Keeping the blogosphere posted on the goings on of the world of submarines since late 2004... and mocking and belittling general foolishness wherever it may be found. Idaho's first and foremost submarine blog. (If you don't like something on this blog, please E-mail me; don't call me at home.)
Here's a video of a dockside emergency blow on USS L. Mendel Rivers (SSN 686) conducted in the early '90s:
posted by Bubblehead at 8:46 PM
I'm Joel Kennedy -- a married, 50-something year old retired submarine officer and esophageal cancer survivor with three kids who has finally made the transition to civilian life. Politically, I'm a Radical Moderate. (If you don't like something on this blog, please E-mail me. Don't call me at home.)
70 Comments:
I believe the USS SARGO had a bad day while loading oxygen in Pearl back in the 60's.
Sometimes, stuff happens.
2/19/2011 9:45 PM
I was going to say the Sargo as well. That's where the first high-rise got it's name from--MM3 Smallwood.
Then there was the weapons load on HELENA back in the late 80's that didn't go so well. Anyone at Pearl around that time remembers that one.
And let's not even get into the Sam Houston fast cruise at the pier in 1990--instant CO relief.
2/19/2011 10:01 PM
That's a pretty sweet test. Saw Providence do that in Charleston at the end of DMP (~1993?) and it's much more impressive in person.
2/20/2011 2:45 AM
The Sturgeon had a really bad day in the mid 90's during MSW valve maintenance
2/20/2011 4:59 AM
Remember OLY having a really bad day after a freeze-seal collapse back in the late '90s. Made it onto CNN at the top of each hour. Funny part of that...They used stock footage of a submarine - Happened to be of Kamehameha, which looks like NO OTHER submarine - and used the words "Nuclear" and "Accident" in the same sentence. Now, anyone who knows anything about submarines who is watching CNN associates those two words with the funny-looking submarine on the TV screen and immediately jumps to the conclusion that KAM had a "Nuclear Accident". You can imagine the phone lines lighting up shortly thereafter. Sucked to be in Pearl for a while thereafter.
2/20/2011 7:01 AM
OT News: The New York Times, in its infinite wisdom and operational, Art of War genius derived from many years of managing our nation's military from the hallowed halls of fucking New York City, has decided that we don't need any more Virginia Class submarines, those "relics of the cold war."
Gee...they must have read that dogshit-rated My Nuclear Family whose leg they were humping a few months ago when it first came out. Must be a real shock for them that it's ranked by Amazon in the bottom 300,000-500,000 books.
Thank goodness they're on watch...such magnificent military strategy might otherwise have gotten by us (except, of course, via Rubber Ducky...that other submarine genius).
2/20/2011 7:21 AM
I was on duty on another boat near the OLY that morning (like 0600). That freeze seal was in the RC. The first indication that something happened was when i saw two hefty Hawaiians in anti-c's driving by in this tiny white pick-up truck. Also, there were two No Ka Oi workers in the RC when it happened. Their solution? Run right out of the RC, off the boat, and back to the building. Containment WIN!!
2/20/2011 7:33 AM
I believe the Sandlance in the 80's (i think) that did something like the Sargo did, but a little less catastrophically.
And in the 90's the Bremerton rolled over while attempting to drydock - you could still see some of the slight metal deformations due to this during the ERO 6 or so years ago.
2/20/2011 8:39 AM
sorry that should be Sandlance ~ Guitarro not Sargo
2/20/2011 8:40 AM
During a freeze seal repair on one of my boats, the shipyard workers moved the heating elements for melting the ice plug onto the styrofoam boat for the freeze seal. Unfortunately, the heating elements were still energized. Shortly thereafter came the famous 1MC announcement "fire in the freeze seal." All immediate actions were delayed for about five seconds while everybody asked themselves WTFO?
2/20/2011 9:10 AM
I guess it is just part of being an old fat retired dude, but I can't figure out where the LMR is sitting for that blow.
2/20/2011 10:27 AM
It was the Sandlance that sunk next to Pier M in Charleston and the only reason they didn't go down further is the rudder got stuck in the mud. I was on duty across the pier and it was amazing how much water came in from one MSW valve. There was a lot of heroics that day to prevent a catastrophic mix of water and electricity. The water stopped less than a foot from the engineroom hatch and the shorepower cables.
