1966 - USS Cusk (SS-348) Year by Year History

Crewmembers, Pictures and Memorabilia

On May 18th, the Cusk's home port is changed from Pearl Harbor to San Diego as the Cusk arrives at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington for a major overhaul.  Shortly afterward on June 10th, Change of Command ceremonies are conducted as Don Killian takes command of the Cusk from William Von Christierson at Dry Dock Four at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton.  As the overhaul was wrapping up in August, the Cusk was undergoing sea trials in Puget Sound  when one of her port main motors caught fire.  Gary Carr, EM1(SS) was on the sticks in Maneuvering and is commended by Captain Killian for his quick thinking and heroic action when the fire is discovered.  

The Cusk remained in the Bremerton Yards through November and December until the main motors are replaced and the Cusk again performs sea trials in Puget Sound.  Near the end of the trials, the Cusk is suspended from three huge buoys for a total of 36 hours to test noise levels of all equipment.  Afterwards, the Cusk descends to test depth to test sea fittings.  All is well until a grease fitting on the forward sonar come explodes but the leak is minor and the test continues to completion.  Near the end of December, the Cusk arrives in new home port in San Diego.  A large number of the crew greet their new wives and families from Bremerton.

Click here to see a list of the Cusk crewmembers who came aboard in 1966

Cusk memorabilia and crew pictures from 1966:

Change of Command Ceremonies brochure (Photo courtesy of Don Killian)	Last Ship's Patch of the Cusk, 1966 (Photo courtesy of Tom Roseland)	Inside of CoC brochure - Don Killian relieves William Von Christierson as Captain of the Cusk (Photo courtesy of Rick Greer)	Moored inboard of USS Diodon at Ballast Point in San Diego (Web photo)
Chief Morton checks out what's for chow on the barge in Bremerton, Washington (Photo courtesy of Rick Greer)	Leo Lemoine reading in the Chief's quarters on the barge in Bremerton (Photo courtesy of Rick Greer)	"Jethro" Jerome and Don Shoemaker enjoying lunch on the barge in Bremerton, Washington (Photo courtesy of Rick Greer)	Mike Keelin (Photo courtesy of Rick Greer)
Rick "Ptomaine" Greer in the mess hall (Photo courtesy of Rick Greer)	Unidentified Cusk crewman sleeping in in the crew's quarters on a barge in that was tied alongside the Cusk while she was undergoing an overhaul in the Bremerton Shipyards.  The caption on the picture reads, "Just back from Vietnam" (Photo courtesy of Rick Greer)	Al "Killer" Kilpatrick, Gerry Spielman and Don Shoemaker share some laughs on the barge in Bremerton (Photo courtesy of Rick Greer)	Ronnie Lane gets a birthday cake on the barge in Bremerton (Photo courtesy of Rick Greer)
Rick Greer in the Mess Hall (Photo courtesy of Rick Greer)		Billy Michaels in the torpedo room (Photo courtesy of William Michaels)

Crewmembers who served aboard the Cusk in 1966:

