Guy W. S. Castle - Submarine Duty, 1907-1909

Submarine Duty, 1907-1909

Detached to command submarine USS Plunger (SS-2) ("a cross between a Jules Verne fantasy and a humpbacked whale ," as one junior contemporary, Ensign Chester W. Nimitz, later described early submarines) on 22 February 1907, reporting for that duty on 23 February 1907 and assuming command upon her recommissioning at the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn, New York. He received additional duty as commanding officer of USS Shark (SS-8) on 23 August 1907. Detached from Plunger to "continue other duties" (perhaps to devise means related to the envisioned transfer of "submarine torpedo boats" to the Asiatic Station as deck cargo on board colliers) on 24 December 1907, he then received orders to temporary duty at the Bureau of Navigation, reporting there on 25 April 1908, upon completion of which he was to travel to Mare Island Navy Yard at Vallejo, California, where he would have duty in connection with submarine USS Pike (SS-6). He reported on 13 May 1908, only to be detached on 1 July 1908 to travel to the Asiatic Station for duty with a draft of men, taking passage on 6 July 1908. He reported for duty on 4 August 1908 in connection with fitting out submarines USS Porpoise (SS-7) and Shark, both of which had been transported to Cavite Navy Yard on Luzon in the Philippine Islands as deck cargo on board the collier USS Caesar (AC-16).