Some questions on torpedoes for you real sub people...

[Snowman999]

Every torpedoman I ever knew bragged about knowing how to defeat the interlocks. First thing they learned, so they would know if anybody else was trying to defeat the interlocks. People do go insane on patrol occassionally.

Yikes...

Happened to a friend of mine on a Groton SSBN. He tried to use the forward escape trunk to exit while on patrol. Took several men to hold him down while the doc shot him up and restrained him. They were near the coast so they medevaced him to Groton and a padded room. Turned out he had a paranoid reaction to the claustaphobia he repressed for two months. As soon as he got ashore he was fine. Medically retired.

It's not talked about much but during the Cold War boomers had all sorts of contingency plans for WWIII to stay down for extended periods. One of my collateral duties was bulk medicinal custodian. We had a fantastic amount of injectible valium, sodium pentathol, thorazine, etc. Enough to put half the crew in their bunks breathing shallow and not eating groceries.

And speaking of groceries I, the food service officer, had to maintain plans to stretch the food to VERY long endurance; about 1100 calories a day. We would have run out of spare parts before we starved.