"Close calls" while in ship/sub

[Glowing_Since_09]

In about 2 months I am leaving to boot camp. As a result, I've been brushing up on materials needed and things  "needed to know" for boot camp. With that, naturally I'd watch movies that are related with Navy/war type subjected movies. These movies have got me thinking about some situation. I don't ask these questions out of fear but out of curiosity, have any of you fellow sailors had any close calls or battle situations? What I mean by "close calls" is, some type of failure with a system (engine, computer, etc.) where there could of been major damages or loss of life. I know talking about these types of situation can be disturbing to some people, but in all the posts I've personally read, not one that I encountered had some sort of "problems" out at sea.

We, new sailors, know that while working, it's not all ice cream and rainbows. So I ask all the vets to share some experiences to educate us, and let our imagination to start thinking "realistically".

Any stories would be appreciated, thank you.

[retired nuke]

There are many sea stories on the forum, but I believe they are all in the Goldmember section....

[Glowing_Since_09]

oh, hiding are they? 

[withroaj]

 

[Marlin]

There have been enough in the papers over the last fews, no need to infringe on OPSEC

4/81   USS George Washington surfaced underneath the Nissho Maru sinking the freighter and drowning two of its crew members.
4/86   USS Atlanta SSN 712 runs aground puncturing a ballast tank and damaging sonar.
10/86   Russia claims the USS Augusta collided with ballistic missile sub K-219
3/93   USS Grayling SSN 646 collides with Russian missile submarine K-407
3/98   USS San Juan SSN 751 collides with USS Kentucky SSBN 737 damage limited San Juan’s future operating capability
2/01   USS Greeneville SSN 772 Surfaces under Japanese fishing vessel drowning nine crew members.
10/03   USS Hartford SSN768 Runs aground in La Maddalena Sardinia causing 9 million dollars damage to sub
1/05   USS San Francisco SSN 711 collides with under water mount killing one crew member and injuring 23
12/06   USS Minneapolis-St. Paul SSN two sailors drown in heavy seas during surface operations
1/07   USS Newport News SSN 750 collides with Japanese tanker apparently through venturi effect of the tanker passing over the sub pulled it up to the tankers bottom
3/09   USS Hartford SSN 768 collides with USS New Orleans LPD 18 injuring 15 Hartford sailors
   

[Fast Neutron]

Quote from: blonderocker1343 on Aug 10, 2009, 23:13
When enlisted get picked up for a commission, do they need an extension to complete appropriate training? And once accepted, are the incentives greater enough to keep enlisting?

« BZ: Reply #1 on: Aug 10, 2009, 23:20 »
, is this in English?

Quote from: blonderocker1343 on Yesterday at 03:40
Please, enlighten me then. How would you ask my recent question?

Something similar to this;

In summation;
If you aspire to fly with the eagles, why do you insist on flapping about like a duck?,...

this same venturi effect happened to me in a karaoke bar in Kawasaki, Japan,....

IIRC, the particular ko itten which induced this effect was a bit of a tanker herself,...

Gentlemen, you do realize the irony of using the internet, non-English, non-encyclopedic grammar to criticize a new poster?  You could just PM them the message about their error and tell them they would be better off revising their post.  It seems the majority of new postings are being criticized along these lines.

Ok, to be blunt, many people who are very successful in this industry have tried to get you to understand how you present yourself and the method in which you communicate are important.
For you to do otherwise is simply plain lazy. You are on a site consisting of professionals, some of which you might work for someday. So far your lack of attention to detail on items like language, English, and simple communication do not bode well for your future in this industry.

Mike

There is no way you could be serious about this after saying this:

, is this in English?

This is a public forum, and there needs to be less negative energy in answering questions.  In reviewing forum posts through the ages it appears that people patrolling these forums were once apparently much happier to help.

[Fermi2]

Gentlemen, you do realize the irony of using the internet, non-English, non-encyclopedic grammar to criticize a new poster?  You could just PM them the message about their error and tell them they would be better off revising their post.  It seems the majority of new postings are being criticized along these lines.
There is no way you could be serious about this after saying this:
This is a public forum, and there needs to be less negative energy in answering questions.  In reviewing forum posts through the ages it appears that people patrolling these forums were once apparently much happier to help.

