ussvi central texas base march 2020ussvi.org/basenewsletters/centraltexas_newsletter.pdf · parade...
TRANSCRIPT
April 2020 Page 1
USSVI Creed
Section 1: To perpetuate the memory of our shipmates who gave their lives in the pursuit of their duties while serving their country that their dedication, deeds, and supreme sacrifice may be a constant source of motivation toward greater accomplishments. And to pledge loyalty and patri-otism to the United States of America and its Constitution.
Camaraderie
Section 2: In addition to perpetuating the memory of departed shipmates, USSVI shall provide a way for all Submariners to gather for our mutual benefit and enjoyment. The common heritage as Submariners is strengthened by camaraderie. The USSVI supports a strong United States Sub-marine Force.
Perpetual Remembrance
Section 3: The organization engages in various projects and deeds that bring about the perpetual remembrance of those shipmates who have given the supreme sacrifice. USSVI also endeavors to educate all third parties it comes in contact with about the services United States submariners performed and how the sacrifices of lost shipmates made possible the freedom and lifestyle Ameri-cans enjoy today
THE DECK LOG
USSVI Central Texas Base
april 2020
April 2020 Page 2
Table of Contents
============================= Creed ---------------------------------------- 1
Table of Contents ------------------------- 2
Points of Contact -------------------------- 2
Publication, Web Site, Base Mtg ------ 2
Links------------------------------------------ 3
Silent Running ----------------------------- 4
27MC Base Announcements ---------- 5
Base Commander’s Report --------- 5
E-board Meeting Minutes ------------ 5
Chaplain’s Corner---------------------- 6
Base Treasurer’s Report ------------- 7
Storekeeper Corner ------------------- 7
Birthdays --------------------------------- 7
Membership ----------------------------- 7
Binnacle List----------------------------- 8
Kap(SS)4Kid(SS) ---------------------- 8
Calendar of Events -------------------- 8
Underseas Warfare News -------------- 9
USSVI Official Business News ------ 16
History ------------------------------------- 20
Thoughts ---------------------------------- 23
Once Upon A Time --------------------- 25
Sea Stories ------------------------------- 26
=============================
USSVI National Commander
Wayne Standerfer 972-298-8139 [email protected]
USSVI National Senior Vice-Commander
Jon Jacques 615-893-7800 [email protected]
USSVI Central Regional District Commander
Tom Williams 512-632-9439 [email protected]
USSVI Central District 4 Commander
Bill Scott 512-826-8876 [email protected]
Central Texas Base Officers
Commander Rick Mitchell 512-639-0035 [email protected] Vice-Commander Gene Hall 512-864-2860 [email protected] Yeoman Frank Abernathy 512-426-3427 [email protected] Chief of the Boat Bill Scott 512-826-8876 [email protected] Treasurer Joe Keller 512-626-3202 [email protected] Base Support Appointments
Chaplain - Bob Steinmann 512-255-5250 [email protected] Memorial - Ray Wilgeroth, Sr 512-218-4077 [email protected] Storekeeper - David Paulson 512-940-1112 [email protected] Membership - Chuck Malone 512-694-5294 [email protected] Newsletter Editor - Bill Scott 512-826-8876 [email protected] Webmaster - Chuck Malone 512-694-5294 [email protected] Parade Chairman - Tom Sprague 858-755-6071 [email protected]
K4K Chairman - Shawn O’Shea 702-682-9170 [email protected] Fundraising- Don Atkins 512-508-1997 [email protected]
Editor’s Desk
The Deck Log is a monthly publication of the Central Texas Base, United States Submarine Veterans, Inc. It is delivered via email in Mi-crosoft Publisher PDF format to the Base Mem-bership. A copy is printed and mailed via USPS to those shipmates not having email.
Deck Log Editor
Harold W (Bill) Scott II, STSCS (SS) USN Ret. Holland Club, Life Member USSVI Central District 4 Commander SS-242, SSN-612, SSN-595, SSN-596
512-826-8876
Web Site: https://ussvicentraltexasbase.org/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ussvicentraltexas/
Base Meetings - Base meetings are held on the third Wednes-day of the month at M/SGT Ben D Snowden VFW Post 8587, 1000 N College St, Georgetown, TX 78626. We hold a quarterly social in lieu of a Base Meeting in March, June, September and December.
April 2020 Page 3
National Information Sources
A listing of Internet information addresses of the various organizations as places to obtain information on national items of interest. Shipmates, you are invited to add to the list (just let me know via email of any you use), so over time it would become more comprehensive.
https://www.ussvi.org/home.asp http://www.ussvi.org/base/CentralTexas.asp http://www.csp.navy.mil/
http://www.navytimes.com/ http://www.navy.mil/swf/index.asp http://www.military.com/
http://www.med.navy.mil/pages/default.aspx http://www.fra.org/ http://defensetech.org/
http://www.subvetstore.com/index.php http://www.subforce.navy.mil/ http://www.vfw.org/
www.navyleagueaustin.org www.navyleague.org http://www.usni.org/
http://www.navy.mil/navydata/cno/n87/n77.html www.military.com/military-report/ www.moaa.org
www.shiftcolors.navy.mil http://www.va.gov/
http://www.submarinesailor.com http://www.public.navy.mil/BUPERS-NPC/Pages/default.aspx
http://isausa.org/ WWW.DESIGNED4SUBMARINERS.COM http://www.dfas.mil/
http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ http://www.ausn.org/ https://www.facebook.com/ussvicentraltexas/
April 2020 Page 4
TOLLING OF THE BOATS – APRIL
“I can assure you that they went down fighting and that their brothers who
survived them took a grim toll of our savage enemy to avenge their deaths.” Vice Admiral Charles A. Lockwood, USN
We Remember For those who gave their lives in the defense of our country We Remember
USS Pickerel (SS-177)
Lost on April 3, 1943 with the loss of 74 officers and
men, while on her 7th war patrol. She was lost off Hon-
shu. The exact cause of her loss has never been deter-
mined, but her OP area contained numerous minefields.
USS Snook (SS-279)
Lost on April 8,1945 with the loss of 84 officers and men.
Snook ranks 10th in total Japanese tonnage sunk and is
tied for 9th in the number of ships sunk. She was lost
near Hainan Island, possibly sunk by a Japanese sub-
marine.
USS Thresher (SS-593)
Lost on April 10, 1963 with the loss of 112 crew members and 17 civilian technicians during deep-diving exercises. 15
minutes after reaching test depth, she communicated with USS Skylark that she was having problems. Skylark heard
noises "like air rushing into an air tank" - then, silence. Rescue ship Recovery (ASR-43) subsequently recovered bits
of debris, including gloves and bits of internal insulation. Photographs taken by Trieste proved that the submarine had
broken up, taking all hands on board to their deaths in 1,400 fathoms of water, some 220 miles east of Boston.
USS Gudgeon (SS-211)
Lost on April 18, 1944 with the loss of 79 men off Sai-
pan. Winner of 5 Presidential Unit Citations, Gudgeon
was on her 12th war patrol and most likely due to a com-
bined air and surface antisubmarine attack.
Gudgeon was the first US submarine to go on patrol
from Pearl Harbor after the Japanese attack. On her first
patrol, she became the first US submarine to sink an
enemy warship, picking off the submarine I-173.
USS Grenadier (SS-210)
Lost on April 22, 1943 near Penang, with no immediate
loss of life. She was on her 6th war patrol. While stalking
a convoy, she was spotted by a plane and dove. While
passing 130 feet, the plane dropped a bomb causing
severe damage. She was lodged on the bottom 270 feet
and the crew spent hours fighting fires and flooding.
When she surfaced, she had no propulsion and was
attacked by another plane. While she shot down the
plane. When enemy ships arrived, the CO abandoned
ship and scuttled the boat. Of the 61 crew members
taken prisoner, 57 survived the war.
April 2020 Page 5
Hello Shipmates!
I’ve started to write this now a few times and didn’t really know exactly what to talk about in light of the current situation we find ourselves in as far as all of the social isolation as we attempt to flatten the curve of the COVID-19 virus. It certainly has put a damper on the many plans our Central Texas Base had scheduled causing cancellations of all events through May 20
th. I guess we can concentrate on
what we cannot do but then I think no, this just opens new opportunities for us. So, what if we miss a few events? I think everyone of us probably has missed a few events during our lives, VOLUNTARILY too. We all have spent days, weeks, months submerged and isolated (no TP jokes here) and we brag about it and most of us consider it a badge of honor.
I think we just need a bit of perspective on this and how we chose to look at the current challenge. Heck there are many of us who have had are going through much worse challenges as you sit here and read this. We have at least 3 members of our base currently fighting various forms of cancer, many fighting other bad diseases, wives and children who we dearly love fighting their own battles. Let’s just add this virus to the list and do as we have been trained and continue to work to accomplish our mission. We are all trained to operate things, fix things, solve problems, basically get things done. One of the biggest issues facing the nation currently is supplies and logistics, who did the president get to head up the supply chain taskforce and make things happen, he grabbed a Submariner. So, lets continue to get things done. But it’s how we get things done I’d like to talk about.
On the boats we worked as a team, we generally worked together and supported each other (albeit in our own Sub-mariner special kind of way), we did not usually go off on independent ops. The results of our work was always felt by the entire crew good or bad. I hope that if you are one of the many high-risk individuals that you are taking care of your-selves and following the various guidelines to keep yourselves safe, RECIRCULATE and DIVE! If by chance you find yourself in a situation where you need a little help, please do not hesitate to send up your buoy and ask. I know we are not isolated on a boat anymore and some of us have family, friends, etc. we can reach out to and I’m grateful for that. Maybe though this is not the case, or maybe they are also in need so please remember you can reach out to many of your shipmates also. All you need to do is send out the message. I’ve had offers from quite a few of you to help as needed, thank you for stepping up. Let me know how you are doing.
