Frank Toon 1946	Frank Toon 2001

Frank Toon

The following is made up of three sections. The first section is a very brief history of the submarine USS BLENNY, SS-324, of the Balao class that Frank served on during WW2. The second section is an interview via e-mail and the third are a few of his remembrances from his web page.

All information is taken from: Frank Toon's web page and from The Historical Summary of the USS BLENNY by Herbert Preston Moore.

The keel for the Blenny was laid 8 July 1943 at Electric Boat Co. in Groton CT, launched 9 April 1944 and commissioned 27 July 1944 with Lt. Comdr. William H. Hazzard in command.

Blenny is credited with sinking twelve ships totaling 26,801 tons during WW2. She was also awarded four battle stars for four successful war patrols from November 1944, when she embarked on her first war patrol, to August of 1945, when WW2 ended. She would receive one more battle star for a thirty-five day war patrol in the Korean war-zone in 1952.

Throughout the remainder of her career, her primary mission was the development of attack submarine tactics and anti-submarine warfare tactics. She also test fired new types of torpedoes. Sometime in 969, Blenny was put out of commission by the navy, but not officially struck from the navy list until 15 August 1973.

The state of Maryland purchased the Blenny for $10,000 and on 7 June 1989, had her sunk approximately twelve miles off the coast by a U.S. Navy Demolition team to serve as an artificial fish reef. She now sits in seventy feet of water and is a popular diving attraction.

What are your memories of December 7th 1941?

7 December 1941, I was caddying that day at a private country club. We heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor when we got off the course. I was packing for the club pro and he set a course record that day. Gave me $5 - the MOST I ever got as a caddy!

It didn't really sink in right away - I was only 15 then.

Just why exactly did you want to join the silent service compared to the other branches of service?

I think I wanted to get into the 'action' of things! I was just a dumb, 17 year old kid that didn't know any better!

How long did boot camp last, what was involved and what if any were your most memorable experiences of it?

As I recall, it lasted 8 weeks, but I may be wrong. It was supposed to be training in basic seamanship, but my particular company seemed to catch all the crap details such as mess cooking, guard duty, etc. A lot of time was normally spent learning to march correctly and go through some of those rifle routines (wooden phony rifles). As we spent so much time on the other things, we had little practice at that. As a result, when the day came to graduate and all the companies were out on the grinder (blacktop marching areas), my particular company couldn't do these things properly - dropping rifles, etc - the head guy on the reviewing stand just told our company to stand at attention while the rest did their thing, then marched off for liberty. This stuff (routine) was done to music and we had really screwed up. We couldn't keep time to the music as well as fouling up those rifle routines. After everyone was gone, this old chief said to our company "NOW you will learn to do it properly!!!" We spent almost the whole afternoon on that grinder practicing until we got it fairly well. By the time we got back to the barracks, showered, etc., about half our liberty was already gone.

From this 'quarantine' area of the camp we moved to another section where we continued more training, took swimming tests, jumped off the tower with life jackets (like one would do when abandoning ship) and waited to get school or ship assignments or some shore assignment. Think I spent about a month there before being sent to school.

Thing I remembered most was taking the 'strength test'. Had to pass this or face compulsory training until you could pass it. This was comprised of push-ups, squat thrusts, squat jumps, sit-ups and one other thing I can't remember. Anyway, the day before we were scheduled for this strength test, they gave us all those damn shots. Next day was strength test and about 90 percent of our company failed because our arms were so sore we could hardly move. Some of the guys were actually sick from those shots. So there you have it - good planning, huh? As I recall, some of our guys ended up in sickbay due to reactions from some of the shots. Boy, those darn shots really made for very sore arms.

What were your duties on the Blenny?

Before I stood QM watches, I was a lookout for two patrols. Some of us had special training at sub school for being a lookout. The best thing about it was that we did get up in the 'fresh air'. Two hours at a crack is a long time looking through a pair of 7x50 glasses though. Sometimes just staying awake and alert was the most difficult part. On the Blenny, lookouts stood two hours on watch and four hours off watch. It didn't leave much time for sleep when you're working hard to qualify. In my case, I bunked in the FTR and bunks had to be vacated when the TM's had to routine the fish. When we were in heavy weather it was quite trying also with the waves coming over the bow. Just trying to keep your binoculars clean enough to see through became a chore. There were some plus items as well. If you were on watch when things happened on the surface, you were there to see them. Got sunlight that others never saw during a whole patrol. On our boat, lookouts got 'rewards' for sighting a plane or ship - beer! Of course, by the time you gave everyone a sip out of a quart of Emu Bitter, (famous Aussie brand) there wasn't a heck of a lot left for you! To drink the 'whole' thing without sharing was unheard of!

Do you feel that the men aboard the Blenny are some of your closest friends even to this day, even though you only knew them for a couple of years, if that long during the war? Would you call it similar to a brotherhood?

