Robalo commissioning party : dancing in the ballroom of the Elks Club

Date

• September 28, 1943

Summary

• This overhead view looks down on the dance floor of the Manitowoc Elks Club during the commissioning party for the U.S.S. Robalo on September 28, 1943. About a dozen couples, with most of the men in sailors' uniforms, dance on the floor in front of the stage where the Duke Janda orchestra is playing. Other men and women, including several nurses wearing white uniforms, mingle at the side and in front of the stage. Crepe paper streamers hang over the dance floor, and a large United States flag is partially visible on the wall at the back of the stage. The Elks Club, located at 809 South 8th Street in Manitowoc, was one of several locations where commissioning parties for Manitowoc-built submarines were held. The Robalo was one of twenty-eight submarines built 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. 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.