Regardless of your situation think back to the day you earned your dolphins and were presented a certificate where part of it likely read “having demonstrated his reliability under stress and having my full confidence and trust……”. That reliability and trust are why I feel so privileged to be part of you all here at the Central Texas Base. Until we have the opportunity to see each other in person again, let’s continue to stay in contact via phone, email, our base Facebook Page and our website.
As for the schedule over the next couple of months the E-Board met on-line today and we decided that we are going to try to hold our base meeting on-line April 15
th at our usual time. Depending on how that goes we will schedule further
meetings similarly until we can meet in person again. I will send out an email with specifics soon. We are keeping the Tolling Ceremony on May 25
th on the schedule and making plans now for our BBQ social on June 27
th. We are looking
at the July 4th parade also, but the city of Round Rock does not have many details posted yet.
Thanks for everything you have done and everything you do! Please feel free to reach out to me anytime phone, text, email are all fine.
Rick Mitchell [email protected] 512-639-0035 2000 CR 100 Georgetown, TX 78626
USSVI Central Texas Base Facebook Page
https://ussvicentraltexasbase.org/ New Base Web Page
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USSVI CENTRAL TEXAS QUARTERLY SOCIAL—21 MARCH 2020
The regularly scheduled quarterly Base social was to be held at the March 21st we will be holding our quar-
terly “Friends and Family Social” and the location this time will be Last Stand Brewing Company with BBQ
provided by Gabricks BBQ. This is in a completely different area, Dripping Springs, than we normally meet
but well worth the short drive. However, due to the coronavirus outbreak, the social was cancelled, or maybe
postponed to a later date to be determined.
April 2020 Page 6
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USSVI CENTRAL TEXAS E-BOARD MEETING—30 MARCH 2020
Location: Remote access by each member via ZOOM.
Meeting opened by Rick Mitchell, Central Texas Base Commander, 10:00.
E-Board were present. Rick Mitchell, Bill Scott, Gene Hall, Joe Keller and Frank Abernathy
Reviewed the Teleconference CD4 Bases had with National Commander
National website still making progress but very slowly. May make a website for general front end stuff with a database interface to follow at later time. Use current Tools until then. Fred Williams from Dallas Base is doing a lot of this work. He will start being paid.
Membership Renewal, Retention and Recruiting was discussed. The organization lost 774 members this year due to non-renewal. We are currently about 12K member nationwide. The loss of 774 members is about $19K worth of income. Central Texas Base is doing great here though but always open for new ideas to increase recruiting.
Annual Award nominations are underway. Deadline is April 30th. Please review the awards manual and
submit recommendations ASAP.
2020 National Election is coming up. Please vote when you get notice.
Charitable Foundation is currently in a fund drive. Please consider donating to them. It is a tax deducti-ble donation and it does support Submariners.
2020 National Convention is still planned to happen. Please register ASAP. DO not delay as it causes a great deal of issues in getting it properly executed as many of you know from our experience last year. If canceled due to COVID-19 issues you will get your money back. Please do not wait to register.
Memorial Day Tolling is still on as of this date:
25 May 2020 We will closely follow the status of the COVID-19 situation and cancel if we need to.
Next Meeting APRIL 15th will be held on-line
Will hold via Zoom, email with details to follow by April 3rd.
Annual Fundraiser Raffle
Raffling GC from Bass Pro for $1000, $750, $500, $250 and $100. Good at Cabela’s also.
Time frame dependent on what happens with COVID-19 issue.
June Social June 27th
BBQ To be held at a local park and fund raiser as we have last couple of years.
Likely Parks: Berry Springs, San Gabriel, Lake Granger, Lake Georgetown
July 4th Parade still planned but no details on website yet.
Meeting Adjourned by Rick Mitchell, 11:27, ZOOM Closed.
Minutes respectfully submitted by Frank Abernathy, Yeoman. 30 Mar 2020
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CHAPLAIN’S CORNER ===========================================
The Daffodil
The daffodil is known as the "Lenten Lily."
With its brilliant yellow flowers that bloom throughout Lent, its trumpet-shaped center and its leaves upraised in praise to the Creator, it joyfully heralds the coming of Easter.
A Popular legend describes the origins of the daffodil’s distinctive star shape: Each time a Guardian Angel notices a good deed during Lent – a prayer, kindness or a sacrifice – she plucks a gold star from the heav-ens and sends it to earth, where it blooms as a golden daffodil.
Another one, with his permission, from a Church friend of mine.
April 2020 Page 7
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Pandemic
Empty buildings, empty malls Empty schools with empty halls
Empty roads, empty stores. People hiding from virus spores.
Officials say, “Shelter in Place. No more meeting face to face.
No more handshakes, no more hugs, Keep your distance. Stop those bugs!”
Jesus calling, “I am here. Take my hand, banish fear!
Call a loved one trapped at home. Let them know they’re not alone.
Share your bounty, share your love. Share the message from God above,
We all are one what ere we do, You are me, I am you!”
Bill Welch 2020
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BASE TREASURER’S REPORT
20 March 2020
Financial Report for Period Ending 2/29/2020
RBFCU Checking (General Fund) Ending Balance $15,058.97
RBFCU Savings (Memorial Fund) Ending Balance $1,988.36
Ending Balance $17,047.33
Submitted: Joe Keller, Treasurer
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STOREKEEPER CORNER
The Central Texas Base (CTB) Supply Store is open for business. The Supply Store can obtain most of the items you need for memorabilia, your vest, gifts for others, etc. You can order them from the Storekeeper at a meeting or online at [email protected]. CTB can often get items at a lower than normal price, so you save money. The SK can search the net to find out-of-the-ordinary items, for all branches of the service. When requesting a ship’s patch, tell the SK which coast you served on board, as the patches are often different for each coast. The following items are now available in Ship’s Store:
2019 USSVI Calendars $10.00
Sub Vet Embossed T-Shirts (Limited qty & size) $18.00
Sub Vet Embossed Denim Jackets (Limited qty & size) $31.00
Various T-Shirts $18.00
Boomer Patrol Pin $7.00
Patches (many) $6.00
Golden Anchor Patches $3.00
Dolphins (large) $8.00
Dolphins (medium) $5.00
Vests w/patch $38.00
Vest Clips (shiny or oxidized) $30.00
Koozies $5.00
Web Belts $7.00
Base Ball Caps $12.00
Buckles, Dolphin $18.00
Buckles, Plain $10.00
License Plate Holder (Chrome) $10.00
License Plate Holder (Blue Plastic) $4.00
Stars for Pins $1.85
24 oz Glass mugs $15.00
12 oz Glass mugs 12.00
Parking Sign $20.00
Decals (Outside window) (four styles) $3.00
Black Leather Vest, Sub Vet Embossed $65.00
USSVI 50th Anniversary Patch and Coin set. Patch and coin purchased separately are $22.
$20.00
April 2020 Page 8
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BINNACLE LIST
Please keep us informed of any person who should be listed. These are the people that we know about, so please e-mail any E-Board member if you know of any member or his family that might be in crisis. Also please keep the Base Chaplain, Shipmate Bob Steinmann informed as well.
Shipmate Hubert Jackson recovering from surgery for Prostate Cancer. Keep him and his wife Linda in your prayers.
Shipmate Larry Walts recovering from surgery for B-Cell lymphoma.
Shipmate Byron Sage continues to deal with an issue with his immune system and prayers go out to him and his family.
Shipmate Bill Bellinghausen recovering from surgery and is in rehab.
We ask Lord, in your Son’s Name, that you be with our Brother’s and Sister’s who are sick and ask that you hold them in your arms and heal them so that they might again join us around our table. In your Son’s name, We pray, Amen.
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KAP(SS) 4 KID(SS)
Kap(SS)4Kids(SS) program is alive and well with the Central Texas base. If interested in attending the next event McLane’s Children’s Medical Center Temple Texas, April 14th at 10am please email Shawn O’Shea at [email protected] for further information and confirmation. Thanks to all our members for there con-tinued support of the children.
Shipmate Shawn O’Shea, Chair, Kap(SS)4Kid(SS)
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CALENDAR OF EVENTS
15 April 2020, Monthly meeting Central Texas Base, VFW Post #8587, 1000 N College St., Georgetown, TX 78626, 1800 for movie time, 1900 meeting. This meeting will be conducted using the Zoom.us App. Details to be provided by the BC.
20 May 2020, Monthly meeting Central Texas Base, VFW Post #8587, 1000 N College St., Georgetown, TX 78626, 1800 for movie time, 1900 meeting. If the April meeting is successful, This meeting will be tried using the Zoom.us App. Details to be provided by the BC.
25 May 2020, Annual Tolling of the Boats, Round Rock, TX Memorial Park, Muster time 0930 hours.
27 June 2020, Quarterly Social, Time and location TBD.
APRIL 2020
BIRTHDAYS
Derald Vogt - 7th
Hugh Brown - 28th
Gordon McMaude - 28th
MEMBERSHIP
Report presented to Base Commander w/copy to Yeoman.
Members listed in Central Texas Database 74 Regular Annual Members listed in Central Texas Database 26 Associate members w/paid Base and National dues 1 Central Texas Base Life Members 29 Central Texas Base National Life Members 37 Members in Holland Club 37 Dual Members 5 Prospective Members: 1 War Veterans 64 Members pending: 0
Submitted: Chuck Malone, Membership
April 2020 Page 9
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The following selected articles are part of Undersea Warfare News weekly news bulletin emails dur-ing the month of March 2020.
“No content is created in the production of this Newsletter. These press clips and broadcast summaries are collected from multiple sources and are prepared by the command public affairs office to inform key personnel of news items of interest to them in their official capacities. It is not intended to be a substitute for newspapers, periodicals or public af-fairs programming as a means of keeping informed on news developments. Article selection or distribution does not imply endorsement and cannot be guaranteed for accuracy. Further reproduction for private use or gain is subject to original copyright restrictions.”
http://www.subforce.navy.mil/
==============================
Shipbuilders to deliver advanced nuclear-powered sub to Russian Navy by May 9
Not Attributed, TASS (Russia), March 3
The Project 955A (Borei-A) lead nuclear-powered submarine Knyaz Vladimir may be delivered to the Rus-sian Navy by May 9, a source in the shipbuilding industry told TASS on Tuesday.