Yes, not only Blenny shipmates, but shipmates from other boats as well. In fact, it seems like ALL submariners are part of a 'brotherhood' regardless of when or where they served. We had something in common not normally felt by others.

When you think of the 52 American submarines that were lost during WW2, is there any particular sub that you think of for ANY reason?

Mainly what I think of are ALL the young men who were lost and never had the opportunity to go on with their lives, and raise families like the rest of us did.

As for a specific boat going down, I always seem to think of Bullhead (SS-332) who was sunk just about a week before the war was over, almost made it through. Bullhead was sunk on 6 August 1945 in Lombok Strait. The next day, Blenny had a close call from a plane that caught us unaware on the surface - dropped a bomb and just missed us.

When the claxons went off and the order to 'man battle stations' was given, how did the feeling aboard the Blenny change?

Battle station didn't get everyone hopped up as they were already anticipating it. There had been a tracking party going on and everyone knew we might be going to battle stations.

How many prisoners of war did the Blenny acquire and what was their treatment? There had to be hostility towards the enemy.

We only took two back to the PI. As I recall, one was kept in the ATR, and the Captain of the ship we sank, was kept in the FTR where I bunked. They were fed well (same chow as us) and we gave him cigs, although I don't believe we were supposed to do that. They were given clean clothes (someone donated some dungarees). I remember the TM's had that skipper polishing brass in the forward room and there was a lot of brass on those tubes. Have no idea what happened to them when they got off the boat after our patrol ended.

Since smoking was allowed and showers were not taken often due to the lack of fresh water, what was the smell like on board the sub?

Smell - never really noticed any smells after you got aboard. Diesel fumes, body odor, cigs, etc. all blended in to make our environment. You got used to it and never noticed it.

Other people would notice it - those who didn't live on subs. I remember an incident in the Ship's Service store in the late 40's. There were a half dozen of us who had walked up to get things we needed - toothpaste, foo-foo, etc. At the time we were in line there were a couple of women (not sub wives!!!) who were also in line at the cashier. They could smell us (although we were all clean) and made no bone about it with a remark loud enough for all us to hear - about stinking sub sailors!!! As this was the sub base Ship Service, and they were here shopping as only a courtesy, my boss - a QM chief really let fly at them!

Whooooeeeeee - they couldn't get out of there fast enough. So much for smells. Guess it would have been pretty raunchy to anyone not used to it!

I've read somewhere and saw something on TV that said when a submarine was submerging, the hull makes sounds from the pressure on the outside. Did you experience this (must be) eerie sound?

I really don't remember any sounds like you describe. It may have happened, but that sort of thing was routine and we never really paid attention to it.

Since you were on subs after the war ended, what were the subs that you served on?

I was on the Bumper, (SS-333) which was an EB boat that was commissioned after the Blenny, but was very much the same as the Blenny. I was also on the Tilefish, (SS-307) which was different as it was a Navy yard boat. It had different engines and some other things, but still basically the same design and equipment.

What was the difference between wartime and peacetime aboard subs?

We weren't as crowded for one thing, and the most obvious difference was that no one was trying to sink us!

Instead of live torpedoes, we fired practice torpedoes. The training (ongoing) and duties were pretty much the same as during the war, just that wartime pressure was missing! Although we made some tours of the Far East, most of our duties at Pearl Harbor allowed us to tie up at the dock most evenings. We had our movies topside tied up at the dock instead of having them in the FTR as we did on patrol during the war, and we didn't keep seeing the SAME movies over and over.

I've read before that some of the Veterans who've seen the atrocities of war first hand and were in combat have had dreams all of their lives about what they have seen and done. One particular story I saw was about a guy who was in the army over in Germany. He'd seen a soldier coming at him to kill him, he raised his gun and then just froze, he couldn't shoot. His own guys ended up shooting the enemy soldier, but he said: "You wouldn't believe how many times I looked into his eyes". Have you ever had dreams about your time in the service?

I never had any problem with dreams about this. Of course, when you are killing men by sinking a ship with a torpedo, you are not looking them in the eye!

I was trainer on the forward 5" deck gun and we used that a lot during our last patrol. Normally we tried not to kill off anyone, but took them aboard to transfer later to another spit kit. However, there were times that we could not do this and would fire warning shots so they would bail out before we sank them. This didn't always work though. Again, you're not looking them right in the eye, so maybe that made a difference.

I have a friend who served on modern day submarines who says that you WW2 submarine veterans had it rough and that he had it easy compared to you. What's your opinion on how you think the submariners have it now?

It's hard for me to judge about who had it tough, etc. My understanding is that on the fast attacks, they still have to 'hot bunk'. The boomers have lots more room though. I've been aboard a couple of those and they have a lot of amenities we never even dreamed of. However, keep in mind that these boomers go out and stay submerged for very long periods of time. I guess that I'm just not capable of comparing present day sub duty with 'wartime' duty. We were diesel, they're nuke.

What do you think of the American spirit from December 7th, 1941, as compared to today? Do you think that the American population would be willing to suffer the hardships of a major war?

