Sailor Steve's Excellent Adventure!

[Sailor Steve]

I said on the official 'Meeting' thread that I would be writing about events from my point of view. So, in the spirit of all one-sided opinionated know-it-all heathens, "Let me tell you what really happened".

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9:
I got a bit of culture shock right off the bat. I was aware of the security measures they have to take these days, so I was ready to take off shoes, belt etc, and be thoroughly panned and scanned. What I was not ready for was to find that if I wanted to check my bag I'd have to pay. $15 for one bag! Luckily I had already planned to avoid the chance of me going to Houston and my bag going to Moscow, so I only brought a carry-on anyway.

Second came the loss of my shampoo. I didn't know about the 3-ounce rule, and I said so and apologized. The security lady must get a lot of arguments, and, I suppose, assuming I was going down that road, immediately and loudly said "All you had to to was go to our website! It's all right there!"

I counterattacked with "Sorry, I wasn't trying to cause trouble, I honestly didn't know. It cost me a whopping three dollars at Wal-Mart. You're welcome to it."

She pressed home her scathing indictment of useless air-travellers with "Oh. Well, have a nice flight."

I'd like to say I won hands down, but to be nice to her I'll call it a draw.

I was assigned to seat 25F, and there was someone in it. So I sat in 25D and didn't worry about it. Then the correct occupant of 25D showed up and I scooted over to 25E. Then the guy with a ticket for 25E showed up and I went to the People-who-know-these-things and asked what I had done wrong. It turned out that the woman in 25F had given them the wrong boarding pass. 25F was her seat in the connecting flight, and she was supposed to be in 7A. I was just happy I didn't have to ride in the luggage compartment.

I'm the son of a retired airline pilot, and I used to fly a lot; but it's been thirty years since I've been in an airplane, and wasn't sure what to expect. Well, here is my report on the changes in air travel over three decades. The inside of the cabin was immediately familiar. In fact, I think I sat in the same seat I occupied last time. The name on the 'Escape' card has changed, but it still looks exactly the same. Same exact rush when full power comes on and you roar down the runway. Same exact jump in the stomach when the beast suddenly leaps into the air. Same exact stewardesses...excuse me, flight attendants. Same exact drinks being served...well, with one change: Two Dollars for a can of Coke??? Whatever happened to "complimentary"? I guess with the cost of fuel these days they feel they have to actually make some money somewhere. I was thirsty, but not that thirsty. And they didn't even have Dr. Pepper! I decided to get one at the next airport.

As we were landing, once again there was the same exact nervousness as the flaps came down and the spoilers came up and it looked like the whole wing was being torn apart by gremlins. But the same exact "why can't these things ever be smooth" jarring slam as the wheels hit the runway reassured me that I had in fact arrived back in man's natural habitat; namely inside an air-conditioned building solidly bolted to Mother Earth.

We got into Phoenix and I spent the next quarter of an hour making my way from the gate we landed at to the gate I needed to depart from. Knowing that I had an hour layover I got to the gate expecting to make sure and then go in search of liquid survival. I said "hi" to the nice lady and asked her where I could get a soda. She said there was no soft-drink machine within a three-day walk from the gate, but I could get one at the airport Burger King which was just a half a mile that way, but I'd have to hurry as they were closing the gate in four minutes. SAY WHAT??? It seems that Salt Lake is on Daylight Savings Time and Phoenix is on Standard Time, so my hour layover was more like "Run or you'll miss your flight!"

Needless to say I hopped on the plane and called myself lucky. The first plane was and Airbus A320. This one was some tiny thing about twice the size of a LearJet. Cool, I thought, this will be way more fun. Bumpy, noisy, crowded, maybe, but cooler than a flying office building. Actually the Airbus wasn't all that big, but that's how my dad described the DC-10, and I've always wanted to say that.

I sat next to a nice woman, and I happily and gratefully paid the two bucks for the can of Coke, as I was by this time rolling the cap of my pen around my mouth trying to produce some moisture. The Coke was warm, but they gave me a glass with some ice in it - surprisingly I didn't have to pay an extra dollar for it, so I counted myself lucky again.

HOUSTON

The Official Agenda said that the 'Meet & Greet' was from 1700 to 1900, and my flight wasn't scheduled to arrive until 1930, I was just a bit nervous. I didn't want to play prima dona and arrive fashionably late and have everyone say "That Steve - what a stuck-up jerk!" In fact I wanted to get there early so I could fade into the woodwork. So of course the only flight I could get made me the last one there, and after the greetings officially ended to boot.

So I got to the airport, and Neal called me. He was staying with the group while his friend Jesse and Niki McBee came looking for me. If you read the thread where Neal posted his picture of matching bikes on a camping trip, and everybody said "What does she look like?", and Neal said "She's a he, and he's a buddy of mine" - well, that's Jesse. Of Mexican extraction, I'm guessing, and another way-cool guy. Such a friend that he wasted a day running around picking up people he didn't know and would never see again, all because his buddy asked him to. Or maybe he volunteered first - I don't know, but either way it's good to have friends like that.

Anyway, it got worse. They were looking for me in the wrong place, or at least in the place where I wasn't, and Neal was trying to coordinate it all from another place altogether, namely his house, by the magic of cellular telephony. I had a great time swapping stories with the young black parking director, and they had a great time pulling their hair and saying "Where's Steve?!" Neal finally had the Brilliant Idea of giving me Jesse's number, while Jesse and Jason (yes, McBee has a human name as well) had the Brilliant Idea of having Jason hit all the exits with a 'Subsim' sign. Yes, we had met, but it was for four hours two years ago, so we could have easily changed beyond all recognition or forgotten what the other looked like. This was more likely as I usually take five minutes to forget what I look like, and it doesn't help that McBee looks nothing like his pictures.

Of course Jason walked into view at the exact same moment that Jesse and I were shouting and calling each other an idiot over our Star Trek communicator replicas. But, find each other we did, and set of for Rancho Subsim. We were all having fun talking and Jesse missed his turn and got completely lost. We stopped at a convenience store for directions, and I bought another soda (these guys actually had Dr. Pepper) and a typical bland convenience store burrito. While we were busy trying to find our way back to Texas Jesse's phone rang. I said "That has to be Neal! Tell him you haven't found me yet!" It was Neal, and Jesse embellished the story a bit by saying that they had found me, but Jason and I had gone back into the terminal half an hour ago and hadn't returned yet. About the time Neal was pulling out what's left of his hair I couldn't control myself and started giggling and cackling, and the jig was up.

We finally arrived at Neal's, and we finally at long last got to shake hands. And UnderseaLpcl. And Chad. And Chad's dad. And TarJak. And Dan the developer man. And Jimbuna...especially Jimbuna. I'm not sure what it was, because we don't really talk more than some others, and we don't have anything special in common besides excessive posting, but for some reason when he stood up I knew I couldn't just shake his hand; and I think he knew it too. So we gave each other a big hug. A big Manly hug, mind you, with the well-defined Manly back-slapping; but a hug nonetheless. And some others, I'm not sure who because we all met for sure the next day and I don't remember who all stayed extra late just so they could meet "Sailor Steve", whoever that guy is.

Neal pushed some great tamales on me, and though I had already eaten something I had great tamales until it hurt. And we talked and had a great late night get-together. The others went back to their hotels, and those of us staying with Neal talked some more and hit the rack (that's navy lingo for 'reposed ourselves for the night's rest'). ULcpl (James for short) used Neal's air mattress and McBee slept on the couch. I had hoped that I might get a chance to have a couple of minutes alone with Dan to talk about a project I've been working on, and, to my surprise, Neal actually had us being roommates! We slept in bunkbeads in the room belonging to his daughters. No, they weren't there, so don't get any funny ideas or make any crude jokes. In the words of Achmed the Dead Terrorist, "Silence! I keel you!" . The twins are 20 and have lives of their own, and Natasha, the youngest, was staying with her mother.

So the first day was a great, if late, start, and a high old time was had by all.

More to come (unless everybody has committed hara-kiri by now).

