Torpedoman's Association
Updated 07-13-18
My Mother said no to my joining the submarine reserve at first. Then she side yes I could. I had asthma as a child and exemma on on arms, but thank God that I grew out of those maladies.
I joined Sub-Div 12-31 and the recruiter came to our rented house at 231 Wilde Street San Francisco and swore me in 3 days before I graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School. I was 17 years old then. When I turned 18, i got my draft notice for the Viet Nam War. Lucky I had already enlisted.
Woodrow Wilson High School graduation photo
I passed a pressure test and attended an 8 week SP/SG course (Sumarine Prep/Submarine Grad School) reserve submarine school.
I still remember in 1966 when I flew down to San Diego on a PSA jet plane. Then I took a taxi to NTC San Diego. I carried my seabag to the check in place for BEEP (basic electronics and electricity prep school)
8 weeks later I graduated 8th in my class.
Then I walked over to TMA school, and checked in.
I graduated 6 weeks later 1st in my class. I was then a TMSA(SG).
Then I took a PSA jet back to San Francisco back to home and Submarine Reserve Unit 12-31 USNR.
In 1967 I flew down to San Diego, took a taki to Fort Roscans was assigned to a barracks waiting for the USS Diodon (SS-349) to arrive back in San Diego. When she came into port, I boarded her as TMSN(SG).
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Career |
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Ordered: |
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Laid down: |
1 June 1944 |
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Launched: |
10 September 1945 |
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Commissioned: |
18 March 1946 |
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Decommissioned: |
15 January 1971 |
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Struck: |
15 January 1971 |
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Fate: |
sold for scrap, 12 May 1972 |
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General Characteristics |
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Displacement, |
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Length: |
311.8 ft (95.0 m) |
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Beam: |
27.3 ft (8.3 m) |
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Draft: |
15.3 ft (4.6 m) |
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Depth limit: |
400 ft (120 m) |
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Speed, |
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Propulsion: |
four 5400-hp diesel engines |
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Submerged Endurance: |
48 hours at 2 knots |
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Patrol Endurance: |
75 days |
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Range: |
11,000 nmi. (20,000
km) |
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Complement: |
66 officers and enlisted |
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Armament: |
ten 21" torpedotubes, |
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Motto: |
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We had a blown engine on our first departure to West-Pac
 Two cylinder crankshaft |
 Piston and Bent Valves |
 Piston and Bent Valves |
 Piston and Bent Valves |
 Piston and Bent Valves |
 Cylinder Jackets up from Forward Engine Room on deck with Enginemen and other shipmates |
As a non-qual in served as a mess cook in the galley, I served some time in the engine rooms and the maneuvering room. I had to learn the various aspects of each job and study the areas in which I worked as part on my submarine qualification.
We went to west pac that year. We visited Buckner Bay, Okinawa, Hong Kong, B.C.C., Japan, Vancouver B.C.C. more ports.
Nice photo of Diodon tied up at Yokosuka, Japan and
enlarged excerpt of our old and gone boat
All the hull numbers were painted over in west-pac so no one could tell which sub was there.
A view of other Diesel Guppy Subs at Yokosuka, Japan
base
Note, they are facing the Oxford (AGTR-1)
in the background moored forward of the nest, as you
saw in the Diodon photo above
Looking outboard, to sea, Buckner Bay, Okinawa
I fired the .50 caliber machine gun mounted on the sail. I collected these shells after I succesufully hit all the milk cans.
My belt buckle
I remember when we left Okinawa that I was standing underway watch when I was raised from my seat! We had hit an uncharted sea mount at 250 feet down!
Post west-pac 55 day patrol
Updated 03 Jan 2001 from info given by
TM2(SS) Jay D. Mack, crew of '67 & '68
Updated 07-12-03 with USS Oxford identified
by George Arnold, after all these years.
Here she is. Note Oxford (AGTR-1) in the background moored forward of Diodon.
My beloved Diodon (SS-349), ah, so crud 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!
I Stood conning tower helm watches and after diving planes watches while submerged. I stood starboard look out watches while surfaced.
In port I was part of the topside gang. That means I handled lines when tying up or getting underway.
I took my qualification test in the forward torpedo room sitting on the rear area of the room with Mr. Cooper, the Engineering Officer, I had to trace a drop of oil and a drop of water through the entire submarine. I did it quite well and answered a few more questions, then he told me I was the fastest one to do what I just had done. He told me I just qualified in submarines. It took me 6 months while the standard time was 9 months.
I qualified that day while on West-Pac 55 day patrol under the Yellow Sea.
Don Thomas,TM1(SS), forward torpedo room boss in the crew's mess. Note the large coffee urn to his right. The weekly menu is behind him. During the 55 day West-Pac patrol.
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.
Stanley Sweedbloom TM2(SS) My after torpodo room boss, during 55 day patrol.
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My after torpodo room shipmate, during 55 day patrol.
TM3(SS) Kertz
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 the Diodon were sunk within shallow enough water, recovery divers could attach air hoses from the surface to blow into flooded compartments. I think there was a second connection there, the pull water out, but I am not certain of this after 33 years. Each compartment of the Diodon and all other American conventional submarines of the time had these salvage connections.
You may also note the safety railing which I pointed out in the previous photo. It snakes around to the left, under the Topside Watch's feet and past the Sail door to the stern. Also seen is the handrail which surrounds the Sail.
You can see some part of the Cusk (SS-348), I think her number is. Just aft of her Sail, you can see the opened After Battery Hatch. On patrol, this hatch is locked shut, and a plate is bolted in the After Battery part of it, to seal it off. In case we were depth-charged, the After Battery Hatch could be unseated and water pour into the submarine. So, it was sealed off. The same is true for the After Engine Room Hatch.
