Authors:
Historic Era:
Historic Theme:
Subject:
October 1994 | Volume 45, Issue 6
Authors:
Historic Era:
Historic Theme:
Subject:
October 1994 | Volume 45, Issue 6
The Submarine Force Library and Museum in Groton, Connecticut, where I’m the director, has thousands of books, documents, and photographs about U.S. submarine operations but no file, I realized, about mascots. Were there dogs on board other submarines? If so, could we find enough information about them to perhaps mount an exhibit for the museum? For the next six months the curator, the archivist, and I kept a watch for pictures and stories of what we came to call sea dogs. Our finds were infrequent; once in a while we’d turn up a picture in a folder or a brief reference in a yellowed news clipping.
Then I published an appeal in Polaris , the monthly magazine of the Submarine Veterans of World War II. In poured letters with photographs, ID cards, service records, and newspaper stories. The replies showed that after nearly fifty years the veterans’ feelings for their pets remained strong. One wrote: “She was truly one of our crew, and we all loved her. She was a comfort. . . when we were in silent running and getting a good depth charging.” Another recalled: “Some chief from one of the seven hundred-odd ships in the anchorage (at Ulithi) decided to abscond with our dog, and I interceded and got a broken nose for my efforts. Hope Garbo appreciated it!” A third remembered: “Since I left the boat before Betty did, I cannot tell you of her final fate. May her soul rest in peace.”
From this correspondence I discovered that during World War II many United States submariners carried mascots with them in the Pacific. We did put together an exhibit called “Sea Dogs: Mascots of the Silent Service.” Still on display, it is as popular with the public as the mascots were with their crews and for the same reason: The dogs touched their hearts.
Submariners’ pets were usually small and of mixed breed. Crews acquired them through purchase and gift or in trade for a case or two of beer. One dog even dashed aboard a sub as the boat was getting under way. The dogs cheered and amused the men during their long war patrols. They helped relieve the tension and weariness of hours of silent running or nights of surface attacks. The men doted on their dogs. They fed them steak and bacon; they gave them ID cards and service records; they took them on liberty all over the Pacific,