Welcome Aboard 🐬

This site is your home port for real stories, photos, and answers about U.S. World War II diesel-electric submarines, especially boats like USS Pampanito and her sisters.

If you’ve ever wondered “What was it really like down there?” — you’re in the right place.

Browse All FAQs ⚓ Eternal Patrol

🎥 Watch: Inside a WWII Submarine

Get a feel for the spaces we’re talking about before you dive into the FAQs:

Tip: After watching, scroll down for stories and FAQs that connect directly to what you just saw.

👋 New To Our Site?

Here’s how to get started:

🧭 What You’ll Find Here

This site is built and maintained by volunteers and docents who work with real historic submarines. You’ll find:

  • Straightforward answers to common questions – from “Where did they store the torpedoes?” to “How did they deal with fear?”
  • Detailed technical explanations – diesel-electric systems, batteries, sonar, periscopes, torpedoes, and more
  • Stories about the people – officers, enlisted men, cooks, radiomen, torpedomen, and everyone in between
  • A growing glossary – so terms like “trim pump”, “conning tower”, or “battle surface” are one tap away

🗂 Ways to Explore

  • ⚓ Eternal Patrol – Honor the submarines and sailors lost in service, with detailed accounts of each boat's final mission
  • 🔍 Search the FAQs – type anything you're curious about: "torpedo room", "periscope depth”, “Gato-class”, “how loud was it?”
  • 🧱 By Topic
    • Hull & Compartments
    • Operating a WWII Submarine
    • Life Aboard
    • Crew Roles & Ranks
    • Battles, Patrols & History
  • 📖 Stories & Shorts – pages built around the same stories you’ll see on TikTok

💬 Have a Question?

If a video (or a visit to a museum sub) sparked a question we haven’t answered yet, we’d love to hear it:

Your questions help us decide what to cover next — both here and in future videos.

📲 Stay Connected

  • Watch new short stories on TikTok: @dieselsubs
  • Come back here when you want more context, diagrams and photos, or longer explanations you can’t fit into 15 seconds.

Ready to Dive Deeper?

Welcome aboard. Let’s go below decks.

🏛️

Acknowledgments

San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park

We are grateful to the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park for stewarding the USS Pampanito for more than 50 years—keeping her preserved, interpreted, and open to the public so visitors can learn from this historic submarine.

🎖️ Submarine Veterans

We honor and thank the submarine veterans who have generously shared their knowledge, experiences, and expertise. Their firsthand accounts and technical insights make this resource authentic and invaluable for preserving submarine heritage.

Special Recognition: To all the brave submariners who served with courage and dedication, and to the institutions that preserve their legacy for future generations.

Why No Reference to Women in Your FAQs?

We have been asked why women are not mentioned in our FAQs, and this is a valid question.

The answer is that women did not serve on United States submarines until 2011. Other navies integrated women earlier—Norway in the mid-1980s, followed by Australia, Canada, Spain, and others in the 1990s and 2000s.

The United States was slower to do so primarily because of berthing and privacy constraints on older submarine designs.