Robert "Bob" Hurley was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and raised in Eliot, Maine.  He enlisted in the Naval Submarine Reserve Division at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine immediately following his 17th birthday in his Junior Year of High School. While he was still in high school, Bob attended Reserve Meetings weekly at the Reserve Training Submarine SEALION, spent two weeks during summer vacation at Naval Submarine School in Groton, Connecticut, and was designated SA(SP) upon completion.  After he graduated from Eliot High School in June 1960 (The same month and year his future lovely wife, Madelyn "Mady" Borja Hurley was born in San Felipe, Zambales, Philippines) he spent the summer enjoying the tourists at the area beaches and then commenced active duty at Naval Submarine School, Groton, Connecticut in December 1960.  (Because he was so intelligent and good looking, and partially because he was advanced to SA(SP) prior to commencement of active duty, Bob was ordered directly to Submarine School without being required to attend Boot Camp.  It's rough making sacrifices to serve!!)

At Submarine School he was fortunate to have Canadian Submarine Sailors as half of his class being trained to take over a U.S. Diesel Submarine being turned over to Canada.  In February 1961 upon completion of Submarine School, Bob had to report to the USS TENCH (SS 417) undergoing an extensive overhaul in Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.  As luck would have it, the Canadians in his class also were reporting to their new boat in Philadelphia.  What an experience!  You couldn't begin to imagine how hard it was to spend six months in Philadelphia being supervised on liberty by the Canadian bubbleheads.  What better way to start a Navy career!

Upon completion of the overhaul, TENCH went back to its homeport in Groton, CT and commenced normal operations.  They had port visits in Bermuda and Halifax, Canada, went south on a Springboard Operation, and did some Sub School Ops.  The most memorable event was a five-month MED Cruise.  It was fantastic!  They spent more than 85% of their time in port and had a chance to see a lot of different places.  They visited Rota,Spain; Palma, Mallorca; Naples(twice), La Spezia, and Genova Italy; Athens, Greece; Cagliari, Sardinia; Palermo, Sicily; Nice, France; spent 20 days in Monaco for Christmas and New Years; and went to Lisborn, Portugal before returning home. Bob qualified in Submarines while on that trip in Spain and his shipmates said he really enjoyed "drinking his dolphins" in that bar in Palma.  For some reason he couldn't recall most of that memorable event!!!

Bob then transferred to the USS ALBACORE (AGSS 569) in the shipyard in Kittery, Maine in June 1962.  How many sub sailors have had the opportunity to be on a boat with "dive brakes," "Air Force B-59 Drag Chutes," and can't go to sea more than a few days because they have to come back to home port to recharge batteries!  He spent about four months on ALBACORE and got transferred to COMSUBDEVGRU TWO Staff in New London when they needed a yeoman striker.  In December 1962 USS CAVALLA (SS 244) lost their yeoman, so Bob was sent there to fill in until they could get a replacement.  In April 1963 he was sent TAD to YN"A" School in Bainbridge, Maryland.  He  found out he had passed the YN3 exam and was advanced to YN3(SS) during YN"A" School.  Needless to say, that was the closest he ever came to being "GOD" while in the Navy.  As a YN3(SS) in "A" school he didn't have to march, or put up with any of the crap the other students were taking.  After TAD at "A" School, he went back to CAVALLA until July 1963 when he was ordered to report to USS ALBACORE again because they lost their Yeoman.  He stayed there until November 1963 until the replacement Yeoman reported, and then was immediately transferred to USS TULLIBEE (SSN 597) in Groton, CT to fill a vacant Yeoman billet there.  He stayed on TULLIBEE until April 1964 and was returned back to COMSUBDEVGRU TWO Staff in New London.  Bob was advanced to YN2(SS) prior to being transferred back to USS TULLIBEE, in August 1966, undergoing a major overhaul back in Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine.  The boat was in drydock his entire tour and liberty was great, but he was a New England Yankee that joined the Navy to see the world and wasn't happy being transferred back to Portsmouth Shipyard three miles from his home where he grew up!!