Accomplish something first, then maybe I'll accept your feedback!

Mikey

[HydroDave63]

In reviewing forum posts through the ages it appears that people patrolling these forums were once apparently much happier to help.

Which in turn encouraged MORE mediocrity from the nubs, and those that coddle them. Your point would be what?

[Fast Neutron]

I'm definitely not the "slow" neutron here.  I understand lack of discouragement is equivalent to encouragement.  However, everybody loses if you have already given up in the decency of the new people.  They will expect to have low expectations of them, and hence have a low bar to live up to internally.  You will be doomed to low quality.  So, if you want quality, inspire it.  I can definitely see the effects of the navy's elite military bureaucracy on the experienced posters' writing. You don't really want to do to the "nubs" what the navy has done to you, do you?  (It ain't all bad, either)  We all know through varying degrees of experience what the impersonal nature of the navy can do to men.  If it could be better then it should be better.  And it can.  So, I implore you to take a more nurturing tone to questioners.

[HydroDave63]

I'm definitely (snip) doomed to low quality. (snipped)

Thought I saw a blip, but the "delayed" neutron must have been at too low of an energy for the high-pass filter...

On-Topic: Glowing, there are lots of good stories out here, but the really really good ones would violate OPSEC. Is there a specific scenario or chain of events you had in mind?

[stownsend]

Stories of the silent service of yester year.As posted in my hometown world famous rag.The New London Day.

http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=726fca46-955b-44a4-9a9f-8c319cc3e134

[Marlin]

Stories of the silent service of yester year.As posted in my hometown world famous rag.The New London Day.

http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=726fca46-955b-44a4-9a9f-8c319cc3e134

Being a member of United States Submarine Veterans (USSVI) I get to hear these stories in person and socialize with these men. We have three WWII vets in my chapter and I have met many more at USSVI functions. http://www.ussvi.us/home.asp

We are losing these men quickly but it is a great honor to just meet and talk to them while they are still with us. A very humbling experience for those of us with oversized egos.

[Preciousblue1965]

In about 2 months I am leaving to boot camp. As a result, I've been brushing up on materials needed and things  "needed to know" for boot camp. With that, naturally I'd watch movies that are related with Navy/war type subjected movies. These movies have got me thinking about some situation. I don't ask these questions out of fear but out of curiosity, have any of you fellow sailors had any close calls or battle situations? What I mean by "close calls" is, some type of failure with a system (engine, computer, etc.) where there could of been major damages or loss of life. I know talking about these types of situation can be disturbing to some people, but in all the posts I've personally read, not one that I encountered had some sort of "problems" out at sea.

We, new sailors, know that while working, it's not all ice cream and rainbows. So I ask all the vets to share some experiences to educate us, and let our imagination to start thinking "realistically".

Any stories would be appreciated, thank you.

Well if you want a story about a close call, I will give you one.  So here it goes......

We were underway onboard the USS JOHN C STENNIS.  We had been out for almost 3 weeks at that point and people were starting to get a little stir crazy.  I found myself sitting nervously in the chow line for breakfast.  Now I had been in the breakfast line before, and have held my own pretty well if I do so say so myself.  Well after grabbing my tray and inspecting it with great apprehension, I decided that it was suitable for my needs and wasn't covered in left over peanut butter.  I quickly moved into line and had to make my first hard choice, hash browns or grits.  After weighing my options and looking over my indications, I went with the spuds.  Then out of nowwhere, the cook asked me what kind of eggs I wanted.  Taken back by this sudden situation, I quickly reacted and initiated the call for "Two over easy".  Having survived that incident waiting to happen, it is then that I found myself in the worst possible situation I could ever imagine on board a nuclear powered vessel.  I couldn't find a box of Frosted Flakes ANYWHERE.  Now any other NUB might have panicked in this situation, but I had been fully qualified Surface Warrior for sometime now, and was able to keep my cool.  I immediately began my immediate actions of looking through the other cereal holders to see if there might be some way to salvage this situation.  When I found none, I moved on to step two: Find a suitable substitute.  Fruit Loops? No too sweet.  Corn Flakes? Close but not enough flavor.  Raisin Brand?  Those two scoops of raisins were awfully tempting, but I refused to give up the ship so easily.  So I moved on to Step three of my IAs:  Ask the cranks.  This procedure, while well written, never actually works and anyone who knows what they are doing, knows better than to follow a procedure that doesn't work.  So there I was, on the mess decks, people getting more impatient every minute I held up the line, sweat running off my brow, I asked the crank if there was anyway I could score some Frosted Flakes.  As I waited to see how this action would affect the overall plan, I could see an eerie hint of a complete meltdown and mass casualties.  But just as I was ready to hit the "core ejection" button on this particular evolution, I managed to spot across the way, a lonely box of Frosted Flakes, unopened and pristine in condition.  I immediately made a bee line for the box, disregarding safety measures and posted operating procedures, until finally I had the box under control.  To this day I will never forget that hair raising experience and know that on that day, I narrowly averted a incident of epic proportions.