"The Knyaz Vladimir is expected to be delivered to the customer by the Victory Day. Most probably, in April," he said.
Head of Russia’s United Shipbuilding Corporation Alexei Rakhmanov said on February 10 that "all the finish-ing work has been done and the trials are over."
The press office of the Sevmash Shipyard (part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation) declined to comment on this information.
The Knyaz Vladimir is the improved Project 955A strategic missile-carrying underwater cruiser, which repre-sents the fourth generation of nuclear-powered subs built for the Russian Navy. It was floated out in Novem-ber 2017. According to the data of Russia’s Defense Ministry, the sub Knyaz Vladimir is less noisy and fea-tures improved maneuvering, depth and armament control systems.
All Borei-class submarines can carry 16 Bulava ballistic missiles. They are also furnished with 533mm torpe-do tubes. The shipbuilders earlier planned to deliver the nuclear-powered sub Knyaz Vladimir to the Russian Navy by the end of 2019.
Russian Defense Minister Army General Sergei Shoigu confirmed at the ministry’s conference call on Tues-day that the delivery of the Knyaz Vladimir was planned for this year.
==============================
Sonar Equipped Drone Fleets Could Be Key To Future Submarine Warfare
Megan Eckstein, USNI News, March 9
CATANIA, Sicily – The future of anti-submarine warfare for countries who can’t afford to invest in top-of-the-line submarines and maritime patrol aircraft could be a netted fleet of unmanned platforms that can create “passive acoustic barriers” at chokepoints or drag towed arrays through a country’s territorial waters.
NATO’s Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation is showcasing these ideas at NATO exercises such as the ongoing Dynamic Manta annual ASW exercise, showing off novel operations that could one day be commonplace if navies and their industrial bases decide to invest.
CMRE Director Catherine Warner said the organization has been working with autonomous vehicles in the undersea warfare area for the past 20 years to understand how they can contribute to perhaps the most complex type of naval warfare.
April 2020 Page 10
“The big idea in this whole realm of unmanned systems is figuring out the right systems with the right sensors and the right scenario that’s going to be cost and operationally effective,” she told USNI News after the kickoff of Dynamic Manta. She said ASW is “high-end asset-intensive” and that, while unmanned vessels can’t do everything a manned sub or plane can, they can perform some specific missions that would be cost-prohibitive to do with manned vehicles.
One prime example is the passive acoustic barrier. Noting that CMRE puts passive sensors on all the autono-mous vehicles, buoys and seabed devices the organization puts in the water, Warner said CMRE used all its sensors to demonstrate a passive acoustic barrier off the coast of Sicily in the days leading up to the start of Dynamic Manta.
While in this demonstration they tracked the flow of commercial ships across the “barrier,” the ultimate idea would be to track the movement of submarines at chokepoints such as the Greenland-Iceland-United King-dom (GIUK) Gap. The specifics of the unmanned vehicle wouldn’t matter as much as the quality of the sensor and the ability to differentiate the clutter from the sounds of submarines.
On the more active side of sub-hunting, CMRE has been particularly focused on the idea of multi-nation multi-static ASW, where an active sonar source would create pings for dozens or hundreds of passive sensors lis-tening for those sound waves to bounce off of enemy submarines. The more sensors that are in the water, the better they can detect pings and recognize what kind of submarine is moving through the water and in what direction.
During Dynamic Manta, CMRE operated alongside manned warships to join in the hunt for submarines, using its “network”: NATO research vessel NRV Alliance, two Ocean Explorer 21-inch diameter autonomous under-water vehicles named Harpo and Groucho, and a fleet of Liquid Robotics’ Wave Gliders that serve as com-munication nodes between the ship and the AUVs. Harpo and Groucho have a towed array to listen for pings, and more recently CMRE developed a towed array for the Wave Gliders as well to put more ears in the water.
“Having that extra set of sensors makes a huge difference” in multistatic ASW, Warner said, because when an active sonar source like the variable depth sonar on Alliance or a warship like Italian frigate ITS Carabinie-re (F 581) sends out energy, they want as many passive sensors in the water as possible to listen for pings.
“When you do multistatic, there’s so many more advantages because of the geometry and the extra chances for reflections. So we can do it with ourselves, but if we could do it with all the nations – and that is something that we strive to do with our interaction with the nations … – then everybody, wherever they are, that has a sensor, being able to know the sound source and sync to it and coordinate on the reflections – it is very pow-er to be able to do that.”
The key to multi-nation multistatic ASW is information-sharing: they’d all have to know where exactly the ac-tive sonar source is, so they could correctly calculate what the pings they pick up mean, and then they’d have to share what they’re hearing with all the other nations involved, too, so they could all adjust their positions as needed to get the best chance at hearing the target submarine and help track it through the water.
Information-sharing can be a hurdle with something as sensitive as ASW, with nations often not wanting oth-ers to know the exact nature of their capabilities, but Warner said the scale to which NATO could track sub-marines under the water would be powerful if everyone could find a way to come together.
Today, Harpo and Groucho talk to each other while looking for subs, and if one picks up a sound they will co-ordinate amongst themselves to get into the best positions for the best geometries to hear sonar pings. The more AUVS in the water collaborating, the better.
“We’ve done it. We’ve already shown that multistatic ASW works. That’s our system: we’ve been doing it since 2012 in Dynamic Manta, we’ve demonstrated it operationally, and we just keep adding things onto it. So it can be done. So, whether other nations want to do it with us, that’s up to them,” Warner said.
Warner said Harpo and Groucho are 21-inch diameter AUVs that were built by Florida Atlantic University. The vehicles themselves are 18 years old, but the batteries and sensors are constantly being upgraded, meaning the vehicle that originally had four hours of battery life can now operate for 72 hours without intervention. CMRE’s Dan Hutt told USNI News that the next step would be to scale up these operations. To conduct multi-static ASW in the GIUK Gap, for example, would require hundreds of AUVs from participating NATO nations. The idea, though, would be to “flood the ocean with lots of cheap assets – they all
have sensors, potentially different kinds of sensors, they can all talk to each other over a vast network – that’s a really powerful concept for ASW. We only have a handful of these, so we want to scale up and work with the nations to do a bigger demonstration.”
April 2020 Page 11
While several NATO countries are upgrading their fleets of “high-end submarines and frigates,” many cannot afford such exquisite systems, Warner said.
“But they certainly can afford a fleet of unmanned vehicles with towed arrays. And if they were all using the same standard, they could all buy from their own countries’ industry – that’s what we’re about, we’re not competing with industry, we’re developing standards,” she continued.
“Every nation’s industry would benefit from building these vehicles and the towed arrays, and then they could all operate together.”
CMRE has already done a machine learning effort to support the back end of this effort – researchers collect-ed 52 days worth of sonar echoes from diesel-electric submarines (SSKs) and created algorithms to help the unmanned vehicles recognize SSK sounds and ignore the clutter. This could be shared with the NATO mem-bers who want to join in this effort. Warner said Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands are taking steps to incorporate AUVs into their ASW efforts, but she’s hoping to see more.
A final technology CMRE is showing off at Dynamic Manta is an undersea communication network. NATO nations had previously agreed to use the JANUS as the digital underwater communications standard, but CMRE is still hard at work developing waveforms that will be cyber-secure and low-probability of intercept, as well as developing concepts of operations for its usage.
Ahead of Dynamic Manta, CMRE demonstrated they could use JANUS to send submarines the surface pic-ture with Automatic Identification System (AIS) tracks – so the submarines could know how to safely surface – by sending the message from a ship, through the Wave Gliders as comms nodes, and to the submarine underwater.
Warner said they call this setup “WetsApp” – a nod to the WhatsApp digital communication app on cell-phones – and said it’s a vast improvement over the voice communication tools they previously used to send messages to submarines, which could easily get garbled or lost altogether.
“Before, when they were submerged, submarines could only use something called an underwater telephone, which is very difficult to use, it’s distorted, hard to understand,” she said.
“But we can actually text them – we have a little program, we call it WetsApp, sort of WhatsApp, and we can send them for example the surface picture – if they were going to come to the surface, they would know where all the ships are on the surface. So that’s very important technology that we’ve already helped insert into the industrial base.”
==============================
Retired Captain Brings Navy’s Worst Sub Disaster Back To The Surface
Peter Rowe, San Diego Union Tribune, March 9
At 9:12 a.m. on April 12, 1963, the nuclear-powered submarine Thresher issued its final coherent message.
“Experiencing minor difficulties,” it began. “Have positive up angle. Am attempting to blow. Will keep you in-formed.”
The first and last sentences were unduly — and tragically — optimistic. After a garbled message from the boat at 9:17 a.m., none of the 129 aboard Thresher were ever heard from again. The difficulties had not been minor. They had been fatal, taking the vessel and her crew to a watery grave in the North Atlantic.
Almost 57 years later, this remains the U.S. Navy’s worst undersea disaster. It’s also one of the most myste-rious. While there are numerous theories about what caused the Thresher’s sinking, the official story is still under wraps.
The Navy’s investigation resulted in a 1,700-page report. Only 19 pages have been publicly released.
Capt. Jim Bryant, a submarine skipper retired in Point Loma, wants the public to see the other 1,681 pages.
“I feel a responsibility to the men who were aboard,” he said, “and their families.”
Last year, Bryant went to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, seeking to pry loose the report.
On Feb. 10, a federal judge ordered the Navy to release its report in monthly 300-page segments, beginning May 15 and continuing until Oct. 15. When the Navy requested more time to review documents and redact classified information, Bryant’s lawyer noted that the Navy already had promised to do this — 22 years ago. Then, in 2012, the Navy announced it had nearly completed its declassification review but wasn’t going to
April 2020 Page 12
release anything.
U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden noted that history this month while rejecting the Navy’s plea for more time. “Normally I defer to the government,” he said during a hearing, “but I can’t say I have a lot of confidence in how this looks now.”