Last Name	First & MI	City	State	Rank/Rate	Years on Board	Eternal Patrol Date	Comments
Aguinaldo	Angel	San Diego	CA	SD2(SS)	66 - 68	Date Unknown
Allen, III	Walter	New Smyrna Beach	FL	ENFN(SS)	65 - 68
Aten	Larry R	Thomson	GA	ETR2(SS)	66 - 68
Benitez	Bayani			TN(SS)	65 - 67
Blue	Paul	Tulsa	OK	ETR3(SS)	63 - 66
James "Jim" Branske		Monmouth	OR	TM2(SS)	66 - 69	23 December 2020
Briggs	Neil A	Olney Springs	CO	RM1(SS)	66 - 69
Bumber	Paul Lawrence	Newberg	OR	EN3(SS)	64 - 66	1 December 2010
Calkin	Doug	St. Helena	CA	TM3(SS)	66
Carr	Gary Jay	Bremerton	WA	EMCM(SS)	63 - 69	29 September 2013
Colocado	Michael E	Gladstone	OR	SD3(SS)	65 - 67	11 September 2010
Copt	Eric	Georgetown	TX	EM3(SS)	63 - 66
Dela Cruz	Ely	Palmdale	CA	SK3(SS)	65 - 66
Duerr	David P ("The Walrus"	Sebastian	FL	EN2(SS)	66 - 68
Ebue	Simeon	San Diego	CA	EMFN(SS)	66 - 68
Farkas	Lou	Oceanside	CA	LT	64 - 67
Fisher	Harold "Pops"	Roseville	CA	QM1(SS)	65 - 68
Floyd	Don	Port Orchard	WA	FT1(SS)	65 - 66
French	Richard E "Frenchy"	Port Orchard	WA	MMCS(SS)	65 - 67
Gallagher	Lawrence	Sebastian	FL	ETR2(SS)	64 - 66	18 November 2019
Gibson, Jr.	Robert Bryan "Bob" & "Hoot"	Tionesta	PA	LT	58 - 62 & 64 - 66	26 March 2013	Executive Officer
Greer	Rick Dale "Ptomaine"	Ft. Worth	TX	CS2(SS)	65 - 67	24 December 2015	Excellent cook
Haake	L E "Roy"	Reading	PA	EM2(SS)	63 - 66
Haley	James W	Georgetown	TX	TMC(SS)	66
Hargis	Thomas G	Westminster	CO	TM1(SS)	66 - 67
Hayden	John W	Kettle Falls	WA	YN1(SS)	66 - 68
Hegg	John A "Pappy"	Port Orchard	OR	EN1(SS)	64 - 67	1 August 2003
Howe	Gary Eugene			MM1(SS)	66 - 67
Imhoff	Robert H			LT	66	17 April 2008
Jacob	Ulrich Peter "Jake"	Florence	SC	TM2(SS)	65 - 66
Johnson	Allen Ray			EN3(SS)	65 - 66	Date Unknown
Kallas	Alan R "Cal"	Vista	CA	TM2(SS)	66 - 67
Keelin	Mike			STS2(SS)	63 - 66
Killian	Donald J	Brooklyn Park	MD	LCDR	66 - 68	5 October 2019	13th Captain of the Cusk
Kilpatrick	Allan M "Killer"	Palm Desert	CA	MM3(SS)	63 - 66
Kosoff	Tracy Monroe	Portsmouth	RI	LT	66 - 68	10 March 2003	Navigation Officer
Kotrola-Chipps	Joe Don "Pivo"	Round Rock	TX	EM2(SS)	64 -66
Krabill	Earl Lee	Cape Coral	FL	QM2(SS)	66 - 69
Kriehn	Robert D	Boulder Junction	WI	IC3(SS)	64 - 66
Lamb	Louis W "Louie"	Las Lunas	NM	STS3(SS)	66
Lane	Ronnie E			EN1(SS)	66 - 69
Mahany	Vince T "Mac"	New Goucester	ME	IC3(SS)	64 - 66
Markwell	Gary Wayne	Brocton	IL	TM3(SS)	64 - 66
McCann	William "Mary Ann"	Middle Haddan	CT	STS2(SS)	65 - 66
Meyers	David W	San Diego	CA	LTJG	65 - 66		Communications and EM Officer
Michaels	William L "Bill"	Dallas	TX	TM3(SS)	64 - 67
Morton	Wilton L			ENC(SS)	66 - 67
Murphy	Larry			TM3(SS)	66 - 68
Nelson	Robert H	Norwich	CT	FTG3(SS)	66 - 69
Nickerson	Darrel F	Denver	CO	IC3(SS)	66 - 69
Ouimet	George "Doc"	San Diego	CA	HMC(SS)	66 - 67
Ratliff	Reagan S	Rolling Meadows	IL	FTG2(SS)	63 - 66	13 December 2020
Reynolds, Jr.	John T	Panama Beach	FL	EM2(SS)	66 - 68
Rillamas	Eugenio R "Gino"	San Diego	CA	SD3(SS)	66 - 69
Steve "The Codger" Rogers		Westminster	CO	EM3(SS)	66 - 69	Summer 2018
Roseland	Tom (a.k.a. Tom Bump)	Merritt Island	FL	STS2(SS)	66 - 69		Cusk Webmaster
Rupert	Lee E	Worland	WY	MM2(SS)	66 - 68
Sawyer	Robert H "Bob"	Harpswell	ME	TMC(SS)	65 - 66
Shaeffer	Robert Eugene			ENC(SS)	46 & 65 - 67		COB and Plankholder
Shaw	Gary R		NE	EN2(SS)	66 - 69	2008
Shoemaker	Donald E	San Diego	CA	EMC(SS)	65 - 69	24 May 2013
Julius George Shreve		Franklin	NC	YN1(SS)	63-66	14 November 2019	Retired as LCDR
Smith	Jack T	Moline	IL	FT2(SS)	66 - 67
Spielman	Gerald "Jerry"	Yellville	AK	EN1(SS)	60 - 66	30 December 2015	Left Cusk in 1966 after volunteering to serve ashore in Vietnam.
Sullivan	Lawrence M	Yuma	AZ	TM2(SS)	66
Tomines	Edgar D			MM2(SS)	66 - 67
Tuma	David F	Arlington	VA	LTJG	66 - 67		Communications officer, retired as Captain
Vogel	Frank J	Pittsburgh	KS	IC3(SS)	63 - 66	6 January 2012
Von Christierson	William Walde			LCDR	65 - 66	15 November 2015	12th Captain of the Cusk
Von Gehr	Kurt	Virginia Beach	VA	ET1(SS)	66 - 67
Wagstaff	Richard B "Rick"	Pine Grove	CA	QM3(SS)	64 - 66
Walbaum	Donald D "Don"	Litchfield	PA	EN1(SS)	67 - 69
William J "Guber" Weisensee		Woodbine	GA	LT	65 - 67	11 August 2018	One of the first LDOs to attain the rank of CAPT
West	Denton W "Denny"	Burnsville	NC	LCDR	65 - 67	26 July 2012	Executive Officer
Roy John Willis		West Palm Beach	FL	EN2(SS)	64 - 66	17 November 2020
Wilson	John Steve "Willie"	Richland	WA	EM1(SS)	66 - 69		Author of "Cusk Raider" ship's newsletter

If you have any information, pictures, history, or crewmember names/information from the Cusk in 1966 (or any year), please contact the Cusk Webmaster. Thanks!