Dolphin Generator Room

Galley

The forward end of the generator room was actually two levels, what was essentially a mezzanine. This upper area contained the galley for cooking food and the Chief Petty Officer's Mess. The galley is shown here on the port side of that mezzanine level. The watertight door on the right leads forward and into the after battery compartment. There is a sliding door that closes off the galley when it is not in use. This is seen hanging to the left with the ventilation louvers cut in it. This was still very much the surface Navy train of thought that the crew could not be trusted.

After WW II the submarine service went to a "open galley" policy and food was available anytime a crewman wanted it. The rule became that you could cook it but you had to clean everything up afterwards. You were treated as a mature adult and you were expected to act as one.

This is the only food preparation space on the boat; it served both the enlisted and the officers. It was small, compact, and efficiently laid out. A submarine galley produced the best quality food in the fleet.

US Navy Photo Contributed by Roger Torgeson

Galley close up showing some detail to the left of the galley range with two grill cook tops and two ovens below. There seems to be a grill or cook top at the back. Tucked into a nook at the back of the counter is a meat saw used to portion out the large slabs of meat still on the bone. The saw is for cutting the bone.

There is a drain in the forward port corner of the tiled deck to aid in washing and cleaning the galley, which was probably done after each meal preparation, so that would be up four times a day at sea.

There is a sink in the counter top to the right. This was used to wash cooking pots and pans. General dish washing was done in the scullery across the passageway.

US Navy Photo Contributed by Roger Torgeson

Store Room

Immediately aft of the galley on the port side was a food storage room. This was for non-refrigerated stores. The louvered door could be shut and locked. At left is an unknown space.

US Navy Photo Contributed by Roger Torgeson

Close up of the store room. Seems to be a lot of Apricots! Maybe the crew liked them. You have to remember that this is 1933 and foods like we have today were not available. People ate more seasonal foods and more fresh foods. Post WW II was the beginning of major packaged foods sales.

We've tried to identify the brands. The apricots are from a brand called S.F.P. We haven't been able to find anything on this brand yet. There is one can is noted as being "Livingston - Garden Beets", again the brand is still illusive. The up-side-down can is Kadota Figs from the Pratt-Low Preserving Company of Santa Clara, California. Pratt-Low was noted for having a large production of canned Apricots. Since the fig can is up-side-down we are unable to determine if the brand might be the S.F.P. as well. Kadota is a region of California near Merced, California.

At left are the lids to two bulk food bins. What was stored in them is unknown but possibly sugar, flour and maybe beans or coffee.

The valve handle in the upper right says "Emergency Vent Port". If there are any words before the word emergency they have been blocked.

US Navy Photo Contributed by Roger Torgeson

The two boxes with "Ward's Fine Cakes" is from a bakery in Ocean City, NJ. that shipped its baked goods, mostly cakes in the early years, all over the northeastern states. Stores would advertise that fact they stocked Wards Cakes in their newspaper advertising. The company is still in business today as Wards Pastry. If it is cakes instead of some other baked goods is not known. Perhaps bread since the boxes are on their sides.

All sorts of dry foods are on the shelves to the left. At least says "Bran Flakes" on it. To the right are three large bins with lids that held bulk foods, most likely flour and sugar.

US Navy Photo Contributed by Roger Torgeson

Chief's Mess and Scullery

This photo was taken from the watertight door from the after battery compartment, looking aft. The galley is on the right, with the dish-washing scullery on the left. In the back corner is the Chief Petty Officer's Mess. Being promoted to Chief is a significant career milestone for an enlisted sailor. Chiefs are looked up to as subject matter experts and leaders of men. There is a saying that "The officers are in charge, but the Chiefs run the Navy", and that is a basic truth. Because of this status, the Chiefs are given their own messing and berthing spaces. The area to the right of the Chief's table was not documented by the photographer, but it may have been a 2nd Chief's table.

US Navy Photo Contributed by Roger Torgeson

Close up of the Chief table. There appears to be the remnants of some sort of pie left on the table with a fork still in it. After 85 years it is probably stale.

