfish was just a pleasant memory. It is strange that it was not discussed. Few knew I had been a submarine sailor. Flying became a new interest, I had a career in education and was a School Superintendent for 35 years.  I went forty years before I accidentally found a shipmate in Benton, KY.  This was the beginning of renewing old friendships and constructing the database of men who served the Queenfish in its service from 1943 to 1963.  When old men reminisce and dream dreams, it brings back those days of an exciting younger life.

SSC: How did the Queenfish newsletter get started?

Harry Hall: With the advent of email and web site it was possible to establish a randomly published USS Queenfish SS 393 newsletter that has tended to bring together crewmembers and families.   Children seeking their father's submarine service and other seeking related facts, frequently write for information. 

One highly interesting request came from England from a son whose father had been a POW of the Japanese and worked on the Bridge across the River Kwai.  He never told his family of his experience before he died. He did mention being picked up by a submarine named Queenfish.  He had been aboard the Japanese troop ship the RAKUYO MARU that was sunk by a U.S. submarine.  The Queenfish rescued 14 British and Aussie POWs found drifting.  I had a photo of his father as he was being pulled from the water.  The rewards have been great and this has become one of my hobbies.

Editors note: I've enjoyed Mr. Hall's Queenfish newsletter for several years. There are likely many email-based newsletters for many boats and I'm sure Harry will be pleased to be representative of them here.
- DG