Lizardfish crew and guests at commissioning party

Date

• December 19, 1944

Summary

• Officers and crew of the U.S.S. Lizardfish (SS 373) pose with their wives and dates for a group portrait during a commissioning party at the Armory Building in Manitowoc, Wisconsin on December 19, 1944. Included in the group are two African-American couples. Suspended from a wire along a brick wall at the rear are several large signal flag type banners, and two windows in the wall are draped with shiny fabric. The Lizardfish was one of twenty-eight submarines built in Manitowoc by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company for the U.S. Navy during World War II. She had been laid down March 14, 1944 and launched July 16, 1944. This party was held shortly before she was commissioned on December 30, 1944. (Another, more candid, picture is also available in this digital collection under the title “Lizardfish commissioning party.”) The Armory building, located on the Manitowoc County fairgrounds on North 18th Street in Manitowoc, was the site for many special events during World War II, including at least eight submarine commissioning parties.