Captains and Executive Officers of the USS Cusk

    This page honors the Cusk's 15 commanding officers.  No words can adequately describe life at sea, or the relationship between a submarine's captain and his crew.  It is also unlikely that our beloved Captains will ever really know the amount of respect, loyalty and admiration that each crewman feels for him.  It transcends understanding, except for those of us who sailed under his command. 

    Over the years, we'll forget many of our shipmates - but we'll never forget our Cap'n.

Apologies to Mr. Walt Whitman for this paraphrased and slightly adapted version of his wonderful poem,

                    "Captain, Oh My Captain!

O CAPTAIN! My Captain! our fearful trip is done;

The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won;

The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,

While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:

O Captain! My Captain! we rise and hear the bells;   

We Rise—for you the flag is flown—for you the bugle trills;

For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding;

For you they call, the grateful men their eager faces turning;

The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;

From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won;

Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!

Cusk Captains:

	Year	Captain	Executive Officer	Chief of the Boat (COB)	Additional Pictures of Cusk Captains
1	1945 to 1947	Paul Edward "Pete" Summers, CDR	William Edward Norrington, LCDR	Paul Golden Saunders, GMGC(SS)	Captain Summers shaking hands with Admiral Nimitz
2	1947 to 1949	Frederick B Clarke, CDR	Eugene P "Dennis" Wilkinson, LCDR
3	1949	Fredrick Thomas Berry, Jr., LCDR
4	1949 to 1951	Frederick Birchfield Tucker, CDR	Clifford M Essler, Jr., LCDR George Henry "Mac" Mahoney, LT
5	1951 to 1953	Charles Bowers "Swede"  Momsen, Jr., LCDR	Walter Eugene Dedrick, LCDR
6	1953 to 1955	Eugene Pridonoff, LCDR	Walter Eugene Dedrick, LCDR
7	1955 to 1957	Richard Martin Clark, LCDR	Robert Haddock Blount, LCDR
8	1957 to 1959	Richard Joseph Cooke, LCDR	Robert Haddock Blount, LCDR
9	1959 to 1960	Robert Elliot Crawford, LCDR	Frank M Murphy, Jr., LCDR	Vernon Rhodell Atha, TMC(SS)
10	30 April 1960 to 1962	William Thomas "Tom" Mawhiney, CDR	Frank M Murphy, Jr., LCDR William V Surman, Jr., LCDR	Eugene Gaito, ENC(SS) Frank Zamarron Fraga, EMC(SS)
11	1962 to 23 May 1964	George Frank "Tiger" Comstock, Jr., LCDR	William V Surman, Jr., LCDR Eugene AG Beaumont, LCDR
12	23 May 1964 to 10 June 1966	William Walde Von Christierson, LCDR	Eugene AG Beaumont, LCDR Robert Bryan "Hoot" Gibson, Jr., LCDR Denton W West, LCDR	Robert Eugene Shaeffer, ENC(SS)
13	10 June 1966 to 30 July 1968	Donald Joseph Killian, LCDR	Denton W "Denny" West, LCDR W Tyler Brown, LCDR		Relinquishing command of the Cusk (Photo courtesy of Don Killian)	At sea during WestPac, 1967 (Photo courtesy of Dave Duerr)
14	30 July 1968 to 27 June 1969	Albert William "Sam" Houston, CDR	Tommy D. Sawyer, LCDR		The famous "Buddha" hat (Photo courtesy of Lee Krabill)	Entering Pearl Harbor early in 1968 WestPac (Photo courtesy of Sam Houston)	"That danged Redfish coat!" The Cusk put to sea shortly after Sam Houston took command and before he could get more appropriate attire on his new command (Photo courtesy of Lee Krabill)
					Taking command of the Cusk (Photo courtesy of Don Killian)	Watching the Cusk Softball Team at the San Diego Sub Base, 1969 (Photo courtesy of Lee Krabill)	The Yellow Replacement Coat At least it didn't say "USS Redfish" on it (Photo courtesy of  unknown)
15	27 June 1969 to 24 September 1969	Thomas Francis Arnold, LCDR	Tommy D. Sawyer, LCDR