I for one am not basing USSVI...
I've been trying to offer some constructive criticism on how an organization that says it is dedicated to preserving its heritage, can do so in what I think is a very effective manner. USSVI is a bunch of people... and people are not perfect. No one on the staff of submarine memorials (be they paid in cash or paid in self satisfaction) wants the vets out of the picture. But the sad fact is, the revese is not true!!! I have been told many times by several subvets that they do not like the fact that "their boats" are in the hands of civilians who have no military experice!!!!! Now I understand this is not a universal attitude, but it is prevelent across the nation and has gone on for decades!
And to clarify a point about the TORSK... it was run in the 1970s by a WWII subvet who was employed by a department of the city. He had no knowledge of historical preservation and saw the boat as a veteran's clubhouse and children's fun activity. When he retired, the city (rightly) turned it over to an outfit that ran maritime education programs. To give her in the City Parks department would have been criminal.
The truth of the matter is that over the decades that submarines have been in the hands of memorial foundations (DRUM was first, in 1969, I believe), there was generally no problems as long as the Vets could hold functions aboard the boats... Silversides was the first, and for a long time, only boat that had a group interested in restoring her. They were a mix of sub vets and a few civilians. And they did good -- getting her engines running, etc. But they were a club house operation. When the need for proper management surfaced, they were not able to handle it and so SS 236 was turned over to new, civilian management.
You can break up the subs into several basic categories:
1. boats that are part of a multi-ship park. -- Problem: the subs get the short end of the funding stick. Vets hold functions aboard, but see them deteriorating.
2. boats that are part of an educational facility (science center/maritime museum), like Pampanito, Blueback, Requin, Becuna, Cobia, U-505. -- Problem: again, they have to compete for funding, often the funds they are generating. Benefits: when they do get attention of a curator or manager, they make important strides (Pampanito and Cobia are good examples)... Vets are honored and perform ceremonies, but work is done within a framework set by the stewards. And interest and ability among the staff is more important than whether the person wears "phins." This has sometimes been a cause of friction. Not always, but sometimes.
3. transitional boats -- boats that were "saved" by veterans groups, but ultimately failed for various reasons and were transferred to other stewards: Requin, Cavalla, Croaker are chief among these. Most were heart-breaks until they came under new management, one still is.
4. single memorial boats -- Albacore, Cod, Razorback, Batfish, Ling. Include the best and worst boats, generally. When run as businesses and national treasures they thrive. When run as veterans clubhouses, they fail. Can't speak for all, but many in this class have had to set subvet groups straight about which is the dog, and which is the tail (as in the tail should not wag the dog).
Enough of the categorization.
I can speak directly about COD.
We went through several phases and I have been there for all of them, from the start (1976)
... the first was when our civilian leadership (acutally a composite of submarine vet officers and civilians) let a group of local Subvet WWII run the daily operation for them... Cod was a subvet clubhouse. She deteriorated badly (well not as bad as some since we were in fresh water, thankfully). Volunteers were told to go away, this was a subvet operation only. When subvets showed up to help, they were often told they were not needed (seen as threats by the subvet shipkeepers)...
Phase two: Thanks to several factors, including HNSA and my divorce
, Cod begins to adpot curatorial standards and the transition begins from things being done on a whim by subvets to being done to follow a master plan of restoration. Call this phase: World War THREE!!! Yes, it was ugly and sad.
Frustration at stratoshperic levels as the subvet ship keepers actually sabotaged work done by civilians. Again,this was not a SubVet sanctioned vendetta, but rather a clash of people, individuals, and a lack of complete leadership from above. Cod saw more combat during this phase than at any time since 1944!
Time, old age, and persistence won out. Not results! Visitors would commend the shipkeepers on the improvement to Cod and they would grumble and try to erase them when they had the chance! To those who say I'm a hot-blooded Scicilian, I say, I didn't kill anyone!
Again, some challenging moments. But during this time a few civilian volunteers began to come forward to help the lone civilian crewmember (me).
Phase three: today, everyone understands that stewardship of the boat is in civilian hands and under the direction of a curator. The subvets of WWII are not happy (as a group) with the fact that they do not run the boat. Non-dolphin crewmembers skyrocket (hey when you go from one to 10, that's a skyrocket). More work gets done than at any other time. USSVI Cod Base was formed. Among them are a few WWII vets -- some WWII and younger vets have a hard time accepting the fact that non-qual non-military types run the boat. Again, its a matter of personalities... some are ok with things, others find it makes them mad... I've been dealing with bad subvet attitudes for 32 years... and I've been blessed with the friendship of subvets with good attitudes... but sadly, a human generally has a more dramatic reaction to getting hit with baseball bats for 32 years than getting kisses! I still have a tendency to cringe among subvets and prepare to defend myself. That's my problem... just explaining things in the hopes that it might be helpful to others and cathardic to me!
PF