Bryant, who was in the courtroom for this ruling, is not declaring victory.
“I’m not winning,” he said. “I’ve had a small victory in a very large battle.”
Circling the wagons
Bryant, 72, is an unlikely foe of the Navy’s “silent service.” Raised in Pasadena and educated at the U.S. Na-val Academy, he was a young officer when Adm. Hyman Rickover, the nuclear navy’s demanding leader, tabbed him for submarine duty. Before his retirement in 1994, Bryant served aboard three Thresher-class subs, commanding one, Guardfish, from 1987 to 1990.
These boats were part of the same class as the ill-fated Thresher, yet they were significantly different. Bryant left Annapolis as a young ensign eight years after Thresher had departed Portsmouth, N.H., on its final mis-sion. By the time he was partaking in undersea patrols, the Navy had adopted a new safety program — the acronym: SUBSAFE — and updated the boats’ engineering and nuclear propulsion plants.
Still, Bryant felt a kinship with Thresher, her crew and the loved ones they left behind.
In retirement, Bryant studied archaeology at San Diego City College, piecing together artifacts to understand the native peoples of San Diego’s pre-colonial past. In 2017, he brought the same analytical mindset to a more recent page of history: Thresher.
Early Indian societies proved to be more of an open book than the Navy’s nuclear-powered submarines. Even officially declassified material on these propulsion systems are locked away, out of the public’s sight.
“For example,” Bryant said, “the textbooks they use in Nuclear Power School, with basic physics and basic math, are all classified. For good reason, because you don’t want some other country to come in and steal that information and translate that into Russian or Chinese.”
In 1963, a naval court of inquiry blamed Thresher’s loss on catastrophic flooding from a ruptured pipe. Among those who dispute this theory is Bruce Rule, a former naval officer who eavesdropped on Soviet subs via SOSUS, a top secret network of hydrophones installed on the ocean floor. Now retired, Rule analyzed acous-tical data for a 42-page monograph, “Why The USS Thresher (SSN-593) Was Lost.”
Rule concluded that the sub lost power for unknown reasons, then plunged helplessly from 1,300 feet to 2,400 feet below the surface. At that extreme depth, he maintained, the pressure hull collapsed in the blink of an eye — 1/20th of second.
The crewmembers, Rule wrote, “although they knew the event was imminent, never knew it was occurring.”
Bryant found this analysis compelling but still wanted to see the Navy’s official report. In June 2017, he filed a Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, request to see Thresher documents. He was ignored. Bryant then pleaded his case in “Declassify Thresher,” an article for the July 2018 issue of Proceedings, the U.S. Naval Institute’s journal. In April 2019, he filed another FOIA request. No response.
On July 5, he sued in federal court.
“Thresher was not on a secret mission,” Bryant said. “We’re talking here about engineering procedures and a mindset that allowed that submarine to sink. So why is the Navy circling the wagons?”
Undersea warriors
This quest is controversial, even among Bryant’s peers.
“I admire Jim’s persistence,” said Charles MacVean, a retired Navy captain who commanded the nuclear-powered submarine Seawolf in the 1970s. “But it’s a terrific amount of energy being spent by him and the Na-vy. I’m not sure it’s going to get us any further up the knowledge chain.”
The Navy, MacVean added, had thoroughly studied Thresher’s loss and corrected the problems: “The les-sons learned were taken to heart and inserted into our ships and our methodology.”
Why bring this painful episode back to the surface?
“That’s like asking, ‘Why should we know anything more about the Challenger disaster in 1986?’ ” Bryant re-
April 2020 Page 13
sponded. “It’s like saying, ‘NASA knows everything, so we don’t need to know why NASA killed those astro-nauts when what happened was silly and avoidable.’ Was that a lesson learned?”
Robert Eatinger, Bryant’s attorney, was once a lawyer for the CIA. In that capacity, he was involved in hun-dreds of Freedom of Information Act appeals, but on the opposite side, seeking to maintain government secrets. Still, he’s unsure why the Thresher report is so sensitive. Even pre-hearing “meet and confer” conferences with the Navy’s lawyers failed to shed light on their concerns.
“The only things they would express,” Eatinger said, “is they need to protect their undersea warriors.”
While Eatinger and Bryant won a court order to see the official Thresher report, it’s unclear whether this victory was large or small. That’s because material deemed essential to national security will be redacted.
“Are the records going to be a lot of blacked-out pages, or a lot of text with very limited redactions?” Eatinger asked. “We don’t know until we see it.”
It may be awhile before these pages can be perused by other interested parties. Bryant, who expects to receive the doc-uments in digital form, plans to review them with an informal committee of retired nuclear submarine experts he’s as-sembled.
“And then,” he said, “we’ll release it to the public.”
Thresher was lost in a different era, when John F. Kennedy occupied the White House, the Beatles released “Please Please Me,” J.D. Salinger’s “Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters” topped best-seller lists and, in the tense aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Washington and Moscow created a hotline for direct communications. With the Cold War at its frostiest, submarines patrolled the front lines.
“But the Cold War is over,” Bryant said. “That technology is all obsolete. You know, the Soviets knew what we were do-ing, so why are we so worried now? The Thresher was a self-inflicted casualty.”
Still, some question whether we should probe this wound. They argue that the fatal errors, whatever they were, have been corrected.
“The best people in the country looked at all that data and made changes,” MacVean said. “The country did the best they could at the time they were doing it.”
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Japan Commissions Its First Submarine Running On Lithium-Ion Batteries
Mike Yeo, Defense News, March 9
MELBOURNE, Australia — The Japan Maritime Self- Defense Force on Thursday welcomed into service its first submarine using lithium-ion batteries with the commissioning of the 11th Soryu-class boat.
In a ceremony held at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries shipyard in the city of Kobe, officials welcomed the die-sel-electric attack submarine Ouryu into service, where it will be assigned to the 1st Submarine Flotilla in the nearby port of Kure.
The Ouryu is the sixth Soryu-class boat to be built by MHI, with Kawasaki Heavy Industries having built five more and building the 12th and last such submarine ordered by Japan. The Ouryu was launched in October 2018.
Both Ouryu and the last boat in its class, which will be christened the Toryu, will be slightly different from the earlier boats in the class, as they’ll use lithium-ion batteries manufactured by GS Yuasa in lieu of Stirling-cycle engines that recharge traditional lead-acid batteries for submerged operations.
Speaking during a 2017 presentation in Singapore, former head of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s submarine fleet Vice Adm. Masao Kobayashi said the batteries used in the Ouryu and Toryu are lithium nick-el cobalt aluminum oxide, or NCA, batteries. He said the technology requires less maintenance and is capa-ble of longer endurance at high speeds while submerged compared to lead-acid batteries.
Other advantages cited by Kobayashi include shorter charging time and longer life spans. The latter factor would mean that fewer battery changes are required over the life of the submarine.
However, he conceded that this is offset by higher acquisition costs due to the new technology, with the Ouryu costing the equivalent of $608 million when contracted compared to the $488 million cost of building the 10th Soryu-class boat.
April 2020 Page 14
Japan introduced lithium-ion batteries into its submarines after a lengthy development and testing period, which started as far back as 2002. Extensive testing starting in 2006.
The Soryu class displaces 2,900 tons surfaced and 4,200 tons submerged, measuring just less than 275 feet in length. Its top speed is 13 knots on the surface and 20 knots submerged. Each boat has a crew of 65, is equipped with six torpedo tubes, and can carry up to 30 21-inch heavyweight torpedoes, Harpoon anti-ship missiles or mines.
Following the Soryus, Japan will introduce a new class of submarines, which is currently known only as the 29SS, named for Heisei 29, or the 29th year of former Emperor Akihito’s reign, which corresponds to the year 2017 in the Gregorian calendar.
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US Navy Working to Keep Subs and Destroyers From Becoming COVID-19 Hotspots
Patrick Tucker, Defense One, March 19
Social distancing is tricky on a submarine but the U.S. Navy says that they haven’t had a big problem with COVID-19 spreading aboard ships.
“We’ve only had a very small handful of cases,” Rear Adm. Bruce Gillingham, the service’s surgeon general, told reporters today via teleconference. “The Navy is ensuring that sailors who display COVID-19 symptoms are tested, isolated and treated in accordance with Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center and CDC guidelines.”
Right now, the Navy can collect diagnostic samples from a shipboard sailors suspected of having COVID-19, but must send those samples ashore to a DOD lab for processing. While awaiting results, sailors are put into separate quarters.
“Navy medical professionals are working with industry to improve at-sea testing methods,” said Gillingham.
Fleet commanders instituted a policy several weeks ago that anyone coming aboard the ship would be “screened,” which is rather different from testing. “Those who appeared ill or who did not meet CDC criteria were not allowed aboard ship,” he said. As well, any ship that leaves a port won’t return to that port for at least 14 days.
“We have a protocol not only for any patient that would come aboard but also the crew,” he said. “Before the critical core reported today, they were all screened before they cross the brow of the ship.”
Fears that America’s destroyers and fast-attack subs would become gray-hulled versions of COVID-plagued cruise ships are, so far, not materializing. Every sailor so far with the disease has been found while the ship is in port, and immediately isolated, Gillingham said.
“We have not seen active transmission” at sea, where social distancing is happening “to the maximum extent possible,” he said.
The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the military’s ability to treat active-duty personnel, their dependents, and veterans, Army Lt. Gen. Ronald Place, director of the Defense Health Agency told reporters.
Some 9.5 million people look to the Defense Health Agency for care in its 51 hospitals and 424 treatment clin-ics, Place said.
“Care in these facilities for our beneficiaries is being significantly affected by nation-wide response” he said. Normal beneficiaries were experiencing “stress, inconvenience and disruption to their healthcare,” as more and more staff are assigned to do clinical work. As in other hospitals, elective procedures are being post-poned.
The Defense Department’s 15 testing labs may yet play a big role in evaluating tests done on civilians. So far, they’ve only tested about 1,000 samples, and just for DoD personnel. “We have the capability, if we had to…to do tens of thousands per day,” he said.
