Subs and Travel

[dan11]

One thing I definitely want to have done during my time in the service is travel the world.

Do surface ships get to go out and enjoy more places in the world than submariners?

For those that have done sub-duty, can you list the countries / places you've visited.

[withroaj]

Guam and Okinawa.  Guam's kind of a turd if you aren't SCUBA certified.  Okinawa was really cool.

[retired nuke]

Puerto Rico (I know, I know...it's America...)
St. Croix (Again....America...)
Bahamas
Italy - not just Palau
Great Britain
Got off boat just before Belgium.
also a lovely year in Portsmouth Naval Shipyard....
all in 3 yrs on SSN-679...

[Smooth Operator]

Based on my personal experience, today's SSBNs do not stop at too many foreign ports of call, perhaps the occasional Nova Scotia or Puerto Rico (somewhat foreign I guess).

Parking  POTENTIALLY 24 nuclear missiles seems to spook a few countries.

Once you volunteer subs, your 1st duty station is a toss up and you could find yourself on an SSBN seeing nothing but your shipmates and possibly the occasional swim call.

I know SSNs do more travel and perhaps the SSGNs too.

[JustinHEMI05]

There is NO predicting who hits more ports and when. Schedules are written in warm jello. One time you are planning hitting dozens of ports, next your sister boat ran aground so you have to cover her dumb ass and you lose all of your ports. So there is no telling. You probably have better odds rolling the dice in Vegas. That said, subs can pull into more places, you don't have to wear collard shirts off the boat, you don't have to beg to some Enothing for permission to leave... or come back... and you aren't competing with 4000 other people trying to get off the boat. That said I have been to;

Brest France
Rota Spain
La Maddalena Italy
Souda Bay, Crete Greece
Turkey
Bahrain
Rosy Road Puerto Rico a couple dozen times (best port EVER... PERIOD)
Port Canveral Fl
Annapolis MD (anchor in the bay for middy tours... pre 911 was TONS of fun)
Mayport Fl
Fort Lauderdale FL
Groton CT countless times (homeport )
Portsmouth NH

That was all on one 4.5 year sea tour on a 688i class killing machine (we really were unlike the other posers... USS Miami SSN-755... look it up).  On that one deployment, we lost 75% of our port calls. 

Justin

[DDMurray]

One thing I definitely want to have done during my time in the service is travel the world.

Do surface ships get to go out and enjoy more places in the world than submariners?

For those that have done sub-duty, can you list the countries / places you've visited.

SSBN 633B (Refitted out of Kings Bay):
Ft Lauderdale (Hit once during spring break, once during New year's Eve)
Port Canaveral
Halifax (Awesome place)

SSN 666 (Pearl Harbor)
Maui
Singapore
Hong Kong
Guam (a few times)
Sasebo, Japan
Yokosuka, Japan (a few times)
Okinawa
Phillipines
Australia (2 different ports - Perth and Darwin)

SSN 720 (Groton - deployed during start of Iraq War)
Bahrain
Souda Bay (couldn't leave pier, but nice view and decent facilities-after 86 straight days submerged, anything would be nice)

USS Jimmy Carter (New con -Groton)
Kings Bay
Norfolk
Port Canaveral


Squadron Four Staff (Groton- Met or got off boats or attended gatherings at these places with at least an overnight stay)
Pearl Harbor
Panama
Andros Island Bahamas several times
Port Canaveral
Brest, France
Rota, Spain
Bahrain
Norfolk
Pittsburgh for conference
Schenectady, NY for training
Bangor, WA for conference
Portsmouth, NH/Kittery, ME many times

Derek Murray

[NukeLDO]

While on the boat out of Groton in a 5 year period:
Portsmouth, England
Den Helder, Holland
Port Canveral, FL
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Took leave during the European port calls, flew my wife over, and went to Belgium, Germany, Austria, and France.
The rest of the time, we just poked holes in the water.

[Preciousblue1965]

There are fewer places in the world that can handle a carrier and since there are only about 3 places in the world that a carrier can bring on shore power(San Diego, Bremerton, and Norfolk and maybe one or two other US ports), you will still have at least one plant steaming during any port call, therfore less liberty. Also there are only about 2 places overseas that you can pull pierside(singapore and Gerbel Ally)

My old ship has been to:
Perth Australia
Hobart Tasmania
Malaysia
Hong Kong
Singapore
Bahrain
Jebel Ali
Hawaii
Victoria, British Columbia
and a few other ports that I am probably missing. 

Of course this included our nice 108 Days straight of not seeing land on the second deployment.  That was the same time the Teddy R did 5 MONTHS without seeing land.  One of the bad things about being on a carrier, You really never HAVE to pull in for stores loads.  They just bring it out to you via Un-Rep. 

And as an above poster mentioned, most places a carrier pulls into gets overrun rather quickly.  That is why usually if a carrier pulls into one port, the rest of the battle group pulls into another one including the subs.   

[Motown homey]

I was on a fast attack out of Groton from Jan ’74 through Nov ’77.  Our ports of call were  Holy Loch, Rosyte, and  Faslane, Scotland; Halifax, Nova Scotia; and Bremerhaven, Germany.  During a Med Run, we went to La Spezia, and Naples. Italy; La Maddalena, Sardinia; Augusta Bay Sicily; and Lake Bizerte,Tunisia.  Stateside, we visited beautiful Earle, New Jersey; St Croix, Virgin Islands; Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico; Port Canaveral and Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Newport News and Portsmouth, Virginia; Portsmouth, New Hampshire; and rotten Groton. 

