Our SHARKHUNTERS 8th ANNUAL CONVENTION (Chicago) took place in June and came off tremendously. It would be impossible to list all who attended without fear of missing someone but on our biggest day, there were more than 50 SHARKHUNTERS Members gathered. Our first day found us on the bus and headed for USS SILVERSIDES (SS 236), where we were met by their people and a splendid cook-out they had prepared for us, along with a lot of beer. As always, they lit off the diesels for us and CAPTAIN GERD THATER (194-LIFE-1986) looked as if he was ready to ship over for just one more patrol.

We bunked aboard overnight, which was history in itself, but some of the guys decided to load torpedoes! Yep, led by former US ARMY CAPTAIN NEWT RUTTER (2455-C-1992), we loaded a torpedo in the forward torpedo room. To say that it did not go as smoothly as planned would be a terrible understatement and in a short time, we even had US NAVY CDR WILLIAM GLENN (1257-A/LIFE-1989) in his shirtsleeves and lying on the deck to help free a stuck pin. Our fire captain from New Zealand, MIKE HOWELL (174-LIFE-1986) finally got it free with some muscle, and a few words we hadn't heard before which we figured he learned while serving in the N.Z. NAVY.

When the fish was finally loaded - in the 'record' time of only two hours, we decided that the convoy had certainly gotten away, and if any escorts were above us, they had since perished with laughter! It is all on our video of this Chicago gathering and will be made available soon.

It was already 0200 and I was pretty tired, so when the group went to the crew's mess to watch the videotape of them loading this fish, I hit the sack in the Skipper's compartment - and shut two watertight AND sound-tight doors between the crew's mess and Officer's Country. I fell asleep in the same bunk as the legendary Creed Burlingame, it was pure history.....and with the hatches closed, it was also quiet!

With the dawn, we turned out and wished we had some hot coffee. In a matter of minutes, BOB MORIN (1785-1991) and his daughter-in-law Cathy, arrived with steaming hot coffee and donuts. They are always superb hosts when we visit SILVERSIDES, and we admire their hard work to keep this magnificent American Memorial in such great shape.

Surprise

We always have one "surprise" day in our US based Conventions, and for this one, it was Wednesday. Our SHARKHUNTERS group were guests on board USS ESTOCIN (FFG-15), docked in Chicago for the D-DAY Memorial. Our group received a special tour of the ship, prior to her being open to the general public & we enjoyed our lunch aboard. The Skipper insisted that CAPTAIN GERD THATER (194-LIFE-1986) and his wife, and HARRY COOPER (1-LIFE-1983) eat with the officers in their wardroom. The food was excellent, the officers and crew of the ship were very professional.

In the evening, we were invited back aboard for the traditional reception on the fantail and while there, I met a Rear Admiral who was attached to SubPac so I asked him why is it that we have quite a few Members with SubLant, but none with SubPac. We told him all about SHARKHUNTERS and RADM ANTHONY WATSON (3636-1994) couldn't wait to sign up. But since he has transferred to the Pentagon, we still have no Members from SubPac.

Once the Skipper was finished with his formal duties and could relax a bit, I met with him and his lovely wife; and I thanked him for his invitation aboard - and signed CDR JOHN DEBBOUT (3637-1994) as a new SHARKHUNTERS Member.

Lectures

Thursday of our SHARKHUNTERS 8th ANNUAL CONVENTION was one of the most important days of this week; it was the 50th Anniversary of the capture of U-505 by the USS GUADALCANAL Task Force. This day was not one to celebrate a victory by one side over the other, but to commemorate the loss of all the men who died at sea during World War II. The MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & INDUSTRY and that staff can be extremely proud of the events of the day, and this day will be remembered by thousands.

The Chicago weather was absolutely perfect as the guests filed to their seats outside the MUSEUM, alongside U-505. Our SHARKHUNTERS group was seated in the very first rows, with CAPTAIN GERHARD THATER (194- LIFE-1986) in THE very first row.

