Sailors from the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training (CNATT) Det. Tinker presented a new bell stand to the Muskogee War Memorial Park's USS Batfish (SS 310) exhibit during a July 30 ceremony.

The CNATT Det. Tinker team donated more than 100 hours of service to build a new bell stand for the World War II-era submarine exhibit, earning praise from the park director, veterans, and visitors to the museum.

Chief Aviation Structural Mechanic Scott Dansby saw the battered ship's bell sitting on a box at the museum and asked one of the museum guides about it.

"This was the original bell from the first USS Batfish," Dansby said. "I figured we'd be able to do something to help them display the ship's bell and bring back some of that old glory."

Batfish is a submarine commissioned in 1943 and famous for sinking three Imperial Japanese ships in a 76-hour period. The submarine is moored at the Muskogee War Memorial Park, which also contains a variety of artifacts from multiple wars.

Dansby had a talent that could assist in this task. He is an avid woodworker and has a woodworking shop in his home. His garage is covered in sawdust and stocked with a rotating supply of wood, and he spends a great deal of his free time building elaborate shadow boxes for retiring military personnel.

Using Dansby's woodworking equipment, CNATT Det. Tinker volunteers completed the 5-foot bell stand, which was constructed of pine, clad in oak and finished with a light American-walnut stain.

Brent Trout, executive director of the park, said he likes working with military volunteers because they respect and honor tradition and help the park in its mission.

"We were so appreciative to receive this from the folks from Tinker, because we are a small nonprofit and never would have had the time or money to do that ourselves," he said. "We are all in this together. We need to preserve this for the future."

In addition to the bell stand, CNATT volunteers crafted a wooden box to hold a bottle of whiskey.

According to Trout, World War II submariner lore stipulates a bottle of whiskey is reserved for the "last Sailor of the watch," something he said would mean the last surviving Batfish veteran would receive the bottle. Trout said, however, during a recent reunion of the crew, the three surviving members decided to crack the bottle early.

"I believe they felt as though they wouldn't make it through another reunion as a group, so they went ahead and drank in memory of [the] crew," Trout said.

When CNATT Aviation Machinist's Mate 1st Class Daniel Blandford heard about this tradition, and the fact there was no longer a bottle of whiskey displayed with the bell, he knew how he could help. He had a relative who worked at the Maker's Mark distillery in Loretto, Kentucky.

"I figured it would be easy enough to call the distillery and get a custom label made for these veterans to carry on their tradition," Blandford said.

It took several months and a series of phone calls to the distillery, but Blandford's persistence eventually produced a custom label for the new bottle of whiskey, one which reads "For the last Sailor on watch of the USS Batfish."

Blandford also crafted a custom display box for the bottle of whiskey, made from hand-cut cedar and finished with teak oil.

The bottle is now on display at the museum, ready for the last Sailor.

CNATT Det. Tinker Chief Petty Officer-in-Charge, Master Chief Avionics Technician Larry Kutnock, said the event served as a means of inspiring Sailors to become involved in the community in which they live, as well as ensuring the heritage they share with Sailors from another era will continue to be passed along.

"This was an amazing event for our Sailors to give back to the community and reconnect with our naval heritage," he said. "We are already planning another event with the museum."

CNATT Det. Tinker Air Force Base provides maintenance training, centralized student management, and support to E-6B Mercury aviation squadrons consisting of VQ-3 and VQ-4 in the execution of their training responsibilities.

CNATT Det. Tinker is part of the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training, which provides single site management for Navy and Marine Corps aviation technical training.

CNATT is the technical training agent for the Naval Aviation Enterprise (NAE), an organization designed to advance and sustain naval aviation warfighting capabilities at an affordable cost, and is the largest training center under the Naval Education and Training Command.

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