SUBMARINE PAY
Teddy Roosevelt was the first American president to go aboard a submarine and participate in a dive. The USS Plunger dove beneath the surface of Long Island Sound on August 25th 1905 with the President on board.
President Roosevelt not only achieved this historical first but was the man directly responsible for establishing submarine pay. The naval Admirals and bureaucracy of the day thought that submarine duty was neither unusual nor dangerous, and classified it as shore duty. For that reason, submariners received twenty-five percent less pay than sailors going to sea in destroyers, cruisers and similar surface ships.
From a story researched by Robert Loys Sminkey, Commander, United States Navy, Retired:
“Roosevelt’s two hour trip on Plunger convinced him that this discrimination was unfair. He described submarine duty as hazardous and difficult, and he found that submariners “have to be trained to the highest possible point as well as to show iron nerve in order to be of any use in their positions…”
Roosevelt directed that officer service on submarines be equated with duty on surface ships. Enlisted men qualified in submarines were to receive ten dollars per month in addition to the pay of their rating. They were also to be paid a dollar for every day in which they were submerged while underway. Enlisted men assigned to submarines but not yet qualified received an additional five dollars per month.
Roosevelt did not dilly-dally once he made a decision. He issued an executive order directing the extra pay for enlisted personnel. This was the beginning of submarine pay!”
theleansubmariner 
Great historic unknown fact.
Thanks for sharing this.
Pierre, a distant cousin of Robert Ritchie on Eternal Patrol since August 6th, 1945.
Thanks for an interesting post.
President Roosevelt must have been very impressed. According to a couple websites, $1 in 1905 was on average worth about $24 worth of goods today. This conversion is highly dependent on what type of goods one bought.
Thus sub pay in 1905 was about $240 / mo in today’s dollars. The earliest pay scale I could find was for 1949. Base enlisted pay in 1949 was in a range of about $100 -> $300 / mo. So, sub pay in 1905 was BIG bucks, might have doubled one’s pay!
Thanks Larry. I love it when I get feedback that is researchable
Great post! I knew TR was Secretary of the Navy and can easily imagine him wanting to go under the water for an adventure. Awesome.
Reblogged this on theleansubmariner and commented:
The money paid to submariners was meant to correct an inequity. The men in boats were only paid for shore pay. Teddy Roosevelt fixed that.