As an Army National Guardsman deployed to Iraq in 2003-04, my personal washing machine was my 5 gallon Homer Bucket donated by Home Depot. Not a fun way to do wash, but it worked. We had special laundry soap for hand washing. Hot water wasn't a problem. Midday the water coming into the team house was solar heated as the pipes were barely under ground. It was HOT!. I would put the water clothes and soap in and hand agitate. When ready I would hand twist wring the heck out of the poor clothes. Then I will empty, rinse, and rebill the bucket with clean water. Add the clothes and hand agitate again. Then again twist wring the clothes. Drying wasn't a problem. Hang outside in the almost zero humidity 100+ degree heat and in minutes they were bone stiff dry. It worked. Again not fun.
Oh the memories. We used a new unused toilet plunger to agitate the clothes. Worked pretty good. There was a laundry unit around but it took days to get your clothes back. We much preferred to do our own and keep control of our uniforms. You didn't want to lose anything!
My mom used a ringer washer up into the early seventies, and stopped then when she had hip trouble. She had a rectangular stick that she used to stuff the clothes through the wringer. It had turned grey from the continuous use over the years raising us kids. It's a labor intensive job, but does save money on hot water, etc. Thanks for jogging my memories, I appreciate your efforts in the production of the videos, you guys are doing a great job.
USS Sirago SS485 here. I spent a year on her in 1971/72 and qualified aboard her until decommissioning in 1972. We never washed any clothes or used our showers during my service while aboard her. They weren't called pig boats for nothing. We did a Northern run to Norway, Denmark Scotland and England out of Norfolk, VA in the fall and winter of 1971 transiting on the surface 95% of the time participating in NATO exercises. Laundry was done while in England and along side of the tender in Holy Lock, Scotland. Very rough sea state and lots of seasickness aboard as well as our sanitary tanks venting inboard made for some very bad odors. We also spent a lot of time snorkeling and that made life miserable when the head valve would cycle and pull a vacuum on the boat. Ugh, not fun. I ended up at SUBLANT and rode Fast Attacks and Boomers out of Norfolk, Charleston and New London. The difference is night and day in comfort and every other way.
Thanks for sharing your story! It's amazing how different life aboard the fleet subs degraded with the introduction of those damn snorkels!😢 Suffice to say your fleet boat comrades in WWII had a better experience in general. But in rough seas, it didn't matter... seasick is seasick!😮
My Dad was in the Aussie Navy,-W.W2---he saw those U.S.-"maytag"-washing machines,--and would not buy a "local'' made one untill he could get a "maytag"--we got one (this is in the 50s)-and that beauty lasted "forever"--it cost heaps,-but would not give up !
Serving on a super carrier, laundry was never an issue. Once a week the entire division's laundry went in and came back 1-2 days later nice and clean. Our socks, as they were a little difficult to stencil, were put in a little mesh bag. That had a tag with our name. But, just for grins & giggles, I decided to try washing some stuff by towing them over the side. I put 3 t-shirts in my sock bag, got enough line to reach the water, and dragged them for 1/2 an hour. I was on my favorite sponson, which very seldom had anyone else. Hauling them back in, I took them back to my berthing. I wrung them out really good and hung them over my curtain line. They were clean alright, but loaded with salt crystals that scratched really bad. If the guys on sailing ships cleaned their clothes that way, they must've had hides like a rhino.
@@paulfarace9595 I don't think you can get an 1,100' 80,000 ton ship up to the great lakes. Use it as an AVT like they did with Lexington. I remember they had 2 specially built ships on the lakes used for training new pilots before sending them off to war.
@@johnslaughter5475, USS Sable and USS Wolverine. They were originally sidewheel propelled lakes passenger steamers, and converted into flat tops. Great docu here about the whole operation and the present day recovery of some of the aircraft from Lake Michigan. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-eDR8znA1kxw.html
Learning how the men lived on board during the war has been great. Thank you to the entire team at USS Cod for these videos about not just the weapons and equipment but also day-to-day life.
My dad was laundry boss on a supply (surface) ship for a time, so this is personal. I had a neighbor who was using a ringer-washing machine up into the early 2000's. Might still be kicking if they are.
I spoke to a bubble head (submariner) and he indicated that you never knew the odor onboard until fresh sea air was let in. Unfortunately, the smells became very aromatic after that occurred, and many sought whatever means to bathe themselves, wash their clothing, etc. Thanks, Paul!
My mom used a ringer washer into the 80s. I once got my hand in the ringer. Just turned the handle the opposite direction and ran my hand back out. On our ship you could get clothes washed but items got lost. Since being on a tender we were tied to the pier so I would take my laundry into town to get it washed and dried.
My dad’s first boat was the SS-424 USS Quillback. He was an electrician’s mate aboard her around 1961-62 until he was assigned to Naval Nuclear Power training. He completed the program and the went on to a successful career in boomers until retirement in 1981. It’s cool to watch these videos about the old fleet diesel boats. It gives me a view of his early Navy life before I came on board. Thanks ! 😃
As a kid in the 1980's my mother was a bit anachronistic and had a decent sized wringer-washer she used. We had a large back yard and a rather robust pair of clothesline poles (4" diameter base pipes) set about fifty feet apart with four taut lines on it. I caught my fingers in that thing at least once, and I think my sister was nailed twice at least. It had a big ol' release lever for when that happened. Certainly of decent utility, but it was a blessing to move onto an automatic washer and real dryer when we moved from that place.