SENIOR DRIVING
As a senior citizen was driving down the motorway, his car phone rang.
Answering, he heard his wife's voice urgently warning him, "Vernon, I just heard on the news that there's a car going the wrong way on I-25. Please be careful!"
"Hell," said Vernon, "It's not just one car. It's hundreds of them!"
April 2020 Page 15
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Russian Pacific Fleet plans to receive 2 strategic nuclear submarines before 2022
Not Attributed, Interfax (Russia), March 18
MOSCOW -- The Russian Pacific Fleet plans to receive two strategic nuclear submarines, the Generalissimo Suvorov and the Emperor Alexander III, before 2022, Commander of the Pacific Fleet submarine forces Vladi-mir Dmitriyev said.
"We plan to receive three modern Project 955 Borei-class submarines in the period from 2020 to 2022 - these are the Knyaz Oleg [should be commissioned for the fleet in 2020], the Generalissimo Suvorov and the Em-peror Alexander III, which are supposed to carry R-30 Bulava solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM)," Dmitriyev said in an interview published in the Wednesday issue of the Defense Ministry's official publication, Krasnaya Zvezda.
Two Project 885M (Yasen-M) multirole nuclear submarines, the Novosibirsk and the Krasnoyarsk, are cur-rently being built for the Pacific Fleet as well, he said.
At the present time, the Russian Navy has three Borei-class nuclear submarines, i.e. the Yury Dolgoruky, the Alexander Nevsky, and the Vladimir Monomakh. The Knyaz Vladimir (the type sub) and the Knyaz Oleg (the first serial sub of the Borei-A type) should be commissioned for the Navy in 2020.
Project 955A Borei-A-class strategic submarines are classified as the fourth generation of nuclear submarines built for the Russian Navy. They are armed with Bulava ICBMs. The are quieter, have more sophisticated ma-neuvering systems, better running balance, and upgraded weapons control systems than the original Borei-class subs.
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Future Virginia-class submarine USS Vermont completes alpha sea trials
Naval Technology staff, Naval Technology, March 20
General Dynamics Electric Boat (GDEB) has announced that the future Virginia-class submarine USS Ver-mont (SSN 792) has wrapped up alpha sea trials.
The announcement was made via its official twitter handle. On 15 March, the pre-commissioning unit (PCU) Vermont left for alpha sea trials and returned on 18 March.
The trials are also referred to a submarine’s first underway period. It is conducted to test the submarine’s pro-pulsion plant and the initial tightness dive.
In October 2018, the submarine was christened at General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton, Connecticut.
It is the third US Navy ship that was christened with the name of the ‘Green Mountain State’.
The submarine’s sponsor is former US Navy research, development and acquisition deputy assistant secre-tary Gloria Valdez.
It is the 19th ship of the Virginia-class and the first of ten Virginia-class Block IV submarines. The construction of the vessel started in 2014.
Built to operate in littoral and deep waters, the Virginia-class submarines can be used for anti-submarine war-fare and anti-surface ship, special operation forces support, and other warfare operations.
It can also be deployed for missions for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.
The USS Delaware (SSN-791), which is the 18th Virginia-class submarine, was handed over to the US Navy in 2019.
Last year, the US Navy awarded a $22bn contract to GDEB and its partner Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding division (HII-NNS) for the construction of nine new Block V Virginia-class subma-rines.
April 2020 Page 16
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We hate isolation; ballistic missile submarine crews love it
Tom Rogan, Washington Examiner Online March 25
For most of us, the current lockdown is jarring and tedious. But, for our nuclear ballistic missile submarine crews, isolation is something to revel in. The more isolated these crews are, the more successful their patrols will be judged. They are very happy to avoid contact with the world.
Spread across 14 Ohio-class submarines, these crews are the linchpin of America's nuclear deterrent force. Four or five of the submarines are on "hard-alert" patrol at any one time, ready to strike the command and control hubs of America's two most likely nuclear adversaries, Beijing and Moscow.
But, to deter those targets effectively, America's ballistic missile submarines must do two things: stay hidden and remain within the ideal range of their targets.
That means getting into a patrol sector and consistently avoiding detection. And, considering that these pa-trols tend to last more than two months, this is no easy task. It takes a lot of skill, and the stakes are high. Where our failure to avoid vulnerable family members might now lead to a personal coronavirus tragedy, a failure to remain hidden from the enemy would undermine the nation's existential defense strategy.
After all, the linchpin of America's sea-based nuclear deterrent strategy is not our submarines per se but the confidence of our adversaries that those submarines can destroy them with a speed and lethality exceeding their ability to destroy us.
Put simply, that means the Navy must conduct regular patrols that are hidden from Chinese and Russian air-craft, satellites, and submarines trying to find them. Considering the interest in depressed ballistic trajectories that would shorten the time from missile launch to warhead impact, these patrol sectors are likely outside the first island chain in the Western Pacific Ocean (China/North Korea targeting), beyond Ireland in the North At-lantic Ocean (Russia), and sometimes also in the Indian Ocean (Pakistan, guarding against the contingency that the military loses control of its nuclear forces).
Fortunately, our crews are very good at staying hidden, even when the prospective enemy is working hard to track them. And now, armed with a greater means to deter Russia across the range of nuclear conflict, they remain a critical ingredient in the preservation of peace. Also fortunate is the fact that the Navy and its allies' attack submarines are far better at tracking Chinese and Russian ballistic submarines than theirs are at track-ing ours. That means those nations cannot confidently rely on their sea-based deterrent forces to be able to launch their missiles in the event of a war.
So, yes, isolation is jarring for most of us. But not for the SSBN crews. They love isolation and couldn't oper-ate without it.
Germany is not unique. Of all the Trump administration’s global impacts, one of the most worrying is a sud-den increase in the risk of nuclear proliferation among American allies, many of whom are considering a nu-clear path which America may be unable to control.
This debate has been most intense in South Korea, which began pursuing a nuclear weapons program in the 1970s only to abandon it under intense pressure. The idea remained popular; upwards of 60 percent of South Koreans favor pursuing nuclear weapons.
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USSVI OFFICIAL BUSINESS
Starting with the next edition (May 2020), these USSVI news articles, now known as National Bulletins, will be printed for those shipmates not using computers or email, and mailed along with their newsletter via USPS and are articles published by the USSVI National Office during March 2020. It is my intention to only publish National Bulletin information such as the following: USSVI
April 2020 Page 17
OFFICIAL BUSINESS: SubVet News - #2020-xxx, News Title, and who submitted the bulletin for future newsletters. Editor
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USSVI OFFICIAL BUSINESS: SubVet News - #2020-011
NEWS-01: New USSV-CF Website up and running
Submitted by: John E. Markiewicz, President, USSV-CF on 3/1/2020
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Shipmates,
Our new USSV Charitable Foundation website is up and running at www.ussvcf.org.
Every USSVI member is encouraged to visit this new website and see what is currently available as well as to mark it as a place to visit periodically. We encourage everyone to support their Charitable Foundation in any amount that feels comfortable to them, either as a one-time investment or a recurring one. Making a small, recurring donation is an excellent way to support their Charitable Foundation in a painless and easy way.
We encourage regular visits to see the website as it has additional features added over the upcoming weeks and months.
JOHN E. MARKIEWICZ PRESIDENT, USSV-CF
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USSVI OFFICIAL BUSINESS: SubVet News - #2020-012
NEWS-01: Korean War "Ambassador for Peace Medal."
Submitted by: Bob Mensch, Senator 24th Dist on 3/1/2020
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Shipmates,
Good Afternoon,
I am pleased to announce that I am working with U.S. Senator Pat Toomey to invite eligible U.S. veterans to apply for the Korean War "Ambassador for Peace Medal."
The "Ambassador for Peace Medal" was by the government of South Korea and will be awarded to U.S. vet-erans in a future presentation ceremony honoring recipients. Eligible U.S. veterans must complete an applica-tion and provide a copy of their DD214 for verification purposes by the Korean Consulate.
To be eligible, U.S. veterans must have served in Korea at any time during the period of June 25, 1950 through July 27, 1953. U.S. Navy veterans are eligible if their vessel was assigned to Korean waters during this specific time. UN peacekeeping forces assigned to Korea through December 31 of 1955 are also eligible. Medals can also be provided posthumously to family members with proper documentation.
Applications are available at my office or by visiting www.senatormensch.com/Korean-peacemedal.
If you need an application to be mailed to you, or if you have questions, please call 215-541-2388. Completed applications and a copy of your DD214 can be returned to my office or mailed to the Office of U.S. Senator Pat Toomey at 200 Chestnut Street, Suite 600, Philadelphia, PA, 19106. The deadline for the application is Friday, April 3, 2020.
Again, if you have any questions, please call 215-541-2388 or email [email protected]. Please accept my most sincere appreciation to all veterans for their service and contributions.
Sincerely, Bob Mensch Senator, 24th District Majority Caucus Chair
April 2020 Page 18
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USSVI OFFICIAL BUSINESS: SubVet News - #2020-013
NEWS-01: National Awards National Bulletin
Submitted by: Harold W (Bill) Scott II on 3/2/2020
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Shipmates
2 March 2020
REMINDER - 2019 USSVI Award Nominations
The National Awards nomination period has started (February 1st). Please read the individual award require-ments and submission procedures described in the 2019 USSVI Awards Manual and take the steps to recog-nize the accomplishments of your Shipmates, Bases and Newsletters.
The Next milestone timeline date is submission of all award nominations except for newsletter of the year is April 30, 2020. I have received 10 nominations so far. I’m sure that there are many more nominations out there, so submit your nominations.