2/20/2011 12:30 PM
The Mendel Rivers (SSN 686) EMBT Blow video illustrates improvemed location for such controlled-chaos. USS Scamp's
test in 1981, was more literally "dockside".
2/20/2011 1:22 PM
During early 80s, I was a JO on one of the subs overhauling at Puget. I lived on the SY on the bluff overlooking the drydocks. I had just gotten home from a long day in shipyard and popping open a cold one when my neighbor (O-6 aviator) knocked on the door and asked me what was up with my submarine. We went out to the back porch, looked down, and saw 3 news helos hovering over the SY. Luckily it wasn't my ship - it was Sam Houston and her infamous mornonic incident!
6 months later, I was at my mechanical interview for the Engineer's exam and the NR-type asked me about the incident and what my view was...when I told him what my actual view had been, he suprisingly demonstrated a sense of humor. Probably was fired the next day.
2/20/2011 2:02 PM
Okay, I give up.
What was the moronic incident on the Sam Houston that got the CO fired. I don't recall hearing about it.
2/20/2011 4:12 PM
@ sandy salt: I stand corrected, sir.
2/20/2011 5:04 PM
no worries Lou
2/20/2011 5:17 PM
I watched the Sandlance nearly sink pierside, I believe it was in the Spring or Summer of 1994. We were on the adjacent pier, clear view across the water to her. We sat there with our mouths wide open as she went down stern first. I had a buddy from A-school on her and he told me what happened a few weeks later. Divers put an external blank over the wrong MSW valve. When they started maintenance on the correct overboard valve, it popped loose and they could do nothing to stop the flooding. All methods of valve actuation had been removed for the maintenance. An M-div guy swam down with a chainfall and straps and pulled the valve shut to stop the flooding. Water was knee high at the RPCP from what he said. I heard the dive supervisor who signed off on the work went to Leavenworth.
2/20/2011 6:07 PM
Whatever Sam Houston did at PSNS, it survived to leap ashore later in the 1980s at Carr Inlet. When the tide receded, the boat looked like a beached whale.
Captain MacNeill, formerly CO of USS La Jolla, got to supervise the resulting investigation, his second consecutive screw job after having checked in early while on house-hunting leave in the general area of the Bangor base.
Navy (never again volunteer yourself) took on a special meaning for him--never even let anyone know you're around.
2/20/2011 6:16 PM
Except for my first boat, EVERY TIME I've PCS'd, I'd get two or three iterations of the "Can you get here early?" phone call. Uh...No. Second iteration usually started with: "XO would like you to get here a few days early". That's nice. He has my detailer's phone number and can arrange an ORDMOD if he needs me that badly. Until then, I'll be there when my orders TELL me to be there.
2/20/2011 6:23 PM
"it survived to leap ashore later in the 1980s at Carr Inlet."
Ah, yes. That was very astute of them.
2/20/2011 8:30 PM
The SRO from the Sandlance was
our RC div Chief on the SFO. It was
a FCB job on the hull valve. Knew
some of the guys in their duty
section when I reported to the Cable
in 96.
Watched the Bremerton roll off
the blocks while I was doing an
inspection topside on the Asss-pro.
Quite amazing! They didn't flood
the dock until they were about at
the loss of all AC.....
Was up in WA when we had that
big earthquake about 10 years ago.
All of the emergency generators
knocked off the blocks, 1 boat with
freeze seals, in the middle of
a diesel inspection and going
crazy. The one in dock was more
lucky and just had to snorkle.
I also remember the Whale
having an O2 burp during a charge
in the late 80's at State Pier.
They were LUCKY.
hagar
2/20/2011 8:52 PM
anon at 8:30pm - HA! I get it..... Next thing you know there will be an ambush....
quite artful, no?
2/20/2011 9:06 PM
Stop being so audacious!
2/20/2011 9:07 PM
The crew on my first ustafish was instructed not to say "Guitarro" to shipyard personnel at MINSY while we were there. Got to watch a forklift sink while there.
Was standing topside watch on a gorgeous day, and watched a forklify drive up to the edge of the pier, front wheels on our shore power cables (dumb). Lowered the forks, and tied up a half submerged whaleboat. The forklift had more than enough capacity to lift the whaleboat. Whaleboat and water, tied to the very end of the forks- interesting center of gravity situation there.