[Tango589]

It sounds like you had a great time! :up: I wish I could have been there but que sera sera or words to that effect. I look forward to any more tales from the meet. Hopefully there will be one next year. I'll reserve annual leave just in case...:hmm:

[Tchocky]

Loved reading it :)

Yer making jim all embarrassed :p

[Dowly]

Great read! :up:

[FIREWALL]

Waiting for next installment. :) Glad you were able to make the trip.

R\L situations made me have to cancel at the last minute.


Would have really enjoyed meeting all of you.


Your read at least is almost ( Who am I kidding ) as good as being there. :D

[Digital_Trucker]

Thanks for sharing your experience, Steve, and keep the story rolling:up: Would like to have made it myself, but at least this way we get to experience it vicariously.

[Chad]

Great post Steve, I wondered what was taking you so long :D

FAdmiral, my dad, and I waited for you to arrive, late but finally did and glad I stayed to meet you that night. Please keep the story going, you can put it in words I can not, and gives a different perspective to it.

[SteamWake]

Sounds like a typical travel day :rotfl:

Well except the great tamales :up:

Wish I could have got out there but family travel plans say otherwise. Besides some of yall probably want to strangle me anyhow :p

Yall have fun and yes keep us posted.

[bert8for3]

Excellent read :up: . Have the popcorn on hold pending next instalment.

[GoldenRivet]

wow - my adventure to neals was several hours of straight line Texas driving.

Nowhere near as exciting. ;)

[Task Force]

Good story.;) Nice to hear what it was like.:yep: Never been on a plane.

[GoldenRivet]

never been on a plane? :huh:

you need to come visit me!

[Task Force]

I have actualy been on a plane. 15 years ago. But then I was not even 2 years old.:lol:

Id like to get my flying license in acouple of years though, Maby when I'm 20/21.

[GoldenRivet]

the younger you start the better.

Are you in USA or elsewhere?

[Task Force]

Yes im in the us.;)

[GoldenRivet]

if you have any questions about learning to fly... let me know, ill be more than happy to help :up:

(i only ask about your nationality because rules differ from place to place)

[Task Force]

Cool.:D Currently I am stuck to flight simulator and Il2, Ive done over 5 hours flying a single engine plane over Oregon.:yep: That was in two days, Lots of Mt flying.:p Some veary short runways.:yep:

[TarJak]

Nice work Steve, but it's not how I remember it at all. In fact I KNOW it happened differently.:yep::rotfl:(In joke between me and Steve, so forget trying to work out the meaning of this post). Great chatting with you Monday too. You are a gentleman and a scholar, and there's not many of us about. :D

[UnderseaLcpl]

Excellent writing:up:


Hell, I already know the story and I can't wait to hear the rest of it.:D

[Madox58]

One thing I'll say about Steve.
He's long winded at times but tells such GREAT stories!!
:up:

I had the pleasure of talking to him on the phone before the meet.
Then to actually met him face to face?
:o

I nearly wet myself.
:rotfl:

[SandyCaesar]

Wow, great story. Keep it going!:sunny:

[UnderseaLcpl]

Great read, sounds like you had a real good time. Here's hoping I'll be able to attend the next meet.

You had better be there:D
The Germans managed to visit France and Denmark, so you have no excuse.:D

[I-25]

my sisters name is natasha jaja

[Frame57]

Enjoyed it Steve! Makes me wanna go to one, exept the hugging though...:D

[longam]

Remind me not to fly

[Task Force]

Dont fly.:lol: ;)

[Morts]

Dont fly

[longam]

Ah I feel better now, thanks.....:D

[Monica Lewinsky]

I said on the official 'Meeting' thread that I would be writing about events from my point of view.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9:
Second came the loss of my shampoo. I didn't know about the 3-ounce rule, and I said so and apologized.

You got hair on that big head to justify using shampoo?

We assumed it was a waste of your money on the bald spot region?

[Sailor Steve]

You are a gentleman and a scholar, and there's not many of us about. :D
Well, there's you and there's me, and I'm not too sure about you.:rotfl:

[Sailor Steve]

I was about to write more, and my body told me it's past bedtime.

More tomorrow.

[Madox58]

Oh now I'm going to spew!!
:lol:

When the Kissy, Kissy is over?
Back to work Steve!!
:up:

TarJak?
Ain't you got work to do?
:rotfl:

[CCIP]

Thanks for posting this! Again, makes me regret the fact I wasn't there even more. And also makes me miss travelling.

[Sailor Steve]

Enjoyed it Steve! Makes me wanna go to one, exept the hugging though...:D
Manly hugging! With lots of back-slapping! That makes it alright.:yep:

[Dowly]

Enjoyed it Steve! Makes me wanna go to one, exept the hugging though...:D Manly hugging! With lots of back-slapping! That makes it alright.:yep:

Lol, just keep on telling yourself that. :rotfl:

[Onkel Neal]

Wow, nice initial post, Steve. I predict this thread will receive 10,000+ views before Thanksgiving. :yep:

Please--don't forget to type your entries in Notepad or Word and then paste into the post! We don't want you losing anything due to a browser or forum glitch.


.

[TarJak]

Enjoyed it Steve! Makes me wanna go to one, exept the hugging though...:D Manly hugging! With lots of back-slapping! That makes it alright.:yep:
Lol, just keep on telling yourself that. :rotfl:Aye, you know what Jim is like eh?

@Privateer, all done and dusted mate. Job done and off to see the WWII ship and sub tomorrow. Off to the pub now though. :D

[Sailor Steve]

Okay, time for part 2.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10

After a good night's sleep (well, as good as five hours can be, anyway) we had a nice hot shower and pancakes served up Texas-style. Well, Neal-style. Anyway, they were good.

After waiting until everyone else showed up we jammed ourselves into the available cars and headed for BB-35 Texas. The site is right across the street from the San Jacinto battlefield park. San Jacinto was the fight where Sam Houston finally defeated Santa Ana after the slaughter at Goliad and The Alamo. It's a great story, but not part of ours, so I suggest you read a good book or watch the recent remake of The Alamo. It's a good one. Of course I've always pronounced it "San Ha-seen-toe", and I found that in Texas they pronounce it "San Ya-seen-toe". But that's not really part of our story either. What is part of our story is the one Rusty told us. Rusty is the head guide at the park, or at least the senior guide we met. At least he's official and gets paid, as opposed to the rest who are all volunteers.

Anyway, Rusty told us that the Texas is sitting right on the spot where Houston's camp was, and the Jan Jacinto park people want it back. Most people want it moved down to Galveston to join Cavalla and Stewart. The problem is that Texas is old, and the experts who examined her don't think she can move very far without going under. Of course they don't want her sinking in the middle of Houston's main boat channel, and nobody wants her to disappear in the Gulf of Mexico, so they're hoping to move her a few hundred yards east and block her on dry land.

Of course at this point some old sailor said "Imagine what the papers will say when the next hurricane hits...'This one pushed an entire battleship ashore!'"

Rusty told us some of the basic info about the ship, how she was built in...well, everybody keeps saying 1912, but I was sure Rusty said 1914, so I looked and it turns out she was launched in 1912 and not commissioned into service until 1914, so both are correct. Here is a quick history of the ship:
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/battleship_texas/hist.phtml

You'll notice that near the bottom it says Texas was hit by two German shells while bombarding shore positions off Cherbourg following similar duty on D-Day. Rusty told us that one of the shells was a 28cm which hit the roof of the armored conning tower and exploded upwards, penetrating the floor of the bridge - which was then directly above the CT and later moved to its current position several yards aft - and killing the helmsman and wounding pretty much everyone else there.

The other hit was a 24cm shell which hit an unarmored area sideways and didn't go off. They know it was sideways because shells can tumble sometimes and the hole it left was the exact shape of the shell. It was defused and disarmed, and returned to the Texas, whose crew kept it as a good-luck charm. It is still on display in the covered 5" gun deck.

We were then handed off to a volunteer whose name I can't remember, and handed our hardhats. Before the tour started we got a head call (that's a potty break for all you landlubbers). The head we used was a tiny cramped place down a passageway surrounded by pipes and cables, and it had a toilet, a sink and a shower. When I asked about the shower our guide told me that that was actually part of the Admiral's suite. Ah, the lap of luxury.

We were divided into two groups, and our group started aft.

