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Metallic Sausage
The following partial transcript was retrieved from an interview with Frederick William Crickard, former Able Seaman in the Royal Naval Canadian Volunteer Reserve. This document is property of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, December 13, 1949 as is being used with all legal permissions.
Able Seaman Crickard in 1914.
“I enlisted in the Volunteer Reserve branch of Victoria sometime around June of 1914. I had not been undergoing training for more than a month before war broke out. My last job as a grocery store clerk must not have been particularly appealing to Commander Hose, so I was left ashore when Rainbow departed for her patrol down the coast. Looking back, I was damn lucky I was not aboard, not much I could have done in that situation. I was present in the dockyard when Lieutenant Keyes did his rounds looking for volunteers to man the newly arrived submarines.....but for reasons I don't understand even to this day, I have no clue why the Lieutenant choose me. Being assigned to CC-1 first, I was occasionally rotated between both boats as one of the men operating the torpedo room. One of my fellow crew members described the pair of boats as floating metallic sausages which I thought was rather funny but fairly accurate. Both ships were fairly small at just around 150 feet long but could easily be told apart by their length and bow shape. CC-1 had 4 torpedo tubes forward which gave her a much fatter bow compared to CC-2 which only had 2, giving it a much sharper and longer bow. Both of these sausages had flat steel decks over their pressure hulls, these decks were only maybe 6 feet across at their widest and stored all of the various mooring lines, anchors, and other miscellaneous equipment. The conning tower was placed right on top of this flat deck and only allowed a few feet of visibility over the surface at best. The tower gave almost no protection against the weather, so it was not uncommon for the crew to build a rough canvas structure around it to help keep everybody just a little bit drier.
Down the hatches in the upper tower is where the lower conning tower was found, this is also where the periscope and engine vents were located alongside all of the instruments needed to sail the ship. There was roughly 5 glass ports around this area which allowed a full view of the surrounding area alongside navigation and engine controls. Once you had made your way down through the hatches and into the submarine proper, the hull was divided into 5 sections. Every inch of these spaces was plastered with numerous wires, pipes, valves, gauges, and buttons which I never truly understood the purpose for. The deck on which the crew worked was made of wood and covered all of the fuel tanks, ballast, and batteries. One of the things that almost instantly hits you as soon as you go into a submarine was the putrid, damp air in the bowels of the boat. We had no air filtering systems, heating, or air conditioning so the environment below became very uncomfortable. Our commanding officers were very understanding, and we did not share the same dress regulations as the other vessels in the navy, we generally wore whatever was most comfortable. I will say in advance that I am not very familiar with any of the sections besides my own, so my descriptions may be very surface level. We received cross training whenever possible to take over other duties during emergencies but we only could get so much done in such a short time. As you came down the main ladder, you would be directly in the heart of the boat. The control room was only roughly 7 feet long but it contained all of the various controls required to effectively operate the boat. The room was rather cramped as alongside all of the controls, it was also where the commander launched attacks using his periscopes. I was once allowed to look through the periscopes while we were alongside in port, one allowed you a natural view while the other was magnified. The control room was also where the white mice lived, these critters were kept inside cages and used as a measure of the air quality within the submarine. If the mice began to squeak uncontrollably or lose consciousness, it was a sign that the submarine needed to surface quickly to ventilate the vessel.
Control room of the CC class submarines. The search periscope can be seen in the raised position in front of the ladder, the chain on the forward bulkhead was used to move it. The large pair of wheels on the left operate the hydroplanes on the exterior of the boat. Various other pressure release gauges and mechanisms can be found here alongside the main helm.
Stepping through the watertight door aft would place you in the compartment we called the 'after battery', named because the aft half of the ships batteries was stored under the decks. The controls for the electric motors and power for the ship were found here but it also doubled as the ships mess. We had a very small galley on the left of the compartment, which was very modern, it had a sink, water boiling burner, oven, and an electric range top stove. The pantry was on the right side of the compartment under a very long dinner table, this table doubled as a sleeping area for 4 men while 2 more hung from the ceiling in hammocks. The largest compartment aboard was the aftermost engine housing. You could find the diesel engines and main electric motors, which would propel the boat above and below the surface respectively. Over 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel was stored in tanks below the deck and thankfully, I rarely had to go into this compartment. The noise here was almost unbearable, the smell of diesel always worked its way into your nose and the crews here had to communicate through sign language. The only reason I would be found aft was to service the after most torpedo tube which was nestled into the aftermost bulkhead, between the boats pair of shafts. Stepping back forward through the previously mentioned compartments would find you inside the forward battery. This was where most of the crew relaxed, ate, slept and most importantly, stored their very limited belongings. A pair of canvas bunks were strapped to the ceiling and wooden footlockers for personal items were bolted to the floor, a pair of small toilets were also to be found here. The boat would quickly become a rather rank place as the only sink present in the ship was in the kitchen and the boat had not a single shower. All of the other sailors here would sleep in hammocks hung wherever possible.
Forward torpedo room aboard HMCS CC-1, torpedo reload stands can be seen to the left and right alongside the escape ladder in the middle.