The Manual can be found by following this link:
https://www.ussvi.org/Documents/Online_Manuals_2020_USSVI_Awards_Manual.pdf
Please submit questions and nominations to the National Awards Chairman, Harold W (Bill) Scott II at [email protected] or mail to the following address:
National Awards Program Chair Harold W (Bill) Scott II 901 Busleigh Castle Way Pflugerville, TX 78660-7474
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USSVI OFFICIAL BUSINESS: SubVet News - #2020-014
NEWS-01: IMPORTANT message from the National Commander
Pass on to all hands ASAP
Submitted by: Wayne Standerfer, National Commander on 3/16/2020
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Shipmates
Previously inconclusive reports from governmental health agencies and private health organizations as to the extent to which the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) would affect our country was cause for me to delay making any comments concerning how our membership should respond to what is now a nationally medical emergency. However, the rapid acceleration of confirmed cases in 49 states and Washington D.C., along with a better explanation from our medical community as to how this disease is spreading, dictates that it is time for me to comment.
The fact that COVID-19 particularly targets older people, especially the ones with underlying medical condi-tions, is enough reason that a large percentage of our USSVI membership should sit up and take notice. You have all heard the steps needed to reduce your exposure, so I will not repeat them here, but I do strongly rec-ommend you follow them, especially the caution against gatherings of people, which would certainly include our Base, District, and Regional Meetings. There is nothing that takes place at any of these meetings that cannot be postponed or conducted in another manner. Even in the past few minutes since I began composing this correspondence, the President has issued a recommendation to limit necessary gatherings to no more than 10 people.
Please don’t listen to the few among us that are trying to downplay the seriousness of this sickness. It only takes one attendee at one of these meetings to receive a positive COVID-19 diagnosis and not only would every other attendee that was present be potentially affected but anyone they come in contact with afterwards as well. I would rather laugh at myself later for being overly cautious than to suffer the consequences of get-ting infected.
April 2020 Page 19
I say all of that to say this: Base Commanders, before you schedule a meeting, please consider the age of your members, their vulnerability to COVID-19, and the conditions of your local area. Ask yourself whether you will accomplish anything that cannot be completed at another time or by another method. If the answer is no, please do not take the risk of meeting in person.
Wishing all of you only the best and asking that you please take care of yourselves and your loved ones,
Wayne Standerfer USSVI National Commander
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USSVI OFFICIAL BUSINESS: SubVet News - #2020-015
NEWS-01: National Office Notice
IMPORTANT: Pass on ASAP
Submitted by: Fred Borgman, National Office Manager on 3/19/2020
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Shipmates
Due to Corononavirus concerns, the USSVI National Office may need to close if the staff needs to stay home. Most of us can work remotely from home. If you need to contact the Office, use an e-mail to [email protected] and we will respond.
Fred Borgmann USSVI National Office
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USSVI OFFICIAL BUSINESS: SubVet News - #2020-016
NEWS-01: USSVI VSO News
Submitted by: John Dudas, USSVI VSO on 3/21/2020
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Shipmates,
SBP-DIC Offset Phased Elimination
https://www.dfas.mil/retiredmilitary/newsevents/newsletter/See-Our-SBP-DIC-News-Webpage.html
How VA and Tricare Users Can Get Tested for Coronavirus
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/03/17/how-va-and-tricare-users-can-get-tested-coronavirus.html?ESRC=navy-a_200318.nl
Military Medical Retiree Changes, Cuts Should Halt Due to Pandemic: Senator
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/03/13/military-medical-retiree-changes-cuts-should-halt-due-pandemic-senator.html
VA to Stop GI Bill Benefits at 5 Colleges
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/03/09/va-stop-gi-bill-benefits-5-colleges.html
Tricare to Exclude Controversial Back Pain Therapy from Coverage
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/02/28/tricare-exclude-controversial-back-pain-therapy-coverage.html\
Online Commissary Privileges Finally Available to Newly Eligible Shoppers
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/02/28/online-commissary-privileges-finally-available-newly-eligible-shoppers.html
Here's the List of Military Clinics That Will No Longer Serve Retirees, Families
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/02/19/pentagon-releases-list-health-clinics-closing-retirees-military-families.html?ESRC=navy-a_200226.nl
Navy Ordered to Review, Release Documents Related to USS Thresher Submarine Implosion
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/02/20/navy-ordered-review-release-documents-related-uss-thresher-submarine-implosion.html?ESRC=navy-a_200226.nl
Tricare to Add 'Female Viagra' to Covered Drugs List
April 2020 Page 20
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/02/16/tricare-add-female-viagra-covered-drugs-list.html
Veterans ask, VA answers: Questions on electronic health record modernization
https://www.blogs.va.gov/VAntage/70571/veterans-ask-va-answers-questions-electronic-health-record-modernization/
Your Next VA Home Loan
https://www.blogs.va.gov/VAntage/70043/next-va-home-loan/
Vietnam, Gulf War Vets Get One Step Closer to New Benefit
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/03/05/vietnam-gulf-war-vets-get-one-step-closer-new-benefit.html
Rates Haven’t Been This Low in 3+ Years Use Your VA Loan Benefit Now for NEW or Refinance
https://www.military.com/military-report/rates-havent-been-low-3-years-use-your-va-loan-benefit-now.html?ESRC=mr_200309.nl
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The following selected history articles are part of Undersea Warfare News weekly news bulletin emails during the month of March 2020. This day in Undersea Warfare History
http://www.subforce.navy.mil/
March 2, 1945 | USS Bowfin (SS 287) sinks Japanese transport Chokai Maru, and patrol bombers PB4Y-2 (VPB 119) sink transport Nichirin Maru in East China Sea.
March 3, 1915 | The Office of Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) is established by Congress with Adm. William S. Benson named the first CNO.
March 4, 1925 | Congress authorizes the restoration of frigate USS Constitution, which had launched in 1797.
March 5, 1945 | USS Sea Robin (SS 407) sinks three Japanese gunboats and USS Bashaw (SS 241) sinks two Japanese tankers.
March 6, 1944 | USS Nautilus (SS 168) attacks a Japanese convoy approximately 240 miles north-north west of Saipan and sinks transport (ex-hospital ship) America Maru.
March 9, 1944 | USS Lapon (SS 260), while pursuing a Japanese convoy in the South China Sea, sank two freighters and survived a counterattack by Japanese gunboat.
March 10, 1944 | USS Kete (SS 369) attacks a Japanese convoy and sinks one cargo and two transport ships while dodging counterattacks.
March 11, 1942 | USS Pollack (SS 180) torpedoed and sank the 1454-ton cargo ship Fukushu Maru. She damaged a second cargo ship with gunfire before returning to Pearl Harbor, HI.
March 12, 1943 | USS Guardfish (SS 217) sinks Japanese Patrol Boat No.1 about 10 miles southwest of the Tingwon Islands, located just southwest of the northern tip of New Hanover, Bismarck Archipelago.
March 13, 1943 | USS Gar (SS 206) torpedoed and sank the 1520-ton cargo ship Chichiubu Maru.
March 16, 1944 | USS Silversides (SS 236) sank the cargo ship Kofuku Maru.
March 17, 1959 | USS Skate (SSN 578) becomes the first submarine to surface at the North Pole, traveling 3,000 miles in and under Arctic ice for more than a month.
March 18, 1942 | USS Springer (SS 414) made contact with 3 ships. She tracked the largest for 3 hours. She made a surface attack with 4 torpedoes. She scored 2 hits and the target began to burn. Later, Transport No. 18 was still afloat so she sank it with another torpedo.
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March 19, 1945 | USS Balao (SS 285) attacks a Japanese convoy and sinks one troopship and three fishing vessels and damages another off the Yangtze estuary about 90 miles north-northwest of Shanghi.
March 20, 1944 | USS Angler (SS 240) completes the evacuation of 58 U.S. citizens, including women and children, from the west coast of Panay, Philippine Islands. The sub had been told there were only 20 people, straining the boats supplies until it arrived at Fremantle April 9.
March 23, 1944 | USS Tunny (SS 282) sinks the Japanese submarine I 42 off the Palau Islands.
March 24, 1944 | USS Bowfin (SS 287) attacks a Japanese convoy, sinking both a transport and army cargo ship.
March 25, 1813 | During the War of 1812, the frigate Essex, commanded by Capt. David Porter, takes the Peruvian cruiser Neryeda, which is the first capture by the U.S. Navy in the Pacific.
March 26, 1943| USS Wahoo (SS-238) sank a small diesel driven freighter with gunfire.
March 27, 1945 | USS Trigger (SS 237) Postwar records indicate that Trigger torpedoed and sank the repair ship Odate.
Submarine Losses:
March 12, 1920 | Loss of the H-1 (SS 28). 4 died. Foundered and sunk off Santa Margarita Island, CA.
March 15, 1943 | Loss of the TRITON (SS 201). 74 killed. Sunk by either Japanese destroyer Satsuki or sub-marine chaser CH 24 north of Admiralty Islands.
March 20, 1945 | Loss of the KETE (SS 369). 87 killed. Probably sunk by a mine or Japanese submarine east of Okinawa.
March 25, 1915 | Loss of USS F-4. 21 Sailors lost. Sunk in 51 fathoms of water in a battery explosion off Honolulu, Hawaii. A Medal of Honor was awarded during efforts for her salvage. This was the first submarine lost in waters that were shallow enough to allow rescue if adequate equipment had been available and the submarine located in a timely manner.
March 26, 1945 | Loss of USS Trigger (SS 237). 89 Sailors lost. Sunk by Japanese patrol vessels in the Nan-sei Soto.
March 26, 1944 | Loss of USS Tullibee (SS 284). 79 Sailors lost. Accidentally sunk by a circular run of its own torpedo off the Palau Islands.
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More History
From Poopie Suits & Cowboy Boots
December 27, 2019 ·
Here's another short story--an original essay about one of the most famous submarine photographs. Enjoy! AND--check out this story and 35 more, plus 130 photos and 8 fascinating submarine lists in our new book, Sub Tales (Stories That Seldom Surface)--available NOW for immediate download for e-book format (fully customizable) and Amazon Prime for quick shipment of the softbound book format. All proceeds to USSVI Scholarship Fund! Just go to Amazon and type in "Sub Tales"--you'll see our book come right up! It's that easy now. (Our first book will be transitioning over to Amazon soon in both formats as well.)