Here is the ship, so you can see where we went:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/crosssectionleft280.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/crosssectionright280.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/seconddeckleft590.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/seconddeckright590.jpg


SHELLS AND POWDER

Our guide pointed out that the sole purpose of a battleship is to deliver its big guns to a position where they can shoot at something, so that's where we started.

We were taken down some very steep ladders (a ship's ladder is actually a staircase. Some of them are built for normal people, but most are built like a stepladder, with the steps very close together and some of them about as close to vertical as you can get without actually just being metal rungs welded to the bulkhead - there are some of those as well, but we didn't have to use them) into the bowels of the ship. I don't remember the exact order of the tour, so this is sorta kinda maybe the route we took.

We got to look into some of the life of the ship, and saw the bakery and the tiny barber shop. We saw some of the machinist's store-rooms and chain lockers, and finally ended up below the #3 turret looking at the magazines. Each bag of powder stored there weight 105 pounds (or was it 125?). Anyway, they were heavy and the handlers actually had to toss them (and catch them!) so they could be placed on the hoist to be carried up to the turret. Between the powder rooms and the barbette (that's the circular section that houses all the hoists going up to the turret) there was an extra bulkhead, with a double airtight door. The powder magazine handlers would pass the powder bags to the transfer man. He would open his door and place the bag inside, lock the door and press the button to ring the bell. The transfer man in the handling room would then open his door, take the bag out and pass it to a handler, close the door and ring the bell to indicate it was safe to open the other one.

The shell rooms contained the 14" shells, each weighing 1250 pounds and stored nose down in special slots welded to the deck. They were attacted to a chain-and-pulley, and pushed hanging from an overhead rack to the shell hoists, where they were set, nose-down, into similar slots on the hoist and lashed with a leather strap so they wouldn't fall out. There was no safety door between the shell-rooms and the handling room, as the shells had no fuses, and any explosion might wreck the shells but the powder inside was almost impossible to set off that way.

I had noticed that there were several spots where the deck seemed to be sagging and asked it those were safe to walk on or were rusting through. Our guide said no, the deck was solid; those were spots where shells had gotten away from the handlers and a half-ton of steel had crashed to the deck, dimpling 1/2" of steel. That's 12.7mm for all you furrin types who don't speak 'Merkin.

One interesting feature that I had not been aware of was that to avoid confusion the powder bags were always carried clockwise around the barbette to their hoists, while shell handlers were required to move counterclockwise.

Our guide then shined his flashlight up so we could see that the shell and powder hoists only went up one deck, and everything had to be transferred from that hoist to the one that went up to the next deck, and so-on until they finally reached the turret. The reason for this was to prevent an incoming shell or a fire in the turret from going straight down a single shaft and reaching the handling room, and then setting off the powder bags being transferred to the hoists.

In spite of all this hoist-changing and door-locking, they still managed to shoot a shell every 40 seconds. More modern battleships had everything automated, and could do it in 30.

Most of the watertight doors we had to negotiate were big enough to step through, but one of them was a couple of feet above the deck and so tiny we had to contort ourselves to squeeze through. Only UnderseaLcpl was agile enough to grab the flange and swing through Das Boot style.

STEERING ROOM

From there we went aft to the steering room at the very back end of the ship. When the helmsman turns the wheel up on the bridge, he activates an electrical circuit that tells the two steering motors to turn the worm gears that actually push the rudder one way or the other. One of the things we were shown was the replacement main steering motor. This was interesting because the steering room is protected by armor plating and an armored roof, so there are no large access hatches through which a new main steering motor could be lowered. This means that the spare motor was put in place when the section was sealed, and actually built right into the ship. And there it sits to this day, where we could all look at it. They never actually had to use it, so the one in service did its job until the ship was retired, and the spare in the cradle has been sitting there since 1912.

The backup system consists of a pair of hydraulic rams which can be engaged if necessary. We were informed that this was much more difficult to use, and required two men at the wheel just to turn the thing.

There were actually three places the ship could be steered from: Of course there was the bridge. The second was a wheel in the Damage Control Center, and the third...well, the third is also the final emergency backup system. If the electrical and hydraulic systems were both knocked out, they would use manual steering. This involved the three wheels you see Neal, James and myself posing with in that goofy picture. It was actually manned by 21 men - seven on each wheel - and was directly connected to the rudder, so it took a tremendous amount of effort to turn. Our guide told us that there is a minor controversy over who actually did this job. Apparently the sailors claimed that the onboard marines had that assignment, while the marines insisted that they would never stoop to doing a swabbie's job. Since the Texas was never in that position, they only know for sure that somebody turned those wheels if needed.

We were also shown that the steering room had its own magnetic compass, so the bridge or CIC could tell them what course to come to and they could see to do it. We were also told that since the compass was magnetic, and it was surrounded by several tons of steel armor and many steel bulkheads, it probably wouldn't work anyway and the men expected to steer the ship in a dire emergency would likely be blind and have no idea where they were going. I suspect that whoever was in charge topside would tell them which way to turn, and then tell them when they were headed the direction he wanted to go.

One last comment on the the steering room: It has no direct access to the upper decks, and if the ship sank there was virtually no chance of them being able to get out. Unless it sank very slowly, if the ship went down they were going with it.

BOILERS

Next stop was the boiler rooms. In 1927 the coal-fired boilers were converted to oil-firing, and since this provided more power than was needed the number one boiler room was removed. They didn't renumber them, so the first boiler room is still called number 2, the second #3 and the third boiler room is #4. We were shown the controls for the boilers and the pipes for getting fuel into them, as well as the viewports into the boiler and the periscope, so the chief fireman could see it the ship was making too much smoke. The starboard boiler room is fully restored to pristine condition, while its counterpart on the port side has been left in its ratty used state so visitors can see how messy the conditions down there could get.

He showed us the exhaust vents leading to the smokestacks, and also the open shafts leading topside so heavy equipment could be replaced. These had 'bomb bars' bolted in all up and down them, so if a bomb or shell got into the shaft it would go off somewhere higher up, and theoretically the boilers would be safe.

I was a bit disappointed we didn't get to see an engine room with it's big VTE engines with their exposed cylinder rods, but there wasn't much I could do about it.

RADIO

We visited the radio room, and saw some restored radio equipment and the seats for the six radiomen needed to keep things running there. We also saw the shaft and gears that ran from the secondary steering wheel back to the steering room.

CENTRAL CONTROL

Our next stop was Central Control, their counterpart to the modern Combat Information Center. To get there we had to go down a very steep, very dark ladder. We also got to find out why they call it the 'hard-hat tour' - we all knocked our hard hats several times on various pieces of the ship, and as Rusty had said when he passed them out, no matter how hard your head is it will always lose that battle against steel. We got a short rest while we waited for the other group to get there. We had started aft, and they had begun their tour in the forward section. We met in Central Control and all got that lecture together.

When the fire control officer gets the range and bearing to a target, and it's speed, he doesn't send it directly to the guns. Central Control collects that information and adds it to the knowledge of their own course and speed, plus information from the radar station. This is all calculated together and then sent to the gunhouses. Once the guns were loaded and ready each gun captain would push a button to indicate his turret was ready for firing. The gunnery-control officer in the CC would then push a button to fire the guns. They didn't fire yet, though. CC also contained what was called the 'Stable Element', which was a gyroscopically stabilized firing system. Since the roll of the ship could seriously affect where the shells landed, the Stable Element prevented the guns from firing until the ship was actually level. Toward the end of the war they started to develop the system I was familiar with when I was in the navy, which had a gyroscopically balanced system that kept the guns and director periscope stable at all times. You would watch the guns move up and down to keep on target as the ship rolled.

DAMAGE CONTROL

We then were led to the Damage Control Room, where all damage control was directed from. It contained the secondary steering wheel and had no direct access to the outside. To get to it you had to go up one ladder or down another, and it was protected by an armored box.

Not much to say about it, other than we were told quite a bit about how DC operations were carried out, and it was fairly confusing, so I have to apologize for not remembering to much of it.

THE GUNS

Our tour finally led us back topside, but on the way we were shown the handling chutes for the 5" shells. These also were one-deck-at-a-time, so no incoming shell would be able to fall directly down to the 5" magazines.

