Burdened by the effort of trying to hold down three part-time jobs paying for the joy of carrying a full time college curriculum, I joined the Navy in the spring of 1960.

After the rigors of boot camp, Electrician's Mate "A" School , and Submarine School, I was assigned to the USS Diodon(SS349), San Diego, for duty during which time I was to earn my dolphins signifying "qualified on submarines". By 1962, orders sent me to Mare Island for Basic Nuclear Power School and hence to Idaho Falls for Advanced (A1W) nuclear plant training. Upon completion of this year of nuclear training I was sent back to San Diego to the USS Scamp (SSN588) . Over a year later, after a WestPac cruise I was ordered to the 6 month long Course V Welding School, and then sent to the Westinghouse Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory training in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, prior to reporting in to the pre-commissioning crew of the USS Benjamin Franklin (SSBN640), at Electric Boat, Groton, Connecticut. In 1965, after being given the opportunity to leave the nuclear program ,(which a number of us did), I was to hop a plane to the Mediterranean to catch up with my new home, the USS Forrestal (CVA59).

Next came 6 months of Electrician's Mate "B" School, then orders to the USS Threadfin (SS410) in Key West. About a year later I was to carry my sea bag across the pier and join my newest home the USS Sea Lion (LPSS315). In late 1969, upon decommissioning the Sea Lion in the Philadelphia Shipyard, I received further orders to Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, Norfolk,(yes, the mothball fleet). By the time I was to leave the mothball fleet almost all of the diesel subs were already mothballed themselves leaving me orders to the USS Ranger (CVA61), on the West Coast. Several WestPacs and a war later, I was transferred to Harbor Clearance Unit One (HCU-1) in sunny Hawaii. A year or so later, upon making chief, I was transferred to the Submarine Base as CPO in charge of the Outside Electrical Shop (51B). Retirement in 1980 was an easy step away. We remained in Hawaii for another 16 years and finally "pond hopped" to settle in Oregon.

Now in Port Ludlow, Washington

While my naval career was obviously varied, the Sea Lion has always been my "favorite" tour for a myriad of reasons. I am pleased to dedicate this homepage to her, to all of her past crew members and to those "special warriors" she helped train.

John Clear

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This web site maintained by John Clear EMC (SS) USN ret.
John Clear