Deep Dunker

The 48-starred flag of the President of the United States, redesigned by Harry Truman himself, flew at an unlikely place: the stubby mast of a Nazi submarine. The U-2513 was a U.S. prize from the surrendered German Navy, under study because of its revolutionary Schnorkel breathing device (TIME, Feb. 19, 1945). Now, with an all-American crew commanded by Lieut. Commander James Barr Casler, the U-boat was at Key West.

As he was piped aboard, the President wore a short-sleeved pink shirt, tan slacks and a white sulky cap. He stood on the conning tower with Skipper Casler, a fellow Missourian, while the U-2513 headed for open sea, beyond the southernmost limits of the U.S. Then, as the boat was rigged for diving, Harry Truman went below to the control room. Elevators depressed, the streamlined hull slid gently beneath the blue waters. The depth indicator showed that the President was going deeper than any of his predecessors*--200 feet, 300, 400 and finally 440. The U-boat could have gone deeper, but that was as far as the Navy wanted to take its Commander in Chief.

After 44 minutes she broke the surface again. Harry Truman had something to show for his temerity: a membership in the Royal Order of Deep Dunkers.

That was only half of a full day, as the President lazed in the Florida sun. He is a man who can take his fishing or leave it alone; but Florida boosters would have considered themselves betrayed if he did no fishing. Flanked by his chief of staff, Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy (who likes to fish), he set out in a crash boat to wet a line. His catch: a 5-lb. barracuda, a grouper and a mackerel.

All week the President slept an hour or two later than usual, ate well and relaxed. He even drove a car--a rare privilege for a President--on the Overseas Highway. It was just what the doctor ordered to knock the nagging cold he had taken south.

Back in Washington at week's end, the President plunged into a quick conference on the coal situation, was expected to stay desk-bound for a while. But to every body's surprise, he flew 1,890 miles in 8 hours, 49 minutes for a two-hour Sunday visit with his mother in Grandview, Mo., on the eve of her 94th birthday. He found her "just fine." Last week the President also :

P: Ordered Special Envoy Myron C. Taylor back to the Vatican over Protestant protests, but limited his mission to 30 days.

P: Raised the U.S. mission in Iraq, a Middle East hot spot, to an embassy, named Career Diplomat George Wadsworth as first Ambassador.

*Teddy Roosevelt made a shallow dive in a primitive sub on Aug. 25, 1905.

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