Worker in boat signaled reay, driver started the lift. Got a few feet out of the water, then- the back end of the forklift went up in the air. Let's summarize- weight of whaleboat and water, weight of forklift, concentrated on two wheels, balanced on shore power cables- Giant blue fireball as the insulation failed. Driver dove off one way, guy in whaleboat the other, and the forklift went down on the whaleboat, which wasn't rated for the forklifts load. They both sank.
Torpedo room called away security violation due to loss of shore power. I announced the cause of loss of shore power on the 1MC. I don't think it took even 10 seconds for the duty officer, engineer, and XO all to be topside. First quesion, "Where's the forklift?" "In the water." Then, I had to explain it all. Lot's of shaking of heads at the telling.
I was told later that the two worker in question were unemployed later that day. Before they were dry.
2/21/2011 12:35 AM
Lifted missile at Cape Kennedy- 5 minutes after the Defense Nuclear Safety Inspection was finished, before the team cleared the gates. The DNSI team became the investigators for the incident...
2/21/2011 12:48 AM
"OT News: The New York Times, in its infinite wisdom and operational, Art of War genius derived from many years of managing our nation's military from the hallowed halls of fucking New York City, has decided that we don't need any more Virginia Class submarines, those "relics of the cold war."
Gee...they must have read that dogshit-rated My Nuclear Family whose leg they were humping a few months ago when it first came out. Must be a real shock for them that it's ranked by Amazon in the bottom 300,000-500,000 books.
Thank goodness they're on watch...such magnificent military strategy might otherwise have gotten by us (except, of course, via Rubber Ducky...that other submarine genius)."
Not that I think the NYT is the greatest thing since sliced bread (I don't), but to their credit, the article you speak of is an anonymous editorial. Blame the moron who wrote the article, not the NYT.
2/21/2011 3:49 AM
Early 1980s at a Subase Pearl Harbor pier directly in front of SUBPAC headquarters (S-10 or S-11), a cherry picker showed up to yank a periscope off of a 637 (possibly USS Aspro). But the cherry picker operator didn't put down his outriggers. Upon lifting the scope, the cherry picker lost control and dropped the scope. The sudden loss of weight caused the cherry picker to flip over onto the CO's and XO's cars. Up until that point, the CO's car had been an immaculate Porsche 911.
A substitute cherry picker came down to yank the periscope. By this time, a number of senior folks from SUBPAC headquarters were on the pier observing the damage. The operator of the substitute cherry picker didn't put down his outriggers either, but was stopped before he could replicate the previous disaster by some of the SUBPAC senior folks.
It was a very bad day to be the Officer-in-Charge of the cherry pickers.
2/21/2011 9:09 AM
@EM2/SS:
"Not that I think the NYT is the greatest thing since sliced bread (I don't), but to their credit, the article you speak of is an anonymous editorial. Blame the moron who wrote the article, not the NYT."
Actually, the "anonymous editorial" IS the NYT. That's the way newspapers work - the unsigned editorials on the editorial page (as opposed to signed opinion columns written either by staff or guests) are the work of the "NYT Editorial Board" and represent the thoughts and views (however misguided and ill-informed) of the NYT leadership.
2/21/2011 9:35 AM
Agree with EM2/SS: ONE guy writes ONE line in an editorial (which tend towards the inflammatory for effect anyway) and the entire NY Times publication is a POS? C'mon man, let's be a little smarter than that! Editorials are an avenue for individual(s) at a newspaper to give their personal viewpoint. Take it or leave it.
Let's face it: being the "Silent Service" has its downsides when you're trying to garner public support and much of what you do can't be discussed publicly. Joe & Joanne Public have no idea what our submarines do on a regular basis. Fortunately, Sec Def Gates and many in Congress see their worth and that's all that matters for keeping them on the budget.
2/21/2011 9:36 AM
Neat video Joel. Thanks for posting. I've only been on 637s as a visitor and was curious if 1) RIVERS was a stretch 637 and 2) Were the MBTs aft of the sail part of that section (assuming that is where it went - I don't know) or typical of any 637. Having seen these on 688's and the VIRGINIA the EMBT blow isn't nearly as impressive.
I guess I was fortunate that we never had any dockside tests go wrong enough to be interesting here...
