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Veteran of the Month - Stuart Diebitsch
Herman Stuart Diebitsch was born in San Angelo. The family moved out here in 1948, ad his father ran the Wool and Mohair from then until it closed. When Stuart graduated in 1952, his father wanted him to attend college. "We butted heads one more time", says Stuart, opting for learning a trade in the Navy. After boot camp in San Diego, and 12 weeks of training as a mechanic (diesel engine, refrigeration, etc.), he was stationed in New London, Connecticut. He worked on diesel-powered boats (ships and subs). MIT was experimenting with engines, main propulsion, sonar and gyro-compasses. MIT, General Dynamics and others, worked out of the Underwater Sound Lab, and the EPCER 852 (Experimental Patrol Craft Rescue). "We had many drills for rescues of powered down subs. But I would hate to have been rescued by that boat, because 11 knots was all it would do, with the "governor" jammed." That particular boat employed the first gyrocompass, made by Sperry Rand, for 1 year before it was installed on the SEAWOLF. Sperry Rand's specifications stated that the gyro needed 48 hours to stabilize, and then it would navigate. If it lost power for 3 minutes, the gyro would go out the side of the boat. "So, there was a lot of scrambling if power went off."
Stuart and other mechanics went to the craft assigned to them, and were reassigned as needed. "We kept our seabags packed." He spent "lots of long hours in diesel sub." "My rack hung off the side of the main engine, and I would come off of bed smelling like diesel fuel. You could always tell a diesel sub sailor, you could smell him before you saw him."
"It was good duty, designed to help those who were fighting." He was also stationed in the Bahamas, Tuley, Greenland and Reykjavik, Iceland. Although he was never assigned to a nuclear sub, he did a walk through on one. "It's like this difference in staying at Motel 6 versus The Elegante."
After the Navy, he built a home in Old Lyme, Connecticut, where he, his wife and 2 children, lived for 25 years. He moved back to Stockton in 1978. "I lead a quiet life now, and I sleep good, because I watch the news before going to bed."
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