A rare look inside nuclear powered submarine USS Florida - Page 2

ET2SN · 01-11-20, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ETR3(SS)

Hot rock make boat go.

That's perfect!

Mr Quatro · 01-12-20, 11:31 AM

What ratings are nuclear trained (which I hear is a much harder way to get aboard a nuclear submarine)

For example are all MM's nuclear trained and some on board are not?

jrf773 · 01-12-20, 12:01 PM

When I was in, they had MM nukes/Aux(A-gangers GreaseMonkeys)/Weapons(Torpedo Monkeys) ET's (Radio/Nav/Nuke might've been others, I forget) and EM's. From what I remember, EM's were only nuke. There were also ELT (Engineering Lab Techs, dealt with plant chemistry from what I remember) and I think they were nuke MM's and an ET or two.

I think the source rate for ELT was MM nuke, but we had a ET2 that got into that.

And yeah, being a nuke on a sub sucks. 15 hours days are the norm. But there was a division that didn't have to much to do in port, and nukes hated them almost as much as they hated FT's. I think it was M div but not sure again????

Onkel Neal · 01-12-20, 01:47 PM

15 hours days? Was it 15 hours in a row or two shifts per day?

What was a typical day like? I'm guessing a lot of checks, logging data, and keeping an eye on the readings?

Mr Quatro · 01-12-20, 05:10 PM

This is a long read,but very informative of the submarine's JO's duties in port and the demands on them is tremendous. It's a wonder anyone ever makes it to CO.

http://cimsec.org/deckplate-review-s...ial-pt-1/36235

Quote:

Unfortunately, massive time obligations, limited training resources, and extensive deployment administrative burdens are severely impairing submariners’ ability to conduct effective training. As a result, the submarine force is not near its full warfighting potential, despite incredible technology, excellent material readiness, and the best people the country has to offer. Fortunately, there are numerous personnel and administrative solutions that would significantly improve each boat’s warfighting ability.

jrf773 · 01-12-20, 05:27 PM

Caveat this with I don't really know crap about boomers,I was on a fast boat (VLS 688I) as an FT, so most of this is from nukes I went drinking with in Hawai'i at Murphy's. Edit:Boomers for an FT was considered our idea of heaven (No VLS and two crews!!!!) But this was from a bunch of guys that thought it was a good deal if you fell down a hatch and broke a leg and a couple of other bones was a "Good Deal" because you didn't have to be on a sub for a few months, if ever again. Screw it if you can't walk, at least you are off the sub! Yeah, that is how FUBAR'd sub sailors are.

I think I should have said 12 hour days were the norms for a lot of the nukes, and underway was hell as well. Lots of maintenance and training. Nukes got more training than pretty much anybody on the boat. And drills, they always got drills more or less depending on the CO.

14-15 hour days for these poor cats was not uncommon, with three section duty not being terribly uncommon (although that being said, at one point under Big Al the Sailor's Pal, we were pretty much ALL five section duty, after 9/11 we were port and starboard for a while, if you were qualified in M-16 or M-60 ((I was a former infantryman in the Reserves/National Guard)) port and report)

They did maintenance a lot in port, had a lot of PMS (Preventative Maintenance, the 3M crap for squids among us) and a lot of stuff to fix, in addition to training out the wazoo.

Nah, near as I could tell it from a cone-ers (somebody who lived and worked in the cone((From the front end of the boat looks like a cone with the sonar sphere fairing(((Can't remember what it is exactly))), IE a non nuke) they were standing around a lot waiting for permission to do crap, or waiting for QA folks to get around to do stuff. The duty section took care of most of the log readings from what I remember. But yeah, I went drinking with a lot of them, and standing around waiting for stuff to happen was what I remember most of them bitching about, and wasted time was par, as it was for all of us. Worklists would come out in the morning and the real work list would come out like a few hours before we'd go home, so we'd be there late. I saw it happen this way on three different boats, and with every division, so it wasn't just a coincidence. It had some purpose in the naval hierarchical way of doing things, no clue what it was, but everything they do is for a reason, they just don't tell the blue shirts what it is all about.