2/21/2011 9:57 AM
@ Anon 9:36 AM
"Let's face it: being the "Silent Service" has its downsides when you're trying to garner public support and much of what you do can't be discussed publicly."
It has gotten worse than that:
In 1999, Secretary of the Navy Danzig warned the Naval Submarine League that the service is a "white-male preserve." If submariners don't open diversity, their political support could ebb.
Danzig's predecessor as SecNav was former submariner John H. Dalton. Dalton implemented a Navy policy forbidding negative comments about sailors on maternity leave.
According to Elaine Donnelly of the Center for Military Readiness, "Good submariners require sociability, high emotional development, lower aggression levels, compliant physical features (i.e., height, build, etc.), and acute common sense." She was not referring soley to her own gender, of course, but to males with high emotional development. In the days of psychological testing, high emotions would have kept you out of the program.
2/21/2011 10:37 AM
1960 Was walking to Subbase movie theatre when heard a KABOOOM!!! from sierra 1. Ran down to corner and saw sheet of flame out the stern room hatch on the Sargo and lox truck making the turn by the bowling ally with lox hose trailing behind. DCPO and Eng unlocked mbt vents and flooded the stern room which put out the fire. When pumped out found burned up MK 37-0 warshot was a pile of melted aluminum. Very lucky the warhead did not go off.
Early 70's 637 class Nuc at Sierra three loading a MK 16-8 exercise shot. Crane did not have outriggers out and crane tipped over swinging torpedo over to boat. Boom was broken over the boat, torpedo in water. Crane operater was cut in half when he tried to jump clear. Gasoline engine on the crane still running and gas pouring out on the pier. My gun boss ran over to the scene climbed on the crane to shut off the engine. Saw the crane operator cut in half and still alive for a couple minutes.
1976 (I think) Aspro (I think) at West Loch loading warshots and dropped a MK 16-8 all the way to torpedo room stop in the bilge. Punched a really BIG hole in the war head (960 lbs HBX3) EOD very busy that day, fortunately didn't have far to go as their compound was at West Loch.
Keep a zero bubble.........
DBFTMCSSUSNRET
2/21/2011 12:17 PM
Just started stand down from WESTPAC (1984) on the 692. Navy wife drops me (on comming DCPO) off at S-1B for duty. Things just didn't look right. People I knew from the 692 were standing on our bow and folks I didn't know from the 698 were standing on their stern. People were just kind of looking at the water with hands on their hips. Just then the 692 CO's sports car slid sidways into his parking spot and a very angry looking man bolted from the car and down the pier he went. It seams the 698 was getting underway from S-1A and doing ME warm-ups in the astern direction with lines singled and no tug. The 698 got a new screw and my stand down got ruined so the 692 could dry dock to get a new dome.
Sand Lance was a real winner. 100% human error due to carelessness and inefficiency when they sunk themselves in 94. I was in the BEQ and some Chief from the Base asked you're on the Sand Lance ain't ya? I said sure and he said you might want to go down there cuz your fu*k'n boat is sinking! Sure enough.. I could write volumes but we are all safe now and I don't want to hate..
2/21/2011 2:28 PM
I was on sand lance in 1980 when we initiated Emer. blow in the #6 ballast tank tied to the pier in Bremerton. The shipyard had put the initiating lines in backwards.
She was a great steaming boat, but never had very good pier-side luck.
2/21/2011 4:47 PM
A listing of CO's of Sand Lance on the historical records page has this entry:
"Commander Michael A. Covell, U. S. Navy
1978 A serious flooding event was averted during maintenance when the CO recognized that a flood prevention collar was being installed on the wrong seawater valve."
Wasn't there, can't verify. Just seems like a strange precursor to future events.
2/21/2011 5:41 PM
Not exactly testing but:
A battery replacement underway and NR had been assured that both the AC and DC shore power sources were unique, which they were all the way back to the generating station. It went off line which resulted in loss of all power on the boat and XC was initiated...
The good news was the ship's crew was only involved in a minor way in the investigation.
Dangerous and humorous at the same time:
We had to do a leak check on the AMS wherein the compartment was pressurized to something like 5 psi and then wait to see if it held for some period of time.
The danger - both water tight doors opened in so we were stuck in there for the duration.
