April 24, 2012

SSN 711 ²

Submarine, US Navy • Tags: Cold War, freedom of the seas, Guam, Leadership Submarine, SSN 711, submarine, USS San Francisco

Reblogged from theleansubmariner:

Seven years ago, an event happened on the USS San Francisco that serves as a reminder that even in this day of modern technology and science, the ocean is still mightier in its capability to test man’s limitations. On January 8th 2005 at 0243 GMY, she collided with a sea mount resulting in massive damage to the bow section, 23 were wounded as a result of the collision and the tragic death of MM2/SS Joseph Allen Ashley of Akron Ohio occured the next day as a result of his wounds.

SSN 711 ⁹

Submarine, Teamwork, US Navy • Tags: Guam, submarine, USS San Francisco

Within a very short time of the collision, the emails of previous San Francisco lit up with passed along messages. Speculation was the name of the game which seems to ghoulishly follow all tragedies at sea. The first thought was an underwater collision with another boat but a closer examination revealed that the damage to the sonar dome and the forward ballast tanks was consistent with a much bigger collision: a seamount that was not on the charts available to the San Francisco.

I spent four years on the San Francisco and as a new construction team member, I crawled through every tank and ever void on the boat. As a plank owner, I remember the thrills (and scares) of putting the boat through her paces for Admiral Rickover. I will never forget the added pressure that he instilled in the crew as we did the irregular maneuvers to prove the boat’s sea-worthiness. But we hit every mark and sailed her to Hawaii for her first serious set of tours.

When I heard about the crash, my mind went back to the days of sailing at a high speed transit from one place or another. You can feel the rush of the water down the sides of the hull, every turn results in a feeling of pulling in one direction or another as the boat reacts, and the feel of the boat reacting to the churn of the prop is very noticeable. Crawling into your rack, you push the obvious into the back of your head (if you think of it at all). What if something gets in the way? I am not a great physics scholar but I believe that in my life I have been a great believer in the big physics laws. An object in motion… an object at rest…

For all the patrols and special operations I made on various boats, I consider myself to be incredibly lucky. A few typhoons and one hurricane gave us some real scares (stories for another time), but generally, we made the runs with very few issues. I had confidence on the builders of the boat (having watched them and sometimes helping them). I had great confidence in our Officers and Nav guys. Some of them were a little quirky but then they probably thought the same about A-gangers too. But we always operated the boat with the confidence that comes from being as ready as possible.

Having said that, I can only imagine the terror of lying in your rack and suddenly, with no warning, feeling the boat come hard upon a large sea mount. You can’t see anything, all you can hear is the noise from the collision, feel the uncontrolled stopping motion and the out of control nature of such a hit. I apologize to the crew members that were on board that day because my description only comes from a mixture of memories of operating the boat and an imagination that can’t correctly describe what you felt.

I will not post the gruesome pictures that are plastered all over the internet. As I said, having built the boat, I can feel myself hand over handing the ballast tank and thinking that it was incredibly strong. I know we had to do some hull cuts at one point and I can remember clearly what it took for us to cut through the skin of the shark. I can also remember the fact that the precious air need to conduct an emergency blow is partially contained in those same ballast tanks. I have ridden the boat a number of times from the depths on the cushion of that air and remembered how thankful to know that it was there.

All of us had heard stories about the Thresher and her death ride. The thought of losing that air for any reason was one of my greatest nightmares. Every time I did a rig for sea, this was one of my most stringent tasks. No errors allowed and hand check everything that could be hand checked. If I close my eyes, I can still see the gages on the BCP hoping that 4500 PSI would be enough.

The fact that the crew was able to hold it together long enough to get her back to the surface and then back to port is the greatest example of submarine training I can possibly think of. I remain proud of all submariners for their day to day bravery. This crew demonstrated that what may have seem improbable was indeed possible. It would be an honor and a privilege to serve with any of you guys on any boat anytime.

RIP Joey.

God Bless the Crew of the USS San Francisco

MM2/SS Big Mac

(AKA Mister Mac)

December 12, 2011

The Flowers of The Forest ^Reply

Holy Loch, Leadership, Submarine, US Navy • Tags: Cold War, Flowers of the Forest, Guam, holy loch, scotland, Soviet Union, submarine, Submarine Tender

In the misty legends of Scotland, there are many songs that are interwoven with the victories and defeats of her native sons in glorious conflicts. The great pipes blew violently across the field as part of the offensive tactics of the Chiefs.