Out on the main deck we were taken into the #1 turret ('A' turret if you're used to British nomenclature, 'Anton' if you're German). First we had to duck low under the massive counterweight built into the rear to offset the weight of the guns. Then we climbed through a small door and then into the starboard gun chamber. Then over the ramming tray. Then down into the gunner's control room. The gun captain directs the loading to the shell as it comes up the hoist. It falls through a hole in the back of the hoist stop, so it's horizontal instead of vertical, then is rolled onto the ramming tray. The ram itself is made of short metal rods which fold out into a solid piece as they extend. This rams the shell the several feet it needs to travel to get into the gun breech. Then four powder bags are shoved into the breech behind the shell, and manually rammed home with a wooden pole known as a tampon. Yeah, I hear the jokes, but this actually had the name first.

When the guns fire they recoil 44 inches. The crew have hidey-holes, but the gun captain has only a strap to hang onto to keep himself out of the way, and he also has to not lean against the turret wall, as the concussion transmitted through the metal can kill you.

THE BRIDGE

We went up to the bridge and were shown the main steering wheel and the engine telegraph, and learned that when the lee helmsman is given the order for a speed change and rings the telegraph, it doesn't go to the engine room - it goes to the boiler room. It seems that if the engines are told to accelerate without boiler pressure being increased first, it will suck the air out of the boilers and they'll go out, and the ship will stop rather than go faster. The boiler crew raise the pressure, and then they signal the engine room to accelerate the engines.

They have pictures showing the state of the bridge after the Cherbourg shell hit, but unfortunately they were put away for safekeeping while the bridges is being worked on.

From behind the bridge we followed a little path to the Captain's Sea Cabin. Here we saw the table and chairs where decisions were made, and the cool map that someone had painted on the wall showing everyplace the ship had ever been. Unfortunately when the ship was decommissioned the navy decided to clean her up, and the map had been painted over. Later in her museum career somebody else decided that the Captain's Cabin should be out-of-bounds, and a hole was cut and a plexiglass window inserted so visitors could look in withour actually going in. Later they were stripping the bulkhead for repainting and discovered what was left of the cool map and managed to preserve about half of it. Too sad, but at least we got to see what was still there.

Another disappointment was that we couldn't go up to the fire control center in the tower above the bridge. When I asked Rusty about it later, he said "It's not safe. Nobody gets to go up there...not even me." I'll take his word for it, but if I was in his position I'd sure try.

After a quick trip around the deck and out to the forecastle for pictures, the tour was over. We were asking questions and getting ready to leave when Rusty offered another little mini-tour, so we learned some more. One of the things we learned about was the gratings covering the anchor ports. It seems that they were a later addition. It seems that an admiral was walking the deck while underway and was looking at something on the shore when he stepped into the port and fell down the anchor well. It seems that nobody could find him for several minutes, and his aid was looking for him when he heard yelling and swearing coming from nowhere, and said "I know where he is". The admiral was rescued from his position clinging to the anchor chain and standing on the anchor, and gratings were installed to prevent it ever happening again. And a good thing, too, as tourists are famous for not looking where they're stepping and falling down all sorts of unexpected places.

Rusty then showed us the Unusual Object mounted to the forward bulkhead under the bridge. The Unusual Object is actually a paravane, which is a hydrodynamic device minesweepers use to snag mine cables and cut them, so they float to the surface where marine sharpshooters can blow them up or fill them full of holes so they can sink to the bottom and not bother anybody. Somebody had the brilliant idea of trying them on battleships. As far as anyone knows Texas never snagged a single mine.

The reason the paravane is an Unusual Object is that people who see it tend to tell their friends, lovers and children all sorts of strange tales about what they think it is: a bomb, a torpedo, a midget submarine. I don't think anybody ever actually said that last one, but Rusty said it was difficult to correct people's strange notions in front of their friends, and difficult not to as well. They're planning to put up a sign so they don't have to embarass dads in front of their kids anymore, or pull their hair out because it's rude to do that so they stand by and grind their teeth while dads tell their kids the truth behind the Unusual Object.

Rusty explaining the paravane.
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n12/privateer_2006/IMG_0465.jpg



AFTER-THE-FACT PRANKS

In the middle of Rusty's lecture I realized that my old feet were killing me, so I decided my tour was done. Heading aft I ran into Chad, and pointed out the 3" heavy anti-aircraft guns, and mentioned that they were about the same size as the 8.8cm gun on his Type VII u-boat. We took a look at the fantail and headed ashore. I told him that I had wanted to come to the 2004 meet but had to miss it, and he said he too had wanted to come then but he was only 16 and his parents said there was no way he was going to go to Texas and hang out with strangers he only knew from the internet.

And rightfully so, but I couldn't resist the temptation to mention it to his dad later. I asked Kyle "And now that you've met us and your worst fears have been confirmed?"

Most of us older guys were already sitting at the picnic tables and not walking around, so I joined them at the last table. Neal was at the first table, with somebody across from him, and there were folks at the second table as well. I joined StdDev at the third table, and we were happily chatting away when my phone rang. It was Neal, and I said "Hey, Neal, what's up?"

Neal said "Could you ask Rusty when the tour will be over? We have to get going."

I said "Sure, but you're probably closer than I am."

He said "Where are you?"

I leaned out to where he could see me sitting two tables away and waved. He swore a bit and then called someone who was a little closer to Rusty.

We had lunch at Denny's, and then went to Neal's to pick up his guns, and then to the firing range, only to find that it was only half an hour 'til closing time, so we bagged it for the day and headed back to Rancho Subsim. There we had some good conversation until the evening, then we dragged ourselves to a great Mexican restaurant for dinner.

At dinner we met Neal's friend Hannah. Hannah is German and I got to talk to her a bit. She asked me what it was that we did, and, surprised that Neal hadn't done so, I explained. I was talking about picking up phrases from Das Boot, and the difference between the slow flat tones of the voice actors and the professionals in the movie, and when I said "Beide machine grosse fahrt voraus", her eyes widened and she asked me "How did you do that?"

"Do what?" I inquired.

She said "You said that perfectly, with no American accent at all!"

Not speaking German, I was stumped. The only thing I can guess at is that it was because I was mimicking what I had heard so many times playing the game and not actually trying to speak the language.

Later Neal passed out some cool swag from UBIsoft and Subsim. I got a grey SH4 t-shirt, a white SubSim 'Rigged For Dive' shirt and a copy of SH4 gold. I ain't compainin'.

Jimbuna also gave me one of the black GWX shirts they had made up. He gave one to NikiMcbee as well, so I guess we're honorary members.

After another way-too-late-night bull session we finally got to bed.

And the evening and the morning were the second day.

[Dowly]

WE WANT MORE! WE WANT MORE! :rotfl:

[sharkbit]

Awesome story about the tour of the USS Texas.
:)

[FIREWALL]

WE WANT MORE! WE WANT MORE! :rotfl:


WHAT HE SAID ! :yep:

[StdDev]

You left out the part of Neals initial question when he phoned you.. "What ya doin?"... "Ummm mostly listening to you" (Neal had been talking/planning the rest of the days plans..) :D

And there I was between the two... looking over at Neal asking the questions of Steve, and then turning to watch Steves reply...
Hmmm .. So I was thinkin to meself sez I... they must be rehearsing a Marx Bros. routine or somethin....

[GoldenRivet]

i LMAO at that little exchange... everyone but neal seemed to realize what was going on :rotfl:

[Tango589]

Dude, I cannot wait for the next thrilling installment!:rock:

[Sailor Steve]

You left out the part of Neals initial question when he phoned you.. "What ya doin?"... "Ummm mostly listening to you" (Neal had been talking/planning the rest of the days plans..) :D

And there I was between the two... looking over at Neal asking the questions of Steve, and then turning to watch Steves reply...
Hmmm .. So I was thinkin to meself sez I... they must be rehearsing a Marx Bros. routine or somethin....
I did leave that out. And I'll continue to leave it out, so you get the credit for remembering it. Thanks.:sunny:

[Tchocky]

Reminds me of running around the USS Massachusetts when I were a nipper :)

[Digital_Trucker]

Excellent second chapter, Steve. Makes me feel like I was there:rock:

Still giggling over the "Who's on first" phone call:rotfl:

[Rip]

Enjoyed it Steve! Makes me wanna go to one, exept the hugging though...:D Manly hugging! With lots of back-slapping! That makes it alright.:yep:

The back is about two feet higher there sweetheart.

