[Milsurplus] Hallicrafters in WWII subs

[Hue Miller]

Yes, that would have been likely the receiver I saw, it was definitely of 
that era. But I recall it sitting
elsewhere, not in the radio room.
Was the S-20 on the FCC's 'Safe Receivers List' ?  I hope!
-Hue

-----Original Message----- 
From: Gordon Smith
Sent: Saturday, August 31, 2013 9:35 PM
To: Hue Miller ; TomNØJMY ; tetrode at googlegroups.com ; milsurplus@ 
mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Glowbugs] Hallicrafters in WWII subs

Hi Tom,
This photo from the USS Bowfin may be the pic
your looking for: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/4816994682/

The Hallicrafters shown in the pic is in the
Radio Room and is a Sky Champion (Hallicrafters
S-20R, which is a general coverage receiver). I
don't think that radio would normally be in that
space. The museum may have moved it into their.

Hope this helps,

73, Gordon KJ6IKT


At 08:52 PM 8/31/2013, Hue Miller wrote:
> From Hue Miller:
>I will forward your interesting post to the milsurplus list also for 
>comments.
>A few years back I toured the U.S.N. Bowfin in Honolulu. Besides the usual
>receivers RAK, RAL, RBS, I recall seeing another receiver, and I recall it 
>was
>a Halli civilian receiver, in some other place in the sub, not in the radio 
>room.
>Sorry, I don't recall the type, but it was something very much like the 
>SX-25
>and maybe exactly that. At the time I thought, hey, what's this doing here?
>BTW, the Bowfin is a self-tour, with an audio gizmo you take along for
>narration. Thus the tour is at your own pace, and you can linger and 
>imagine,
>like up on the conn tower, with no cattle-chute moving you along. Unlike 
>the
>Chicago U-505, where you moved with the cattle.  But, Chicago does probably
>have a whole lot more people to move thru. The Bowfin was a palace inside
>compared to the accommodations aboard the U-505.
>BTW, I would betcha every U.S. sub DID have G.E. motors. But that's not a
>sure thing bet for me.
>-Hue Miller
>
>-----Original Message----- From: Tom NØJMY
>Sent: Saturday, August 31, 2013 5:22 PM
>To: tetrode at googlegroups.com
>Subject: [Glowbugs] Hallicrafters is WWII subs (long), was Fw: WG Booklets?
>
>Occasionally, over the last 15 or 20 years, I've mentioned to this list
>my fruitless search for the model of Hallicrafters radios that the WWII
>submarines were said to carry in their wardrooms and the crews messes.
>A short recap: America's underwater Ace-of Ace's, RADM "Dick" O'Kane,
>M.O.H., stated in his book "Clear the Bridge" that General Electric and
>Fairbanks Morse each donated a shortwave receiver to every new sub.  I
>doubt that that's totally true, as not all subs had GE motors or FM
>engines, but anyway...
>
>The radios were meant for "morale purposes", though they were a long
>ways from a Minerva Tropic Master, which is what I think of when I hear
>"morale radio".
>
>O'Kane called them "the finest Hallicrafters" and said they were known
>for their outstanding audio quality.  Incidentally, I would recommend
>"Clear the Bridge" to anyone interested in a really in-depth, yet
>riveting account of WWII undersea warfare.  In it you will find the
>story of how the crew of O'Kane's U.S.S. Tang, (SS306) ingeniously
>rigged up one of the Halli's for use in a secondary radio shack during
>Tang's epoch-making "life-guard" operation at Truk in May, 1944, when
>she rescued almost two dozen downed U.S. Navy aviators from under the
>guns of the Japanese.
>
>Anyway, back to the radios.  I've talked to several hams that were on
>the "boats" during the war, including a couple that had actually been
>radiomen.  No luck in finding out about the Hallicrafters,  though.
>
>Finally, for Father's Day this year, the xyl got me yet another WWII sub
>book, "The War Below" by James Scott.  Inside (finally), a good picture
>of some men in the mess, I believe it was U.S.S. Silversides (SS236).
>And in that picture sat a nice Hallicrafters on a shelf, just above
>their heads.  Which model?  Well that was a problem.  To my weary eyes
>it could have been an SX-24 or an SX-25.  Finally, after much
>scrutinizing with a loupe and several magnifying glasses, I was able to
>discern the broad, labeled skirts of the band selector and selectivity
>controls of the SX-25.
>
>That doesn't mean that they *all* were SX-25's, of course, but now I
>feel that I can put that mystery to rest, for me anyway, as I sit back
>and listen to SWBC on my own SX-25.
>
>73,
>Tom