The last compartment and the most forward was the one I spent the most time inside, the ‘fore-ends’. Between the watertight doors, there was a small office where the wireless room and a pair of bunks for the officers was located. Past this, this is where the torpedo tubes were found, and the boats main weapons were stored. On CC-1 there was 4 tubes here and on CC-2, there was only 2. In order to fire the torpedoes, the bow caps had to be moved out of the way using handwheels or gears and from the control room, compressed air would be used to launch them. CC-1 had the caps placed into pairs, meaning each vertical pair would open at the same time. The remainder of the crew slept here, amidst the torpedo reloads on the floor. A torpedo loading hatch and an escape hatch could also be found here. I didn’t mind the company occasionally however, there was quite a few times I had to throw everybody out of the torpedo compartment in order to do my job effectively.”
Able Seaman Crickard in 1914.
Down the hatches in the upper tower is where the lower conning tower was found, this is also where the periscope and engine vents were located alongside all of the instruments needed to sail the ship. There was roughly 5 glass ports around this area which allowed a full view of the surrounding area alongside navigation and engine controls. Once you had made your way down through the hatches and into the submarine proper, the hull was divided into 5 sections. Every inch of these spaces was plastered with numerous wires, pipes, valves, gauges, and buttons which I never truly understood the purpose for. The deck on which the crew worked was made of wood and covered all of the fuel tanks, ballast, and batteries. One of the things that almost instantly hits you as soon as you go into a submarine was the putrid, damp air in the bowels of the boat. We had no air filtering systems, heating, or air conditioning so the environment below became very uncomfortable. Our commanding officers were very understanding, and we did not share the same dress regulations as the other vessels in the navy, we generally wore whatever was most comfortable. I will say in advance that I am not very familiar with any of the sections besides my own, so my descriptions may be very surface level. We received cross training whenever possible to take over other duties during emergencies but we only could get so much done in such a short time. As you came down the main ladder, you would be directly in the heart of the boat. The control room was only roughly 7 feet long but it contained all of the various controls required to effectively operate the boat. The room was rather cramped as alongside all of the controls, it was also where the commander launched attacks using his periscopes. I was once allowed to look through the periscopes while we were alongside in port, one allowed you a natural view while the other was magnified. The control room was also where the white mice lived, these critters were kept inside cages and used as a measure of the air quality within the submarine. If the mice began to squeak uncontrollably or lose consciousness, it was a sign that the submarine needed to surface quickly to ventilate the vessel.
Control room of the CC class submarines. The search periscope can be seen in the raised position in front of the ladder, the chain on the forward bulkhead was used to move it. The large pair of wheels on the left operate the hydroplanes on the exterior of the boat. Various other pressure release gauges and mechanisms can be found here alongside the main helm.
Stepping through the watertight door aft would place you in the compartment we called the 'after battery', named because the aft half of the ships batteries was stored under the decks. The controls for the electric motors and power for the ship were found here but it also doubled as the ships mess. We had a very small galley on the left of the compartment, which was very modern, it had a sink, water boiling burner, oven, and an electric range top stove. The pantry was on the right side of the compartment under a very long dinner table, this table doubled as a sleeping area for 4 men while 2 more hung from the ceiling in hammocks. The largest compartment aboard was the aftermost engine housing. You could find the diesel engines and main electric motors, which would propel the boat above and below the surface respectively. Over 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel was stored in tanks below the deck and thankfully, I rarely had to go into this compartment. The noise here was almost unbearable, the smell of diesel always worked its way into your nose and the crews here had to communicate through sign language. The only reason I would be found aft was to service the after most torpedo tube which was nestled into the aftermost bulkhead, between the boats pair of shafts. Stepping back forward through the previously mentioned compartments would find you inside the forward battery. This was where most of the crew relaxed, ate, slept and most importantly, stored their very limited belongings. A pair of canvas bunks were strapped to the ceiling and wooden footlockers for personal items were bolted to the floor, a pair of small toilets were also to be found here. The boat would quickly become a rather rank place as the only sink present in the ship was in the kitchen and the boat had not a single shower. All of the other sailors here would sleep in hammocks hung wherever possible.
Forward torpedo room aboard HMCS CC-1, torpedo reload stands can be seen to the left and right alongside the escape ladder in the middle.
The last compartment and the most forward was the one I spent the most time inside, the ‘fore-ends’. Between the watertight doors, there was a small office where the wireless room and a pair of bunks for the officers was located. Past this, this is where the torpedo tubes were found, and the boats main weapons were stored. On CC-1 there was 4 tubes here and on CC-2, there was only 2. In order to fire the torpedoes, the bow caps had to be moved out of the way using handwheels or gears and from the control room, compressed air would be used to launch them. CC-1 had the caps placed into pairs, meaning each vertical pair would open at the same time. The remainder of the crew slept here, amidst the torpedo reloads on the floor. A torpedo loading hatch and an escape hatch could also be found here. I didn’t mind the company occasionally however, there was quite a few times I had to throw everybody out of the torpedo compartment in order to do my job effectively.”
- RelativeGalaxy7
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