The spirit of patriotism in 1941 was altogether different. I really don't see much patriotism in our younger generations today.

I myself, just as many others, look up to all you veterans as heroes, what's your opinion on this?

I have no opinion on this, and really don't understand why this would be so. All those guys just did the best they could in terms of what was expected of them.

When the state of Maryland sank the Blenny off their coast for an artificial reef, what were some of the memories coming to mind at that time?

Can't speak to this one either as we could not attend the sinking. At that time we had important matters happening here at home and it was not a good time to be away. I have always been sorry that I could not make it with all the old shipmates who did make it. I think you can get a pretty good idea of this from that tape of the Blenny sinking.* Those news clips of the various crewmembers should show you how they felt. Guess it was like losing an old friend - a friend who had gotten us there and gotten us back home in one piece. Hate to lose a friend like that!

       *Frank sent me a video that showed the preparations and the sinking of the Blenny.

In closing, is there anything at all that you would like to add?

Think I've said enough already!!! Other people might see all this completely different than I did.

There were so many that I should break them down by patrols:

On Blenny's second war patrol (my first) - it would appear that someone figured out that all the 'new guys' should get indoctrinated immediately! First on the list would have to be the episode of the flooding due to a partially open hatch when diving. I was the last lookout down the hatch to the control room. Water was coming through the lower conning tower hatch and the Exec was trying to get it closed. I didn't know at the time that Mr. Edwards, in trying to help close that hatch from the conning tower had gotten his foot caught in it. I do remember that someone told me to "Get out of here!" Imagine that I set the all time speed record between the control room and the FTR where I slammed and dogged that hatch.

Post-War Operations in Guam - Sept. 1945-Jan. 1946

Second on the list was the heavy depth charging we received. Roy Farmer and I were on the FTR re-load crew for our battle stations. We were sitting on a bunk taking all of this in and thinking this is what is considered 'normal' after an attack. We'd been well indoctrinated at sub school with those movies, 'Crash Dive' and I believe the other one was 'Destination Tokyo'. At any rate, when the lights started popping and leaks started along with stuff (cork?) coming off the bulkheads, we looked around and noticed the talker standing between the tubes. He had the button down on the sound-powered phone and his mouth was going a mile a minute. The only problem was that he was not 'making a sound'. It was then that both Roy and I finally figured out that is was time to get a little worried.

On the third patrol, the most memorable incident had to be the night we backed down in shallow water to get set up for a shot at the anchored sub-chaser. Being on lookout, I had the opportunity to see the whole thing. The following excerpt from the third war report tells the story:

25 May 1945
0215 Two minutes thirty-five seconds after firing 8, a hit amidships which threw smoke, spray, debris, and some fire 600 feet in the air. About eight seconds later, a hit forward. Target has disintegrated and a sound like a New Year's celebration is heard from the gun crews on deck. To Cooper, E. R. Jr., TMC1c in charge of the after torpedo room, had come the experience of one torpedomens' lifetime, if not of all torpedomens' lifetimes. He fired the torpedoes, dashed topside to man his gun action station as 5" pointer, and as he hit the deck heard the Commanding Officer say "10 seconds to go". His eye was steady on the target as two of his fish scored hits.

The whole fourth patrol was a merry-go-round for the gun crews. I was trainer on the forward 5" gun and we had lots of opportunity to shoot. We had problems also, such as that pointer sight being out of whack, which didn't make for good shots. Of course, we kept running out of ammo and were always looking for a boat that had ammo left when heading home. We would then transfer it aboard by breeches buoy. I think on an earlier run, a rubber raft was used. A lot of these small targets would be sunk with one five-inch shot. It was always amusing to hear Capt. Hazzard call below to "send up one five-inch bullet". Darn BIG bullets! As I recall, we sank 63 of those small targets in 30 days.

I don't think anyone aboard will forget all the drama of searching and then rescuing the COD (SS-224) boarding party from a sampan. The Cod party had been stranded when a plane drove their boat down.

One other incident that I remember very clearly was when the Capt. was blown through the hatch on surfacing. We had spent all day lying on the bottom to repair problems with the port shaft. I was the watch QM when we surfaced with a lot of pressure in the boat. I opened the hatch and jumped back to allow the Capt. to be first up. Just as he started up, the lower hatch blew open and the Capt. was 'launched' up through the hatch banging his head. 'Doc' Taylor had a chance to practice his sewing! If that lower hatch had blown open a second or two earlier, it would have been 'me' that went out the hatch - makes it easy to remember.

Last but not least, we were making a sound run in Subic Bay (15 August 1945) when all the fireworks started. We had just received a message by light from the tender. Can remember shooting off all our very shells and flares to join in the celebration. We lit off all the engines and put on the smoke generators before making a run around the bay on our way back to the tender. That smoke screen surely clouded things up! Everyone was happy! THE WAR WAS FINALLY OVER!

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