You can almost feel them pierce the air of a cold Scottish morning while lines of kilted warriors come racing towards each other. The louder the noise, the more it covers the sound of axes crashing into metal and bone. The cries of the mortally wounded are covered with the bleating of the air rushing through the reeds until the last sword is swung and the battle is done.

In the end, it is the music alone that remains. Lives end. Legends are often the only survivors of a grand melee. Around the campfires at night, men tell tales of the way the fight travelled form one end of the field to another. Who won is often determined by who had the best version that would last through antiquity and be recorded by a poet or scribe. The main goal was to create a lasting enough memory to justify their brave sacrifices and try to calm a mother’s broken heart.

The Flowers of the Forest is a memorial song derived from one of the greatest and noblest defeats Scotland ever suffered, the Battle of Flodden Field. Some sources claim that over 10,000 Scottish souls were lost including many of the nobles of the auld Scotland.

The song has been used again and again over the years to honor and commemorate the lives of men fallen in battle from across the British Isles. Besides Amazing Grace, it will always be one of the most memorable of laments to those who have served under the Union Jack.

As a younger man, I was part of another great force that fought a different kind of war. Our greatest goal was to never use the weapons that we had at our disposal. More importantly, we wanted to make sure the other guy knew that he would pay an unimaginable price if he ever used his.

The Cold War

The longest and most expensive war in modern history was the shadow war that started in 1945 barely a few days after the end of World War 2. The Soviets had secretly integrated spies throughout the unsuspecting Western Countries and solidified their hold over the border countries. In a series of steps, each side ramped up their defensive and offensive postures and systems. The launch of Sputnik added a new dimension of threat and resulted in the birth of the strategic nuclear missile submarine programs for both sides.

The battles lasted until 1991

In December of that year, the Soviet Union gives up its last gasp of life and on Christmas Day 1991, the Hammer and Sickle was lowered over the Kremlin for the last time.

In the twenty years since that fateful day, many changes have occurred on both sides

A different kind of war has emerged for a new generation and the old generation has begun to quietly take their place in the Forest. There is no greater reminder to the men of that age than the rise of a new kind of “Flower” in the shape of monuments to glorious days of the past.

http://www.esryle.com/coblinks/links/MUSEUMS.html

While I still think I am young at heart, nothing ages you quicker than seeing the sail of a boat you served on placed on a hill side with markers and monuments all around it.

Nothing brings back the memories faster than seeing that cold metal symbol forever landlocked instead of plowing through the oceans protecting both her crew and the nation she served.

I am grateful for the chance to see her one more time and bring back the memories of red lights and flank speed runs and angles and dangles. I am filled with emotion for those who have slowly passed into the great beyond, some known and others only found in a surprise announcement from a friend on a submarine page or Facebook.

Thanks to all those who cared for and supported their brothers on Tenders, shore facilities and Dry docks in far away lands or here at home. Your service was a great contribution to the peace that was maintained.

Thanks to the men who defied logic and manned the boats that plied the ocean’s deep. Your sacrifice will never be fully recognized but we live in a better place because of it. If you do not belong to USSVI, I would encourage you to do so today. This great organization is keeping the memory of our brothers alive and helping to make a difference for the future.

It is a shame that there is no national recognition of those Flowers of the Forest who helped to win that war.

I want to personally thank all of the ones who remain and especially all of those who have passed.

Twenty years ago this month,

all of your efforts resulted in a great victory.

God Bless You.

Mister Mac

Note: Every war fought by the United States, was honored by a medal issued to those members authorized and who displayed honorable service. The Cold War has never been officially recognized for this type of honor. While some organizations have created a medal for the time period, it has never been officially recognized by the Federal Government.

August 2, 2011

America’s Day Begins in “Guahan”… (that’s gonna take some getting used to) ⁷

Submarine • Tags: Anderson Air Force Base, Andy's Hut, Guam, Orote Point, Pollaris Point, Submarine Tender, USS Proteus

Ah, Guam, garden spot of the Pacific. “America’s Day Begins in Guam” said the license plates of this little island paradise for many years. Guam (Guahan) is an organized territory of the United States and has played a key role throughout its long history with the US. It was also a launching point for countless FBM patrols during the Cold War and still serves as a forward sentinel today.