In March of 1968, shortly after advancing to YN1(SS), he received his first set of shore duty orders (after 8 years of sea duty) and his orders told him to report to the Brig at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for a three year tour of shore duty.  He nearly went crazy!  He immediately got on the phone to the detailers at BUPERS and wanted to know why he got those orders since everything on his Duty Preference Card was for West Coast and Overseas Duty.  As you can guess, one of the detailers thought he was doing him a favor when he saw he was from the state of Maine.  Needless to say, after some horrid threats, the detailer sent him a new set of orders to report to the USS RONCADOR (AGSS 301), a Reserve Training Submarine in Long Beach, California for a four year tour.  After only completing 18 months of his 48 month tour on RONCADOR, Bob received a set of message orders to report in nine days to USS SEAWOLF (SSN 575) in Groton, CT because they lost their YNC due to injuries in a bar fight in St. Thomas.  They had been without a Yeoman or striker for almost two months when he reported aboard, had to leave on a five month MED Cruise (which crewmembers had less than 15 liberty days and only three liberty ports) four days after reporting aboard.  When he first walked into the Ship's Office, the XO was trying to "hunt and peck" type a report to Admiral Rickover.  You get the picture of what kind of a tour that was!  Upon returning from the MED Cruise, within a few weeks they were sent on a Northern Run.  On returning to New London from the Northern Run they found out SEAWOLF had been picked to be a Special Project Boat and would be changing homeport to Mare Island, CA within a couple of months.

Shortly after arriving in Mare Island, the Division Commander came aboard and was not happy with the pre-overhaul nuclear testing.  He relieved the CO, and then sent all the Chiefs and about 12 petty officers from the engineering department to the SUB Group for disqual and NEC removal. Shortly after that, the XO was transferred early to another XO tour, and later the Engineer was also canned.  The whole engineering department was on 12-hour watches and port and starboard duty for over six months until we could start getting in some qualified reliefs.  The morale was terrible!  Bob would have done anything to get back to a diesel boat?

Bob had been selected as to attend junior college under the ADCOP Program in mid 1970.  At the end of the SEAWOLF tour in July 1972, they continued to tell him that they couldn't let him go to College because they didn't have enough Yeoman in the Submarine Force to provide a relief, so he made the decision to get out of the Navy.  Strangely enough, just before he transferred to separations, they found a YNCS(SS) and YNSN to relieve him.  While he was in separations in Treasure Island, California he was recruited to become a TEMAC Recruiter and assigned to the Naval Reserve Center in Stockton, CA.  Bob had passed the advancement exam for CPO just prior to getting out of the Navy, so when he reported as a TEMAC Recruiter, they received authority to advance him to YNC(SS) in July 1972.  Bob stayed in Stockton and eventually ended up being the Recruiter in Charge of the Regular Navy Recruiting Station in downtown Stockton and served there for two years.  He was then offered, and accepted, a TEMAC Yeoman billet in BUPERS in Washington, DC in the Deserter Section.

Within a few months at BUPERS in early 1975, he was offered an assignment to become a Nuclear Detailer if he would recall to active duty for two years and accepted that also. (During this period, Mady graduated from High School April 1977 in San Felipe, Philippines and commenced college in Magsaysay Memorial College in San Narcisco.  While attending college she was selected to attend the Apprenticeship Program at the U.S. Naval Ship Repair Facility in Subic Bay and dropped out of college to attend this program full time August 1978. She worked and trained as an Aprentice in Shop 64 learning the carpentry trade and attending various classes including mechanical drawing, english, and math.)

In February 1977, USS GRAYBACK (SS 574) homeported in Subic Bay, Philippines needed a leading yeoman.  Being the patriotic shipmate that he was, (considering that he was a "single chief" and didn't want to have to place this burden on his married constituents), he self-sacrificingly volunteered to suffer the consequences necessary to represent his country in the Philippines for a 15-month tour.  Not wanting anyone else to have to bear the heavy responsibilities he was faced with on that tour in WESTPAC, he agreed to keep extending and stayed there for 3 1/2 years and advanced to YNCS(SS).

Six months prior to transfer back to the "real world," a "sweet and innocent" 19-year-old Filipino SRF Shop 64 Apprentice Worker (Madelyn Borja) came onboard the GRAYBACK to put some tile in the Wardroom.  Bob had a touch of temporary insanity, allowed himself to be captured, married Mady, and brought his newly acquired "Philippine Souvenir" back to "reality" in the good old USA!  Shortly after arrival in the States, American wives cornered Mady and quickly destroyed Bob's "perfect wife" training program.  Bob then reported to SUBASE Kings Bay, Georgia for a three-year shore tour in August 1980.  He and Mady were blessed with the birth of their son, Mark, in January 1982.  He transferred JUN 83 to his final tour at COMSUBPAC Staff in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.  Bob was selected for advancement to Master Chief in 1985, but made the decision to decline advancement and retired as a YNCS(SS) with 26 years in July 1986.