In 1960 the USS Triton submarine made history by completing the first submerged circumnavigation of the globe. A crew member recalls that when a sailor was assigned to periscope duty, he was said to be waltzing Matilda, a phrase that evokes both going round and round with arms held high, and a reference to the unofficial Australian national anthem, “Waltzing Matilda.” The song is also part of the haunting score of the 1959 post-apocalyptic film On the Beach, which is set on a submarine. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Periscope Duty, Also Known as “Waltzing Matilda””
My friend Al is a retired submariner who served on the USS Triton.
And in 1960, the Triton made history by completing the first submerged circumnavigation of the globe.
And while Al was telling me about this, he mentioned a cool bit of slang that the crew members used.
If you were stationed at the periscope, you were said to be waltzing Matilda.
And that’s because when you were on periscope duty, you’re standing there with your hands up and you’re stepping around and around and around, almost as if you’re dancing.
Isn’t that gorgeous?
That’s gorgeous.
It’s almost like you’re dancing with the entire submarine.
Yeah.
Yeah, I suppose so.
I also have to wonder if that usage was influenced by the movie On the Beach, which came out the year before, starring Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner and Fred Astaire.
There was a submarine featured prominently in that film, and also this song, Waltzing Matilda, was used to very moving effect.
Oh, yeah, that’s more than likely, right?
But still, that’s an incredible feat to circumnavigate the world underwater.
Al sounds like a fascinating fellow, and everybody’s got a ton of language.
Yeah, I’d love to hear more Navy slang, more slang from our military veterans.
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