Diodon (SS-349) in Mare Island CA. drydock, 1968. I also took photos of the sub in dry dock, but I lost those when I divorced my first wife.
While the diodon was in drydock, I was sent to head up the 6 man inventory team at Islas Creek.
J. R. Santos - TI to Diodon to TMSN(SS) to TM3(SS) in 1967
See the scanned Jpeg of the original document
ADMINISTRATIVE REMARKS See Art. B-2305, BuPers Manual
SHIP OR STATION U.S.. Naval Station, Treasure Island, San Francisco, California 94130
27
JAN 67 : Submitted Notification-of Entry into
Active Military Service
DD Form 53.
H. V. HARRIS, LTJG,
USN, Reciepts & Trans Off
By direction of the Commanding Officer-
24 FEB 67: Commenced present tour of continuous sea duty this date.
R. H. DOLLIVER, LCDR, USN
Executive Officer
By direction of the Commanding Officer
15 AUG 67: Satisfactorily completed all requirements for qualification in submarines in accordance with BUPERS Manual, Article C-7404 and COMSUBPAC Instruction 1552.6 this date. Designated "QUALIFIED IN SUBMARINES - GUPPY SNORKEL" and assigned the enlisted designator "SS". Authorized to wear the submarine insignia.
R. H. DOLLIVER, LCDR, USN
Executive Officer
By direction of the Commanding Officer
20 Jul 67: Recommended for advancement and
nominated for ………… to TM3
R. H. DOLLIVER, LCDR, USN Executive Officer
By direction of the Commanding Officer
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NAME (Last, First, Middle) SANTOS, JAMES RICHARD |
SERVICE NO. XXX-YY-ZZ |
BRANCH AND CLASS USNR / SN |
ADMINISTRATIVE REMARKS—NAVPERS 601- 13 (Rev. 12—61)
Looking to hills, with Diodon engine exhaust for port side Engine
#4, After Engine Room in view
Hong Kong, BCC, maybe
A small view of Hong Kong
Harbor
Chirstmas card I sent home to my parents.
I was the Starboard look out while we were in a stormy sea. Suddenly the fire alarm sounded and smoke came up through the hatch below. We took a sudden roll 45 degrees starboard and the sea almost came up to my station.
There was a fire in the maneuvering room, when the electrians mate was working the levers for the motor speed a fire ball appeared and dropped into the lower flats. It started a fire among the oily rags below.
We were bobbing in the stormy seas two days before a tug from Yokuska, Japan came and attached a line to our sub and towed us into the shipyard in Yokuska.
While the sub was being repaired David Lorms CS3(SS) and I took a train and stopped in Kamakura and saw the sites there. Then we continued to Tokyo and got a young japanese guide to show us around the city over two days.
The "Big Buddah" at Kamakura, Japan
Kamakura, Japan entrance wishing well
Shipmate John (J.C.) Horgan
After the repairs, we went
to Hong Kong
B.C.C. I met Ling Ling Tong and she showed me the sites there. I
found out on the last day of 3 days there when she took me to meet her sponser
and I found out she was a hooker.
A small view of Hong Kong Harbor
Charr (SS-328) & Diodon (SS-349) at Ballast Point, 1967.
Photo by J.D. Decrevel EM2(SS)
When I left Diodon after 1 year, 8 months and 25 days, I came back to Treasure Island in San Francisco bay. I was assigned shore partrol duties for 3 weeks that I was there. I oversaw movies in the Theater there for unruly sailors.
I patrolled Treasure Island navy base areas.
Then I was was released from my duties there. Submarine Reserve Unit 12-31 had closed.
I then reported to Submarine Reserve Unit 12-9 in Alameda. I was there until 1971. I left the unit then to continue my B.S. in Chemistry at San Francisco State University. I returned to unit in June 1973, after I had graudated cum laude I found that it too had closed.
So 7 years later I joined the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve as a Port Secuityman.
The submarines I served aboard for USNR Active Duty and Submarine Reserve Duty
Since 03-27-09
I, your Web Master, James R. Santos, ex-TM2(SS), USNR. I am a Life Member of the Torpedoman's Association.
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Updated 05-12-17
Submarines Your Web Master served on
Your Web Master's Parents in late 1945 just before getting married
Your Web Master's Navy & Coast Guard Reserves Service Ranks and Years
Your Web Master's Life Member NAVetUSA Web Page
04-26-15
New 03-08-17
New 11-13-17
Torpedomen, do you have any stories, memorabilia, and/or photos to share on our web site? If so, please contact Web-Master
Patch from my Fleet ASW School, San Diego, CA 1966
Your Web-Master then in 1969, TM2(SS) USN Submarine Reserve
The photo above was taken, as I recall, on board one of those covered Coaxain's Boats (1969, as TM2(SS), USNR).
This was just after I had completed a week end working in the Torpedo Shop on the Sub Tender USS Sperry or USS Nereus.
Another Reservist from my Submarine Reserve Unit 12-9, TM2(SS) Gus Ruiz, snapped this photo. He has since passed away. He was a photographer by trade, as I recall.
TM2(SS) Gus Ruiz has since passed away
Sailor Rest Your Oar
May He Rest In Peace
He took the photo as we were returning to shore from the tender, which was moored out in the water at Fort Roscans, Ballast Point Submarine Base, San Diego, California.
Please send me a message. I will reply to your email and let you know where to email me your stories & photos
Updated
10-03-171968 to 1971
TM2(SS)