LISTEN to this interview with Korean War Veteran Robert L. Claudy, Jr. at Delaney Street Baptist Church in Orlando, FL, June 30th, 2010. Robert Claudy, Jr. is an Orlando native and remembers playing ball at Hillcrest School when Mills Avenue was a clay road. If you made it to the clay it was a home run. He says there were lots of orange groves in the area, people were simple and you “learned how to squeeze the nickel”. Veteran Claudy served in the United States Navy Submarine Service during the Korean War and did operations out of Key West, FL. He recalls shooting the stars with a sextant for navigation. He was aboard the USS Cochino doing operations off the coast of Russia in 1949 when the battery exploded and the submarine later sank in the Barents Sea off Norway. Hear his firsthand account of this historic event.
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Korean War Veteran Robert L. Claudy, Jr. Interview
USS Cochino Crew
USS Cochino Saturday Evening PostInterview with Korean War Veteran Robert L. Claudy, Jr. at Delaney Street Baptist Church in Orlando, FL, June 30th, 2010. Robert Claudy, Jr. is an Orlando native and remembers playing ball at Hillcrest School when Mills Ave. was a clay road. If you made it to the clay it was a home run. He says there were lots of orange groves in the area, people were simple and you "learned how to squeeze the nickel". Veteran Claudy served in the United States Navy Submarine Service during the Korean War and did operations out of Key West, FL. He recalls shooting the stars with a sextant for navigation. He was aboard the USS Cochino doing operations off the coast of Russia when the battery exploded and the submarine later sank in the Barents Sea off Norway. Hear his firsthand account of this historic event.
Sept. 26, 1949. USS Cochino. (SS-345) * 7 men lost
On 18 July 1949, Cochino put to sea for a cruise to Britain, and arctic operations. Her group ran through a violent polar gale off Norway, and the joltings received by Cochino played their part on 25 August in causing an electrical fire and battery explosion, followed by the generation of both hydrogen and chlorine gases. Defying the most unfavorable possible weather conditions, the commander of the Cochino, and his men fought for 14 hours to save the submarine, but a second battery explosion on 26 August made "Abandon Ship" the only possible order, and Cochino sank. The USS Tusk's rescued all of Cochino's men except for Robert Wellington Philo, a civilian engineer. six sailors from Tusk were lost during the rescue.
Cochino -- Naval Historical Center
Details on the USS Cochino from the Department of the Navy -- Naval Historical Center. Orlando resident Robert L. Claudy, Jr. was aboard the USS Cochino doing operations off the coast of Russia when the battery explosion occured on 25 August 1949.
http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/cochino.html
USS Cochino (SS-345)
NavSource Online Submarine Photo Archive: Cochino (SS-345) featuring images, commemorative postal covers and the Google Earth satellite photo of the site where the Cochino (SS-345) & the Tusk (SS-426) crewmen were lost, 71°35' N., 23°35' E. on 26 August 1949. Orlando native Robert Claudy, Jr. was aboard the submarine doing operations off the coast of Russia when the battery explosion occured on August 26, 1949.
http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08345.htmThe Account of the Sinking of the USS Cochino
The account of the sinking of the USS Cochino written by Oscar Martinez on board the USS Tusk August 1949. Orlando native Robert L. Claudy, Jr. was on board the USS Cochino doing operations work for the U.S. Navy off the coast of Russia when the battery explosion occured August 25th, 1949.
http://diodon349.com/Stories/The%20Account%20of%20the%20Sinking%20of%20the%20USS%20Cochino.htmMore Detailed Information: Cochino
More detailed information on the loss of the USS Cochino (SS-345). Orlando native Robert L. Claudy, Jr. was aboard the submarine doing operations for the U.S. Navy off the coast of Russia when the battery explosion occurred August 25th, 1949.
http://diodon349.com/Stories/Stories_SS/More%20Detailed%20Information%20on%20the%20loss%20of%20the%20USS%20Cochino%20(SS-345).htm