The humor - it was taking a hellva long time to bleed the compartment back down and I came up with a bright idea; let's blow the aft sanitary and let that speed up the process. Worked like a champ (-;
Shipyard idiot:
In the shipyard for major overhaul and refueling which involved a lot of cuts in the pressure hull. Well, the shipyard worker that was the fire watch on the hull heaters decided he wanted to take a lunch break. Something like $2 million dollars, an even bigger cut to replace damaged steel, all the port side cabling including the port DC lines from the battery later all the fire damage was finally repaired.
The mention of NR reminded me of another gotcha! How many refuelings were there at Mare Island before NR discovered that a curve in the railroad track was too sharp for the train hauling the spent fuel out?
Old chief from the dark ages
Jerry
2/21/2011 7:04 PM
Maybe some of you are confusing "letters to the editor" with editorials? Either way, not a chance that the writers of that article have any bit of a clue about the current needs of the military.
2/21/2011 7:08 PM
TRF worker climbed up the SPACP and stepped on the danger tagged PLO pump switch starting the pump. The head was off of one of the PLO coolers with other TRF guys working on the cooler. Investigation found that the pump magically started itself based on the TRF worker's implausible denial.
Leaking MBT vents / covers required us to have perform a continuous LP blow of the MBTs to prevent sinking next to the pier.
BTW, I knew the SRO from the Oly incident, what a story.
2/21/2011 8:51 PM
All of these are stories are interesting but it's the events that never made it to the public that are the best! Oh well, the taxpayer only need to write the checks and let us worry about the details.
2/21/2011 8:54 PM
"Oh well, the taxpayer only need to write the checks and let us worry about the details."
There's always an Arquillian Battle Cruiser, or a Corillian Death Ray, or an intergalactic plague that is about to wipe out all life on this miserable little planet, and the only way these people can get on with their happy lives is that they DO NOT KNOW ABOUT IT! (Tommy Lee Jones, MIB)
2/22/2011 3:04 AM
Veeman asked: "was curious if 1) RIVERS was a stretch 637 and 2) Were the MBTs aft of the sail part of that section (assuming that is where it went - I don't know) or typical of any 637"
RIVERS was a stretch hull, but that did not add any MBT's. The additional 15ft or so added to a stretch is in the center section, but I don't believe it had any impact on MBT placement vs. a non-stretch hull. I served on one of each.
2/22/2011 5:29 AM
USS IREX was in the marine railway at the south end of the piers SubBase Groton in 1964. The railway chain broke and the boat and cradle swiftly went down the ways and into the THAMES: http://uss-irex.info/docs/doc-85.html; http://uss-irex.info/docs/doc-50.html
The story was that the skipper was in trouble for having dinged his chinmount, which was why the boat was going into dock. He then was also commended for keeping it afloat after the incident, and - story goes - that in this case the attaboy did balance the aw shit.
2/22/2011 8:07 AM
Dunno about dockside, but had a bad day at S3G, way back when. We were doing to field day of the the forward compartment of the prototype during one of the first big snow storms of the year. There was a DC plug in the off-hull drain and we being good sailors left it in because nobody told us to pull it out. Along come the "9" (a really great guy by the way) and says to take it out so we try not too hard and it won't come out. The 9 being a "take no BS" kind of guy says something to the effect of "no no let me show you what I mean" (I cleaned it up a little - this is a family show after all) so he gets down there and gives the plug a good yank and out she comes. There was a check valve in the line to keep anything from going back into the hull. It was stuck shut. A lot of water was trapped in that line and the heaters around the line that kept the line from freezing ware most certainly on. So the 9 gets steamed right there in front of us. We called for an ambulance but they couldn't come so we loaded him up in one of the student cars and took him to the hospital ourselves, along with a bucket of snow. We get to the hospital and there's one doctor on duty. They lay him on the table, the doc asks him if he's had a tetanus shot. The nine says he doesn't know so the doc starts to give him one, the first step being dry his blistered arms. Of course that start the pain up full throttle, so while the doc turns to prepared the shot the chief calls me over with the bucket of snow and pats him self down again. I step back, the doc turns around, sees the chief is all wet again, turns back around, puts the shot down and grabs another towel. Repeat cycle twice before the the doc figures out what's going on and chases out. I never saw the chief again.
