Newsletter #114 – November 2025  

USS CHIVO (SS-341) All Hands Newsletter

Reunion Plans

Starting from scratch I solicited proposals from all Myrtle Beach area ocean front hotels.   Initially I had seventeen e-mail responses that seemed to fit our needs.   I was able to narrow these down to seven good choices.   Then I visited Myrtle Beach to thoroughly inspect the seven, because you can’t get an accurate evaluation from web sites, brochures and e-mails.   My walk-thru tours narrowed the list down to three good possibilities with minor differences in amenities, prices and dates.   After some serious negotiations with those three, I arrived at the best choice for us.

Our 2026 reunion will be at the Landmark Resort in Myrtle Beach on October 18-21, 2026.   That’s three days starting Sunday and ending Wednesday.   They have a variety of rooms at really great prices.   Ocean front rooms with a king bed or two doubles are $82 night ($104 incl).   At the high end an ocean front deluxe king 1 bedroom combo is $105 night ($130 incl).   And the economy interior room is just $55 night ($74 incl).   Inclusive prices include all resort fees, parking, taxes, etc.

Something New This Time

Chivo was decommissioned in July 1971.   That’s 54 years ago.   If you were a hot running 21 year old seaman then, you are now 75.   And if you were onboard in 1961, you would be 85.   You get the picture.   Time and health are taking a toll.   At our first reunion in 2001 we mustered over 200 crew members and spouses.   At our 2024 reunion we mustered just 39 crew members and guests.

As our group gets smaller we have less leverage to negotiate favorable contracts.   In fact, most hotels won’t even talk about group rates, hospitality rooms or banquets if you are booking less than ten rooms.   Yet there is a solution – sharing.

Sennet (SS-408), decommissioned in 1968, had only 9 crew members and 7 wives at their last reunion.   There is much to be gained by sharing our reunion with Sennet:

1. As our group shrinks, hotels become less willing to negotiate or even talk to us.   Adding to our numbers helps to secure our own future reunions.

2. I didn’t know any crew members that served before the mid-sixties, but I became close friends with them at our reunions.   The same would be true with Sennet sailors.   Besides, we might hear some new sea stories.

3. People pay for their own rooms and banquet meals, so this does not add to Chivo’s expenses.

4. The cost of free snacks and beverages in the hospitality room will be proportionally divided by attendance numbers.   Like Chivo, Sennet still has cash in their bank account for this.

There is really no downside to sharing, and when we get to the business meeting at our 2026 reunion we will know if we want to continue sharing.

* * * * * * *

MIGRAINE submarines - In my last newsletter I told you about Fresh Water submarines, and now I will tell you the story of MIGRAINE submarines.

Late in WW II, Japan used kamikaze aircraft to inflict serious damage on the gathering Allied fleet.   To counter the threat the Navy deployed lines of destroyers as ‘radar pickets’ at some distance from their task group centers.   These distant ships provided early warning of Japanese air attacks and significantly reduced the toll taken on major combatants, however they themselves proved exceptionally vulnerable to kamikaze tactics, and twelve were sunk.   Many destroyer skippers wished that they had a "hatch to close over their heads and submerge”.

The invasion of Japan was expected to attract an even more intense kamikaze onslaught, so the Navy proposed that 24 submarines be converted to less vulnerable radar pickets.   The full conversions would be too late for the invasion of Japan, so COMSUBPAC modified the air-search radars on GROUPER (SS 214) and FINBACK (SS 230) for periscope mounting and operation at shallow depths.   Similar conversions of four other boats—including rudimentary Combat Information Centers (CICs) had already begun when the Japan surrendered.

After the war GROUPER and FINBACK reverted back to their normal submarine configuration, and the Navy decided that two additional submarines would be more extensively modified to develop the radar picket submarine concept.   REQUIN (SS 481) and SPINAX (SS 489) retained their normal deck armament of two 5-inch guns, while high-powered SR-2 search radars and SV-2 height finders were mounted on their afterdecks, with the radar electronics and CICs below in the after torpedo rooms.

