Personal Narrative Film, Video Manuscript/Mixed Material Photo, Print, Drawing Edward H. Mortimer Collection
Veterans History Project Service Summary:
- War or Conflict: Cold War
- Branch of Service: Navy
- Unit of Service: USS Gudgeon (SS 567); USS Abraham Lincoln (SSBN 602); USS Nathan Hale (SSBN 623); USS John Adams (SSBN 620)
- Location of Service: Annapolis, Maryland; Pacific; Pearl Harbor, and Ford Island, Hawaii; New London, Connecticut; Charleston, South Carolina; United Kingdom; North Sea; Atlantic; Pacific; Guam (Mariana Islands)
- Highest Rank: Captain
- Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/7797
Annapolis graduate Edward Mortimer's career spanned the central years of the Cold War, 1954-1977, during which he served on five submarines with increasingly sophisticated technology. He worked his way up from communications officer to captain of the USS John Adams, a third-generation Polaris submarine. Patrolling both major oceans and several of the seven seas, Mortimer was exquisitely aware of what firing one of his sub's missiles would mean. He also talks of a good friend who was aboard the ill-fated Thresher, the first nuclear submarine to be lost at sea.
Interview / Recording
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PlayHow he came to go to Annapolis; had begun school at Princeton in sciences, so he was better prepared academically than his fellow plebes; commitment for service at that time (early 1950s) was only four years, which didn't daunt him, though he did not expect to like life in the military. 00:12:53.9 - 00:17:27.6
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PlayPlebe year; dealing with the harassment, understanding why it was employed; sailing on outstanding vessels. 00:18:31.9 - 00:21:13.8
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PlayGetting interested in submarine service; his plan to get into submarine school as an officer of the deck; went to sub school 18 months after graduating from Annapolis; working on simulators; lowest guy on totem pole, or "George," gets all the dirty jobs; working his way up from communications officer to chief engineer. 00:28:16.8 - 00:32:33.6
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PlayHome port of call for his first submarine, the Gudgeon, was Pearl Harbor; the good life when they were there made it easy to think about making the Navy his career; another attraction was chance to train on nuclear power; in school 40 hours a week, expected to study 80 hours a week, so Saturday nights were the only real free time. 00:37:51.5 - 00:40:19.8
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PlayProblems with some of the early Polaris missiles, which would backtrack instead of going out into the ocean or go horizontal instead of vertical; first voyage on his second boat, the Abraham Lincoln, was in the North Sea; range of missiles at that time was limited, so they had to be close to the targets of interest behind the Iron Curtain. 00:42:58.9 - 00:44:49.9
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PlayLength of patrols were around eight weeks; on upkeep when the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred in 1962; they were scheduled to leave on patrol in l3 days, but it was shortened to 13 hours' notice; they went out for 76 days that time; partway through the patrol, they learned that "Khrushchev had blinked" and the crisis was resolved; during the crisis they would have frequent weapons system readiness tests; that was the only time during his tours on ballistic missile submarines that he felt there was a possibility of a real war breaking out and he could be coming home to very little. 00:45:25.2 - 00:48:30.1
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PlaySinking of the Thresher; a good friend was on it; his own boat, the Lincoln, had some problems that in retrospect might have predicted what happened to the Thresher; SubSafe program was instituted after that accident to prevent a recurrence. 00:55:08.2 - 00:56:26.6
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PlayCommanding officer training; 13 weeks of Admiral Rickover's "Charm School;" working in his office in Washington, DC; studying 8 hours a day, listening to his lectures; "if we knew what was good us, we would do it the Admiral's way." 00:59:26.2 - 01:02:17.5
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PlayFinally getting his first command; pay was modest considering he was in charge of a $100 million boat and 140 men (including 12 officers), but he loved the feeling of camaraderie--an all-volunteer group which had also been carefully screened so they knew they were special; family got to move to Pearl Harbor for this period, so despite his long absences, they did have a good life. 01:04:11.8 - 01:07:51.1
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PlayFirst ship to command was the John Adams, third-generation Polaris submarine; had four-and-a-half years of command, thanks in part to the boat having to be overhauled for a year; essential job was deterrence, practicing to be perfect at something you hope would never happen. 01:08:05.2 - 01:11:03.3
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PlayOne potential danger in a submarine: malfunctioning atmosphere control equipment. 01:17:17.1 - 01:19:34.6
About this Item
Title
- Edward H. Mortimer Collection
Names
- Mortimer, Edward H.
- Brown, William F.
- Roseman, Malcolm
- AARP, Georgia
Home State
- Georgia
Headings
- - Mortimer, Edward H.
- - Cold War -- Personal Narratives
- - United States. Navy.
Repository
- Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
Gender
- Male
Status
- veteran
Service History
-
Cold War
- Branch of Service: Navy
- Unit of Service: USS Gudgeon (SS 567); USS Abraham Lincoln (SSBN 602); USS Nathan Hale (SSBN 623); USS John Adams (SSBN 620)
- Location of Service: Annapolis, Maryland; Pacific; Pearl Harbor, and Ford Island, Hawaii; New London, Connecticut; Charleston, South Carolina; United Kingdom; North Sea; Atlantic; Pacific; Guam (Mariana Islands)
- Highest Rank: Captain
- Dates of Service: 1954-1977
- Entrance into Service: Commissioned
- Military Status: veteran
- Service History Note: The veteran served on Polaris submarines.
Materials
- Video: DVD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 2003-02-27; 2003-02-27)
- Video: VHS [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2003-02-27)
Collection Number
- AFC/2001/001/7797
Cite as
- Edward H. Mortimer Collection (AFC/2001/001/7797), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
Online Format
- image
- video
Additional Metadata Formats
Part of
Wars & Conflicts
Service Branch
Location of Service
- Annapolis, Maryland
- Atlantic
- Charleston, South Carolina
- Guam (Mariana Islands)
- New London, Connecticut
- North Sea
- Pacific
- Pearl Harbor, and Ford Island, Hawaii
- United Kingdom
Service Unit
- USS Abraham Lincoln (Ssbn 602)
- USS Gudgeon (Ss 567)
- USS John Adams (Ssbn 620)
- USS Nathan Hale (Ssbn 623)
Highest Rank
Service Entrance
Discharge Status
Gender
Home State
Interviewee
Interviewer
Organization/Affiliation
Featured in
- Submarines: The Silent Service | Occupations and Specialties in Service | Serving: Our Voices | Veterans History Project Collection | Digital Collections
- Cold War Dispatches: Service Stories from 1947 to 1991 | Cold War (1947 to 1991) | Serving: Our Voices | Veterans History Project Collection | Digital Collections