“King Dodo and the Subchasers”
By William F. Hanna
Veteran river watchers must have wondered what was happening on the morning of Wednesday, September 29, 1920, when U.S. Navy submarine chasers, sent from their base at Newport, Rhode Island, entered the Taunton River and headed upstream. Over the years people living along the river had seen just about every conceivable type of water craft, from the mishoons of early Indigenous settlers, to the sloops of eighteenth century molasses smugglers, to the ocean-going coal barges of the Staples Company. But — submarine chasers? In the river?
The ships had been part of the so-called Splinter Fleet, constructed during World War I to combat the menace of German submarines. About 440 of the wooden vessels had been built in shipyards along the Atlantic coast, with about half that number sent overseas to protect Allied shipping. The rest patrolled American waters. One hundred and ten feet long, with a beam of sixteen feet, they were capable of cruising at eighteen knots, making them a useful wartime asset. But what were they doing in the Taunton River?
Wouldn’t we love to be able to recount the story of an all-out naval battle pitting the Newport ships against, say, Taunton River pirates or foreign spies. A thrilling tale that would be, but we don’t write fiction on this blog. Sadly, the truth is that instead of pursuing infiltrators or brigands, the subchasers on that day were serving merely as water taxis. Their mission was to transport more than 100 members of the Newport Naval Training Station’s Opera Company upriver to Taunton, where the performers would stage three shows at the city’s Park Theater.
Even though there was no drama, the visit generated considerable excitement and more than a century later we wish we had more information about it. For example, we don’t know exactly how many subchasers came up to Taunton. The Boston Globe reported only that the sailors had “made the trip in submarine chasers. . . .” Operating with a crew of twenty-seven sailors, how many of these ships did it take to carry more than 100 actors, bandsmen, scenery and costumes up from Newport? The Globe writer also stated that when the ships arrived they anchored in the river at the Weir. Since the opera company was to remain in Taunton overnight on Wednesday, the ships almost certainly stayed as well. Although river commerce had declined after World War, I the city’s wharves were still busy and certainly the navy vessels attracted large crowds.
The sailors arrived in Taunton in time to march from the Weir up to the Green. Accompanied by a navy band, they presented a concert on the Common and then marched the short distance over to the Park Theater, located on Court Street, across from the Boys Club. The company presented a matinee at 2:30 p.m. and an evening performance at 8:15.
The naval station’s “opera company” was in reality a burlesque troop that presented “comic operas” styled on the Gilbert & Sullivan model. “King Dodo” was the featured show that season and the proceeds were to go the station’s amusement and athletic fund. Because there were no females in the company all of the roles were played by men. Several sailors were powdered, wigged, painted and dressed as women. While some of these performers were talented and experienced singers and dancers, the intent was to make the show more “comic” and less “opera.” That must have been fine with the Taunton audiences because the two Wednesday shows, as well as a performance on Thursday evening, were heavily attended and positively reviewed in the press.
This brings up another subject about which we want more information. The curtain went up on Thursday’s performance of “King Dodo” at 8:15 p.m., meaning that the show ended sometime after 10 o’clock. Did the ships stay in Taunton until Friday morning, or did they and their passengers return to Newport immediately after the show? In either case, it would be fascinating to know the navy helmsmen’s thoughts on navigating the Taunton River from the Weir down to more open water in Dighton. Even the most experienced Taunton River captains acknowledged that there was dangerous water at a number of locations along that course, and darkness would have increased the peril. Did the navy bring on civilian pilots to guide the subchasers downriver, or was it left to each ship to make its own way? Did they encounter any difficulty navigating through the Needles, or passing Peter’s Point? We don’t know, but the vessels apparently returned to the naval base without incident.
Finally, there’s a postscript to this story. The subchasers of the navy’s Splinter Fleet were designed by Albert Loring Swasey, a Tauntonian who placed among the most renowned naval architects of his time. A descendant of one of Taunton’s earliest families, Swasey was born in 1876 and lived much of his life at the family homestead at 146 High Street. Educated at Bristol Academy (now the home of the Old Colony History Museum), he attended M.I.T. before embarking upon a career designing world class racing yachts.
By the end of his life Swasey had attained an admiral’s rating, and as such became the highest ranking naval officer in Taunton history. His story deserves much more attention, which it will get in a future blog. But before we leave this edition, we ask the reader to look at the photo of the navy subchaser that accompanies this article. We hope you’ll be able to see in it the influence of a man who designed some of the world’s fastest, most beautiful yachts.
