USS
CHIVO (SS-341) All Hands Newsletter
Newsletter #113 – September 2025
USS
CHIVO (SS-341) All Hands Newsletter
Reunion Plans
Next year Chivo’s reunion will be October 18-21, 2026 in Myrtle Beach, SC. We have ocean front efficiency rooms at a great price. Because we are a smaller group, we will not have buses and tours to outside activities, but there is plenty you can see and do on your own or with friends in Myrtle Beach. We will have a Memorial Service, a banquet, eats, treats, and some honest sea stories.
Fresh Water Submarines
In the July newsletter, I had a collection of submarine notes and facts. One of these mentioned submarines built by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.
Founded in 1902, the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company was a well-established yard with a long history of building excellent ships for Great Lakes service. By 1940 it had built 306 vessels of various types, but never a warship. As the Navy began to develop its Fleet in the late 1930s, the yard hoped to find work building small warships up to destroyer size. But they were turned down, as contracts went to larger shipyards on the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts. Nevertheless, top Navy officials were well aware of Manitowoc's reputation for quality work.
In early 1940 Manitowoc Shipbuilding was asked to build the most complex of ships: the submarine. This was a radical, almost unimaginable, proposal for a company of shipbuilders, many of whom had never set eyes on a submarine. Initially, the yard's management did not want the job, but the Navy insisted. In September 1940, the Navy awarded a contract for the initial run of ten Gato class subs.
Teams of experts from the Electric Boat Company came to Manitowoc under contract to the yard to help with the early stages of this program. Manitowoc personnel, in turn, visited Electric Boat and the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard to observe submarine construction that was under way at those sites.
Manitowoc’s employees quickly adapted, with over 7,000 workers clocking in around the clock for the war effort. The first Manitowoc boat, the USS Peto (SS-265), was laid down in June 1941. Due to the narrow Manitowoc River, the company developed an innovative "sideways" launching method. USS Peto (SS-265) was the first submarine to ever be launched this way in April 1942.
After testing was conducted in Lake Michigan, these “fresh water” submarines were sailed down Lake Michigan to Chicago where periscopes and antennas were temporarily removed so they could pass under bridges. In Chicago they were put on floating dry docks and transported down the Chicago River, thru canals to the Illinois River, and finally down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. Once in New Orleans, they were taken off the floating dry docks, reassembled, and sailed into the Gulf of Mexico.
USS Peto was completed 228 days ahead of schedule and went off to war just one year after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Early delivery of subs was to be a way of life for this fine shipyard. And as they got out into the Fleet, their crews even began to send back thank-you letters for the quality and strength of those boats. These satisfied "customers" offered the best kind of praise for the Manitowoc employers, who earned Navy Department production "E" awards every year during the war.
The first ten boats built by Manitowoc were “thin skinned” Gato class boats with a test depth of 300 feet. Then the shipyard began building Balao class boats. The shipyard built a total of 28 submarines during WW II. 25 saw extensive action in the Pacific, sinking 132 enemy ships. Four of these boats: the USS Robalo, USS Golet, USS Kete, and USS Lagarto, were lost at sea with their crews.
The USS Rasher (SS-269) was the fifth sub built by the yard. Commissioned in 1943, she became the second highest scoring U.S. submarine in World War II. She missed the top spot, earned by the USS Flasher (SS-249), by only 750 tons of Japanese shipping.
Unfortunately no Manitowoc boats remain.
The USS Cobia (SS-245), a Gato class sub built by Electric Boat is the centerpiece of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum. She is beautifully preserved and almost identical to the boats built at Manitowoc.
USS Cobia is temporarily unavailable for tours, because she is in dry dock at Fincantieri’s Shipyard in Sturgeon Bay, WI to undergo inspection and essential preventative maintenance to ensure her longevity.
* * * From The Quartermaster's Notebook * * *
Donations . . . Donations help to make our reunions possible.
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:
Binnacle List . . . These shipmates are facing some serious challenges:
* * * 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.
President |
Bob Bernhardt (71 Decom) |
|
Vice President |
Doug Plummer (68-70) |
|
Treasurer |
Bob Kuphal (64-66) |
|
Secretary |
VACANT |
|
Reunion Director |
Stan Pollard (68-71 Decom |
|
Communications Director |
Stan Pollard (68-71 Decom) |
The mission of the CHIVO Reunion Organization is:
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.
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.
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
#113 – September 2025