[Samabby]

During my active duty days, I got to fly to six or seven South American countries and a couple jumps over to Rota. During many years in commercial travel, I have been to over forty countries. If you ever need a hotel suggestion in Zimbabwe, Namibia, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Gabon, Niger, Botswana, or Mozambique, I'm your guy! 

[Longhornfan]

Not counting ports in the US...

Puerto Rico
Ciracaou (sp?)
Weymouth, England
Brest, France
Gibraltar
LaMad
Naples
Souda Bay, Crete
Haifa, Israel

[mooredee13]

We hit Lisbon, Portugal for 4 days during my first patrol on the Nasty Nat in 1983. Fun stuff!! Also got to go in the drydock in Faslane for repairs due to problems with the Los Alamos (I think it could sink, but couldn't re-float for awhile). Other than those two hot spots our time was spent in Holy Loch hunting for Dollies.

[Hollywood]

Its luck of the drawl, I mean I have been on the JC(fast attack) for over 3 years, 2 west pac's and seen Guam 6 times, Yahkuska japan 3 times Saseabo japan 2 times, Singapore once for about 48hrs, and Saipan once for about 48hrs.  We were scheduled for Korea and the PI but we just got sent back to Guam, and we never go anywhere on local ops, its pretty shitty. I have heard of other boats going to better places, but like I said, luck of the drawl, and I dont think carriers really go any where...

[Preciousblue1965]

Its luck of the drawl, I mean I have been on the JC(fast attack) for over 3 years, 2 west pac's and seen Guam 6 times, Yahkuska japan 3 times Saseabo japan 2 times, Singapore once for about 48hrs, and Saipan once for about 48hrs.  We were scheduled for Korea and the PI but we just got sent back to Guam, and we never go anywhere on local ops, its pretty shitty. I have heard of other boats going to better places, but like I said, luck of the drawl, and I dont think carriers really go any where...

Would that be like luck of the southern drawl? or like 5-card drawl?

[AskewDivergent]

Guam is the most frequent place that we would go to. Like withroaj said, if you don't have your SCUBA it gets boring fast.
Brisbane, Australia was the best though. We pulled in on July 4th and a bunch of Aussies came down to wish us a Happy Independence Day, complete with cases of brew and the like. The late Steve Irwin also came by for a tour.

[jsilvavalentin]

Not counting ports in the US...

Puerto Rico

Senior,
That is a port in the US, just like Hawaii.

[gsmagnum]

Ports I have seen on an Air Craft Carrier:
St.Martin
Palma, Spain
Cannes, France (IMHO worst port)
Naples, Italy
Rhodes, Greece (IMHO best port)
Crete (seen from the sponson as I had duty and was there only one day)
Jabel Ali, UAE* (could only leave portside if on a paid tour)
Bahrain
Haifa, Israel

The only places I would like to go to again as a civilian are Israel, Rhodes, and maybe Palma.

[kwicslvr]

SSN 672
North Pole
Antigua
Panama Canal x4
Panama
Puerto Rico
Venezuela
Colombia
Ecuador
Peru
Chile
Argentina
Brazil
Japan
South Korea
Guam
Australia

SSN 22
Drydock in Groton
More Drydock in Groton
A little bit of water in Groton
Back to drydock in Groton
Touching the water again in Groton
Cape Canaveral
Norfolk
Back into drydock in Groton

[PapaBear765]

SSN 765
Aksaz, Turkey (spelling not guaranteed)
Bahrain
Chania, Crete (Greece)
La Maddalena, Italy
Rota, Spain 
Port Canaveral/Cocoa Beach, FL

The boat went on a 3-month run down to South America before I reported on board.

[bdhoe]

Sigh...
Bangor,WA
Bremerton,WA
Pearl Harbor, HI
San Deigo,CA
And way too much of
Dry Dock #4 at PSNS..

[SN Bass]

Wow, I did not know nuke ships could dock in Japan now.  I thought they were kind of against that? 

I remember on the series Carrier, I think it was on History channel, they docked in one foreign country and all the reporters of that country were freaking out thinking there were Nuke weapons on board.  The captain, (or Admiral) said, "It is not the policy of the U.S. navy to carry Nuclear weapons on surface ships.  That being said we can not disclose the location of any nuclear weapons." 

That was great, I think the reporters all had heart attacks. 

But, are subs still voluntary for nuke workers?  I have heard that they are I was just wondering though.  I would so much rather be on a carrier.

[AskewDivergent]

Wow, I did not know nuke ships could dock in Japan now.  I thought they were kind of against that? 

I remember on the series Carrier, I think it was on History channel, they docked in one foreign country and all the reporters of that country were freaking out thinking there were Nuke weapons on board.  The captain, (or Admiral) said, "It is not the policy of the U.S. navy to carry Nuclear weapons on surface ships.  That being said we can not disclose the location of any nuclear weapons." 

That was great, I think the reporters all had heart attacks. 

But, are subs still voluntary for nuke workers?  I have heard that they are I was just wondering though.  I would so much rather be on a carrier.

We can dock in Japan, but there's an extra level of concern for public appearances while you're there. For example, we couldn't wear the yellow anti-c's topside. Nukes get a briefing on this subject before you pull in.

And yes, subs are still voluntary for nukes and non-nukes.