:lol:

[GoldenRivet]

Enjoyed it Steve! Makes me wanna go to one, exept the hugging though...:D Manly hugging! With lots of back-slapping! That makes it alright.:yep:
The back is about two feet higher there sweetheart.

:lol:

nice :rotfl:

[badaboom]

:D I can't wait to hear.................................THE REST OF THE STORY!!!!!!!!:up:

[CptGrayWolf]

Way to go Steve! :up: You even got your sexy mug on the front of subsim!

[Task Force]

Cant wait for more.:up:

[Madox58]

Very Nice Steve!

And you didn't even mention that all the Grey Wolves were late...........
I mean delayed by traffic!
;)
:lol:

[SandyCaesar]

Nice storytelling, Steve--makes me wish I were there, but no, same situation as Kyle.:nope:

Part III! PART III!:rock:

[Sailor Steve]

Enjoyed it Steve! Makes me wanna go to one, exept the hugging though...:D Manly hugging! With lots of back-slapping! That makes it alright.:yep:
The back is about two feet higher there sweetheart.

:lol:

nice :rotfl:
SILENCE! I KEEL YOU!:x

[Sailor Steve]

Very Nice Steve!

And you didn't even mention that all the Grey Wolves were late...........
I mean delayed by traffic!
;)
:lol:
That's 'cause I did not know that part. I saw you guys aboard later, and that's all I knew.:sunny:

[stabiz]

I knew you were a clever bugger, Steve, but this (particularly the first report) was a great read! Lots of nice little details in the first part, it could easily be a chapter from a book. (Being a writer has destroyed my ability to read anything without analyzing it)

Now, get back to work.

[mookiemookie]

Wow...I have no idea how you remembered all of that. Especially the battleship. We saw so much, and everything we saw was so big and complex, I forgot most of what was said the minute we stepped off her!

[elanaiba]

After meeting Steve in person, I'm pretty sure he doesn't actually forget things, just pushes them aside till later.

And I'm pretty sure he's related to Woody Allen, btw.

[Madox58]

And I'm pretty sure he's related to Woody Allen, btw.

:rotfl:
I thought I was the only one that was thinking the very same thing!!
:lol:

[Hanomag]

Steve...

Can I save before reading this....:rotfl:

Still on the road home and haven't been able to upload pics yet. Will do on Fri.

[Madox58]

Hey Mike!!
I ment to tell you this!

GWX 4 will disable all saves!!
:rotfl:

[nikimcbee]

Steve...

Can I save before reading this....:rotfl:

Still on the road home and haven't been able to upload pics yet. Will do on Fri.

Only if you can hit your paper target, that activates the option.:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

[Falkirion]

Great read Steve, even if I had skip over most of day 2 because my eyes are murdering me. I've been staring at a computer monitor (LCD mind you) for the better part of 12 hours today, stupid drafting job.

[Sailor Steve]

Take your time. I don't think this forum is going anywhere anytime soon.:sunny:

[Dowly]

Take your time. I don't think this forum is going anywhere anytime soon.:sunny:

How about yer memory? :88)

[wireman]

My sodas are always free-must be the uniform.

[Sailor Steve]

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11

We actually got some sleep that night, but when Neal said "Seven-and-a-half hours! I'm ready to face the day!" I had to say "Seven-and-a-half hours! I'm ready to go back to bed!" You see, some folks like to say that old people need less sleep, but the truth is you sleep less at night, but take a lot of naps.

I then realized that our numbers had grown. Rip had arrived on his Ninja the day before, and had joined James and Jason on Neal's living room floor. James had offered up the air mattress and slept on his special marine roll-up ground pad. He said it was comfortable, but it looked like a plastic mat to me.

SEAWOLF PARK

For any of you who don't remember, at the 2004 meet they spent the night on board the Cavalla. That was when Drebbel pulled his infamous 'Blow the dive klaxon at 0200 hours' trick. AOOOOOOOGAH!!! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqJqefniiO8) We were supposed to do that this time, but somebody called Ike blew through town and sort of left a mess behind him. So we instead volunteered some of our time to clean up hurricane junk.

I forgot to mention that on Friday we were short of car-space, so Neal rode his Suzuki and we followed in his SUV, with Golden Rivet (I think) driving. This time we had some extra car space, so we were a bit more spread out. I rode with StdDev. After a stop at a donut shop for some breakfast we made our way to the Seawolf Park. The park is named for Seawolf, which couldn't make it to the park as she was lost during the war. The park contains USS Cavalla, Neal's favorite sub, and USS Stewart, an old Destroyer Escort. On the one hand I fell in love with Stewart because she's from the same era as the destroyer I served on, but on the other I couldn't help thinking how small she seemed compared to my old Gearing Class DD.

My first impression was not the devastation, but my disappointment with Cavalla. After her wartime service she had been converted to some sort of modified thing, and looked hideous. I was thinking "How could they leave her looking like that?" I make a point of mentioning this because the truth came out later, and I learned some cool things about that old sub. But all things in their own time.

We met the guy who was to be our boss for the day (Neal will have to tell you his name) and he got us organized. USLC (James) and I grabbed a hoe and a wheelbarrow each and started walking, and the others hopped in cars. You see, a big shipping container (about the size of a semi trailer) had blown several hundred yards down the road and then spit open, spewing junk...er, um...important historical naval paraphernalia all over the road, and they were having a hard time finding the manpower needed to clean it all up. James climbed inside the lower part of the container to dig through the mud looking for cool swag, and creaky old Steve stayed just outside so he could be handed stuff to put into buckets for transportation back to the main place.

One of the things we were missing was the Grey Wolves. Todd (Kpt. Lehman), Jeff (Privateer), Jim (buna) and Grant (TarJak) had taken themselves off somewhere for a private powwow. Neal said they had claimed they had too much fun the night before and needed to recover. I said they were a bunch of no-good low-down deserters, leaving us to do all the hard work, and missing out on the fun of finding cool stuff, and who did they think they were, coming all this way just to ignore m...us! Just think of how much more could have gotten done if we had had four more people there to help (well, five if you count Nancy - Mrs. Privateer - but I wasn't going to blame a woman who can't help the kind of rotter she's married to)! Of course we still had 22, but I reserve the right to kvetch if I feel like it!

John and Alicia (Mr. & Mrs. Golden Rivet) were working right next to us, and pretty soon Chad joined James down in the hole, and we had some good conversation while we were busy collecting cool old navy stuff. I noticed Dan beachcombing through the hurricane wreckage, and occassionally picking up pieces of wood and chucking them into the Gulf of Mexico. "Hey!" I shouted, "Quit polluting the harbor!"

"What?" he shouted back. "I can't hear you!" Being rather simple-minded, I thought that was a wonderful comeback and we had shared a funny joke. Later when I brought it up he said he didn't know what I was talking about, because he really couldn't hear me. Those Romanians - what a bunch of cut-ups.

The container-team turned up a couple of naval chronometers, at least one 8-day clock (don't ask, I don't remember what that is, and don't want to), a cool navy flag (seen in the group picture), another flag which was red and blue and I thought it was a Texas flag until I realized it didn't have the triangle with the lone star in it, and a bunch of old navy-issue plates and cups which had somehow survived unbroken. Also a couple of old teletype machines and some electrical equipment. Also there was a little plaster plaque of the official patch of USS Thornback (SS-418), a Tench-class boat completed in 1944. That's what I'm holding in the big ugly picture of me, in case you wanted to know.

After we were done we posed for pictures and gave them our names and addresses. Apparently we're going to get another cool t-shirt for our contribution, and we're all now official members of the Seawolf Park Association. Can't complain about that.

We couldn't go aboard Cavalla because there was no power, and the inside of a submarine can get just a little on the dark side. We couldn't go aboard Stewart because thanks to Ike she's now listing about 17 degrees to starboard, which means the boarding ladder, which is on the port side, is about 15 feet in the air. I don't think even James-the-lance-corporal can jump that high. I could be wrong, though - I certainly have been before.

