I was cleaning out some drawers and found these old photos. Scanned ‘em.
This is a shot I took of the USS Cincinnati, SSN693, a Los Angeles class, nuclear-powered fast attack submarine.
Back in the mid eighties I had some extra folding money (big bonus), so I decided to take my mother and my aunt down to St. Croix for a little Cruzan Confusion. I was going to stay a month…I was going to have them down for a week, and then send them to San Juan to do a little casino work…do a week solo…and spend the last two weeks with some friends who were coming down. I’m damn lucky I survived that one.
Anyway, I had a great time with my mom and my aunt…amazing how much fun one can have with sisters. They could piss with the big dogs…I kid you not.
When my solo week arrived, I realized I didn’t have anything to read. Their are no bookstores on St. Croix, so I went to the airport (if you can call it that) to see if they had any books. Slim pickings I tell you. I found an old copy of Clancy’s “The Hunt For Red October”, which I’d read before…but hey, a good book is worth reading more than once.
I’m on the west side of the island, on a beach in Frederiksted, reading my book, having a rum punch and a little crab salad, and just basically kicking back. Sweet. I look west over the ocean and I couldn’t believe my eyes. A fucking submarine surfaced offshore right in front of me. Frederiksted (west side of the island) is the deep water port. Damn…I pack up my shit and head on over to where they were slinking it up. It was a big deal…they had M-16 armed sailors standing guard, but they did allow me to walk the hull…wouldn’t let me go below. I didn’t know at the time, but the skin of a submarine is like rubber goo…not slick at all…you can almost walk down to the waterline…almost vertical. I got up with some of the crew that night, and we got way toe up. These guys hadn’t had any booze, or a woman, in a long time. They did not believe in sleep…total full throttle…they didn’t want to miss anything…and if I can recall, they didn’t. It was an interesting night. Those submariner boys were on the hunt. Hell, I didn’t get back to my crib until the birds were chirping.
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These guys hadn’t had any booze, or a woman, in a long time. They did not believe in sleep…total full throttle…they didn’t want to miss anything…and if I can recall, they didn’t.
Yabu. Boy do those words remind me of pulling into Rockingham, just outside of Perth, after 40 plus days at sea on the LA (SSN688). I didn’t miss anything for the first two days in port, and I practically could not buy myself a beer as the Aussies were so were welcoming to American sub sailors. I’d speak up to order a schooner of Swan lager, and some Aussie would step up and say “I’ve got that mate.”
That was a WILD 24 hours. I have a good friend who is Aussie…it’s in their genes.
I was able to tour a Russian sub once. I cannot imagine how the people who actually have had to man those vessels did it. It was incredibly claustrophobic. You couldn’t really stand upright. You had to basically crawl through hatches from one room to the next. And the bunks were tight and narrower than most people’s body. It was freaky and dark. It was like being in an incredibly narrow tunnel….more like a drainage ditch. Spooky. And then to imagine being in that thing *under water* for days on end. Oy! (Also, there was, of course, no shower. Erg….)
The only sub I’ve been below on, was a WWII boat. Cramped is an understatement.
How many TV’s died THAT night?
:0O
I have no idea!
Yabu, here soon I’m gonna e mail you the list of boats my Dad served on. Westpac, cold war…… you do the math.
Those guys carried their balls around in wheelbarrows, and it’s not cause the hadn’t seen a wimmins in three months.
Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX
Yeap, my Dad was a Captain in the U.S. Navy during WWII. Served on a ship in the Pacific and the South China Sea. The stories he told… Amazing, he made it. I’m glad he did, or I wouldn’t be here.
They got a Russky sub at the San Diego museum and that is why they threw the flag.
The fuckin’ thing is a death chamber…with a political officer.
Inferior technology, and inferior politics. Fact!, but I understand that from people in the know; they can make some nice fighters.
There’s a submarine at Mt. Pleasant that you can go in and also an aircraft carrier. I could not tour the sub because that was when I discovered I must be claustrophobic because my mind screamed “GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE NOW!” when I went to pass through the first door. I think I knocked down about 3 people running out of there hyperventilating. I can not imagine being on one under water.
I’ve been there before, and that sub (CLAMAGORE (SS-43) is tight. Every inch of space is used for something. Banged the shit out of my head several times. The Yorktown was way too interesting, and what’s really cool…they let groups of kids (Boy Scouts, etc.) spend the night. They sleep in the same “bunks” the sailors did when they were at sea. That’s just plain damn cool. Anyway, that Aircraft Carrier has dancing room on top and below. I’m gonna go back and do the tour again…I’ve got a better camera now.
Nice post. It reminds me why I have avoided subs in my career. Too tight. They do great work though. And if ever ordered to one, I will comply. . .
Thanks…There two things I would like to do, but probably never will…do a launch and a trap in a fighter, and take a “short” ride in a “boat”. Thanks for your service.
One way to annoy the Surface Warfare types is to refer to surface ships as “boats” instead of ships. . .