Background
Link to
Submarine Questions of the Week - 2 Dec 2013 is
here. The
1903 Thanksgiving Menu and
Chow Down in the Crews Mess cartoon images rom M.E.'s Wednesday, November 27, 2013 Thanksgiving Tribute are found
here. Text from a famous author's tribute to submariners follows:
“I saw the submariners, the way they stood aloof and silent, watching their pigboat with loving eyes. They are alone in the Navy. I admired the PT boys. And I often wondered how the aviators had the courage to go out day after day and I forgave their boasting. But the submariners! In the entire fleet they stand apart!”
Questions of the Week with ANSWERS
1 - A surviving, but tattered copy of a Thanksgiving Day menu from
USS Hartford has two very unexpected qualities; one is historical, and one is not.
What were the years of the menu publication and ship commissioning? ANS: The menu (photo linked above) is dated
1903; the menu was for
the
USS Hartford, a
sloop-of-war steamer commissioned in 1859.
2 - There is a certain ambiguity in one artifact relative to
USS Darter. The artifact is a cartoon;
identify a fundamental ambiguity? ANS: The fundamental ambiguity is
whether the cartoon was for USS Darter (
SS-227 commissioned 1943, or
SS-576 commissioned 1956).
3a- Name the novelist who wrote, "But the submariners! In the entire fleet they stand apart!"? ANS:
James A Michener.
3b- In which of his novels does his quote appear? ANS: Tales of the South Pacific.
3c- Had he (James A. Michener) ever served in the United States Navy in wartime? ANS: Yes, in WWII, and his last rank was LCDR.
3d- Was he a submariner? ANS: No, James A. Michener was neither a submariner nor skimmer sailor, he was in fact a Naval Historian:
Before Michener entered Swathmore College on a full scholarship, he
peddled chestnuts, traveled America on a boxcar and did carnival private
detective work. During college he was employed as a night watchman.
He graduated Swathmore with honors, and taught English and History
for several years. In 1941, he became a textbook editor at Macmillan
Publishing.
Later that same year, Japanese military forces attacked Pearl Harbor.
Michener waived his Quaker principles and volunteered for service. “I
had taught about Hitler, and I had taught about the Japanese war
machine, and I knew that this was a battle to the death, so I enlisted.”
The U.S. Navy assigned him to the Solomon Islands as a war historian. -@DebraEve
Submarines are always silent and strange.
Labels: 2013, James A Michener, naval historia, SS-576, SSN-768, TAles of the South Pacific -1947, Thanksgiving, USS Darter SS-227, USS Hartford
