| SUBSIM Review |
An SSK Adventure by Jose Manuel Batista Setúbal, Portugal Jan. 30, 1999 |
SUBMARINE LIFE IS NOT A SERVICE BUT A RELIGION I don't know when I became interested in subs. I have no doubt that in 1989 when I saw the miniseries DAS BOOT the love turned into passion. Since then I had played almost all subsims (before that I remember playing a game for ZX Spectrum) and read many books about subs, especially WWII (to tell the truth, I buy more books that I can read!).
But like all of you I had a dream - to have the feeling of being underwater and listening to all the commands and to all the sounds, see all the working gauges of a military submarine at sea. And I had the great pleasure of fulfilling the dream in 30.01.1999.
The invitation
A nice day for an SSK ride
I am a lawyer and I work in the education area. In that time (January 1999) I worked closely with the Portuguese minister of Education (I was a member of his staff). Sometime around late November to early December 1998, the minister was invited by the Navy Chief of Staff to make a little trip on a sub with lunch on board. The minister, knowing my passion, invited me. How could I say no to a minister?
The dream came true
30.01.1999 was a Saturday. A beautiful spring day before the time. Embarkation at 10h30m in Setúbal - 40 km south of Lisbon. There was a reception committee on deck of the submarine Barracuda S164, complete with military greetings. We enter the sub by the forward hatch directly on the wardroom. There the
In the control room
commander of the flotilla makes a presentation (using a notebook with PowerPoint on a screen in front of the CO bunk) about why subs are necessary to a nation and to a navy, and the new features of the modern SSK and the new strategic concepts. In the meantime we were leaving harbor.
We had a long and very interesting explanation, with some lovely "petite histoire". Did you know that in the Falklands the Argentineans had a sub hunting the British fleet and actually fired torpedoes? And the true story of a simulated attack on an American fleet passing by in the Atlantic, with the sub eluding the escort screen and achieving a good firing position on a CVN. Without the knowledge of the Americans?
Happily manning the nav scope
Then we made a tour on the sub. Beginning in the control room (the sub is very narrow but I think that the CR is the narrowest place on the sub), the next room going aft is the place where the sub is driven and next a room with gauges of the batteries. Continuing aft is the galley on the right, the heads on the left, and finally one last room - the sergeants room. From the control room going forward, next is the wardroom, and then the torpedo room, the largest place on board.
It was time to dive
From the control room I could observe the orders to dive, all the commands and procedures (I remember especially the moment when the main vents were open). Then it was time to observe through the navigational periscope. After that was the famous lunch at 60 meters deep (200 ft). It was a very long lunch and we talk about many things (e.g. Scapa Flow).
Lunch at 60 meters
After the lunch the CO performed for the guests a simulated attack on a sailing vessel (strangely on that day there were no ships around) with the launch of a torpedo (only compressed air). It was very interesting to observe the continuous plotting on the chart for the attack and how a team works.
Before we make the surface the CO gave me an unforgettable experience with the blow of all tanks at 30 meters. The sub rose at an angle of 25-30 degrees and climbed like a bullet to the surface. You must grab a hold of something because is a very sharp up angle. En route to harbor everybody had gone to the bridge except me. I wanted to record in my mind the last minutes of this lifetime experience.
Looking for targets
Special thanks to the Portuguese Navy.
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