Originally Posted by Ryans323i
Thanks Ry and John!
I was texting John last night about one of my most memorable moments while I was on a submarine. We were leaving Scotland on New Year's Day and as we navigated towards the North Atlantic we were smacked with 50 foot swells while on the surface. I was the Sonar Supervisor getting ready to assume the watch and had to eat lunch. If any of you have seen movies where sailors were eating in heavy seas and their food slid off the table.... it's true, this happens. I almost lost my lunch as it was sliding off the table when we took a heavy roll and had to put my arm down quick so I wouldn't lose it. Anyway after rapidly consuming my lunch, I went up to the Sonar Shack to assume my watch and looked at 5 pairs of desperate eyes once I opened the door, one of which was relieved as he knew I was relieving him. Eventually the guys in Sonar got relieved by my group and I watched each of my operators, one by one, become sea sick. It was amazing hearing the waves rush by the shack as the boat surged in and out of the seas as the the heavy swells were hitting it. Imagine a piece of cork floating on the surface of the water....that's what a submarine does while surfaced. It was like being on a roller coaster with blindfolds on... all of my operators succumbed to sea sickness and had to rush out of the Sonar shack to relieve themselves. I had a "no puking in my Sonar shack" rule so each operator had my permission to leave to do their business prior to returning to the shack with an extra trash bag, just in case. I'm a sympathy puker...
At the time my operators were getting sick, I was dealing with keeping the safety of ship search going while keeping my balance and hearing all of my operators puking into their trash bags. My commanding officer opened the door to my Sonar shack, looked inside, then asked me if I could keep him safe... I looked at him, and also past my Commanding Officer into the Control Room where other people were very sick, and then responded to him that if I was allowed to do what I was currently doing (reclining in one of my operator's Sonar seats while operating one of the passive consoles and making necessary reports to the Officer of the Deck) then I could keep all of us safe. He responded with "okay" and then closed the door.
Now Dane knows just what this means... it was one of the most awesome moments for me because no one was relieved of duty after the Captain saw the condition of my operators being on the floor dry heaving into their trash bags and me being the only person who was operating one of the passive consoles (Sonar Supervisors aren't supposed to operate equipment). Mind you.... I was the Sonar Supervisor on watch but since everyone was sick and I had a duty to my ship and crew to keep all of us safe, I was completely focused on the job rather than being sea sick. We were on the surface for about 12 hours so pretty much my entire watch (6 hours) was spent being on the surface. I knew we were in 50 foot swells because the Officer of the Deck reported that the wave height he observed through the periscope corresponded to 50-60 foot swells over the open microphone and I heard the report.
I suppose if I were in a fishing trawler I would be scared, but being in a Submarine that is 360 feet long, I was not scared but excited instead. Reflecting back, this would have been my "Das Boot" moment. It was moments like these and all the fun liberty ports that made life onboard Submarines memorable for me. How many people have opportunities like this? I truly felt that I was one of the lucky ones who got to travel all over the world onboard these amazing machines run by a crew with an average age of 22 years of age. This is one of many stories I have
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