Name: Bo Gardner
Social Justice Group: International Nuclear Disarmament
Date of Fieldwork: April 9, 2022
Name of Organization and person (people) with whom you met and their title(s):USS Growler Museum
Type of Fieldwork: Other
What I did and what I learned about my topic, activism, social justice work or civil and human rights work from this fieldwork?[:: :
On Friday, April 9, our group had the opportunity to visit the USS Growler Submarine Museum. The USS Growler was a nuclear missile submarine stationed off the coast of the Soviet Union during the 1960’s. During that time, it was ready to launch a nuclear missile at any moment.
The USS Growler is a part of the Intrepid Air and Space museum. We took the A train to 42 street, then walked to the intrepid with our chaperone Peter Fisher. The submarine is next to the intrepid floating in the water. Before entering the submarine we walked through a brief exhibition that explains the history behind the USS Growler. One thing I learned in this part of the museum was that the submarine launched a Regulus cruise missile. The Regulus was an unmanned nuclear missile that flew like an airplane after being launched via rockets.
After going through the exhibition, we got to enter the submarine. We learned that people would be inside of the submarine for 90 days at a time without going outdoors or breathing fresh air. Many of the sailors were afraid to launch a nuclear missile because of the threat of nuclear war and the submarine being attacked. Personally I cannot imagine what it was like to be in the submarine waiting for an order to launch a nuclear missile. The USS Growler was eventually retired in favor of a newer submarine, but instead of being demolished, it was brought to the Intrepid museum.
Visiting the USS Growler was a really amazing learning experience and Edward and I learned a lot. The information that we learned is really helpful for our project and we are really thankful.
