Patrick Zilliacus was born in May 1926 in Helsinki, Finland. Life growing up was fantastic. His parents divorced when he was six, but he had a lot of cousins and a brother and they spent all summer at their grandparent's swimming and sailing. There was no Depression [Annotator's Note: Great Depression; a global economic depression that lasted through the 1930s] in Finland. The war clouds started to form, and things changed. He was old enough to notice. Russia was making demands on Finland. Germany and the Soviet Union were allies. The Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact [Annotator's Note: Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact; officially the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; non-aggression pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, 23 August 1939]. The Germans were secretly encouraging the Russians to takeover Finland. The attack came in November 1939 [Annotator's Note: Winter War; 30 November 1939 to 13 March 1940] and he was in Helsinki when it was bombed. Eventually they went to Sweden. Coming to the United States was due to his father not having sent child support payments. His mother decided to go to the United States. That was easier said than done. They went to Sweden to try and get a visa but had no luck. They went to Norway and lucked out. The American Ambassador was Mrs. J Borden Harriman [Annotator's Note: Florence Jaffray "Daisy" Harriman, 8th United States Minister to Norway, 1937 to 1940] who took a liking to his mother. She got them tourist visas. They had no money. Harriman paid for a train trip to Bergen [Annotator's Note: Bergen, Norway] where they just made the ship. He was 13. He had lived in Sweden and in Italy. His father was a student, then a teacher, and was a Colonel at the time in Finnish Army. He was sort of international already. They took an old ship called the SS Bergensfjord from Bergen, Norway. They were stopped by a German submarine to check the ship's manifest [Annotator's Note: document listing cargo, passengers, and crew]. A four-engine Focke-Wulf [Annotator's Note: Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG, German aircraft manufacturer] bomber circled them once. They also saw an American blimp off Newfoundland [Annotator's Note: Newfoundland, Canada]. It was December [Annotator's Note: December 1940] and it was stormy. They had gone north near Iceland to avoid sea mines. They were in the cheapest area of steerage. They knew a kid in first-class, so they would go hang out with him.

[Annotator's Note: Patrick Zilliacus emigrated to the United States from Finland with his mother and brother.] They arrived in Brooklyn [Annotator's Note: Brooklyn is one of the five boroughs in New York, New York] in 1940 and stayed in a Norwegian pension [Annotator's Note: a pension house is a type of guest or boarding house]. Zilliacus and his brother did not speak English. They had to learn Norwegian so they could be taught by a Norwegian kid who spoke English. He went to Public School Number 8 [Annotator's Note: PS8 Robert Fulton in Brooklyn, New York]. Zilliacus went to Washington [Annotator's Note: Washington, D.C.] to live with his father. There, he went to Sidwell Friends School [Annotator's Note: in Washington, D.C.] for two years. His father returned to Finland. Zilliacus and his remaining family were instantly poverty-stricken. He had to find a job at age 16. He got into the Navy which got him square meals and new shoes. His father's main job was buying weapons all over the world [Annotator's Note: Zilliacus says the interviewer already knows about the PT-boats or patrol torpedo boats.] He bought 55 Brewster Buffalo [Annotator's Note: Brewster F2A Buffalo fighter aircraft, Finnish variant B-239E] fighter planes. Those 55 planes almost shot down the whole Russian Air Force in Finland during the Continuation War [Annotator's Note: Continuation War, 25 June 1941 to 19 September 1944]. One was flown by Eino Juutilainen [Annotator's Note: Finnish Air Force Sergeant Major Eino Ilmari "Illu" Juutilainen] who shot down 94 Russian planes. Wind [Annotator's Note: Finnish Air Force Captain Hans Henrik "Hasse" Wind] shot down 75 planes. Americans are misinformed about the Finnish-Russian war [Annotator's Note: Winter War, 30 November 1939 to 13 March 1940]. Poverty was kind of fun because he was out among real people. He enjoyed it. His first job was at the Raleigh Hotel in Washington. He lived in the boiler room. He worked for three Black [Annotator's Note: African-American] guys who did all of the dirty work there. It was a great learning experience. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Zilliacus to describe his father's relationship with Andrew Jackson Higgins, the founder Higgins Industries and manufacturer of Higgins Boats or LCVP; landing craft, vehicle, personnel.] Zilliacus met him. His father bought every weapon he could get his hands on. He met Andrew Higgins when negotiating for PT-boats. A man named Alfred Ettlinger [Annotator's Note: unable to identify] bought weapons from South American revolutionaries and sold them to Zilliacus' father. Ettlinger, his son, Zilliacus and his father, went to New Orleans [Annotator's Note: New Orleans, Louisiana] to meet Higgins. His father made Higgins the Finnish Consul in New Orleans. Zilliacus met Roland [Annotator's Note: Roland Higgins, son of Andrew Higgins], got a ride on a boat, and had dinner with them. His father did not get the last three [Annotator's Note: PT-boats] due to an armistice between Finland and Russia [Annotator's Note: Moscow Peace Treaty]. The two countries sat in the trenches looking at each other for a couple of years. Hours before the Germans attacked Russia, the Russians renewed their attacks on Finland [Annotator's Note: 25 June 1941]. The Finns ended up on the same side as Germany, but they never allowed German troops to come into Finland. The Finns bought Panzerfausts [Annotator's Note: German single shot, anti-tank weapon] so they could attack Russian tanks. Russia decided they wanted Berlin [Annotator's Note: Berlin, Germany] more than Finland, and worried that Patton [Annotator's Note: US Army Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Jr.] would take it. Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] had promised them Berlin, but he was old and sick. Patton could have been there.

