A Tale of Two Chivos

The Boat - USS Chivo (SS-341)

Oct 1945 - Chivo returns to the states after the end of WW II (Atkinson).



 

 

USS Chivo (SS-341) was a Balao class submarine,
1870 tons of steel, copper, aluminum, brass, zinc, and teak.
Chivo was 311'   7"   of diesels,   -   diesel oil,   -   batteries,   -   diesel oil,   -   torpedo tubes,   -   diesel oil,   -   torpedoes,   -   and oh, yes   -   diesel oil.

She was commissioned on 28 April 1945, decommissioned on 06 July 1971,
transferred to Argentina, and renamed the Santiago del Estero (S-22).
Her story does not end there.

There is another Chivo that lives on:

The Crew That Sailed Her

Our first reunion - Myrtle Beach, SC - October 2001



For 26 years and 6,000 dives, her crew lived with her, loved her, and hated her.
Most of us could describe our years onboard Chivo by using the opening lines from
"A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going to heaven, we were all going direct the other way . . . ."



Chivo was an adventure, a part of our lives, and a part of our youth.
The "Goat Boat" is gone and lives on only in our memories,
but the friendships we formed are still alive.

Welcome aboard!

If you are a former "Goat Boat" sailor, please join us.

We have a large group of more than 1,000 former Chivo crew members, ranging from the 1940's to the 1970's.   Our purpose is to reunite friends, to revive our submarine camaraderie, and to celebrate some of the excitement of our youth.   We have no dues.   We normally hold "all hands" reunions every two years.   We just had a great reunion in October 2022 in North Myrtle Beach, SC and are busy planning our next reunion.

Come join us.   All your friends and shipmates will be there.

To log on board, just contact me at 341.stan@gmail.com and start practicing your sea stories.

Webmaster: Stan Pollard  


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