Jim Gordon introduced Bob Oppel, a submariner who served on a diesel sub and helped bring that sub back to the U.S. Jim said the sub was vintage World War 11, leaving the club members to wonder whether world wars numbered higher than two were a figment of someone’s imagination.

Bob explained the difference between the diesel sub he served on, the Razorback, and today’s nuclear powered boats. The older subs could navigate as easily on the water as under it. By contrast, ships in today’s “nuke” fleet are designed to be underwater craft primarily.

He explained that he was a pole vaulter in high school and had an opportunity to attend college at Occidental College, but gave that up to join the Navy as a submarine sailor, just as his father had done during World War 2. He said that some 55 subs and 4,000 men on those subs were lost in WWII and that submarines were a major part of the US counter-offensive against Japan in response to the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

The boat on which Bob served was known as the Razorback, having been named after a whale. The boat is a snorkel boat, meaning that it could access fresh air by means of a tube that would be extended above the waterline. Aside from its relatively cramped dimensions (300 ft x 17 ft) it accomodted a crew of 40-50 men.

Bob described the camaraderie of the crew during 80 days at sea not seeing the sun nor showers the entire time at sea. He said the menu on the sub was the best for the first part of a deployment. “We ate better than anybody else in the military, bar none,” Bob told the club. The issue was that there was very little storage on the boat and, as food was eaten, there were lots of cans and other preserved foot at the bottom of the pile.

The dress was very lax on subs, not beholden to the normal military dress code. Also, engines were loud enough to deafen those who worked in the engine rooms. The days on a sub were not divided like days at port or at home- they were divided by watches, where crew-members would often share bunks serially- called hot bunking. One watch was followed by eating, sleeping and so-forth.

After the Navy, Bob served in Southeast Asia with Caterpillar, where he lost track of the Razorback until he happened upon it as a boat in the Turkish Navy. As commander of the submarine retiree force in Seattle, he heard about the old sub and the Turks’ desire to destroy it.

When Bob heard that the Razorback would be destroyed, he went to work to bring it back to the US as a living memorial to submariners and the era in which it served. Enter Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, who was one of the few to respond to the idea of bringing the sub back to American water. Even though the sub’s nickname was for a white whale, the sub was associated with the mascot of the Razorback State- Arkansas- which is a pig.

After numerous negotiations with the Turkish government, Bob and his team were given 45 days to get the sub out of Turkey to the US. The original plan was to crew it back to the US, but because some pieces and parts had to be stripped off for security and other reasons, it had to be towed. In fact, the batteries on board were salvaged and sold, and accounted for a significant amount of the proceeds needed to tow it back.

Bob was passionate in his description of re-entering the sub with Turkish naval personnel. He described its condition in detail and told of the quiz he was given by his Turkish escort regarding the position of instruments and the operation of those instruments. He explained that, to be qualified on a sub, crew members had to demonstrate their proficiency blindfolded.

Bob and his partner were thrilled to find the sub in such good shape and even commented on two marks on the wall, indicating two kills for the sub during a conflict with Greece.

The Turkish sailors gave pins to Bob and his partner, indicating proficiency on the sub, which Bob proudly wears on his vest indicating membership in the retired submariners auxiliary in Seattle.

The sub came across the ocean in fine shape with Bob and his partner on top of, and inside the sub from time to time. The sub was eventually towed up the Arkansas River strapped to barges that allowed it to duck bridges and stay high enough in the water to not drag bottom. The ship is now anchored in North Little Rock on the Arkansas River for the public to see and tour.

In April, the powers that be hope to once again crank the engines that will billow that “beautiful” black smoke, according to Bob. The boat is a historical monument and remains in the same condition as it did when it was in service.

Bob was presented with a certificate memorializing a gift, in his name, of 1,000 pounds of fresh produce for Rotary First Harvest, provided by Jeff Cashman.