2/22/2011 8:18 AM
In the early 90's on 751, a junior A-ganger lined up to blow san tanks to the pier sewage system. He lined up with 700psi air instead of 100psi. The hose held but all the manhole covers up and down the street were rattling like crazy - and oh what a smell.
PB Sterling ET1/SS Nuke
2/22/2011 11:03 AM
Anonymous at 8:51 pm: Was that leaking MBT vent in KB, spring of 2004?
2/22/2011 11:35 AM
2/20/2011 4:12 PM
Okay, I give up.
What was the moronic incident on the Sam Houston that got the CO fired. I don't recall hearing about it.
If you're asking about the one in Pearl, deals with NNPI. CSP was down there chewing the asses off of the crew on the pier the day of the "relief". We were parked at S-1, in front of her. Needless to say none of us hung around to watch the carnage, although we knew what had happened. Served on tender (Holland) with one of the ELT's who was there when it happened. Not a good day at all.
Almost forgot about the day we almost killed the pier in Bangor because the SPM hadn't been fully lowered and the helmsman didn't realize he hadn't secured it (you lose control from the SCP when the SPM comes off fully lowered, which it did in this case.) Not the helmsman's fault, was the SPM operator in shaft alley who didn't "lock" it fully lowered.
2/22/2011 12:13 PM
Another battery replacement incident. Lost shore power and then the pier-side diesel generator could not handle the load, resulting in a a loss of all AC.
The replacement generator was much larger. :)
2/22/2011 1:35 PM
I was SRO when the 633 did a static blow that wasn't static. The whole boat shook and took a nasty up angle. The ENG yelled at me for being halfway out of maneuvering trying to see if I needed to close the ER hatch. I asked him if he expected me to stay in Maneuvering if water had been coming down the hatch. His short answer, "Yes". Never liked that ENG.
2/22/2011 1:52 PM
Norfolk VA, in the 1990's; standing Topside watch and got to call away “Helicopter crash in the water STBD side of tender.” COB of a boat redecorated his rack with his brains in the AM(we were the outboard unit and couldn’t go home until the investigation was done. Pissed off wife/girlfriend? Drove car off pier and almost hit our rudder.
2/22/2011 2:12 PM
S3G, 1989 or so. Did a short shutdown for ELT students to do initial RC entry. Quick and dirty, so to speak. Had a couple entrances, one was regularly opened just a bit, and then with full CP the other would be opened all the way to vent the space. On subsequent startup, cracked open door was...well...still cracked open. EWS noticed somewhere right around the PR, picked up SPP, and yelled "Scram the Reactor!!" He thought it was pretty cool, but the following critique was not pretty. Probably can still read about that one in the lessons learned file.
2/22/2011 5:30 PM
NHSparky--was the Bangor pier episode on USS Buffalo?
Buffy wasn't the only boat to experience the problem you describe, but it may have been the only one that did it in Bangor.
2/22/2011 6:35 PM
Speaking of Bangor, a 688 from San Diego stopped in Bangor during the late 1980s. On the way from the Bangor Base to PSNS via the Hood Canal Bridge, in broad daylight with unlimited visibility, the 688 missed a turn. The QMC on the periscope was unable to get the attention of the XO or NAV, both of whom were engrossed in a B.S. discussion of some triviality. On the bridge, neither the CO nor the pilot recognized that the 688 was far past the turn. Fortunately, a rider intervened and got the XO and NAV to pull their collective heads out and to verify how far past the turn they had gone with the QMC, otherwise the 688 could have grounded on a really simple transit. To this day, the CO--a known screamer--still doesn't know that a rider saved his ass.
2/22/2011 6:49 PM
Was on Bremerton in 83/84 when we tipped over in the IN-COMPETENT due to in experienced block operator on IN-COMPETENT and a Diver that couldn't tell the difference between the inside of the blocks, compared to the outside of blocks.
Starboard side blocks were pulled all the way toward IN-COMPETENT vice inboard to the Bremerton. Diver checking position of blocks thought he was seeing the outside of the starboard blocks when he was really looking at the inside of the port blocks. As the ship settled there were no starboard blocks to rest on and over she went.
OOD said he could have stepped off the sail right onto the wing wall.
2/23/2011 12:24 AM
Anon @ 2/22/2011 "Norfolk VA, in the 1990's; standing Topside watch and got to call away “Helicopter crash in the water STBD side of tender.”
