submarine

Diesel Boat Radio Shack - room
enough for two small RM's at a time

USN SUBMARINE SERVICE 1962-1969
STS1 (SS)

My first boat out of Sub School. Reported aboard her in Hunter's Point
Naval Shipyard, San Francisco 1963. Was reconfigured as a sonar
development platform - no forward torpedo tubes and an extra
compartment between the forward torpedo room and forward battery for
the engineers/scientists that rode with us. Independent ops in company
with an NEL (Naval Electronics Labs) research ship throughout the
South Pacific. No snorkel - all original. Didn't realize how good I had it
on that boat until I went to a "real" one. What great duty! Qualified for
my dolphins on this boat - took almost a year. NO HAM OPS, JUST WAS
ABLE TO LISTEN - with no snorkel, we spent every night on the surface,
charging the batteries. Heard some great DX during those times.

Swapped boats with a married Sonar Tech
that preferred not to go on a WestPac and
Vietnam (8 months at a time is a LONG
patrol and what was I going to do in San
Diego, single, no wheels, no money and
under 21?). Technically an SSK
(submarine hunter/killer) with enhanced
sonar capabilities. During 1964-1965
attached to the 7th fleet (plane guard
and picket) off of Vietnam and supported
various special operations throughout
the Tonkin Gulf. Very interesting stuff
with a lot of pucker factor thrown in. NO
HAMMING - hardly had time to even listen.

Technically I did not serve on SEA DEVIL, but upon BLUEGILL's return
from WestPac a number of us were assigned TAD (Temporary Assigned
Duty) to SEA DEVIL and stood safety topside/belowdecks watches while
she was being prepped to be used as a target to test modified and
updated electric torpedoes. She was configured to run with one
engine, all the WTD (water tight doors) opened, on the surface at
medium speed in a large circle off of San Diego. Flooding sensors were
placed all over the boat in all the compartments and hooked up to data
transmitters that could be monitored. Interestingly the BLUEGILL was
the one who sunk her with one torpedo that struck just aft of the
conning tower. I was on the sonar at the time - talk about a strange
feeling listening to one of your own get hit with a war shot. SEA DEVIL
retained her dignity and class all the way - going down as though it was
just another normal dive. I still have a diving alarm (ahhhooooooga!) off
of her.

Managed to get back to an old boat after two SSBN tours - this one the first
and last diesel for for me in the Atlantic Fleet. I was on her from 1968-1969; a
few training cruises and an interesting North Atlantic and Med trips. Got off
the boat in Rota, Spain, flew back to The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on a
MAC flight and was Honorably discharge from the USN (enlisted time was up)
December 1969. HAM BAND LISTENING was great in the MED areas. All that
DX I strived for was wall-to-wall local strength!

My first 'BOOMER" (Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarine). Left the BLUEGILL and was transferred
to SIMON BOLIVAR SSBN 641, new construction in Newport News, VA. I was one of the
PLANKOWNERS and assigned to the Gold Crew. Had to go through re-qualification, but not
nearly as difficult as the first time. Being on an FBM after nothing but old diesel boats is quite
an experience. Boomers were HUGE by comparison, unlimited water to use, clean uniforms,
perfect atmosphere (we made our own oxygen and maintained a perfect blend of breathing
air), lots of room and privacy. We ultimately did our patrols out of Rota, Spain where the Blue
and Gold Crews rotated in from CONUS. Made STS1 while aboard her 1965-1967. NO HAM
OPS, but had a good supply of QST's and ARRL Handbooks and worked on CIE courses.

CASIMIR PULASKI SSBN 633...My second 'BOOMER", an older version of the BOLIVAR, not quite so new
and shiny, but a great boat and a great crew. Was on the Gold Crew on this one, too. . Once again, NO
HAM OPS !!!

BLUEGILL was sunk by the USN and
used at the time for UDT training off
of LAHAINA, Hawaii. During my stint
in Honolulu with the USCG (1979)
had an opportunity to scuba dive on
her. She was deeper than I usually
dove (90 feet to the main deck) so it
was a quick 20 minute dive without
resorting to decompression stops -
but the most mesmerizing dive I
ever had! It was a surprise birthday
gift from local friends who knew I
had been stationed aboard her. I
had no clue what I was diving on -
they just boated up to a buoy marker
and said, "Go in here and follow the
line down." Perfect conditions for
their setting me up, too - the first 10
feet was a layer of silt and I couldn't
even see the line I was going down,
hand over hand. When I broke
through the silt, there she lay and I
instantly recognized her. Just about
went through an entire 80 cu ft tank
of air right there and then.
Once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to
stand on the bridge of a submerged
submarine that I rode for a year.

