The Gilmore spent most of its time in port in Sardinia and subs (called boats) would come to us and stay for a few days or weeks until repairs were completed. At times, there were as many as 6 tied to the ship at once.

I’ve had an opportunity to go down onboard the boats once or twice. On board facilities are engineered for maximum use of the available space. No space is wasted. Hotbunking is used. This means a sailor coming off duty uses the same bunk vacated by another person now on duty. Meals are eaten in continuing shifts to minimize the room needed for mess facilities.

Submariners are a different breed. While we thought they were a pretty grubby looking bunch, one has to be pretty disciplined to spend months at a time underwater in very cramped quarters.