I was Royal Navy, a Cold War Warrior, surface ships, mostly minesweepers. I did do an underwater warfare course that got me a couple of days seagoing experience in subs, an "A" boat and a "T" boat.

I have also visited the "Vesikko", the Finnish Type IIA, the "Alliance" at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum and the "Lionfish" at battleship Cove, MA. I hope to get to see the U 505 in a couple of months time.

P&O FERRY - Dover to Calais - 7.30 to 8.45am :88)

Fish heads ... enjoying your tin can? :up:

Airborne for me, whats cooler then climbing into a perfectly good airplane, and jumping out? :p , is it true that every one hotbunks?

I wanted to join the German Navy when I was conscripted, but they turned me down (to tall at 6' 1". Submariners have to be short :lol: ), so I ended up as an AA gunner (Gepard SPAAG). But we used periscopes to lock on targets, does that count? :lol:;)

As former tall ship sailor (ship's company of Gorch Fock II), I think I was the exact opposite of a submariner:rotfl:
Lots of rooms (sometimes 40 meters below you), lots of spit and polish and absolutely no connection to real warfare...
But I've visited some type 206 subs (212s were still on the drawing board in 1999) and known some submariners. Everybody tried to visit subs when Gorch Fock was drydocked the Navy Arsenal in Kiel. Great guys, those submariners.

USS Sandlance - SSN 660 ET1 Reactor Operator

Sub Sims - great fun but in most cases not terribly realistic.

Too easy. Too many targets. But then no one would play a really realistic sub sim - they'd get bored stiff and quit after the first 30 minutes. And then there's the things guys do in a sim would end up in real life with you dead or court martialed.

I've been on that sub too, it's only about 15 minutes from my house. It's docked at Long Beach next to the Queen Mary and only costs like $10-15 to enter. Nearly all of main body of the sub is open to explore, and there's a lot to see. There's a command compartment up a ladder that you cannot enter, unfortunately, but it's no reason not to make the trip.

The best part is that it is unguided, often there's nobody inside, and you can stay inside as long as you want. There's an annoying voiceover running the whole time, unfortunately, with an actor's cheesy russian accent making witty comments about each compartment and what life is like on the sub. It's really, really cheesy. Bring an iPod and a soundtrack of sub engine sounds with you to really enjoy the experience. :)

You can enter some of the rooms with bunks, the mess hall, sit down and really get a feel for what it's like to be there. The whole thing reeks of diesel fuel even though it hasn't been ran in years. They have a cheeky souvenier shop but it actually has some nice stuff, like replica crew wear (mostly just hats I think, no full uniforms or anything).

It's not the kind of thing you can schedule a whole day of activities around, even if you're sub-obsessed like us. But the Queen Mary is right next door to fill the rest of the time (costs a lot more though. You can always walk or drive a few minutes away and just hang out in the beautiful Long Beach marina to fill the day.)

I hear the sub may not be there much longer. http://www.russiansublongbeach.com/

If I'm not mistaken, I toured that same submarine when she was in Seattle....interesting boat and definitely worth the tour.

I would.

USS Tusk SS-426 1968-1969
Last of the Balao Class Boats, upgraded to GUPPY.
She had the North Atlantic type sail when I served on board as ECM tech.

Here is a link to a story about the USS Tusk and the USS Cochino. The Cochino was sunk and several men were lost from both boats. It is a New York Times link and you may have to "register" at NY Times to access it. The registration is free, at least it was when I registered. If you don't want to register or cannot for some reason, I have the story saved as a Word document file so forward me your email address and I'll attach the file and reply. The story takes place in 1949, a year after I was born.

http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/s/sontag-bluff.html?_r=5&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogi n&oref=slogin&oref=login

USS Jacksonville SSN-699
USS Gurnard SSN-662

I wish, though I would probably be claustrophobic after 30 min. Instead, flight medic for the Army, 16 years and counting...

NSDQ

I never actually served on a sub... But I worked at the Charleston Naval Shipyard for 10 years overhauling & repairing nuclear subs & 1 diesel sub ( Bonefish)... I worked mostly on Boomers and the occasional Fast Attack... What a darn shame the goverment had to shut it down... Alot of good people lost their jobs... I sure do miss that place !

I spent two years at Loring AFB in Limestone Maine.
That is more isolated than a sub!

Served on the USS Blackfin SS322, 1954 to late 1959, out of Pearl Harbor. Diesel Engineman 1st Class. Transfered to the USS Bang SS385, New London, Conn.
Made 3 West Pacific cruises on the Blackfin, went no where on the Bang except up in the Barrents Sea, and under the ice pack for a couple of days scouting.

Hit all major ports in Japan and cruised the inland sea going to Korea and that was a nice trip to see all of the islands around the south side of Japan. Made port calls in Korea, Tiawan, Hong Kong, Phillipines, Guam, Okinawa and in Australia, Brisbane and Newcastle. We had some good times in most of the ports.

Had to get out in 1961 due to sickness as I did want to stay in and make a career out of it but lady luck didn't hit me right. Met a lot of good guys and still keep in touch with a couple of the old boat guys.

Diesel Boats stank something bad from all of the fumes and it did get into your cloths. Sure could not wash that smell off of you.
Bert 68