Diesel Boat BATHYTHERMOGRAPH - very
simple and saved a LOT of submarines from
being detected and/or depth charge attack....
a sensor outside the pressure hull would
read the temperature of the seawater as the
boat submerged and continued to go deep.
The purpose was to find a temperature
inversion layer that we could "hide" under -
the layers tended to bend, block and
dissipate the surface active sonar returns
(pings) and we were effectively masked from
being discovered. A piece of glass, on which
the Sonar Techs (me) coated a layer of soot
with a small squeeze bulb full of powder (I
also remember having to use a small smoke
generator that nobody in the vicinity much
appreciated), was mounted in the holder - the
stylus drew a line in the soot layer as we
continued down - when we went through a
protective layer, the Diving Officer would look
at the huge Depth Gauge on the Diving Stand
and report to the Conning Officer by yelling
up at him through the lower conning tower
hatch. Nothing fancy, just affective. Down
side - you could only use the glass once or
twice before it had to be redone, so I did a
LOT of soot coating. - usually ended up with a
mess (on me).

How would you like to get your hands on this
National Receiver? Used as an entertainment
RX in the Diesel Boat Officer's Wardroom.

I have never, before or after my sub service, personally experienced such
professional and knowledgeable men than on submarines - for our lives
literally depended on it. I have never felt safer in all my life than when I was
working with these amazing shipmates. The training I received (still a
teenager, yet!) in Sub School (Groton, Connecticut) and on my first boat - in
order to qualify for the coveted and necessary DOLPHINS - steered and
molded the rest of my life, both technically and attitude-wise, not to mention
learning the true meaning of TEAMWORK. It was an honor serving with them,
and still maintain contact with a few old friends over the years.

On Diesel Boats, every single crew member was required to learn every single system on the
boat - almost as well as the specialists of those systems. Moreover, you were trained by
those very same specialists and had to prove your unfailing ability to perform whatever
function was necessary, without hesitation, of those systems. Then after you were checked
off on your "quals book" by each specialist (engine, electrical, auxillaries, etc., then you had
to pass a final verbal/written/show-and-tell exam by a senior officer of the boat, usually the XO
(Executive Officer). Only if you passed all these hurdles were you considered SUBMARINE
QUALIFIED. This usually took a year and if you failed to make the grade - you were released
from subs and sent to other USN units (targets [surface craft] or shore duty). That first year as
a "non-qual" is not a happy time, filled with warm fuzzy memories. Very little sleep, no
reading novels, no movies, minimum liberty calls in great ports ("waste of precious time"),
high stress ("you are worthless to us - no, wait, you are actually dangerous to us!"). Your job
was usually NOT what your rating was - you were one of the lookouts, stood helm watches in
the Conning Tower, sat on the Bow and Stern Plane stations and did your stint as mess cook.
Even newly minted (just out of sub school) junior officers were considered useless and even
more dangerous - they got even less sleep and had very little time and more stress, since
eventually they were going to be earning their pay by making life-and-death command
decisions on top of having total knowledge of every system on the boat..... And God help the
individual, officer or enlisted, who fell behind on his quals !!!

Immediately upon qualification, you then became one of the teachers for the next batch of
new guys - and the cycle continued on.. one of the best examples I know of for an effective
apprentice program.

The qualification program on nuclear powered subs, due to the nature of how these boats
were finished inside (panelling covering piping and cable runs) and the reactor plant, is a lot
more theoretical (can't actually put your hands on every pipe and valve - the touchy feely
system of learning that works so well). However, the same intensity and high levels of
knowledge were required to become qualified and if anything, more effort was required due
to the nature of the propulsion plant, weapons systems, missile systems and high tech
electronics.

Click on this image of
USS PAMPANITO (SS-383)
to get an outstanding
virtual tour on a typical
Diesel Boat interior