Subj: Submarine comes home to Arkansas- Heber Springs Sun Times by: Louis Short 
Date: 9/3/2004 8:17:15 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: SNawojczyk@northlittlerock.ar.gov
Sent from the Internet (Details)

Submarine comes home to Arkansas

By Louis Short /
Sun-Times Staff

A 311-foot submarine named after a 45-foot whale has made North Little Rock it's new home. The USS Razorback SS-394 officially arrived Sunday to fanfare. Included in the crowd were approximately 150 submarine veterans. One of those veterans was R.B. Casto of Heber Springs.

Casto, along with other sub vets, rode about five miles on the Razorback Sunday. "It was an honor," he said. "I served on a sub just like the Razorback. So much of her brings back so many memories. She's a proud lady. She has her battle scars, but she is a proud lady."

Casto spent many years at sea. "I served on two subs," he said. "The first was the USS Trutta, a diesel engine sub, and the second was the USS Bluefish, a nuke sub. I retired in 1972."

All sub crewmembers, before they can help run a sub, must be qualified on every station and every part of the boat. "The Navy gave you 90 days to qualify on each part of the boat," said Casto. "The quickest it had been done before me was 86 days, and I had set out to beat that record. I qualified in 82 days and the best I know, that was never beat."

During his time in the Navy, he was a second-class torpedo man and a COB. "I was named Chief of the Boat (COB) on Trutta and then carried the same title on Bluefish. As COB I was the liaison between the enlisted and the officers."

Due to his great knowledge of the ins and outs of the boat, Casto was asked to be one of the volunteer tour guides. "She is the oldest commissioned sub and I am proud to be able to give tours," he said. "I want everyone to know about the Razorback. I want Heber Springs to come see her. Getting the sub is the biggest thing since Pepsi Cola."

The Razorback, after serving the U.S. Navy from April 3, 1944 to November 30, 1970, was sold to Turkey in 1970 where the Turkish Navy used it until late 1991. The Razorback, renamed Murat Reis by the Turks (Murat Reis was a Muslim Albanian Pirate), was bought back from Turkey for $1 in March of this year by the city of North Little Rock.

The location of the Razorback right now is not the permanent spot. "It will be moved closer to the I30 Bridge," said Casto. "This is just the temporary spot until they get things ready to dock it."