 

[HydroDave63]

I narrowly averted a incident of epic proportions.

Speaking of which, there was the time I had bad cramping dysentery (along with roughly 1/3 of the crew) after a port call in Karachi, Crapistan....and no toilet paper within 12 nautical miles... let's just say there are some stains even tri-sodium phosphate won't remove....

[HydroDave63]

Here's your sign;

http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/warriorshtm/eaglescout.htm

 

Actually, this one fit somewhat better for Leakage Probability_fast

http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/warriorshtm/archivist.htm

[Glowing_Since_09]

Thought I saw a blip, but the "delayed" neutron must have been at too low of an energy for the high-pass filter...

On-Topic: Glowing, there are lots of good stories out here, but the really really good ones would violate OPSEC. Is there a specific scenario or chain of events you had in mind?

This topic has veered off in different tangents, but thank you for at least attempting to bring it back. To answer your question, I was just looking for some horror stories to ponder on. I don;t want to sign up for a sub thinking were gonna me all f****ng ice cream sandwiches and unicorns. In conclusion, i want to know the "threat level" of getting hurt or at least being in danger. I seem to get a naive point of view with all this technology, that nothing can go wrong if you push the right button.

[Marlin]

This topic has veered off in different tangents, but thank you for at least attempting to bring it back. To answer your question, I was just looking for some horror stories to ponder on. I don;t want to sign up for a sub thinking were gonna me all f****ng ice cream sandwiches and unicorns. In conclusion, i want to know the "threat level" of getting hurt or at least being in danger. I seem to get a naive point of view with all this technology, that nothing can go wrong if you push the right button.

What you should worry about is when you are on patrol with very little to do because you can't make any noise. You will be trapped with 100 bored people with significantly above average IQs. The simple things to look out for are graphite on ear pieces or water soaked bedding fresh from the freezer. Your buddies will not be your friends in this fiendish war.  

On your original topic I would not put the physical hazard above that of any industrial site with the exception of the shipyard.

[retired nuke]

all f****ng ice cream sandwiches and unicorns.

Now that's a phrase that has a ring to it....

[HydroDave63]

Now that's a phrase that has a ring to it....

Something that would roll right off of the tongue of Gunnery Sargeant Hartman himself!

[IPREGEN]

It's a different kind of approach than any I have heard, boot camp is not about what happens at sea. It's folding clothes, making your bed, learning the "General Orders" studying some of the Bluejackets Manual and of course senseless amounts of exercises while being yelled at. For things at sea, we had a few fires, pressurizer heaters, turbine generator fire and the worst was a couple of guys that died when the gas leaked out of a refrigeration unit displacing the breathable air. We had people fall over the side while trying to get from the liberty boat back onto he ship. One suicide while in a refuel, a few fights from the guys in the forward decks, one nuke machinist mate that kind of lost it for a while and was throwing chairs around. That was at sea after a long watch and his training PO was asking him about progress, he was okay after a nights sleep. But most of the sea time is a nonevent.

[Glowing_Since_09]

It will be interesting to notice other crew man's reactions, as well as my own, because I want to make the best of my Navy life, so I want to do something unique like a sub.