Guam was discovered by Ferdinand Magellan and was a colony of Spain until the Spanish American War when it was surrendered to the United States. It was captured by the Japanese the day after Pearl Harbor and remained in their hands until 1944. There are many stories of the courage of the Guamanian people under the harsh hands of the Japanese invaders. July 21 is commemorated each year as Liberation Day. The last Japanese soldier actually surrendered in January 1972. One can only imagine the shock he must have felt at the sight of the hundreds of B52 jet missions taking off from Anderson.

Guam’s location made it an important part of America’s strategy during the Viet Nam and Cold Wars. Despite being in the path of Typhoon Alley, Guam was an ideal location for air and naval bases which is one of the reasons the US wanted it back from the Japanese.

As any tender or boat sailor who has ever been there can attest, there are only two seasons in Guam: Wet and wetter with an annual rainfall average that comes close to topping 100 inches. The coolest months are generally January and February and the humidity is probably the lowest then.

The military bases comprise nearly 30% of the island’s total land area. This makes it a key hub for all of the US military in the western Pacific. Despite the size of the armed forces and their dependents, there is actually no danger of the island tipping over.

How this Admiral kept a straight face during this questioning period is beyond me.

My first visit to Guam was on my way to meet the USS George Washington for my first patrol. We landed in a contracted jet plane at Anderson Air Force Base and busses took us to Polaris Point to wait on the USS Proteus for the ship to return. The stay on the “Old Pro” was rather interesting since I had never been on a naval ship before. The berthing area was cramped and it was kind of confusing figuring out where to go on the ship to eat.

The USS Proteus (AS 19) was typical of all the early Polaris program support ships. She had been built for WW2, was decommissioned in 1947, and recommissioned in 1960 and modified to handle the Polaris missiles which would be part of the FBM program. For an old ship, she made the rounds. Holy Loch Scotland, Rota Spain, Charleston SC, and of course several long tours in Guam.

When I first saw her in Guam, she had just completed an overhaul in Mare Island and a short stop in Hawaii to repair a boiler explosion. She completed a shakedown cruise and relived the USS Hunley in January 1973. She stayed for her final FBM tour until 1978. It is rumored that she was kept afloat all those years by sitting on the standard issue navy ceramic coffee cups that the boomer boys would throw over the side, but I am sure that was just a rumor.

It wasn’t long before we discovered Andy’s Hut. This was a small outpost of entertainment on the harbor with a few types of entertainment and of course some cold beer. If I remember right, the two choices we mostly had at that time were Olympia and Budweiser and both tasted like they were chock full of vitamin formaldehyde. But we were young and it was Guam. Andy’s Chateau By The Sea was also home to a number of small USO shows that were brought in to keep the sailors and Marines from remembering that they were on Guam.

The boys on the tender worked hard to keep the boats in shape. I think an entire book could be written about the memories of Polaris Point, but that’s for another day. I sincerely thank each and every one who worked so hard to keep us in good shape.

My favorite memory of Guam actually came in 1982 when I was on the USS San Francisco. We were in the middle of a West Pac and the wives were permitted to come to Guam and visit us during a pier side overhaul. My wife of a few years made the long plane flight from Honolulu and we were both looking forward to a great reunion together. As the plane circled the island, the pilot told them to buckle in for their approach to Guam. The wives looked out their windows and all said the same thing: “Where is it?” As the plane went lower and lower with no landing field in sight, there was a moments pause for all of the passengers. At the last minute, the plane dropped down on the coral packed runway and finally came to a stop in front of the small terminal.

I was waiting with the other husbands when the wives emerged from the plane and came down the ramp. The most beautiful blue eyed blonde I can ever remember seeing came up to me and said “Hi sailor, waiting for me?”. I held her tight and after a really long kiss she looked at me and said “When I married you I told you I would follow you to the ends of the earth. Well, I am here”.

We had a great visit together and we will always have wonderful memories of that time together. The truth is that many people who have been there over the years have come to appreciate the natural beauty and splendor of this little Paradise in the Pacific.

From a practical standpoint, Guam has once again emerged as an important part of our countries future. She is a forward base for air and naval forces once again and will stand at the crossroads of history for years to come. Just as I once prayed that we would never have to perform the mission of the boomers who sailed from there, I pray that we will never have to use her in future conflicts. Unfortunately mankind does not have a very good track record.

Hafa Adai

Mister Mac

theleansubmariner

The original lean from a stealthy source

Tag Archives: Guam

SSN 711 ²