Submariners and their families lived mostly on base or near their boats' home ports during the Cold War. At submarine bases, life was generally structured, protected, and insular. For both married and single submariners, social life was closely tied to the submariner's professional life.

The sweeping changes in American society that marked the 1960s and 1970s also affected the submarine community. As more and more wives began to work outside the home and children adopted the trappings, or sometimes the substance, of the counter culture, the once-sharp boundaries between military and civilian communities began to erode.

Submarine base housing, Groton, Connecticut, 1965


Credits
The Museum gratefully acknowledges the following individuals for donating or loaning their objects and photographs to the Life Ashore section of the exhibition:

Janice W. Baird, Eleanor and Peter Boyne, Lois Brown, Nicole Crahan, Terry Halsema, Sue Hambey, Lisa Hernandez, Tracey Houser, Kathy Hunt, Cecile Maciulis, Michelle McCracken, Dannie McGurk, Kathleen and Michael OiBeirne, Grace Oller, Dawn Smith, Marla Wendt, Cathi and Steven Zavadil