Emergency Blow! The USS Pickerel (SS-524)
By Charles G. Hood, MD
Gravity is something that we terrestrials all take for granted. When we walk, the ground remains level below us. Unless there’s an earthquake, we don’t have to worry about our plates falling out of the china cabinet or our books spilling from our library shelves. In nautical terms, we exist in perfect “trim”, meaning the relation-ship between our bodies and our environment is steady and predictable.
In a submarine, such land rules need not apply. While small changes in depth can be accomplished without significantly tilting the bow either up or down, when a submarine needs to alter its present depth quickly, a so-called up or down angle controlled by the diving planes must be initiated to get from point A to point B. Such changes in the environment where the crew is working, eating or sleeping can provoke significant degrees of disequilibrium. Just imagine how you’d feel if suddenly someone turned the right side of your house up 45 de-grees while you were sitting down watching TV.
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Sometimes such drastic measures are necessary in the undersea world. An emergency at 400 feet prompts a series of steps to get the submarine back to the relative safety of the ocean surface quickly. Possible triggers include fire and flooding. When the situation demands an immediate ascent from operating depth, submarines initiate an emergency surface, more common known as an “emergency blow”.
During an emergency blow, high-pressure air is blasted (“blown”) into the main ballast tanks (MBTs), rapidly displacing the water content through the bottom grates on each side. The exchange of water for air in these massive tanks reverses the buoyancy equation immediately; the boat goes from a state of negative or neutral buoyancy to positive buoyancy, and it is the buoyant force that propels the boat back to the surface. An “up” angle on the diving planes assists in the trajectory that turns the bow of the submarine up at a considerable angle as it rises quickly toward the surface.
With this short background in mind, let’s travel back to the spring of 1952 off the coast of Oahu, where the USS Pickerel (SS-524) was conducting routine training drills. This Tench-class submarine was commissioned in 1949 and completed as a GUPPY II snorkel boat. She measured 307 feet in length and carried a crew of approximately 75 men. She had gained some publicity in the recent past by breaking the record for continu-ous miles submerged (5,200) on a 21-day voyage from Hong Kong to Pearl Harbor in the spring of 1950.
The crew of the Pickerel was assigned a special mission for 1 March 1952. She was to attempt to break the record for the steepest angle for an emergency blow. Of course, in her case, there was no true emergency, but the Navy was interested if she could break the existing record of 43 degrees set by the USS Amberjack (SS-522) in 1950. The CO of the Pickerel, H.B. Sweitzer, accepted the challenge with a certain sense of glee. Sweitzer, a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, entertained no doubts that he was going to set the new record.
Before the attempt was made, Sweitzer made sure that the batteries of the Pickerel were topped off and con-nected in series for maximum power. A Navy helicopter circled overhead to keep an eye on the proceedings, while a companion submarine, the USS Sabalo (SS-522), remained nearby on the surface. The sonarmen of the Sabalo kept close tabs on the whereabouts of the Pickerel once she submerged; using relative bearing calculations, the photographers assembled topside to record the attempt could be told exactly where to point their cameras as the emergency blow was performed.
CDR Sweitzer ordered the Pickerel to a depth of 250 feet. Officially, the test run was reported to the press as beginning at 150 feet, but Sweitzer wanted a little more real estate to improve his chances of breaking the record. All eyes were on the ocean surface as the Pickerel accelerated first to flank speed (16 knots) and then began her mighty thrust upward.
Most submariners remember their emergency blow drills fondly. These were instituted on a quarterly basis as part of the SUBSAFE program in the mid-1960s. Prior to that date, the drills occurred at the discretion of the skipper. While the loss of normal trim and the adoption of a fairly steep angle can be disconcerting or even dangerous when not anticipated, in the instance of an emergency blow drill everyone is on the same page and ready for the thrill ride to the top. Many have likened the experience to a high-speed elevator or a roller coaster; the sound of the MBTs filling with compressed air can be deafening. The boat’s propulsion contrib-
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utes little to the lifting force, which is nearly entirely a byproduct of the rapid change in buoyancy—again, with help from an up-angle of the bow produced by tilting the diving planes.
As the Pickerel shot upward to the ocean surface, CDR Sweitzer ordered the up-angle to 60 degrees. He wasn’t interested in just exceeding the existing record of 43 degrees; he wanted to smash that mark. An incli-nometer measured the angle from true horizontal—this simple bubble-type indicator, similar to what is found in a common level tool—was monitored at a panel in the Conn. The men braced themselves as the boat con-tinued its steep forward tilt. Those men not on watch but in their racks could steady themselves by gripping the railings; all but 3 racks were mounted intentionally with their long axes parallel to that of the boat, in order to minimize the problem of “dumping” sailors from their narrow beds in the event of a sudden up- or down-angle.
At this point in its historic rise to the surface, the lines between legend and truth become blurred. There is no question that when the Pickerel broke the plane of the ocean surface, she leaped magnificently from the wa-ter at a very high angle. Approximately the forward half of the football-field-length submarine cleared the wa-ter; photographs show the entire bow protruding toward the sky as far back as the bridge fairwater. A massive splash ensued as the massive boat leveled out quickly.
Newspapers around the world ran with the same stunning photograph of the breaching submarine at its zen-ith. The captions varied somewhat, but in general, they described a 48-degree angle. Presumably, this was the number provided by the Navy press office. However, it is not difficult to measure the precise angle with a protractor from the famous photograph. This analysis yields an angle of 53 degrees. Either of these measure-ments confirms that the Pickerel eclipsed the old record with ease.
Here’s where the “sea stories” began. One crew member, quoted much later on during an oral history, claimed that the inclinometer did indeed reach its maximum reading of 60 degrees as ordered by the skipper, and in fact exceeded it by a few more degrees. He claimed that the actual maximum angle was as high as 72 degrees based upon subsequent analysis of the high-water marks in the pump room bilges. Although the true angle remains a topic of mild controversy, the photographic evidence doesn’t support any angle higher than 53 degrees.
In any event, the test of the emergency surface maneuver was a success. Not only was the wire-service pho-tograph reproduced in hundreds of newspapers around the world with great fanfare, but also the dramatic movie footage was later used in the opening credits for the short-lived but memorable television series, The Silent Service, which ran for 78 episodes in 1957 and 1958. The iconic photograph—made even more majes-tic in black and white—also adorned the cover of the Navy magazine All Hands in May 1952.
The record for steep-angle emergency ascent would be eclipsed by later boats (see the story of the USS Chopper elsewhere in this book in particular!), but the awe-inspiring surfacing of the USS Pickerel in the spring of 1952—at the dawn of the modern post-World War II submarine era—captured the world’s imagina-tion.
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Weathering the Viral Storm
From a Facebook post of a shipmate.
This is cool.
I sounded the Diving Alarm, and went deep a few days ago, to weather out this viral storm, and with my wife, and her mother, onboard, as crew.
Yeah, yeah, I know.... I KNOWWWWW..
No sooner are decks awash, than the two nubs decide they must be o-gangers, and decide they're gonna be in charge, and start barking orders. Both of 'em. Like ENSIGNS! I thought they'd settle down in a few days, and get accustomed to operating per the PLAN OF THE DAY, but they don't seem to be catching on.
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They've threatened, on several occasions, during their watch cycle, being the 10:00-1600 shift, to open the outboard in-duction, and surface ventilate. They relented only because they do not understand the proper lineup of flappers and dampers, to do so safely, and in accordance with OPORD420-1, which states all intake and exhaust air must pass through the fan room, conveniently located in the garage, and is accessible, from onboard, through the Garage Tunnel only. They have grudgingly halted, just forward of the Garage Tunnel, and have not yet entered the Weapons or Engi-neering Spaces. I've briefed them on RADCON procedures, and explained that all materials coming onboard must pass through the Engineering Space, in order that they may be decontaminated, and that whosoever enters a potentially con-taminated space, MUST properly decon themselves, including the nap, to allow zone decay. They had no trouble leaving
all the decon procedures to me, as I have the most experience in that area, and you can't see, or feel, the zoomies, of any ilk.
They are afraid of zoomies, and so, not only supported, but encourged me, to establish a Buffer Zone be-tween the crew living spaces, and the Engine Room.
I have to keep a constant eye on them. Yesterday, my wife nearly violated SUBSAFE, by opening a watertight door. I got there in the knick of time, just stopping her from making an unauthorized swim call, wherein she would undoubtedly have swum out, and in coming back, noticed that the Engine Room Hatch stood wide open, the beer, chips, and pistachio stores, still under quarantine, were also open, and lying adrift.
At any rate, the crisis was averted, but the only thing they can't decide, is which one is in charge. They each try to make the other one, the "Skipper," saying, "No, you decide this time." I'm the only one who doesn't get to decide. That's clear.
In conduct, they seem content enough, staying close to the wardroom, allowing me to contend with all the outboard evolutions. So long as I don't bring in any zoomies.
During outboard evolutions, the decon route goes down the Engine Room Tunnel, and straight into the CO/XO Stateroom and head, for a shower, fresh skivvies, and a nap, necessary, for the release, and decay of free zoomies.
What's really starting to bug me is their constant demands for menu changes, after THEY APPROVED, the 90 day load-out, and made the stores and SUBMART runs, theselves! I keep telling them, I am risking my life, and by extension, their own lives, every time I have to take a small boat into town to fetch something they for-got. And more beer & ice.
To get even, I think I'm going to wait until they are asleep, and I'll wake them up every two hours and make them sign their names in a green logbook, recording that a wellness check has been properly conducted.
In the meantime, if you drive by, and see the Engine Room Hatch open, stop by. Beer's cold, cigars are fresh, and old boat porn is playing on the VCR. I've got a couple beach chairs in the Engine Room, and while they're not covered in dead naugas, they' good for hanging out.
The Engine Room is plenty big enough for two small boats, both of which are moored outboard, so plenty of room for social distancing.