Although a stern torpedo launch capability was still retained, the tubes had to be loaded externally.   To accommodate the added electronics, each boat received an extra motor-generator and more air-conditioning, and to provide a reference point for the combat air patrol (CAP), homing beacons were deck-mounted on both.   The boats were basically successful in their new roles and were certainly more survivable than a corresponding destroyer.   However, the low deck-mounting of their antennas severely limited radar performance and created reliability problems from breaking seas and salt-water intrusion.   Below decks, having to crowd so much high-powered electronics into all available nooks and crannies brought its own share of maintenance issues.   And additional crew members were required to operate the equipment.   All this created some real headaches - Therefore the Navy named the follow-on design program for radar picket subs:

Project MIGRAINE

TIGRONE (SS 419) and BURRFISH (SS 312) were given MIGRAINE I conversions and designated SSRs.   The crew’s mess and galley were turned into a CIC, and the after torpedo tubes were removed to allow the entire after torpedo compartment to be used for berthing.   Two of the forward tubes were also eliminated to make room for storage and equipment.   The two radar antennas were raised on masts, with an AN/BPS-2 search radar sprouting from the after portion of the sail, and the height finder mounted on a free-standing tower just abaft it.   Both boats got improved, higher capacity batteries and were given a snorkel to allow underwater operation of their diesels.

In the MIGRAINE II conversion in 1948, of REQUIN (SS 481) and SPINAX (SS 489) the after torpedo tubes were removed, the air control center was located to the forward part of the stern room with crew berthing in the after part.

The Cold War was in full swing, and air defense of U.S. carrier battle groups on missions near the USSR generated a requirement for more submarine radar pickets.   Six more WW II subs were chosen for the MIGRAINE III conversion.   This final design called for cutting the boats in two and inserting a 24-foot section to get additional room for an expanded CIC and electronic spaces forward of the main control room.   The MIGRAINE IIIs still had to sacrifice their after torpedo tubes for more berthing space, but they were fitted with a larger, streamlined sail, with the BPS-2 search radar mounted aft of the periscopes and other masts.   An AN/BPS-3 height-finder radar on a pedestal just behind the sail and an AN/URN-3 TACAN beacon on the afterdeck completed the installation.   The six MIGRAINE III boats, POMPOM (SSR 267), RASHER (SSR 269), RATON (SSR 270), RAY (SSR 271), REDFIN (SSR 272), and ROCK (SSR 274), were all converted between 1951 and 1953 giving the Navy a total of ten radar picket submarines to face the growing Soviet threat.

Radar picket submarines provided valuable service to the US Navy and other NATO navies up until 1959, when the Navy completely phased out the destroyer-based radar pickets and the MIGRAINE Program in favor of airborne early warning aircraft.

Of the 10 submarines converted to the various MIGRAINE configurations, most became training ships and were scrapped at the end of their service life.   REQUIN (SS 481) was converted to a Fleet Snorkel at the end of the MIGRAINE Program in 1959.   She received a high fiberglass sail common to the Guppy boats and continued active service until December 1968.   In 1990 she was moved to Pittsburg, PA and remains one of the most popular tourist attractions in the area.

* * * From The Quartermaster's Notebook * * *

Donations . . .  Donations help to make our reunions possible.   Special thanks to these crew members for their generous support:

• QM2(SS) Peter C. Brown (1966-1968).

• TM2(SS) Billy J. Sullivan (1966-1967).

Donation checks should be made payable to the “Chivo Reunion Organization” and mailed directly to our Treasurer: Robert Kuphal, 3520 New Hartford Rd., Suite 301 Owensboro KY 42303.

Eternal Patrol . . .  Recently we learned that the following shipmates have passed away:

• LCDR James L. Dafoe (CO 1969-1971 decom) departed October 03, 2025.

• EN2(SS) John D. Gonzales-Lusk (1954-1960) departed May 26, 2025.

• IC2(SS) John C. Sease (1966-1969) departed September 04,2024.

• SO1(SS) Curtis L. Zimmerman (1955-1958) departed May 30, 2025.

Binnacle List . . .   These shipmates are facing some serious challenges:

• ENC(SS) Stephen "Budda" Bien (62-64)   email: 3kisses@bellsouth.net

• TM2(SS) John & Joanne Hedum (1952-1956)   email: jnjhedum@bellsouth.net

• FN(SS) Richard V. Holland (1971 decom)   email: rvholland@hotmail.com

• ETRSN(SS) William C. Priest (64-65)   c/o Ruthann Priest,   13230 Elkwood Ct., Midlothian VA 23112-1434

* * * Current Chivo Board Members * * *

Volunteers needed . . . We need a volunteer for the Secretary Position and a back-up volunteer for the Reunion Director – in case Stan goes UA.

The mission of the CHIVO Reunion Organization is:

1. to perpetuate the memory of our shipmates and their deeds, to promote good fellowship and comradeship, and to pledge loyalty and patriotism to the United States of America.

2. to participate in activities that foster recognition of the contributions made by  members of all Armed Forces and their families, both Past and Present, that uphold the spirit of the Declaration of Independence.

3. to provide aid and comfort to service members in need.

We have no dues, and we have a lot of fun!

USS CHIVO (SS-341) Reunion Organization
All Hands Newsletter #114 – November 2025

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