The frame with the bars is actually a bulletin board with a glass front and various Navy messages and directives are posted in it. The bars are to prevent someone falling into the glass in rough weather.

The fan in the upper right is running. The blades are a blur. It is hot inside the submarine as there is no air conditioning for submarines yet. It is July the 4th and it is summer in the Northeast.

US Navy Photo Contributed by Roger Torgeson

Close up of the photo above, showing the open door into the generator room. The extra bolts and screws on the stainless steel bulkhead was most likely to hold sound isolation padding on the back side. The CPO Mess/galley/store room area was in a mezzanine level above the forward end of the generator room. It was likely surrounded by sound deadening padding to keep the noise in the mezzanine to a tolerable level.

US Navy Photo Contributed by Roger Torgeson

Generator Room

The generator room looking aft from the door to the Chief's Mess. The Dolphin was a hybrid design with diesel electric as well as diesel direct drive for her propellers. These two diesel engines drove only generators, used to charge the batteries when the boat surfaced, and to provide extra power to the propulsion motors for high speeds on the surface. They were license-built derivatives of a German Maschinenfabrik-Augsberg-Nurnberg (MAN) design. They had six cylinders and were rated at 450 hp each. These generator engines were reasonably reliable and served the Dolphin for her entire service life.

US Navy Photo Contributed by Roger Torgeson

A close up of the photo above, showing the aft end of the generator room. An engine order telegraph is visible in the center, along with other electrical gauges. A sailor's dress blue jumper top is hanging on the left for drying. If you look carefully you can see the white cord called "clothes stops" dangling from the jumper. These attached to loops built into the clothing for hanging them up. The watertight door leading to the engine room is on the right.

US Navy Photo Contributed by Roger Torgeson

The aft end of the generator room showing some detail of the equipment. There is a small watchstander's podium desk to the right of the ladder, with two drawers that likely contained procedures and manuals. The watertight door leads to the engine room.

US Navy Photo Contributed by Roger Torgeson

A close up of the engine order telegraph. This was used by the watchstanders in the maneuvering room to sends commands for the generators to the operators in the generator room. The electrical load was regulated from maneuvering, and if more or less power was needed this telegraph was used to send those commands.

US Navy Photo Contributed by Roger Torgeson

In this view the photographer is at the aft end of the generator room looking forward. The open door to the Chief's Mess can be seen. The short ladder shows how you had to step up into the mezzanine level. The diesel engines are in the foreground, and the electrical generators themselves are under the mezzanine level. The large white tanks in the overhead are gravity feed fuel oil tanks for the diesels.

US Navy Photo Contributed by Roger Torgeson

A close up of the photo above, showing details of the mezzanine level. The sheet metal doors to the food storage area can be seen. The Chief's Mess would be to the right inside this space.

US Navy Photo Contributed by Roger Torgeson

A specialized tool kit for the crewmen in the generator room.

US Navy Photo Contributed by Roger Torgeson

An interesting close up of an RPM meter from one of the diesel engines. Looking closely, you can see the word "Ahead" on a small plate attached to the bottom of the meter. On the other side you can see two small holes that could have held a similar plate with the word "Astern" on it. There isn't really any other reason why there are identical speed gradations on both sides of the dial.

US Navy Photo Contributed by Roger Torgeson

This view is looking forward and downward, under the Chief's Mess and galley mezzanine level. Just visible are the generators attached to the crankshafts of each engine. The generators are behind the ladder and low under the deck on either side.

US Navy Photo Contributed by Roger Torgeson

This is looking forward, under the generator room mezzanine. On either side are the generators, with storage lockers above each. The device against the forward bulkhead is unknown. It could possibly be a lube oil pump or an early design for a centrifugal fuel oil purifier. There is laundry hung for drying; they could also be wiping rags.

US Navy Photo Contributed by Roger Torgeson

After Battery/Crew's Messing & Berthing | Engine Room

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