The nukes get an extra $100/month (Or they did, back in the late 90's early 2000's) called pro-pay. I got a lot of them calling it ARP (Ass Rape Pay) and the supervisors got an extra amount (Don't remember what it was, maybe Engine Room Sup?) and we called that SNARP (Senior Nuclear Ass Rape Pay) Most of them I talked too were unanimous in they'd love to give it back to get out of the nuke program. There is a reason their Re Enlistment bonuses were so high. Knew a dude of the Providence that got out as an E-6 MM and went to some power plant in CT and made $120k back in '96. Edit #2 All sub sailors get ARP (our sub duty pay) nukes get NARP (Nuclear Ass Rape Pay) and senior nukes get SNARP. Nukes got ARP and NARP, and the dudes qualified Engine Room Sups (I think?) got ARP NARP AND SNARP.

To sum it up, being a nuke had few benefits, and a lot of pain. I don't remember to many happy nukes.

ET2SN · 01-12-20, 07:51 PM

First off, welcome aboard to jrf773.

Talking about how long your day was is a little confusing.
Its more important to understand that having some free time off the boat was the key to having happy sailors.

Having maint. or upkeep at the top of your work list could mean some long days for any division. We could grumble but at least we could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

That's why shipyard time is the worst.

At one point I figured out I was working 95 hours per week. Every week for something like two years. That's beyond a burn-out level for anyone.

jj0666 · 02-23-20, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Quatro

I liked the video Neal ... I wish I could watch it with a real submarine sailor and he could tell me what I am looking at.

Sonar use to be in a small room all by itself like the radio room, but now it is out in the open.

Enlisted men use to be the planes men and helm now it is officer's.

Candy and snacks offered for free between meals ... Wow!

Wouldnt even survive, I was just a dumb Grunt in the Army from 02-12 and the amount that equipment changed from my first time in iraq till the last day in afghan to now is so diff its unreal

Aktungbby · 02-23-20, 08:17 PM

jj0666!

a trifle late. Nice numbers in your

er name

ET2SN · 02-25-20, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aktungbby

jj0666!

a trifle late. Nice numbers in your

er name

You would have enjoyed the USS Hawkbill (637 Sturgeon class).

The classic Hawkbill story involved a crewmember running into an old bud from bootcamp and the bud gets invited aboard for a tour. In the story, the guy is fairly religious and shows up on the pier for his tour.

The first thing he notices is the ship's banner (SSN 666). He goes aboard for his tour and climbs down the ladder where he's taken to Control. He sees a large nameplate that says SINS (ship's inertial nav system) near another nameplate that says DEMON (demodulated sound display) and runs off the boat.

jrf773 · 03-11-20, 11:09 AM

I was on the Hawkbill right before she decomed. First boat. Got to Pearl, assigned to Smallwood Hall (1723 is the building numer,adds up to 13) in the thirteenth floor in the thirteenth room on boat 666. Went to the building manager and requested to get room 1312. Just a little to many bad omen numbers for one individual methinks.

Best goddamned tour I had in the navy.

01-12-20, 11:31 AM	#17
Mr Quatro Navy Seal Join Date: May 2013 Posts: 6,772 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	What ratings are nuclear trained (which I hear is a much harder way to get aboard a nuclear submarine) For example are all MM's nuclear trained and some on board are not? __________________ pla•teau noun a relatively stable level, period, or condition a level of attainment or achievement Lord help me get to the next plateau ..

01-12-20, 01:47 PM	#19
Onkel Neal Born to Run Silent Join Date: Jan 1997 Location: Cougar Trap, Texas Posts: 21,283 Downloads: 534 Uploads: 224	15 hours days? Was it 15 hours in a row or two shifts per day? What was a typical day like? I'm guessing a lot of checks, logging data, and keeping an eye on the readings? __________________ SUBSIM - 26 Years on the Web

02-23-20, 08:17 PM	#24
Aktungbby Gefallen Engel U-666 Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: On a tilted, overheated, overpopulated spinning mudball on Collision course with Andromeda Galaxy Posts: 27,816 Downloads: 22 Uploads: 0	Welcome aboard! jj0666!a trifle late. Nice numbers in your er name __________________ "Only two things are infinite; The Universe and human squirrelyness; and I'm not too sure about the Universe"

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01-12-20, 12:01 PM	#18
jrf773 Swabbie Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 10 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 0	When I was in, they had MM nukes/Aux(A-gangers GreaseMonkeys)/Weapons(Torpedo Monkeys) ET's (Radio/Nav/Nuke might've been others, I forget) and EM's. From what I remember, EM's were only nuke. There were also ELT (Engineering Lab Techs, dealt with plant chemistry from what I remember) and I think they were nuke MM's and an ET or two. I think the source rate for ELT was MM nuke, but we had a ET2 that got into that. And yeah, being a nuke on a sub sucks. 15 hours days are the norm. But there was a division that didn't have to much to do in port, and nukes hated them almost as much as they hated FT's. I think it was M div but not sure again????