Cheers, mates
Author unknown
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Do you have a short story, food for thought, or funny story to share? Let me know at [email protected]
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How grandchildren perceive their grandparents. Part 1
1. I was in the bathroom, putting on my makeup, under the watchful eyes of my young granddaughter, as I'd done many times before. After I applied my lipstick and started to leave, the little one said, "But Grandma, you forgot to kiss the toilet paper good-bye!" I will probably never put lipstick on again without thinking about kissing the toilet paper good-bye.
2. My young grandson called the other day to wish me Happy Birthday. He asked me how old I was, and I told him, 72. My grandson was quiet for a moment, and then he asked, "Did you start at 1?"
3. After putting her grandchildren to bed, a grandmother changed into old slacks and a droopy blouse and proceeded to wash her hair. As she heard the children getting more and more rambunctious, her patience grew thin. Finally, she threw a towel around her head and stormed into their room, putting them back to bed with stern warnings. As she left the room, she heard the three-year-old say with a trembling voice, "Who was THAT?"
4. A grandmother was telling her little granddaughter what her own childhood was like. "We used to skate outside on a pond. I had a swing made from a tire; it hung from a tree in our front yard. We rode our pony. We picked wild raspberries in the woods." The little girl was wide-eyed, taking this all in. At last she said, "I sure wish I'd gotten to know you sooner!"
5. My grandson was visiting one day when he asked, "Grandma, do you know how you and God are alike?" I mentally polished my halo and I said, "No, how are we alike?'' "You're both old," he replied.
6. A little girl was diligently pounding away on her grandfather's word processor. She told him she was writ-ing a story. "What's it about?" he asked. "I don't know," she replied. "I can't read.”
7. I didn't know if my granddaughter had learned her colors yet, so I decided to test her. I would point out something and ask what color it was. She would tell me and was always correct. It was fun for me, so I continued. At last, she headed for the door, saying, "Grandma, I really think you should try to figure out some of these colors yourself!"
8. When my grandson Billy and I entered our vacation cabin, we kept the lights off until we were inside to keep from attracting pesky insects. Still, a few fireflies followed us in. Noticing them before I did, Billy whispered, "It's no use Grandpa. Now the mosquitoes are coming after us with flashlights."
9. When my grandson asked me how old I was, I teasingly replied, "I'm not sure." "Look in your underwear, Grandpa," he advised "Mine says I'm 4 to 6." (WOW! I really like this one -- it says I'm only '38'!)
10. A second grader came home from school and said to her grandmother, "Grandma, guess what? We learned how to make babies today." The grandmother, more than a little surprised, tried to keep her cool. "That's interesting." she said. "How do you make babies?" "It's simple," replied the girl. "You just change 'y' to 'i' and add 'es'."
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TWELVE COMMANDMENTS FOR SENIORS
1 - Talk to yourself. There are times you need expert advice
2 - "In Style" are the clothes that still fit.
3 - You don't need anger management. You need people to stop pissing you off.
4 - Your people skills are just fine. It's your tolerance for idiots that needs work.
5 - The biggest lie you tell yourself is, "I don't need to write that down. I'll remember it."
6 - "On time" is when you get there.
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7 - Even duct tape can't fix stupid - but it sure does muffle the sound.
8 - "One for the road" means peeing before you leave the house."
9 - Lately, you've noticed people your age are so much older than you.
10 - Growing old should have taken longer.
11 - Aging has slowed you down, but it hasn't shut you up.
12 - You still haven't learned to act your age, and hope you never will.
And one more:
It would be wonderful if we could put ourselves in the dryer, then come out wrinkle-free and three sizes smaller.
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Sea Stories
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Do you have sea stories to share? Please send them to me for future Deck Logs. Your Editor,
When trying to upload another sea story from the www.olgoat.com (After Battery) website, It no longer is
available and explanation was provided. I found another source for Sea Stroies: see https://
www.submarinegear.com/sea-stories/
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Those Who Sail Beneath the Waves
By the late Dex Armstrong
https://www.submarinegear.com/those-who-sail-beneath-the-swells-by-bob-dex-armstrong/
In every generation, the navies of the world always seem to find the necessary number of that ‘special breed of man’ needed to man their undersea ships… Those truly magnificent fools with the requisite pride and spirit of adventure needed to voluntarily crawl into an iron cylinder full of similar mental defectives and take the con-traptions to sea.
I can’t speak for the rest of the Navy. The only ‘rest of the Navy’ I ever met, were perpetual shore duty shore patrols. Looking back I can’t remember one positive interaction I had with any sonuvabitch sporting an SP armband. The last thing they were interested in, in the old days, was spreading goodwill.
My entire short-lived naval service career was spent with like-minded jaybirds who actually liked going to sea in what closely resembled a sinkable septic tank.
I actually thought that to be a sailor, one had to go to sea. Sailoring had to involve stuff like seagulls, saltwater and large metal objects that were painted gray, displaced tons of water and bounced around a lot in heavy weather.
How guys who interpreted photographs in a windowless building in Omaha, Nebraska called themselves sail-ors was way beyond the level of comprehension of a seventeen-year-old who cut his teeth on books about Pacific submarine action.
Lads who turned up at New London back in the 1950s weren’t the kind of young men whose sense of naval adventure could be satisfied inventorying jocks and socks in some damn quonset hut in East Rat’s Ass, Min-nesota, or typing liberty cards at some shore station where they hot-patched weather balloons.
Submariners had no desire to belong to any organization that issued clothing designed to blend in with poison ivy plants… required you to dig holes and own a personal shovel… or any desire to eat unidentifiable food out of little green cans in the rain.
We liked hydraulic oil-laced coffee, crawling up on a pre-warmed flash pad and freely exchanging insults with men as equally ugly as ourselves. We enjoyed knowing that in any unscheduled altercation, our entire crew would show up to extract our drunken fanny and chastise those we had stirred up.
Back in the old days, (before any of you modern day techno undersea swashbucklers get a twist in your bloomers, I only know about the old days. I never rode anything that was intended to go below 412 feet or stay down for several months at a time.) So, as I started to say…
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Back in the old days, the old leather-faced, hardboiled Chiefs used to say,
“#$%&!! sailors belong on ships and ships belong at sea.”
There was some kind of selection process that they put you through at New London that eliminated the faint-hearted, the not totally committed, guys lacking desire to engage in intimate cohabitation with members of the opposite gender, communists, bedwetters, whiners, and anyone who entertained the slightest desire to be stationed in Omaha, Nebraska.
The system, God bless it, sorted out the true believers and packed the rest off to the surface fleet, Omaha and God knows where else.
And they put us on boats. A lot of us went to old, late in life, boats with combat histories. They were old World War II boats with racks, that once bunked our heroes… the men we wanted to be accepted by and to be ex-actly like.
We qualified and in so doing we joined the continuous chain that is and will always be the U.S. Submarine Force.
I don’t know what the dreams and aspirations consist of for the young men of today. Ours was a far simpler time. We grew up chasing fireflies, shooting marbles, spinning tops, teaching each other yo-yo tricks, shoot-ing each other with BB guns, playing two hands below the waist tag football, neighborhood kick the can and pick-up-game after school hardball. Nobody cried, tattle-taled or went home to pee.
Back then, you didn’t have to have made all ‘A’s in diathermic razz-a-ma-tazz physics or have a working un-derstanding of the components in the formulation of the universe, to ride submarines.
You had to have an understanding of honor, loyalty, faithfully performed duty, obedience to command, re-spect for leadership, and total and absolute faith in your ship and shipmates.
Added to these qualities, a true boatsailor had to have a wide-screen sense of adventure and the same brand of curiosity that has lived in the hearts of those in every generation who ventured beyond known limits.
And you had love dancing with the devil. Somewhere, real major-league devil dancing got shot out the gar-bage gun.
But some things never change. It’s still pitch black dark below 150 feet, a boat is always no father than 9 miles from land (straight down) and the skipper’s word is law.
And so far, every generation has worn the same insignia and nobody ever forgets the hull number of their qual boat or the name of their first COB.
There are many common denominators among the worldwide community of undersea sailors.
When the Kursk went down, I was struck and frankly dumbfounded by the genuine outpouring of sympathy for the families and loved ones of the lost boat sailors. To me, they had always been our enemy. Up to then, I had given no thought to the similarities found in our manner of service and the commonality of the danger of operating deep within a hostile environment surrounded by potential death on all sides.
Likewise, I never cease to be surprised by the way that submariners embrace their adversarial counterparts. There appears to be a universal acceptance with implied forgiveness of all German U-boat crewmen.
You never hear the term ‘Nazi’ U-boatmen. The term ‘German’ has become substituted for the term ‘Nazi’.
America has a short national memory and everybody gets out of the penalty box in one generation.
I sat in a theater rooting for the former ‘bad guys’ in the film DAS BOOT. What we were seeing on the screen, was a boat full of sons of Hitler sneaking around and sinking our citizens. But the fact that we, having lived a similar life inside a recognizably similar pressure hull, elicited a sympathy and irrational forgiveness. In short, we related to both the characters and their circumstances.
I guess that in the final analysis, all submariners are brothers when you look into the depth of their souls.
That is good. In times of war, nobody who transits the surface of the world’s oceans loves submarines.
Submarines and submariners are viewed as implements and practitioners of the black arts… backstabbing, bushwhacking sonuvabitches. We slip up from hiding below the waves and blow ships to pieces in a totally unfair, unsportsmanlike fashion. Any way you cut it, that’s the way we made our living.
We black sheep… we predatory sharks… we saltwater sneaky Petes stick together.
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We are a very small group when you consider the total world population and the percentage that never had any desire to crawl into a steel tank and sink out of sight.
Submariners, when all is said and done, are special unique people who are the only ones who truly under-stand each other and ever will.
The old warhorses who fought submarine wars are leaving us. These submersible sea dogs passed down the lethal reputation we carried and the awesome respect our boats were given.
I for one have been both honored and extremely proud to have been a part of this fine body of extraordinary adventurers and patriots.