After a beautiful Salute to the Colors with great music by a NAVY band, there were the usual speeches that are a mandatory part of any gathering of this kind and while most become boring after a while, two of the three speakers were very interesting. One was the MUSEUM representative, who told the chronological story of U-505 coming to the MUSEUM. It was especially interesting to me because I spent my entire life in Chicago and on my 15th birthday, which was Friday, 2 September 1954, my mother had driven into the city with my sister and I in the car, to pick up my father from work and we then headed down Lake Shore Drive toward my grandfather's farm in Michigan. Imagine our surprise when the traffic was stopped by a sign that said: "DRIVE CAREFULLY! SUBMARINE CROSSING"

The next speaker was William Y'Blood, author of the book "HUNTER-KILLER" and his speech seemed to be merely a re-hash of the chapter of his book that dealt with this action 50 years ago. That would have been fine, I suspect, except that his text was shot through and through with errors - the biggest was his statement that the first U-Boat sunk by the USS GUADALCANAL Task Force (U-544) was a 1,600 ton MILK COW. U-544 was not a TYPE XIV MILCH KUCH, but a normal TYPE IX-C long-range sub. Couple that with his constant mis-pronouncement of the name of the C.O. of U-505, and one might wonder how his initial data was compiled.

John F. Floberg

The final speaker was John F. Floberg, who was UnderSecretary of the NAVY a few years after the end of World War II. His contribution to history, and to the history of U-505 herself, was previously unknown to myself and I suspect, to most historians. It was his duty to look over the lists upon lists of airplanes, tanks, ships etc. that were going to the scrap yard. He was to check the lists and upon his signature, the ships, planes, tanks etc were condemned to the breaker's torch. During one such scanning, he noticed "U-505" on a list to be scrapped, and not being familiar with that designation, he checked further and upon finding that this was the first enemy Man-O-War captured by the US NAVY on the high seas since the War of 1812, he refused to sign the destruction order. He worked long and hard to get things organized to find a home for this piece of history, worked equally hard to find her a tow from the east coast into the Great Lakes and on to the MUSEUM.

If it were not for him, U-505 would have been long since broken up for scrap. We signed him up as a SHARKHUNTERS Member, and JOHN FLOBERG (3634-1994) wrote: "I accept with pleasure your offer of a Membership in SHARKHUNTERS."

At the end of the ceremony, a Memorial Wreath was placed beneath the props of U-505 by WAYNE PICKLES (768-1988) and ZENON LUKOSIUS (1500-1990). WAYNE was one of the Boarding Party from USS PILLSBURY who rushed aboard U-505 to make sure they had control; and "LUKE" was the guy who found the open sea-cock and shut it, thereby preventing the submarine from sinking.

Wrap Up

As a wrap-up to the events, the MUSEUM official thanked everyone for coming out, and then he said those four words that once sent an electric shock through my body when I used to run at speeds near 200mph with A.J. Foyt, Al and Bobby Unser, Johnny Rutherford etc. He cradled the mike and said: "Gentlemen; start your engines!"

And with that, the big M.A.N. diesel (starboard) of U-505 slowly began to rumble, ever so softly - then louder, then louder until there were more than a few submarine veterans with wet eyes in the group. It was only 30 seconds or so after the engine was started by PETE PETERSEN (1113-A-1989) until it was secured, but the sound will linger forever in the minds of we who were at the MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & INDUSTRY that June day in 1994.

When the festivities were finished outside the MUSEUM by U-505, all the groups went inside the MUSEUM for tours of the submarine, for tours of the new US NAVY exhibit, and for lunch - the MUSEUM put on a great meal for us, and we thank our friends there at the MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & INDUSTRY for making us welcome.

Friday

The Friday of our EIGHTH ANNUAL CONVENTION was spent reviewing the graduating US NAVY sailors from NTC GREAT LAKES, but this year held a nice change for us. Instead of the weekly graduation on the grounds of this historic Naval Training Facility, this week (because of the 50th Anniversary Celebration Week) the ceremonies were held alongside the beautiful BUCKINGHAM FOUNTAIN in Grant Park on the shores of Lake Michigan. The lake breeze kept all the flags flying proudly, and the backdrop of the Chicago skyline made this a breathtaking spectacle.

