Hi Merc. I'm reading through that USS Steelhead link you posted. Interesting stuff! I can see I'm going to lose many hours on that site.
I actually started reading it at lunch, and caught myself (twice) with my sandwich hovering in front of my half-opened mouth for several seconds. I was that engrossed!
Wow! That training accident off Pearl in October of '44 where "simultaneous material casualties" caused a 53 degree down angle during a routine dive.
That had to be terrifying. "...the effects of this experience were long felt by all hands". YA THINK?
I just started on the log entries section and saw an entry when they were leaving Pearl and dove to 300 ft. to test for leaks. It's mentioned that they "received two indoctrination depth charges at periscope depth".
What's an "indoctrination depth charge"? Was it to test the boat's systems integrity (a literal "shakedown cruise"), or was it more to familiarize new crew members with what a depth charge sounded/felt like?