I remember that. Our topside shouted "incoming" over the 1MC. I got topside just in time to see the helo barely miss the masts of the tender and then hit the drink in the Elizabeth River. What a sight.
Also remember story of your COB....
Sometime around that period is when they dropped the TLAM-N on the same pier and it bounced on the back of the sub and into the water...
2/23/2011 5:52 AM
In the mid '70s the Rota tender was lowering a liner and missile onto the plug deck when the topping lift on the crane failed and dropped the load onto the deck from a good height. The missile hit hard enough that the warhead had to be retired. I was in a Polaris ops shop in DC and learned of this from a fone call from squadron weps, who was still shaking hours after the accident. Really bent spear.
2/23/2011 6:31 AM
NHSparky--was the Bangor pier episode on USS Buffalo?
That it was. What made it worse was the throttleman was a bit "enthusiastic". I was the 2JV phone talker in Control, an EM1 was the JA talker, and we noticed the outboard was still running at the same time and we're both going, "OPEN THE TIE BREAKER!!!"
I hated that trip. If you were on the boat at that time, you'll know why (DMP inspection.)
2/23/2011 7:25 AM
It was probably 1986, 637-class Ustafish tied up in PH, preparing to get underway...I was the startup throttleman. Both TG's on line, ERS comes into Maneuvering and asks permission to warm up the main engines. EOOW says OK, ERS runs out and gets right to it...forgetting a simple step in the procedure. As the report comes in from the engine room "commencing normal main engine warmup", I look down and see that the clutch is still engaged - right as the ERS goes for his first 50 astern. Many calls of "STOP THE SHAFT" resulted, luckily nobody was hurt and our lines held and we did not crash into the boat behind us. They were pretty nice to the ERS (sea-returnee MM1) and only disqualified him for a while, as I recall.
2/23/2011 8:30 AM
Not to change the subject..... but WTF???
http://www.navytimes.com/news/2011/02/ap-ensign-discharged-as-conscientious-objector-022211/
Did this guy think he was going to play with boats?
2/23/2011 8:34 AM
1989 on the Spadefish in Norfolk. We had been in port for a few days and not scheduled to go out for a couple of weeks. A drill was called out by someone at a very high level to get as many boats out to sea as soon as possible. We ended up loading weapons, stores, and diesel fuel at night. A valve lineup got screwed up while loading diesel fuel and a hose ruptured. Everyone aft of the sail got drenched with diesel, and quite a bit got into the water. The CO grabbed a spotlight off the brow and was running around trying to see how much diesel had spilled. We got the leak stopped and by morning all evidence of the spill was gone. I doubt that it was ever reported.
2/23/2011 9:22 AM
NHSparky,
I got to Buffy at a point when the detailer had assured me it would be out of DMP. He was wrong by more than a year.
Did you ever "Dial 1 for fun"?
2/23/2011 3:44 PM
The SOP in Holy Loch for blowing sanitaries in the early 90s was if you were outboard the tender, you blew to the tender, but if you were moored outboard of the dry dock, you would blow to the Loch because the dry dock did not have sanitary connects outboard. Anyway, the boat had just shifted berths from outboard the tender to outboard the dry dock. That evening a off-watch mechanic got permission to blow San4, however, he forgot to check the position of the valve that directs the effluent, which was still positioned to the topside hose connection instead of the normal under hull discharge port. Needless to say, the our boat crapped all topside and the wing wall of the dry dock.
2/23/2011 5:07 PM
Ahh.. that FIRST 'Agile Player', I remember it well.
We were in Port Canaveral and the entire off-duty eng dept was at a place called 'Teasers'. Hey, were had just pulled in and wanted to blow off steam.
So here we are, watching the, ahem, pretty ladies and drinking beers when the duty section driver barges in and tells us we have to get back to the boat. Now. We are pulling rods and getting underway NOW and the duty officer is mad becuase he can not find the crew. All we got was the short form statement that we had to get underway with a full stores load and a combat loadout..
We stagger back to the boat and here are the duty coners in a full blown stores load. Here we are half blotto and we are being told to shift into dungarees and get our butts back aft that we are getting underway just as soon as they finish the stores load and find the captain.
Never got underway so fast before. It was a riot.