We spent some time taking pictures of us beside the ships, and the exposed submarine conning tower they have on display, and then looked at the wreckage. Cavalla has part of her bow pealed back on the starboard side, which is not good, but we could see the outer door of the torpedo tube, which was cool. I asked Neal if there were plans to restore Cavalla to her Second World War state, and he snapped "Hell no! No way!" He then explained that she had been converted twice, and was one of the original experimental attack subs used to develop technology and tactics that are still in use today; and that they wanted her in that condition to represent what she means to the modern navy.

As we were driving out of the park, it was my turn to be the butt of a joke. We had gotten to talking about what a great bunch the dev team were and how Dan was so cool. I said that this was also illustrated by the great posts by their spokesman, Elanaiba, and that I'd really like to meet him sometime as well.

"Steve" said Neal, "Dan is Elanaiba."

"...oh."

LUNCH

After some misdirection, getting lost in parking lots, losing people at red lights and at least one wrong turn, we finally arrived at a seafood restaurant and had survived "Icky Ike", or so it said on the menu. Not being a big fish eater I had a cheeseburger instead. What was cool was that I ended up sitting next to Zeb Alford. Captain Zeb, as they call him, was actually the Executive Officer on Cavalla while all the aforementioned converting and experimenting was going on, and he had some great stories involving testing new equipment and sneaking up on the best task forces of the day, and getting away with it.

I've been told that submarine captains tend to be arrogant and stuck-up, and nuclear submarine captains even more so, but Zeb is a regular guy. When he mentioned that he had originally been captain of a destroyer, I told him I had served on a DD and he got interested and asked for some of my stories, which he then sat patiently through and even laughed at. All-in-all it was a great bull session.

GUNS 'N' STUFF

After lunch we finally made it to the gun range. Hanomag had brought his personal weapon, and Neal brought his, and Rebel and Renee were strapped up and ready for bear. Valerie was there, and I think Natasha was too but I don't remember for sure. I've shot guns before, and while I try to stay in practice I don't really get a big kick out of shooting for its own sake, so I opted to hang out and watch. I ended up having a nice conversation with FAdmiral, so no time was actually wasted in the making of this trip. Everybody had a good time, and so we headed out.

'THE TALK'

We got back to Neal's and sat around talking about stuff while Mike (Hanomag) cleaned his pistol and talked about how it was different from the old 1911 model .45. He didn't claim better, just different.

Then Neal ordered pizza for us all and we got down to business. I'm a little nervous about this part because I was was worried about giving anything away and PMed Dan this morning to ask if there was anything he wanted me to leave out. He said no, there was nothing said that could be considered secret, and it was on the webcam anyway. He also said he wanted to see how much I remembered about it. And that's why I'm nervous - because I'm sure I don't remember half of what was said.

The conversation consisted of Dan asking us question, and they were mostly not what we wanted in a game, though there was some of that, but what we though of each idea he was bringing up.

"What would you think of a console version?"

Most of us didn't like the idea, but not because we didn't want it but rather we couldn't see how it could work without being extremely dumbed-down. I commented that 10 years ago I would have loved a PlayStation version of SH1, but now with bigger monitors and comfortable desk chairs I couldn't see the point.

"What do you think of a more dynamic campaign, say one in which you could affect the outcome of the war?"

I've always been against such a thing, since way back when I played LucasArts' Battle of Britain game, Their Finest Hour, and when I played German we invaded Britain every time. But the discussion spread out from that point, with a lot of back-and-forth, and one idea I got really excited about was the concept of: If you raid a harbor, they beef up all the harbor defenses, so the next time is harder. If you sink several big important ships, the AI gets offended and starts hunting you, specifically. If you leave your assigned grid and go harbor raiding, you had better be successful, because if you don't you might be relieved of command for disobeying orders. And even if you do score big, at the same time they hang a medal on you you will also get an official reprimand.

Another idea that came up in that vein was the possibility of getting called to Berlin and having Donitz or even Hitler ask what you wanted. If they liked your idea you might get special praise. If not, you might find your career over.

Also, a modification of the renown concept: If you ask for special equipment before it's available to the general u-boat arm, you might get it or you might get told that someone even more respected got it first, and you'd have to wait your turn.

I know I dwelt on that more than anything else, but that's what stuck with me.

Wolf-Packs: everybody wants wolf-packs. But just having one isn't realistic. What was discussed was the possibility of being part of one but not the leader. You're ordered to one side of the convoy and from then on you're on your own. You might not even get to a good attack position, and still be playing catch-up when you hear the others sinking ships. You might get a free attack while the escorts are all chasing down your buddies. Or you might be the goat, and have them all gang up on you. All these things are possible, and we got to discuss them at length.

Multi-Player: of course we all said we wanted adversarial multi-play, like the old SH2/DC days. We discussed the possibility of interrupted team-speak, so the subs couldn't talk to each other while submerged, or if surfaced the DDs would get a huff/duff alert. This was done with SH2/DC, but it was typed, and team-speak allows excessive freedom.

Every time one of us raised any objection based on difficulty, Dan would immediately smack us down: "We can do anything! I'm not worried about that! I just want to know what you think of the idea!"

There were a lot of questions, and as I said I don't remember them all. I'm sure there will be threads on all of this soon enough. Anyone who remembers anything else is free to post it. Also, I'm not trying to push my own agenda with any of the above. I'm just posting what I remember and what my impressions were.

Rip has joked in another thread that he talked more than any of us, and bored Dan with his prattle. My memory is that he had more to say than anyone else, but pretty much everything he said was worth discussing, and he had more good ideas than the rest of us put together.

Hanomag answered just about every question with "As long as I can save it first, I don't care!" Which explains his joke on the other thread.

Overall I came away with the impression that they really want to make us happy this time, and that the immediate future of sub simming is in good hands.

[Onkel Neal]

We met the guy who was to be our boss for the day (Neal will have to tell you his name) and he got us organized.



John McMichael, curator and Seawolf Park manager, COB on several subs, and valuable person to our group.





As we were driving out of the park, it was my turn to be the butt of a joke. We had gotten to talking about what a great bunch the dev team were and how Dan was so cool. I said that this was also illustrated by the great posts by their spokesman, Elanaiba, and that I'd really like to meet him sometime as well.

"Steve" said Neal, "Dan is Elanaiba."

"...oh."



Ha! Steve 2, Neal 1
I'm gaining! :rotfl:

[Brag]

Steve. you write like Joel Achenbach of The Washington Post!
I enjoyed reading your adventures

[Jimbuna]

This makes really cool reading Steve http://www.psionguild.org/forums/images/smilies/wolfsmilies/thumbsup.gif

I'm extremely relieved your unaware of the Limo hijacking episode http://www.psionguild.org/forums/images/smilies/wolfsmilies/wacko.gif

[Onkel Neal]

Added link to the 2004 Cavalla Incident (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqJqefniiO8)for you Steve. :smug:

Neal

[caspofungin]

this is a great read -- thanks a lot, steve.

[CCIP]

Wow, the Cavalla incident :lol:

I swear, next time there's a Subsim meet on a fleet boat (where I will DEFINITELY have to be), I'm volunteering for the Middle Watch!

Also, I laughed at the whole "Dan vs. elanaiba" thing. Even I knew that, and I never even got to meet Dan yet (unfortunately :()

[Task Force]

About the wolfpacks, did anyone surgest that you could move up in rank. Like start out low and move up to be the head of the pack.:D

[stabiz]

Wolfpacks ... *drool*

[Dargo]

Added link to the 2004 Cavalla Incident (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqJqefniiO8)for you Steve. :smug:

Neal

This was certainly a Marx Bros rehearsing. :rotfl:

[Brag]

Yay, Steve! Good job. Now, where is the rest? :up:

[Sailor Steve]

Added link to the 2004 Cavalla Incident (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqJqefniiO8)for you Steve. :smug:

Neal
I saw that! Thanks!:sunny:

About the wolfpacks, did anyone surgest that you could move up in rank. Like start out low and move up to be the head of the pack.:D
Actually I think that was the idea. Just that you won't always be able to do anything you want with them, and once basic instructions are given each boat is on his own, as they can't communicate. More will come from Dan on what is actually happening. Of course that may take awhile.