[deltarho]

Well if you want a story about a close call, I will give you one.  So here it goes......

We were underway onboard the USS JOHN C STENNIS.  We had been out for almost 3 weeks at that point and people were starting to get a little stir crazy.  I found myself sitting nervously in the chow line for breakfast.  Now I had been in the breakfast line before, and have held my own pretty well if I do so say so myself.  Well after grabbing my tray and inspecting it with great apprehension, I decided that it was suitable for my needs and wasn't covered in left over peanut butter.  I quickly moved into line and had to make my first hard choice, hash browns or grits.  After weighing my options and looking over my indications, I went with the spuds.  Then out of nowwhere, the cook asked me what kind of eggs I wanted.  Taken back by this sudden situation, I quickly reacted and initiated the call for "Two over easy".  Having survived that incident waiting to happen, it is then that I found myself in the worst possible situation I could ever imagine on board a nuclear powered vessel.  I couldn't find a box of Frosted Flakes ANYWHERE.  Now any other NUB might have panicked in this situation, but I had been fully qualified Surface Warrior for sometime now, and was able to keep my cool.  I immediately began my immediate actions of looking through the other cereal holders to see if there might be some way to salvage this situation.  When I found none, I moved on to step two: Find a suitable substitute.  Fruit Loops? No too sweet.  Corn Flakes? Close but not enough flavor.  Raisin Brand?  Those two scoops of raisins were awfully tempting, but I refused to give up the ship so easily.  So I moved on to Step three of my IAs:  Ask the cranks.  This procedure, while well written, never actually works and anyone who knows what they are doing, knows better than to follow a procedure that doesn't work.  So there I was, on the mess decks, people getting more impatient every minute I held up the line, sweat running off my brow, I asked the crank if there was anyway I could score some Frosted Flakes.  As I waited to see how this action would affect the overall plan, I could see an eerie hint of a complete meltdown and mass casualties.  But just as I was ready to hit the "core ejection" button on this particular evolution, I managed to spot across the way, a lonely box of Frosted Flakes, unopened and pristine in condition.  I immediately made a bee line for the box, disregarding safety measures and posted operating procedures, until finally I had the box under control.  To this day I will never forget that hair raising experience and know that on that day, I narrowly averted a incident of epic proportions.

 

You cannot leave a guy hanging like that...what next? Did you have to decide between using white-powdered milk or the radiated chocolate milk in the juice-box container? Please, please... I gots to know!

[deltarho]

It's called the "Silent Service" for a reason.

Ask a skimmer,....

Every day as a skimmer is a "close call day," given that we tootled around at test depth 100% of the time... That's how we roll--and pitch--and roll--and pitch--and roll.

[Adam Grundleger]

Here's my two bits on what you can expect from the sub fleet: 

Don't expect the glory days of WWII, but keep them for inspiration in the dark hours (you'll know them when they come.)

Expect to work hard and train hard.  Expect to be handled roughly as a nub, because that's the best measure of how you'll handle stress.  Hold your own and don't make it personal.  Remember, you're nothing but a rider until you're standing a watch and you're nothing but a liability until you're wearing fish.

Pay attention in training and it will serve you well.  In a casualty, real no shi**er type, your training is what will guide you.  System knowledge will get you through the procedures.

Underway is best described as months of boredom highlighted by moments of stark terror.  Trust the procedures and the equipment.  You'll go nuts otherwise.

Big flick: Everybody goes through the same thing on the outside, but your internal experience will be your own.  Don't make any of it personal.  You will learn a lot about yourself and others, and if you're lucky you'll have some memories to be proud of when you're done.

Disclaimer: I was not and don't claim to have been the best sailor while I was in, but I've thought about it a lot and have decided that regret is a hell of a teacher.   

[Preciousblue1965]

You cannot leave a guy hanging like that...what next? Did you have to decide between using white-powdered milk or the radiated chocolate milk in the juice-box container? Please, please... I gots to know!

Sorry Deltharo, that part is classified.  I could tell ya, but then I would have to kill ya. 

[Glowing_Since_09]

Can any bubble heads PM me? I got a few quick questions. It would be greatly appreciated.