I wish I could have read the op orders. They were treating it like a war warning. Get going and going NOW, be ready to stay out 90+ days and ready to rock.
24 hours later we were back in Port Canaveral and told it was all some higher ups idea of a snap drill.
2/23/2011 7:15 PM
On the PLUNGER in 1986. We left SD for WESTPAC and find out we may have put shellac into our hydraulic system (think it was external?)...what to do? Subic of course!
Spent almost a month there. Good for us QM's, not so good for engineering and agang.
Thank god that was before cell phone cameras and what happened on WESTPAC stayed on WESTPAC!
2/23/2011 8:14 PM
NHSparky,
I got to Buffy at a point when the detailer had assured me it would be out of DMP. He was wrong by more than a year.
Did you ever "Dial 1 for fun"?
For fun, for vengeance, usually just for a good laugh. Ah, BOXO. Yeah, not a good idea to wake up the crew to field day on station because someone put out a, "No balls to put him in scullery" on Halfway Night.
I don't think that the XO ever slept more than 20 minutes at a time the rest of that underway. I'll never forget that hair, that's for damned sure.
I think I and a certain EM2 still hold the Buffy record for shortest SRO turnover. EDO's were turning over and saying that nobody could top the, "You had it, I got it," turnover. He and I just looked at each other, said, "TAG!" did a High-5, and he left.
2/24/2011 5:18 PM
1965 SSBN 619G patrol 2. Boat pulls in to Rota, tie-up alongside Holland. No smiling faces on deck. I was Blue crew Launcher LPO and told can't go aboard-period. Uh-oh, whats going on. Turns out Goldies were experimenting pressurizing missile tubes via the underhatch valve only. Didn't work out so well. That night we watched Goldies open two missile tubes. Diaphragms in shreds hanging down in tubes. Foam Forward supports for A2 missile warhead were completely broken. Equipment sections stove-in in several spots. On one of the missiles they had to cut the warhead loose and remove seperately. Aweps got letter, and left. Weps spanked and went on to command Albacore, Skipper went on to promote VAdm.
Keep a zero bubble........
DBFTMCSSUSNRET
2/25/2011 12:19 PM
1965 SSBN 619G patrol 2. Boat pulls in to Rota, tie-up alongside Holland. No smiling faces on deck. I was Blue crew Launcher LPO and told can't go aboard-period. Uh-oh, whats going on. Turns out Goldies were experimenting pressurizing missile tubes via the underhatch valve only. Didn't work out so well. That night we watched Goldies open two missile tubes. Diaphragms in shreds hanging down in tubes. Foam Forward supports for A2 missile warhead were completely broken. Equipment sections stove-in in several spots. On one of the missiles they had to cut the warhead loose and remove seperately. Aweps got letter, and left. Weps spanked and went on to command Albacore, Skipper went on to promote VAdm.
Keep a zero bubble........
DBFTMCSSUSNRET
2/25/2011 12:22 PM
So many years. So much fun.On 578 did a month upkeep in PI. Went to sea for a few weeks and pulled into Thailand. Left Thailand and got smacked by a typhoon while surface transiting (too shallow to submerge). Finally got in deep water and continued on to Korea. Boats a rattle trap; something must have broke loose in the storm.Surface off Korea and the entire after superstructure is gone. From the aft end of the sail to the turtleback...Airflasks, cleat foundations, capstan mount all in place. Just no fairing and no deck to walk on.Back to PI for 2 more months for some serious repair work and WAY too much liberty. I was on the 758 when the SLC went through the SRA from hell back in the 90s. It was hard to feel sorry for them since they brought it all on themsleves. But you know, once the critiques and the masts are over and your nukes know its not OK to go out drinking while on duty (then get caught by NR standing SRO while drunk at 4AM) you then do a tagout violation and close a torpedo tube door on a yard worker...The level of pain leaves the parent squadron arena while CSP sends his boys to "supervise."
3/04/2011 5:33 PM
ah yes - the Slave Labor Camp under Milhoan - memories....
3/05/2011 6:48 AM
Saw some discussion on the Bremerton rolling in '93/94. Anyone have a date or pics? I was on the wingwall of AFDM when that happened. Would like to hear from someone in the know! Email is wilesk@gmail.com
3/03/2013 12:29 PM
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