Commissar, Gourmet And Adventurer
Teams Up With Wife In New Position
By Miriam J. AngeU
If you intend to talk to the
Cradevilles it would be best to
have some solid sustenance be
fore you do, or be prepared to
suffer. Mr.Cradeville, known more
familiary as the Commissar, man
ages the Civilian Club on the Naval
Station; Annie Cradeville manages
the cafeteria. They are both gour
mets and fine chefs who love good
food and can easily provoke a state
of gastronomical longing; the tan
talizing odor of veal scallopini,
Hungarian goulash, and perhaps
Borsch, are almost there. You can
almost taste what you can almost
smell, your mouth waters and your
middle regions send up strong
signals of acute hunger and frus
tration.
If you have by now turned to the
end of the article for a recipe you
will be as disappointed as we. The
Commissar told us that in one West
coast city they had given away
many recipes as Christmas gifts,
“but we found this was bad for
business. After all, it doesn’t help
business to give away your sec
rets.”
In self defense we shifted the
subject to his career which we had
heard was a long and colorful one.
And indeed it has been. On Sept
ember fourth Mr. Cradeville re
tired from the Navy after thirty
years’ service; this was the climax
to many more years of experience,
begun when he left school in the
seventh grade and “went out in the
world on my own.” The Commis
sar continued, "I was fifteen years
old. First I took up flying and
worked with barn storming cir
cuses 'through Oklahoma and Kan
sas for a few years. After that I
came back to New York and work
ed at the Studebflker Company as
a test driver and mechanic. When
my father died I went home to
Binghamton, New York, and work
ed as a bridge rigger—that is
something like a steeple jack.”
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In 1930 he joined the Navy, hop
ing to go back to flying again, but
he never got his wish. Not allow
ed to go up, he went down, as a
Navy diver. “No, there weren’t too
many of us in those days. We used
to know all the divers there were,
very few. I wound up a master
diver. The two biggest things I’ve
worked on were salvaging the SS
Normandie, which took a year, and
rigging probably the longest tow
in the world, six miles long, for
a Naval exercise.”
We asked about a commendation
given Mr. Cradeville for invention
of diving equipment, and also
about diving and depths, complete
mysteries to us.
“Well, that particular commend
ation was for development of the
underwater cutting torch. The
principle of it is, a metal rod touch
ing metal creates an arc. Oxygen
coming down through the rod
oxydizes the metal and in turn,
cuts. There are several kinds of
diving—air, helium and oxygen.
With helium and oxygen you can
dive as deep as five hundred feet,
but with compressed air, only to
about three hundred feet. The
deepest I’ve ever gone was 400
feet down, near Panama.
“In the early thirties I was up
here on the USS Wright. We did
survey work in Kodiak and all
through Alaska for the sites of
the Naval bases and landing fields.
Then I instructed at Navy diving
schools for a while. During the
war I was on ASR’s, suib rescue
vessels which could aid and repair
subs in trouble and rescue the
crew if a sub was sunk. For this
we could use the diving bell and
divers.
“When the SS Normandie burn
ed and sank at the pier in New
York, I was sent to help with the
salvage. She didn’t have a hole in
her until later; in putting out the
fire they poured so much water
into her, she keeled over and got
the damage, and sank. She was re
floated after a year, and sold for
junk later.
“Then I was interpreter for
Russian officers who were being
instructed in diving and firefight
ing Upon completion of their in
struction in the states I went with
them to Russia in 1944 to help set
up schools and demonstrate and
teach salvage and diving. I was in
Baku, Moscow and Murmansk.
Murmansk was one of the bases
we set up. They gave me freedom
to go where I wanted and I found
the Russian people very hospita
ble and nice.
“The Russian government gave
me a very fine commendation for
assisting and instructing in how
to run diesel engines, compressors *
and generators.”
In 1945 Mr. Cradeville returned
from Russia and came to Kodiak
as District Diving and Salvage Of
ficer.
“While I was on that tour I as
sisted in putting up the first Elks
Bill’s Club in Kodiak, and was a
steward there without wages for
two years. The chair I held at the
time was chaplain but I haven’t
been able to get to meetings in
many years. I’m just starting
again.”
Four years later he was order
ed to command of an ARS, the
Hoist, which did work with ex
perimental explosives out of Ports
mouth, Virginia, as well as many
salvage jobs. The ship made three
trips to the Arctic as a repair and
salvage vessel. We wondered if
diving in the Arctic were more
difficult than in warmer waters.
“No, there is not much differ
ence. Of course you can’t stay
down as long as you can in the
tropics but the only time I ever
noticed the cold was in the de
compression stage.”
From the salvage ship the Com
missar went to salvage school in
New York, and from there to the
Naval Gun Factory in Washington,
D.C., instructing in salvage and
diving on both tours. He and Mrs.
Cradeville were married in 1952
and went together to his next as
signment in the Bremerton Naval
shipyard. The ljst of duties and
titles included Diving and Salvage
Officer for the shipyard as well as
the district, Passive Defense Ad
ministrator, Ship’s Superintendant,
and Mess Treasurer for the BOQ
and Open Mess. After asistint on
the Dew Line, Mr. Cradeville re
ported to Adak in 1957 as, among
other things, harbor pilot and
Treasurer of the Officer’s Mess.
Many tired and hungry ships’ of
ficers and flyers, arriving at what
appeared to be the end of the
world, have sat down to a fine
meal prepared by the Commissar
himself, the odd hour, no matter.
Parties planned and largely pre
pared by the Cradevilles brought
them considerable fame, and the
occasion of their departure for
Kodiak, where Mr. Cardeville
completed his duty, and retired,
was a sad event on Adak.
We asked what, in all his years
of diving, had impressed him
most? “The one time that gave me
the funniest feeling in my life
was on the Normandie. You could
n’t see at all down inside the ship.
The water was black and muddy
and everything had to be done by
memory and feel. We studied blue
prints so we could find our way
around and remember how to get
back up again. The ship was on
its side so we had to keep that
in mind along with the blueprints.
I was down in one of the com
partments on my hands and knees,
working on a porthole. Another
diver came down through one of
the hatches and dropped down on
my back. He couldn’t figure out
■ what he had landed on and I was
p trying to get out from under —
Mr. and Mrs. Ed Cradeville
U. S. Navy photo
what, I didn’t know. I thought the
whole ship was moving and going
to turn over so when I reported
over the phone to the tender that
the ship was moving, they thought
I’d lost my mind, and pulled me
up. I felt very foolish about it
afterwards, but on the tender they
treated it like a big joke. One of
his many commendations was for
his work on the Normandie.
TThe Commissar has attended
numerous schools for a wide varie
ty of instruction, but never one for
club management. This is self
taught, with the exception of a
time in bartender’s school. He
said, “My cooking started 45 years
ago and I’ve cooked for big ban
quets and many parties. My favor
ite dish is chicken and dumplings
—I make the large dumplings.
The whole trick is in kneading
the dough; most women aannot
do it properly. Fancy drinks? Oh,
((Continued on Page 15)
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