They should have did laundry like on McHale's Navy and put a 55 gallon drum with holes in it plus soap! It worked for them! In one espoide they had a business doing laundry till an enemy sub torpedo hit the drum😅
Normally i would say "don't get your history from movies or TV" ... but in addition to McHale's bunch of pipsqweek pirates (according to CAPT. Binghamton) Luther from and his crew of lonely sailors are doing laundry for Nurse Nelly Forbush in the musical SOUTH PACIFIC. 😂
Wringer washers! All the old towboats that I started out on had wringer washers aboard, we didn't see the first automatic till the early 1980's, and the first boat that the company tried to put an automatic on board, the chief (to the total disgust of the crew!) refused delivery on the basis of an automatic using too much water. That got resolved fairly quickly... 🙂 Any girl that I was dating in the wringer washer era was always curious about how we lived on board, and inevitably asked about how we did laundry. When they were told that we had a wringer washer, after a moment's delay the usual response was that her grandmother had one of those.
Hi Paul, thank you for making a great evening watching another one of your great videos. You finding the pink bra in the washing machine reminded me of the movie - Operation Petticoat 1959 with Cary Grant & Tony Curtis. One of my favorite movies. Thanks again. PJ
Yes it coukdcremind you of Operation Petticoat....😂 But it's a direct reference to the other submarine comedy movie "Down Periscope." Lt. Lake is their female officer.😂😂😂
In 1968, when my tank unit went to Vietnam, some enterprising sergeants stashed a wringer washer and a fridge into a conex container. They allowed me, a 2Lt to join in with them. When our camp got established with electricity we were in business. The washer did a good job of getting the smell and sweat out of the fatigues' and provided a delight when we put clean close on after a shower from a hanging bucket. It was so hot there, drying was not a problem.
I can't help but wonder if they were letting you in on it as a friend, or as an officer scapegoat. Either way, thank you for your service and my freedoms.
i remeber a all purpose soap called "sintabon". the bar was red and had grooves ob the side for getting a good grip and it was good to both washing cothes and dishes and showing. had a neutral smell, abut it worked pretty well, if you need to do stuff by hand. years later, whn i had a baby, those lessons of washing stuff by hand came in handy, when i had to do her clothes....
my Mother's first washing machine was a wringer...it was in the back yard...filled with a hose, drained onto the ground a bit away from the machine and then onto the line to dry...but, my Dad's left over khaki pants went back into the machine with a ton of starch and then into pants stretchers on the line.
Twenty-eight Gato-class ships served in this capacity, some as late as 1971. In this role, the ships were rendered incapable of diving and had their propellers removed. They were used strictly as pierside trainers. These were in commission, but classed as "in commission in reserve", thus some were decommissioned and recommissioned on the same day to reflect the change in status
When I toured the Ore Boat Valley Camp at the Soo in Michigan, the ship had a classic Maytag wringer washer just like Mom had in the 1950s and early 1960s in the engine room.
Paul, my GF and I are planning a trip there this summer. I will have to get back to you. Heck, you are welcome to come with us. We are planning to visit the USS Silverside and the LST in Muskegon. Then across the state to visit the Destroyer USS Edson. Then to the straights of Mackinac to tour the retired Coast Guard Icebreaker Mackinac. Then on to the Soo to tour the Valley Camp. I would invte Ryan, but his Battleship will see be demanding all his attention coming out of dry dock.@@paulfarace9595
I was looking away and just listening when you said "who is Lt. Emily Lake" I instantly started laughing out loud. Got the Down Periscope reference right off. 😂
When I'm on long motorcycle ride I do my laundry in the sink with the room's complimentary shampoo. I hang it above the heater or A/C and it's usually dry in the morning. I get a lot more room for other things on the bike. Most people think it's weird, but a WWII submariner wouldn't.
Thanks for another great video Paul. Those wringer washers were great. It's a shame you can't still get them today, I've checked. The only ones you can get today are made in Saudi Arabia. My wife's family used a wringer all through the 50s and 60s. You were right about them using less water. That was an important factor when you had to carry water from a well.
On a carrier our issue uniforms were sent down to ship's laundry and washed just fine but they were never really dry when they came back. Scivvies and sleepwear/PT clothes were the crew member's responsibility and the ship had a laundromat. I can't recall what brands of detergent the Ship's Store sold because I always brought a container of pods with me and we never cruised long enough for me to run out.
That is an extraordinary amount of water for the batteries. I guess that was they were being cycled so hard? I’ve worked on huge flooded systems (larger than a sub for sure) and so this just threw me.
How wrong you are! It's only recently that subs have become non-smoking areas. There's not much damage cigarettes can do beyond the health of the smoker. When batteries are being quickly charged, they can generate hydrogen and traditionally that's when smoking was halted until the hydrogen detectors said it was clear.
That’s right!! You are correct sir!! It has been a while since I’ve seen that movie. Keep up the good work. I really enjoy the back and forth with you and Ryan!!
You should do a video on the livability in the submarine while underway. I’m curious on how steady it was could you walk around without being off-balance etc. etc.
@@paulfarace9595 It is surprising with Germany’s technical savvy, that U-boats were spartan and uncomfortable as they were. Perhaps it was economizing for the war effort. Despite that, U-boats still managed to be a formidable foe.
Compared to the common Type VII U-Boat, a Gato class sub is about 90 feet longer, and twice the displacement. The Gato was on another level altogether in comparison.
Didn't fleet boats have heated lockers for wet weather gear, raincoats, rubber boots, rain hats, and rubber overalls? I swear I remember reading stories where submariners would throw laundry into those heated lockers to help dry clothes. Or am I mistaken?
Yes and no... the basic story is fine but Cod left the men on the junk to go out and ambush the small convoy that the air radtvwas scouting for. After an unsuccessful attack and depth charging, Cod returned to the area to look for the junk with her crew.
Well I'm old enough to remember when you periodically checked your battery levels and added distilled water. Our batteries are no different, just much bigger.
