I was on her for the first three runs and was
glad to have served my country on her we had a great record. I was the
auxiliary electrician.
- Paul Miller Was COB. This is all he ever
wrote to his wife ( Safe but not sound. Well but not happy ).
- During the war playing cards had on the back
( Buy more war bonds ).
Peter Leon used to go through the boat during depth charge attacks holding
one of these cards in his hand for everyone to see. This got a lot of
laughs from some of the crew. Peter Leon ( MoMM1c ) must have made ( CMoMM
) while on the boat. I have a picture of him in a chiefs uniform.
- We carried torpedo juice for cleaning parts
of the fish but used very little for that job. One smart crewman made a
still out of a brass hand suction pump, copper tubing and a small funnel.
It was set up in the motor room so we could use the cooling water for
reduction gears to condense the alcohol. We used a cup to collect it in.
The 2 controllermen and I had the duty to go down and dump and refill
every hour. There was about 10 gallons purified when we arrived at Pearl
Harbor. Some of the guys had a smashing good time drinking it in Royal Hawaiian
hotel.
- The Officer's steward ( Jesse Jr. ) I think
was his name, was a minister before he joined the navy and had lots of
children. Every time we were being depth charged he would run and get in
his bunk in the forward torpedo room and start praying. I used to tell him
there's no sense in praying that God can't hear you through all this
noise.
- I was responsible for the gyro compass and
cleaned the carbon that formed on the rings every two weeks with pure
grain alcohol. The Captain kept a gallon locked in his stateroom for this
purpose. Paul Miller being the COB would get half a cup from him when it
was time to clean the compass. I used a spoon full and we put coke syrup
in what was left over and drink it. I don't think anyone knew that.
- When we were distilling the torpedo juice
you could smell it through out the boat. The Engineering Officer would
stop me and say, "Fason, do you smell that odor?" I said,
"No sir. I don't smell anything."
- At our first rest camp ( Majuro Island )
they used to say if you slept cross wise your feet would be in the water.
Edie Peabody and two other gentlemen entertained us with banjoes one day
there. I think Edie was a famous banjo player.
The Queenfish SS393 her Officers and crew did a
great job to help win the war and brought me home safe and sound. I thank you
many times over.
Richard B. Fason, USS Queenfish SS393, EM2c,
1944-1945
