"Silent Strike"
Here's a long video that The Pentagon Channel put out this month about submarines:
I haven't seen it yet (just got home from work, and need some sleep) but I assume it's pretty good. Let me know.
Update 1225 08 Dec: The submarines featured in the video are USS Rhode Island (SSBN 740) and USS New Mexico (SSN 779).
posted by Bubblehead at 7:48 AM
33 Comments:
yep it was a long one to watch.I enjoyed watching it and wondering if i would of had the mental ability to be a submariener as I wanted to but did what dad wanted and joined the USAF.
12/08/2010 10:58 AM
With only a 7-20% chance of being selected as a media platform, how has the USS Rhode Island become the Navy's favorite star. How could such extracurricular activities not interfere with her primary deterrent duties?
No complaints about the choice of sub, just wondering since my prediction appears, for the moment, to have been wrong.
12/08/2010 12:30 PM
I'm not sure how a particular boat becomes the media star. When I was on Topeka, it sure seemed like we had more than our share of media availabilities -- Sharks of Steel, and later an appearance on 24 after I was gone. Likewise, when I was on USS John C. Stennis, she seemed to be the go-to carrier for public relations (JAG filmed there), but that was probably because they were the newest carrier closest to Hollywood.
12/08/2010 1:04 PM
Answer: CDR Clark is articulate, intelligent, aggressive and a hell of a leader. He was easily one of the best skippers in Kings Bay at the time (may still be there - don't know when his tour is up.)
Or, it could just be that the ship schedule happened to support...
12/08/2010 1:22 PM
CDR Clark is now CAPT Clark and is at the USNA.
12/08/2010 1:31 PM
This is the most realistic video of submarine operation, training, and culture that I’ve yet seen. Excellent video and highly recommended.
12/08/2010 2:01 PM
I think RD was the director, Consultant and Executive Producer of this little diddy.
12/08/2010 2:12 PM
The VSCOT footage gave me flashbacks to the Hawaii. Those things drive shweeet! Or should I say fly, since they're Pilots not Helmsman/Planesman/Dives.
12/08/2010 5:07 PM
Anon @1:31 - that's a different Bob Clark. CAPT Bob Clark is Commandant of Midshipmen at USNA and commanded USS CONNECTICUT. No one who knows them both would ever confuse him with this Bob Clark.
Hey Vigilis - this is a no-shitter - the captcha on this post was "prousna" (pro-USNA). The conspiracy continues.
12/08/2010 5:34 PM
Wonder why they chose an Army host?
12/08/2010 6:50 PM
She's a Marine.
12/08/2010 6:58 PM
Yeah, I was part of initial manning on Rhode Island and the commissioning crew, so I have kept my eye on her over the last 15 years - she does get around.
And Bob Clark was CSS-20 Eng during my Eng tour on Tennessee - good for him as her skipper - he was a good SQUENG back then
12/08/2010 7:20 PM
Well, for some of us old dogs who rode 608 and 640 class back in the day, other than nuts bolts and washers, EVERYTHING has changed. I recognized the fruit on the mess decks! I qualified on the drive and dive on 610(G) in '79. I was a MT on 657(B). Wow! Culture shock!
12/08/2010 8:48 PM
I'm not sure, but I think that might have been the most detailed look at the ship control procedures for the Virginia that has yet been publicly released. Neat!
12/09/2010 6:38 AM
Trivia question: name of boat surfacing with good up-angle at 24:16?
12/08/2010 2:12 PM: eat my shorts.
12/09/2010 6:54 AM
Trivia Answer:
USS Rubber Dickhead.....
And oh by the way.... Why does an RD lick himself? Because he can and does........So go lick yourself you self important little bitch.
12/09/2010 11:39 AM
Trivia question answer: One of the B Girls
12/09/2010 11:52 AM
Trivia: Birmingham (SSN-695)
-Not so great ape
12/09/2010 12:04 PM
Trivia: two wrong.
12/09/2010 11:39 AM: bite me.
12/09/2010 12:35 PM
"She's a Marine".
Oops, Marine=Submarine. Got it. :)
12/09/2010 12:41 PM
I served with the Bob Clark in the video. (Never with the other Bob Clark.)
I would agree with Anonomous @1:22 who said he was agreessive. The other things listed I have other opinions.
