I served on the Bushnell from 1961 through 1963 in the Repair Division (Electronics). I worked with, and on, all the “boats” in the Squadron and the visiting boats, including the installation of experimental equipment on the USS Nautilus, and helping to conduct sound surveys on the USS Thresher with David Taylor Model Basin. One would think that they would never forget the names of the boats in the squadron, but alas, I can only remember nine of them.
I also helped to decommission the USS Balao (SS-285). She still had the pink primer under her paint. (As you may recall, she was in the movie “Operation Petticoat”. Speaking of movies, “PT 109” was also filmed during this time. I believe some of the crew may have participated.)
When the ship went to Charleston for its FRAM II conversion, a group of us from the Repair Division remained in Key West to help maintain the submarines. (Those of us that stayed were officially transferred to the USS Penguin (ASR-12) for that period. During that same time, we had the Cuban Crisis which naturally caused quite a stir. We installed ship-to-air transcevers on the torpedo retrievers because they were patrolling the channel.)
After the Bushnell returned to Key West from Charleston, we went on a shake down cruise to Guantanamo Bay and Kingston, Jamaica. When at sea, since we didn’t carry Radarmen my division stood the RADAR and DRT watches in CIC.
Some of my fondest memories are associated with my years on the Bushnell and working on the submarines. I suppose that may be the reason I spent the next 30+ years on the FBM program designing and building the launching systems and the missiles for the “Boomers”.
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