 Joe
Bellinghiere, Seaman 1st class, torpedoman
striker. (Sometime between 1/1/43 and 7/1/44). |
I enlisted in the Navy in Omaha, Nebraska, on 30 September 1942, at the age of 20. After boot camp and torpedo school (both at San Diego), I was shipped out to New Hebrides where I joined the destroyer Wilson as a Seaman 1st class on 28 March 1943. I was transferred from the ship at Auckland, New Zealand, on 30 June 1943. Having applied for sub school--mainly as a way to get back home--I was ordered to New London, where I reported on 15 August 1943. I graduated on 1 January 1944, and was assigned to the Cavalla. I missed the commissioning party on 18 February because I was back in Omaha getting married! When I returned to New London, I noticed that most of the guys were bringing their wives, and having spent only 3 days with mine, I wanted to bring her out so we could be together for whatever time remained. So I talked to Captain Kossler, and said, "Captain, I just got married and I'm anxious to bring my wife out here." Kossler replied, "I can't tell you when we're leaving, but I can advise you not to bring her out." She stayed in Omaha. I was on board when Cavalla was commissioned. | |
| Sub School, New London: One of the chief petty officers in charge of instructing the students at sub school took a dislike to my non-regulation boots. "Where did you get those boots?" he demanded. I replied: "Off a dead Marine at Guadalcanal. Where were you?" [I had been on Guadalcanal--but not during any of the battles.] |  Joe Bellinghiere, with submarine combat pin. (Sometime after Cavalla's first patrol, which ended 8/3/44. And sometime before he grew his moustache, which he's had ever since.) |
|
 Torpedoman 2nd class, celebrating the end of the war in San Francisco, September 1945. |
The Cavalla crew was a
little nervous about the journey to Panama: the
submarine Dorado, also built by the
Electric Boat Company, had departed New London
the previous October on her maiden voyage and
been sunk en route to Panama. A notice was posted in the submarine that a volunteer was needed to wash the crew's clothes. Each man, including the Captain, paid in $1 per month. No one wanted the job, but I saw an opportunity to make $65 a month without a lot of extra work (everyone wore shorts and sandals, at least when we got to the South Pacific), and the clothes were dried by putting them on the engines. |
November 1998 ~ All photos courtesy of Dr. Bellinghiere virtue of Stephen Ford