[Sailor Steve]

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 12

PAINTBALL WARS

We got up and headed for the paintball place. Some of us had already left for home, but there were still enough left for a good dust-up. I rode with Mookie-Mookie this time, and had yet another good talk. I'm too old and creaky to run around and crouch down, so I talked with FAdmiral and StdDev and we took pictures of the rest having fun. The first fights were held in what looked like a bombed-out village, with partial structures and sandbags everywhere, and some trees. James played mean marine and ran around like a madman, and ran right into Dan who shot him out of the game. Neal was stealthy, as was Valerie, while Natasha commanded the rear. On the other team Dan seemed to be doing the best, and I think he won, but I'm not sure.

The second battle had James being a lot more stealthy, and shooting from cover. When he managed to get revenge on Dan, Valerie stepped right into the same building and started shooting at him. I told him later how it had happened, and he said "Yeah, I remember thinking 'I thought I just killed that guy'!" At the end James ran up on somebody who was lying prone behind some sandbags (I think it was Mookie, but who can tell when they all have cammies and masks?), and shouted "Surrender!" He did, but I think James shot him anyway.

There was a third battle there, but the fourth and last took place in an open ground filled with large pipes of some sort. This is the one that's in the pictures that have been posted. Everybody went out fairly quickly. I had a good shot of Dan and James dukeing it out at close range. James managed to hit the pipes and catch Dan with ricochets. Then James and NikiMcBee managed to stalk each other very effectively, which ended with McBee dodging around the other side of a pipe and right into James's line of fire. McBee took one square in the chest and the battle ended. All-in-all everybody had a good time.

THE BARBECUE

We got back to the house and the barbecue began. Neal's dad and mom made an amazing meal of pork ribs, roast beef, Texas-style beans and other good stuff, and also had cake and banana-cream pudding. I actually managed not to overeat, so I had something to be proud of. Our missing GWX guys finally showed up (sure, they made it for the food!), and I got to talk to Todd (Kpt. Lehmann) and Jeff (Privateer) at long last. Great guys to talk to, just like the rest.

I then got to show Dan and Jeff the project I've been working on, which is collecting ship names and putting them in the proper categories for SH3 Commander and the Next Big Sub Sim, however that turns out. It sounds small, but the idea is to have the game award a name that actually fits the model of the sunken merchant, and maybe even the exact tonnage that goes with that name. That way if you sink 'SS David Crockett' you would be awared exactly 7176 tons, not some random number centered around the generic 7170 that goes with the Liberty Ship in the ID book.

Chad showed us a cool video of his own sub sim project, and then Neal entertained people by showing them Aces Of The Deep, and how far we've come since then. I was surprised at the number of people who had never seen it.

After everybody went back to their hotels, McBee put The Cruel Sea on Neal's big screen TV, and I saw it for the first time. I read the book last year, and was surprised at how close the book stuck to it. James and Neal missed it, deciding that since they had to get up at 0400 so James could make his flight, it might be a good idea to go to bed a little early.

And that was our last full day.

[Task Force]

Anouther good one Sailor Steve.:up:

[Madox58]

Another great post Steve.
:up:

And as I always say.
Call me anything you want?
Just don't call me late to Dinner!!
:rotfl:

Till next we meet My Friend!!
:rock:

[TarJak]

This makes really cool reading Steve http://www.psionguild.org/forums/images/smilies/wolfsmilies/thumbsup.gif

I'm extremely relieved your unaware of the Limo hijacking episode http://www.psionguild.org/forums/images/smilies/wolfsmilies/wacko.gifAs I posted elsewhere that thread will be forthcoming soon...:arrgh!:

[joea]

Wow incredible story!! I gotta get to one of these things sometime, especially if they are in Texas!

[Jimbuna]

Wow incredible story!! I gotta get to one of these things sometime, especially if they are in Texas!

You've just missed one :doh:

[Jimbuna]

and then Neal entertained people by showing them Aces Of The Deep, and how far we've come since then. I was surprised at the number of people who had never seen it.

.

Neal demonstrating Aces Of The Deep (I was one of those who hadn't seen it before).

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/503/p1000157gr8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[Oberon]

I recognise that pencil drawing just behind Neals head, that's by one of our resident artists, I can't remember his name right now but he's done some wonderful pencil drawings. :rock:

Great recount Steve, really enjoyed reading it all.

Wild Stallions! :rock:

[Nisgeis]

Very nice! Encore!

[Sailor Steve]

MONDAY, OCTOBER 13

Neal and James got up at 0430, as James's flight was at 0600. Neal then went to the Grey Wolves' portable lair, and took Todd to the the airport for his flight at 0930. Then they showed up at Neal's, and Dan immediately told Neal that he just had to go to the hobby store before he left. So Neal, Dan and Jason took off for the store, and Jim, Grant and I had one last talk. They came back from the store with a Revell 1/72-scale Gato model, and then I found out it was Neal's birthday.

There's a story about that model that hasn't been told yet, but it's Neal's story and I'll give him one last chance to tell it right before I spill the beans for him.:rock:

Sometime during those last hours I got to have one last good one-on-one talk, this time with Grant (TarJak). Part of my tour in Viet Nam was working with an Australian task group, and it was headed by HMAS Melbourne. It turns out that Grants dad was on the Melbourne at that time, so we were actually in the same group at the same time. Pretty cool how that works out sometimes. We talked about a lot of other things. I don't remember a lot of them, but the point was really the talking, not the subject.

Everybody's flights were at around the same time, so we started loading up Neal's truck and getting ready to go. I was sitting in the living room talking to Jason, when the horn honked out in the driveway. I offered to help McBee carry his stuff out, but he said his flight wasn't until later, and I realized that I was the one holding up the train. So we said goodbye and Neal took Dan, Jim, Grant and me to the airport, and there we said our last farewells.

HOME AGAIN

My flight to Phoenix was on a Boeing 737 this time. Back in the '70s I thought the 737 was a cool plane - almost the fighter among airliners. This one was just old. Stuffy, bad air conditioning, bumpy. I was glad the flight home was on a new Airbus again.

And then it ended almost as badly as it started. It started with them taking my shampoo, and it ended with bad timing. My flight landed at 2035, and I got outside to the bus stop at 2045, only to find that the bus left at 2040, and that time of night they only run once an hour. So I waited in the boring terminal and out in the cold for what seemed like a week, and finally the bus came. It took me to a point where I had about a half-mile walk home, and I got there at about 2200.

And there I am still, and this story is done, and I'm glad because I'm running out of things to say.

All told, it was a great trip. I've had vacations that seemed to go by way to fast, but this trip every day was filled with activities, good food and great conversation.

And I got to meet some of the people I've always wanted to, and I wasn't disappointed.

Until next year...

'Sailor Steve' Bradfield

[Tango589]

An outstanding tale of Subsim shenanigans!:arrgh!:

Cheers for sharing them, it makes us who couldn't join you feel like we had been there anyway.

:up:

Tango589
Brendan Sheahan

Ps.

Neal's picture is COMPLETELY different to how I had imagined it!

[TarJak]

Thanks for sharing Steve. I really enjoyed out chat too. Hopefully we will have a chance to continue the discussion next time around.:up:

[joea]

Wow incredible story!! I gotta get to one of these things sometime, especially if they are in Texas!
You've just missed one :doh:

Exactly. :rotfl:

[Jimbuna]

@Steve

I am now in possession of my fathers merchant navy discharge book.

Give me a few days to scan the pages and I'll zip them up in a file for you.

He informs me that all vessels with steam engines were prefaced with SS and similarly those that weren't steam were prefaced with MV......pretty much as we suspected.

[Sailor Steve]

Thanks, Jim. I wanted to use the USAT and MoWT prefixes for fun, but I was pretty sure they didn't really use them in service.