CDR Ken Crump of NTC GREAT LAKES was quite helpful at getting us to the right place at the right time, and upon the conclusions of the ceremonies, got us into the receiving line to meet the Guest Speaker, who was CinC/LANT FLEET. We first met with Captain King, who is on the staff of RADM MACK GASTON (2917-1993), then on to meet CinC/LANT FLEET.

I presented CAPTAIN GERHARD THATER (194-LIFE-1986) and when I said that GERD was a World War II German U-Boat Skipper, CinC/LANT FLEET smiled and said: "You guys gave us a hell of a battle." to which GERD also smiled, and he replied: "We tried."

They both laughed, then CinC/LANT FLEET said that the US NAVY had learned a lot from the U-Bootwaffe. They shook hands and departed with a smile; the way it should be between former enemies after 50 years.

Saturday

Saturday, 4 June, was the 50th Anniversary Celebration (two days early) of D-DAY, the Allied invasion at Normandy and our SHARKHUNTERS bus headed for the beaches at Montrose Harbor. I was more than a little concerned, as we had special V.I.P. passes for this event, but only for twelve people and we had a lot more than twelve. To be on the safe side I asked for volunteers who would remain on the outside of the V.I.P. area so the veterans and older Members could have seats up front.

As we drew up to the first barricade, I asked the policeman how to get to the V.I.P. area, & he replied that only those with V.I.P. passes would be allowed to pass his gate. I patted my jacket pocket with the envelope containing our 12 passes and said that we had V.I.P. passes. He moved the barricade and let us pass, giving us further directions.

We drew near the next barricade, and the same questions were asked and the same answers were given, and this policeman also allowed us to pass. So far, none of the police had really asked to see the passes or to count how many we had.

Our bus dropped us off at the V.I.P. walk-through gate, and I ran ahead to make sure that we were at the correct place and of course, the Chicago cop on the gate said that we must have V.I.P. passes to enter the compound where the seats were. I assured him that I had received them from Col. Plummer, the man responsible for the entire D-DAY event and I began to withdraw the packet of twelve passes from my pocket, but the cop told me to wait for our group to gather at the gate first.

Our group gathered & I thought we were going to have some problem, since we had only twelve V.I.P. passes for a bus full of SHARKHUNTERS, but when I told the police officer that our group was assembled and I again began to withdraw the packet of passes from my pocket, the cop just waved us all through and we headed for the V.I.P. seating.

We made sure that our U-Boat veterans were seated in the front row of the seating reserved for Veterans of the Battle of the Atlantic (no sign said that only American Veterans could sit there) and the rest of us were free to walk about and watch the events unfolding. I felt it would be good to obtain a better vantage spot from which to shoot our SHARKHUNTERS Videotape, so I asked the young lady in charge of the Salvation Army Field Kitchen if I could stand on the top of their truck to videotape the events. She agreed, and our SHARKHUNTERS videocamera was in just a great a vantage position as the television cameras from the major networks. It was a great show.

The first participant in the area was a big, lumbering C-47 cargo plane that was on a 'recon' mission over the Normandy beaches. Soon it was followed by various fighter planes, most noteable a group of P-51 MUSTANG fighters. It was obvious that the organizers did not want any disasters, as the fighters were quite far from each other. Mid-air collisions would not be part of this day.

The sounds and sights of the D-DAY invasion were quite real; the screaming fighter planes overhead, the explosions on the beaches and even USS ESTOCIN (FFG-15) silhouetted on the horizon made for a very real event. A sharp-eyed CAPTAIN GERD THATER (194-LIFE-1986) noticed that one of the re-enactors wore the uniform of the AFRIKA KORPS, and he chuckled about that, but the battle was very real. There was a very strong feeling of sadness when one realized that these men in uniform would get up and go home with their loved ones when this day was over, but so many thousands from so many countries could never again walk off the battlefield in Normandy & other battlefields some fifty years ago.