12/09/2010 2:06 PM
A chunk of the video was clipped out of an old C-SPAN special called "Aboard a Boomer". I recognized several of the people...
I don't miss it enough to want to go back.
12/09/2010 8:23 PM
Trivia - is this USS COLUMBUS SSN-762 ?
12/09/2010 10:15 PM
Man, I gotta drop out of my own trivia contest. "Upon further review" it is not BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (my pick, but no orange bottom paint). So anyone have a more authoritative/less fucked up guess?
12/10/2010 5:05 AM
Trivia answer-USS Houston (footage for HFRO).
12/10/2010 5:55 AM
They always do movies like this on tridents, and make it look like the attack boats are the same way. Everybody looks so well rested and calm because they have something like 1 in 5 watch and once-a-week in-port duty, if not on off-crew entirely.
Boomer F's
12/10/2010 11:59 AM
Most things never change.
I was in the next to last SOBC (Class 145, graduated in July 69). My first boat was USS Medregal (AGSS-480), a fleet snorkel where I was Supply Officer. Didn't have staff copr officers on diesel boats. My next boat was USS Catfish (SS-339) where I was Assistant Engineer. My third boat was USS Thomas Jefferson (Gold) (SSBN- 618) as Weapons Officer. My bona fides over I'll turn to a few things. By the way, I'm not a nuke.
This is an excellent depiction of the submarine force as it exists today. That said, it isn't a very different submarine force of my past.
Some things never change, e.g., sound powered phones. Look like like the same phones I used in the '60s.
Some things do change. The displays are very different than what we had in then, but the arrangement is the same. The OOD was in the same spot as I was, the same for all the others involved in ship control. We'll not go to maneuvering - no need to.
The training of the crew and their dedication to their ship come through.
All-in-all an excellent program. For the submariners on my list, much will be a reminisce. For others it is a very useful and instructive introduction to how the US submarine force fits together.
That said, there is an underlying theme, that is women in the submarine force. This is a very difficult question for me. Having lived through the introduction of women into surface ships and, watching from afar, the problems that caused, I'd say, you don't know what you're getting into.
You can find secret places on a surface ship to do what you want. On a submarine there are no such places. Not shown in the video is the total lack of privacy you have on a submarine. I've had several medical procedures in the past decade that involved, umm, stuff. The nurses and techs said they were trying to preserve my personal privacy. I tell them, I'm a submariner - I'm comfortable with no privacy. (I could tell you some stories I heard from my WWII submarine teachers, would raise a modern's hair).
That said, we've adapted in the past.
12/10/2010 12:44 PM
Trivia--I've got to go with Houston as well. The one we did coming off our Westpac in 1989 was a steeper angle and the pics are all taken of the starboard side.
Seems like the ones who are most famous are more than likely the most NOTORIOUS. I never envied those poor bastards on Houston, Helena, Greenville, et al. I guess I was of the mind that NOT drawing attention to yourself was a good thing, because any you DID draw to yourself would almost certainly be bad.
12/10/2010 12:58 PM
RD, you are correct; it's not Ben Franklin.
It's USS Birmingham (SSN 695). Hull numbers clearly visible in first (top) Navsource photo."The Birmingham (SSN-695) executes an emergency ascent demonstration during her sea trials in TOTO (Tongue of the Ocean), circa late 1977-78."
12/10/2010 1:43 PM
What's with the "MMW1" caption at 19:39? I knew that TMs became MMs, but have they started specifying which type of MM now? Maybe he just told the reporter that.
12/10/2010 7:38 PM
Hey, is that set the Sgt is standing in front of, the Cold War Sub display at the Smithsonian?
12/11/2010 9:14 AM
I think these days you have MMN, MMW, ect. Not sure how commonly that is used, though - certainly for advancement exams, detailing, etc, but I'm not sure in normal usage.
Interestingly, this isn't so "new" - its a throwback to WW2 usage - there were like 20 different types of MMs in those days. Far fewer overall ratings and a lot of "subratings".
12/11/2010 4:26 PM
Very worthwhile write-up. Especially. the holders employed to keep the brain. I wouldn't have seen that by myself. Should examine carefully previous images to view this feature.
7/30/2012 12:51 AM
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