Would have been a nice change, though.:sunny:

[nosferato]

sounds like fun was had by all
i was hoping to put in a suprise visit .. but unfortunatly time nor money was on my side
maybe i will make it to the next one

[Ping Jockey]

Sounds like a good time was had by all Sailor Steve. Was in SLC week of the 6th to visit wife's relatives. Went on the tour of FT. Douglas. ( what's left of it)

[Sailor Steve]

Sounds like a good time was had by all Sailor Steve. Was in SLC week of the 6th to visit wife's relatives. Went on the tour of FT. Douglas. ( what's left of it)
You should have let me know! We could have had lunch. :sunny: I love meeting people.

[kiwi_2005]

That was well written i read every word, looking forward to some more. :up:

[bookworm_020]

I'll have to try and orgainse and Australian Subsim get together one day:hmm:. That will just have to remain a dream at the moment, as there are some family issues that need to be dealt with:cry:

[Kapitan]

The tail of sailor steve now that should go in the new Almac !

[StdDev]

Great narrative Steve!
Well written and told with style!
It's almost like I was there! :p

[UnderseaLcpl]

actually... nevermind

[Sailor Steve]

Shh...If he doesn't remember it's okay.

[UnderseaLcpl]

Shh...If he doesn't remember it's okay.

I do remember, but my minor corrections turned into a long and very boring story. I figured that the least I could do was spare the rest of you from pages of tripe.:D

[Jimbuna]

Shh...If he doesn't remember it's okay.

I do remember, but my minor corrections turned into a long and very boring story. I figured that the least I could do was spare the rest of you from pages of tripe.:D

"Pages of tripe" James? :hmm:

Well....you'd be amonst good company here :lol:

I obviouly include myself in the above statement http://www.psionguild.org/forums/images/smilies/wolfsmilies/whistle.gif

[TarJak]

I thought tripe was a southerner's dish Jim. Don't you all eat black pudding whislt shouting ecky thoomp?

[Hanomag]

I thought tripe was a southerner's dish Jim.

Perk.. :o

Did someone say Tripe? One of my faves. Prepared the traditional Italian way.

So the southern version is served with grits and fried ochra?? :hmm:

[Sailor Steve]

Shh...If he doesn't remember it's okay.

I do remember, but my minor corrections turned into a long and very boring story. I figured that the least I could do was spare the rest of you from pages of tripe.:D
So clean 'em up and speak yer piece! My memory isn't what it once was. Heck, my memory never was what it once was!

Sorry for ripping off Fiddler on the Roof, but sometimes I can't help myself.

[SteamWake]

Enjoyed the read Steve, as the others have said "felt like I was there".

Sounds like all of you had a good time.

Thanks for taking the time to do this. :rock:

[Jimbuna]

I thought tripe was a southerner's dish Jim. Don't you all eat black pudding whislt shouting ecky thoomp?

Nah.....I'm afraid it's still the English traditional dish for us Northeners.....curry :lol:

[Crosseye76]

This is a great read Steve. Thanks for sharing it with us !

.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Sorry for ripping off Fiddler on the Roof, but sometimes I can't help myself.

Awwwww, "If I Was a Rich Man". :D

I keep playing the Illinois Lotto but the damn lotto tickets that I buy have a no money back guarentee. :p

[Jimbuna]

Sorry for ripping off Fiddler on the Roof, but sometimes I can't help myself.

Awwwww, "If I Was a Rich Man". :D

I keep playing the Illinois Lotto but the damn lotto tickets that I buy have a no money back guarentee. :p

LMAO :rotfl:

A Jewish guy called Jacob finds himself in serious financial difficulty. So desperate is he, that he decides only God can help him now. He goes to synagogue and prays hard. "Help me God", he wails, "I've lost my business and if I don't get some money, I'm going to lose my house as well. Please, just let me win the lotto."
When lotto night comes Jacob has no luck. Week after week he sees someone else win the jackpot, and so returns to synagogue, and this time he begs, "My God, why have you forsaken me? I have lost my business, my house, my car. My wife and children are starving. I have always been a good servant to you. Why won't you let me win the lotto just this one time?"
Suddenly there is a brilliant flash of light as the heavens part and Jacob is confronted by the voice of God himself. "Jacob," the voice booms, "meet me half way, buy a feckin' ticket!"

[orwell]

A Jewish guy called Jacob finds himself in serious financial difficulty. So desperate is he, that he decides only God can help him now. He goes to synagogue and prays hard. "Help me God", he wails, "I've lost my business and if I don't get some money, I'm going to lose my house as well. Please, just let me win the lotto."
When lotto night comes Jacob has no luck. Week after week he sees someone else win the jackpot, and so returns to synagogue, and this time he begs, "My God, why have you forsaken me? I have lost my business, my house, my car. My wife and children are starving. I have always been a good servant to you. Why won't you let me win the lotto just this one time?"
Suddenly there is a brilliant flash of light as the heavens part and Jacob is confronted by the voice of God himself. "Jacob," the voice booms, "meet me half way, buy a feckin' ticket!"

:lol:

Great read Steve, almost makes me wish I had come out myself.

[Monica Lewinsky]

:rotfl: "Jacob," the voice booms, "meet me half way, buy a feckin' ticket!"

I did win $1,100 bucks in 1993 on the Illinois Little Lotto. Somehow I think that has funded that last 15 years of losing all the time. :cool:

BTW:
I cap my spending/purchasing to $3.00 per week and NEVER exceed that regardless of the jackpot size.

If I win, ... ever, I am going to shout like Orson Wells in Moby Dicky as the preacher and say:

"I seek the whale and spit on thee dry land". :rotfl:

[Jimbuna]

:rotfl: "Jacob," the voice booms, "meet me half way, buy a feckin' ticket!"

I did win $1,100 bucks in 1993 on the Illinois Little Lotto. Somehow I think that has funded that last 15 years of losing all the time. :cool:

BTW:
I cap my spending/purchasing to $3.00 per week and NEVER exceed that regardless of the jackpot size.

If I win, ... ever, I am going to shout like Orson Wells in Moby Dicky as the preacher and say:

"I seek the whale and spit on thee dry land". :rotfl:

I wish you luck.....I spend £4 per week on the UK national lottery and have won numerous £10 prizws and one £40 :oops:

[Christopher Snow]

Haha....Dr Pepper. It might have cost you a dollar or two more to have it served to you "hot."



[See "Blast From the Past", starring Brendan Frasier and Alicia Silverstone,"
and featuring: Christopher Walken as the "hot Dr. Pepper" lover...].

Good story, and thanks.


CS

[Onkel Neal]

Bump ;)

[swhalen36]

How have you been making out mate, I havent seen you in awhile and was wondering how your doing and where your hanging your hat now. please reply here or email me at swhalen43@gmail.com

Take Care
Partner
Steve

[Nippelspanner]

What a great read, Steve! :salute:

[Jimbuna]

2009? :hmmm:

[Onkel Neal]

2009? :hmmm:

Good stories are timeless, Jim, that's why Columbus invented history. :shucks:

[Jimbuna]

Good stories are timeless, Jim, that's why Columbus invented history. :shucks:

Yeah, true that...and in fairness Steve is as old as Columbus :O:

[Sailor Steve]

Well, all I can say is...

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/resurrection_zps1dc648a0.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/resurrection_zps1dc648a0.jpg.html)

:O:

[Nippelspanner]

What the Hell, what happened?
How did I even find such an old thread!?

I am confused.

I AM NO NECROMANCER! YOU MUST BELIEVE ME! :doh:

[Sailor Steve]

Who cares? You got the Real Deal Good Seakeeping Neal Seal of Approval.

Can't argue with that. :yep: :rock: :sunny:

[Nippelspanner]

Well, I'm a little less embarrassed then! :D

[drakkhen20]

you know what i realized, ive been apart of this forum for over three years that i can remember. ive read alot of steves stuff and used some of his add ons, ship names and such for SH3. i look back on these things and see them and the Subsim family differently from 3 to 5 years ago. some of us have left and not returned and some have pulled through real life issues and continued to come back and post. i find this amazing and reading this reminded me of that. i figured id share that and to let all of you know its a pleasure.

:salute:
:Kaleun_Cheers:

[Kpt. Lehmann]

We gotta do that again sometime.

Just please make sure all the glass doors are at least a little dirty.

K?