Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
2:43 | He was scheduled for shore duty but Bob McClaren's skipper asked him to stay on for one more patrol. He was the senior Electrician's Mate , the Bull Nuke. Sure, Captain. What he didn't tell him was how long the trip would last.
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His father had been a mechanic on the P-47 with it's big radial engine but Bob McClaren's mind was focused on the sea. A TV show about submarines had caught his eye.
The first stop was Electrician's Mate school. Bob McClaren had been selected through testing to train for the nuclear propulsion systems that power submarines. After a thorough grounding in the technology, the last stop was sub school to learn about everything outside the engine room.
It's huge! That was Bob McClaren's first thought when he saw his first ship, the USS John Adams. His first voyage was eventful and encompassed Israel's Six-Day War, the hijacking of the Achille Lauro and the sinking of the USS Scorpion.
Bob McClaren was getting ready to spend a couple of years at Perdue on a Navy education program but the funding was cut and he was sent to a ship under construction at New London. He served a short while on several different submarines, picking up an Associate Degree along the way.
The Bluefish was Bob McClaren's favorite boat. The crew was like a brotherhood and the two skippers he had were great. The only problem was that he was always at sea, never home.
He was good at fixing things so Bob McClaren was rooked into fixing all manner of gear that wasn't really his responsibility. His job was in the engine room with the nuclear propulsion system but, hey, can you take a look at the gyrocompass and this copy machine?
After a shore duty stint as an instructor, Bob McClaren was sent to serve on the USS Flying Fish. During a drill simulating a shutdown of the nuclear reactor, a scram, he suffered an embarrassing fall right at the feet of the commander. Master Chief! You OK? Should I stop the drill?
Senior Electrician Bob McClaren received some test equipment that was all wrong. It was incompatible with what was installed on the ship. He was making rounds with his skipper and a visiting admiral when the admiral asked him how do you like that electrical stuff I sent you?
He retired on a Thursday and started a job at Newport News Shipbuilding the following Monday. 24 years on submarines and 25 more building them. Bob McClaren was proud of his Cold War service which stymied the Soviet expansion.