01-12-20, 05:27 PM	#21
jrf773 Swabbie Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 10 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 0	Caveat this with I don't really know crap about boomers,I was on a fast boat (VLS 688I) as an FT, so most of this is from nukes I went drinking with in Hawai'i at Murphy's. Edit:Boomers for an FT was considered our idea of heaven (No VLS and two crews!!!!) But this was from a bunch of guys that thought it was a good deal if you fell down a hatch and broke a leg and a couple of other bones was a "Good Deal" because you didn't have to be on a sub for a few months, if ever again. Screw it if you can't walk, at least you are off the sub! Yeah, that is how FUBAR'd sub sailors are. I think I should have said 12 hour days were the norms for a lot of the nukes, and underway was hell as well. Lots of maintenance and training. Nukes got more training than pretty much anybody on the boat. And drills, they always got drills more or less depending on the CO. 14-15 hour days for these poor cats was not uncommon, with three section duty not being terribly uncommon (although that being said, at one point under Big Al the Sailor's Pal, we were pretty much ALL five section duty, after 9/11 we were port and starboard for a while, if you were qualified in M-16 or M-60 ((I was a former infantryman in the Reserves/National Guard)) port and report) They did maintenance a lot in port, had a lot of PMS (Preventative Maintenance, the 3M crap for squids among us) and a lot of stuff to fix, in addition to training out the wazoo. Nah, near as I could tell it from a cone-ers (somebody who lived and worked in the cone((From the front end of the boat looks like a cone with the sonar sphere fairing(((Can't remember what it is exactly))), IE a non nuke) they were standing around a lot waiting for permission to do crap, or waiting for QA folks to get around to do stuff. The duty section took care of most of the log readings from what I remember. But yeah, I went drinking with a lot of them, and standing around waiting for stuff to happen was what I remember most of them bitching about, and wasted time was par, as it was for all of us. Worklists would come out in the morning and the real work list would come out like a few hours before we'd go home, so we'd be there late. I saw it happen this way on three different boats, and with every division, so it wasn't just a coincidence. It had some purpose in the naval hierarchical way of doing things, no clue what it was, but everything they do is for a reason, they just don't tell the blue shirts what it is all about. The nukes get an extra $100/month (Or they did, back in the late 90's early 2000's) called pro-pay. I got a lot of them calling it ARP (Ass Rape Pay) and the supervisors got an extra amount (Don't remember what it was, maybe Engine Room Sup?) and we called that SNARP (Senior Nuclear Ass Rape Pay) Most of them I talked too were unanimous in they'd love to give it back to get out of the nuke program. There is a reason their Re Enlistment bonuses were so high. Knew a dude of the Providence that got out as an E-6 MM and went to some power plant in CT and made $120k back in '96. Edit #2 All sub sailors get ARP (our sub duty pay) nukes get NARP (Nuclear Ass Rape Pay) and senior nukes get SNARP. Nukes got ARP and NARP, and the dudes qualified Engine Room Sups (I think?) got ARP NARP AND SNARP. To sum it up, being a nuke had few benefits, and a lot of pain. I don't remember to many happy nukes.

01-12-20, 07:51 PM	#22
ET2SN ET2/SS Join Date: Oct 2017 Posts: 2,503 Downloads: 58 Uploads: 0	First off, welcome aboard to jrf773. Talking about how long your day was is a little confusing. Its more important to understand that having some free time off the boat was the key to having happy sailors. Having maint. or upkeep at the top of your work list could mean some long days for any division. We could grumble but at least we could see the light at the end of the tunnel. That's why shipyard time is the worst. At one point I figured out I was working 95 hours per week. Every week for something like two years. That's beyond a burn-out level for anyone.

03-11-20, 11:09 AM	#26
jrf773 Swabbie Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 10 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 0	I was on the Hawkbill right before she decomed. First boat. Got to Pearl, assigned to Smallwood Hall (1723 is the building numer,adds up to 13) in the thirteenth floor in the thirteenth room on boat 666. Went to the building manager and requested to get room 1312. Just a little to many bad omen numbers for one individual methinks. Best goddamned tour I had in the navy.