Patrick Zilliacus worked in a factory near Washington, D.C. for Engineering and Research Corporation [Annotator's Note: now ACF Industries LLC, Saint Charles, Missouri]. They made gun turrets and propellor profilers. He worked as a welder and lathe operator. The Chief Engineer was Fred Weick [Annotator's Note: Fred Ernest Weick; pilot, engineer, and aircraft designer]. He met a guy who had been let out from the National Training School for Boys [Annotator's Note: juvenile corrections institution in Washington D.C.], where he had been sentenced for driving a stolen car across state lines. They worked together. He told them they could work in Gary, Indiana and make more money working in the steel mills. Zilliacus did not go right away but a few days later he got a job in a steel mill there. The friend turned 18 and Zilliacus went with him to the draft board. He was not 17 yet but told them he had turned 18 already. They said he would be classified as 1A [Annotator's Note: Selective Service classification indicating the infividual is fit and available for military service]. Zilliacus was a handy man at a steel mill and told them it was a necessary job. The steel mill disagreed and Zilliacus was drafted into the Navy. He wanted to go in the military, and it was nice. If you are going to be in a war, you might as well be in the military. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Zilliacus how he found out about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941.] His father had an assistant military attaché who Zilliacus was having a meal with. The news came over the radio. They went to the attaché's apartment and he said that it was going to be trouble for Finland. Zilliacus took a test and did well. He was told he could go in any part of the Navy he wanted. He was told V-5 [Annotator's Note: V-5 US Navy Aviation Cadet Program, 1939 to 1943] was the hardest so he asked for that. They needed a high school transcript and he had not graduated. They told him he could go to submarines. He was sent to torpedo school. He went to New London [Annotator's Note: Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut]. He was assigned to the USS Spot (SS-413) being built at Mare Island, California [Annotator's Note: Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California]. It was commissioned there in 1944 [Annotator's Note: on 3 August 1944] and they went off to war.

Patrick Zilliacus thinks that the variety of odd jobs he held before being drafted helped him in duties on a submarine. The submarine service was long periods of boredom and short periods of terror. They made four successful war patrols, sank 17 ships, and were depth-charged [Annotator's Note: also called a depth bomb; an anti-submarine explosive munition resembling a metal barrel or drum] a lot. They got close to being sunk. They had surface fights with their five inch gun [Annotator’s Note: five inch 25 caliber naval gun]. They had a surface fight with two Japanese escorts that they almost lost [Annotator's Note: on 24 February 1945]. They shot up a radar station on an island [Annotator's Note: 25 April 1945] and even shot a bus on the end of a pier. Their skipper was "Wild Bill" Post [Annotator's Note: later US Navy Rear Admiral William Schuyler Post, Jr.] who had been the skipper of the USS Gudgeon (SS-211) that was sunk on the run after he had gotten off. He wanted to get even. He was a great captain, and the crew was heart and soul for him. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Zilliacus to tell him about Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut.] He went into Spritz's Navy where you do odd jobs under a Chief Petty Officer Spritz [Annotator's Note: US Navy Chief Torpedoman Charles Spritz]. He then went to classes to learn how to drive a submarine. Later on, he became an officer and returned a couple of times. [Annotator’s Note: The interviewer asks Zilliacus to tell him about the dive tower.] The diving tower was a lot of fun. They put you into a tank and they pump up 50 pounds per square inch. Some people wash out right there. You also put on a Momsen Lung [Annotator's Note: underwater rebreather used as emergency escape gear] and they flood the chamber to chest high. They bring down a tube and you are 100 feet underwater. You then go up to the top. Zilliacus did a free ascent without a Momsen Lung. He liked it. The men around him became like a family. Every year he goes and meets two of his shipmates who can still travel. They've had reunions but it is a shrinking group. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Zilliacus how his English was by this point as he is an immigrant from Finland who could not speak English when he came to the United States.] At Friends School [Annotator's Note: Sidwell Friends School in Washington D.C.], he had a Latin teacher who spoke to him in Latin because it was easier to learn that than English. When Zilliacus got out of the Navy he wanted to go to college but only had two years of high school. He took the High School Equivalency Examination and passed. He went to the University of Maryland [Annotator's Note: College Park, Maryland] and said he wanted to study Engineering. He did not have enough math. He had to go take the final exam in math at Friends School. His former Latin teacher did not think he would pass it so he tutored him until he could. He then got into school. [Annotator's Note: Zilliacus lists his degrees.] He has patents and is a private pilot.

[Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Patrick Zilliacus if he embraced military life.] Zilliacus liked the Navy very much. After training, he took a train to Vallejo, California where they were constructing a new submarine, the USS Spot (SS-413). They went to sea and to the war. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Zilliacus if Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut was where he had his first submarine ride. It was.] They trained on R-boats [Annotator's Note: R-class submarine] and S-boats [Annotator's Note: S-class submarines], World War 1 and 1920s submarines. He liked it. They were very noisy. The crew's head [Annotator's Note: slang for bathroom] was in the engine room. He was amazed at the complexity and beauty of the Spot. He was interested in learning about it. He was a torpedoman and had to learn about the new electric torpedoes. At first, he stood watch and then he was put on room watch, which meant he had to have the torpedoes ready to go. Under battle stations he loaded, fired them, and operated the tubes. They first went to Pearl [Annotator's Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii] for supplies and then went to Midway [Annotator's Note: Midway Island, Territory of the United States] and took on a crew member. Their first patrol was in the China Sea. Every war patrol had combat, they sunk ships. They sank 17 ships distributed over his four patrols. His first ship sunk was the Nanking Maru [Annotator's Note: on 17 March 1945]. That was thrilling. In a submarine, you dream about sinking ships.

[Annotator’s Note: The interviewer asks Patrick Zilliacus if, as an American immigrant in the Navy, he was invested in America's war participation.] He became an American citizen and if he was going to live in this country, he should be willing to fight for it. He could have moved back to Finland. It has a higher standard of living, but America is more fun. They were very excited when they sank their first ship [Annotator's Note: the Nanking Maru on 17 March 1945]. Before that, they had fired at another ship and the torpedoes had malfunctioned. The United States had very bad torpedoes and Japan had good ones. The ship was always comfortable enough. It was more fun to be submerged as it was quiet and warm. On the surface they were tossed by the waves and it was cold. They were in some terrible typhoons. They had a Navy photographer aboard who would not go up and take pictures in any heavy action. The first time they had a depth charge [Annotator's Note: also called a depth bomb; an anti-submarine explosive munition resembling a metal barrel or drum] dropped at them, one of the steward's mates wrote home that he was almost killed that day, even though it was pretty far away. When they got depth charged, they were given a small vial of brandy [Annotator's Note: type of alcohol] which was considered depth-charge medicine. Depth charge are noisy and cause leaks. They had one that took out an engine. His second patrol stands out because they went into a convoy with escorts at night [Annotator's Note: on 24 February 1945]. They sunk two. It was on the surface and in shallow water. There were armed mine layers chasing them while they were trying to get into deep water. One of the mine layers [Annotator's Note: Japanese minesweeper W-17] caught up and they ended up in a gun fight. They [Annotator's Note: the Japanese ship] had two 4.7 inch guns [Annotator's Note: QF 4.7 inch Gun Mark V, 45 caliber gun] in turrets and the sub had one five inch gun [Annotator's Note: five inch 25 caliber naval gun]. Both ships had 40mm guns [Annotator's Note: Japanese ship: 40mm/62(1.575") "HI" Type 91; American submarine: Bofors 40mm antiaircraft automatic cannon]. They got a lucky hit on the front gun and they could not use it. The sub's gun got jammed. The mine layer decided to ram the sub and were close. Zilliacus could see the sailors. They dove just in time. One man on the 40mm lost his foot. One gunner had to have spinal surgery, and another lost his teeth. The mine layer went over them. He was going so fast he had to make a wide turn so he could not get back to depth charge them. They had a lot of damage to their boat.

[Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Patrick Zilliacus if he had a good luck prayer for when his submarine was being attacked.] He just did whatever his job was. They had the same captain for three patrols, "Wild Bill" Post [Annotator's Note: later US Navy Rear Admiral William Schuyler Post, Jr.]. Then they had Jack Seymour [Annotator's Note: US Navy Commander Jack M. Seymour] who was not as powerful as Post. They were surfaced in the day and saw a Kobe-class heavy cruiser [Annotator's Note: name for Japanese Aoba class heavy cruisers built at Kobe, Japan] and they just let it go. They stopped a lot of places to refuel. They were still fighting on Guam [Annotator's Note: Guam, Mariana Islands] when they went there. They stopped at Saipan [Annotator's Note: Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands] and Midway [Annotator's Note: Midway Island, Territory of the United States]. At the end of the war, they returned to Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii]. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Zilliacus what it was like to go to Pearl Harbor the first time.] Zilliacus does not remember seeing any evidence of damage. They did not stay at Pearl Harbor. They were more interested in liberty [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] than touring the wrecked ships. He has not been back. He was not interested in Hawaii. They sank some small ships with gunfire on the last patrol. They were on lifeguard duty to pick up pilots [Annotator's Note: 2 to 23 June 1945]. On one, they were very close to Nagasaki when the atomic bomb [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapon dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, 9 August 1945] was dropped. George H.W. Bush [Annotator's Note: George H. W. Bush, 41st President of the United States; 43rd Vice President of the United States; 11th Director of Central Intelligence Agency; shot down 1944] was picked up by a submarine [Annotator's Note: USS Finback (SS-230)]. They were close to Ie-Shima [Annotator's Note: Ie-Shima, Japan] but never picked up anybody. They picked up Japanese prisoners. On one occasion, they had shot all of their heavy ammunition. They only had a .50 caliber machine gun [Annotator's Note: Browning M2 .50 caliber machine gun] and demolition charges. The target ship had a three inch gun they knocked out. They sent a party over who boarded the ship and blew it up. It sank under the crew. They picked up their crew and one Japanese sailor, Sushitawa [Annotator’s Note: unable to identify], a meteorological officer. He was a nice guy and popular on their sub. The crew petitioned to let him live in one of the torpedo rooms. They dropped him off at Midway. They sunk another ship and picked up an uncle and his nephew who were Korean.

Patrick Zilliacus corresponded with his family. It was censored twice but he corresponded throughout the war with his relatives in Finland. It meant a lot to him. He was very close to his family. His grandmother would write him quite a bit. He wrote in English and his grandmother wrote in Swedish. Finland has three languages and his family spoke mostly Swedish. Zilliacus knew the Japanese had been extremely cruel, especially in China. He knew that they were interested in Asia for Asians. They were the enemy and his job was to sink their ships. Later on, he spent a lot of time in Japan and had an office there. He even learned some Japanese and he found them to be very nice people. Sushitawa [Annotator's Note: unable to identify; a Japanese sailor they rescued after sinking the ship he was on] was a nice man. A submarine combat patrol lasted 30 to 40 days. You usually did not come back until you were out of torpedoes or nearly out of fuel. They ran slowly to conserve fuel unless in battle. They could not catch up to a convoy, they had to be in front of them and wait for them. The Germans came up with the U-2513 [Annotator's Note: German submarine U-2513, a Type XXI diesel-electric u-boat] which could run fast submerged for longer periods of time. Zilliacus went on one out of Key West [Annotator's Note: Key West, Florida]. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Zilliacus if there was any moment where he was really scared.] The battle on the surface was it [Annotator's Note: 24 February 1945; see clip titled "Combat Close Call"]. He could just imagine the bow of that Japanese ship slicing into their hull and that scared him. He has always been interested in submarines and has been on nuclear [Annotator's Note: nuclear powered] submarines. He thinks they are the ultimate weapon. One he was on that had 30 missiles aboard and each missile could destroy an entire city. There is no good way to detect them. They are why there are not going to be any big wars anymore. He met Admiral Rickover [Annotator's Note: US Navy Admiral Hyman G. Rickover; nicknamed the Father of the Nuclear Navy] once in Chicago [Annotator's Note: Chicago, Illinois] in the airport. He spent an hour talking to him. Rickover did more for American defense than even Andrew Higgins [Annotator's Note: Andrew Jackson Higgins; founder Higgins Industries and manufacturer of the LCVP; landing craft, vehicle, personnel or Higgins Boat] did. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Zilliacus how he heard about the end of the war.] He heard about the atomic bombs [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945] on the radio. They were told to proceed to Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii]. They were to rejoin their squadron at Midway [Annotator's Note: Midway Island, Territory of the United States]. Zilliacus signed up to ferry Japanese submarines back. Then he heard that was not going to happen, so he took his name off the list. He got out of the Navy in December 1945. It was momentous but they were having fun. It was kind of a letdown not having ships to sink. He was not being an idealist and worrying about the consequences. He was there to sink ships. That is what war is. He thinks it is important for kids growing up today to learn about World War 2. People who do not know history are doomed to make the same mistakes. It is important to know how and why wars happen and how they end. World War 2 is quite different from World War 1. In World War 2, it made a huge difference in who won. He feels that The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana] is important because that is how people are going to learn. His message to future viewers is to be useful and not be a leech. Anything you get for free is taken from your neighbor.