Dancer at U.S.S. Robalo Commissioning Party

Date

• September 28, 1943

Summary

• An African-American sailor or submariner in uniform performs a solo dance during the U.S.S. Robalo commissioning party on September 28, 1943 at the Manitowoc Elks Club, 809 South 8th Street, Manitowoc, as other party-goers including some men in uniform look on. Pennants and crepe paper streamers decorate the hall overhead, and an American flag hangs on a wall at the back between two windows. The Robalo was one of twenty-eight submarines built in Manitowoc by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company. After the keel was laid October 24, 1942, the Robalo was launched May 9, 1943 and commissioned September 28, 1943. One of four Manitowoc-built submarines lost during World War II, the Robalo was sunk July 26, 1944 in the South Pacific. Four crewmen swam ashore but were eventually captured by the Japanese and never heard from again.