... and
tour the sub!
Talk about cool from the word "go."
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| Arrival at the Navy's "First and Finest Submarine Base" SUBASE New London |
The day was an absolutely, positively perfect southern Connecticut day, screaming blue sky with a few puffy clouds here and there (mostly there). A string of Navy guys with heaps of hardware on their chests and SECNAV, and Governors of CT and MO, and several other politicos gave for the most part acceptably brief speeches, with much focus on how SSN 780 was $100 million under budget and 5 months ahead of schedule.
You know, they used to name submarines after fish. You know why they don't do that anymore? Because fish don't vote. They especially don't vote on funding authorizations.
Anyway, once the speeches were done the chaplain said a prayer, then they commissioned the boat... like getting the keys to your new car. They raised Old Glory, played the Star Spangled Banner. Then on command, several gizmos (photonics package, sat com antennae, radar, couple other long antenna-looking things) rose up out of the top of the sail. And presto, that black $2 Billion chunk of hardware can now be called the USS Missouri.
So that was cool. But the coolest part was yet to come.
After a fabulous BBQ lunch, catered in from where else, Missouri, we got a tour.
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| Jay hustles down the ladder, countries need saving! |
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| Karen's turn |
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| Donna on her way |
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| Future Admiral Katie |
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| Jon on his way down |
Received our tour from an "Officer of the Deck." Not the Captain, but one of the guys who runs the boat while the Captain is sleeping or whatever. Talk about cool... this guy was just wicked smart and so proud of what he does, his gold dolphins, the crew, the boat. The members of the crew work all during construction on all the sub-systems, testing and all that, so that when Electric Boat slides all the pieces together during construction the crew already knows everything there is to know about the boat.
The exterior of the sub is pretty unremarkable, black, with non-slip paint which is no doubt radar-absorbing too. There's the sail up front, of course, and a couple hatches, one where the SDV (Seal Delivery Vehicle) docks. The SDV is a mini-sub that can attach to the big sub, and allow Navy Seals to travel to and from shore, where they do all sorts of disruptive things.
Everything on the bridge is totally Star Trek, no paper charts anywhere (no pictures allowed, either... bummer but fully understandable). Drive the boat with a joystick using the quad-redundant systems, look around with a joystick at the crowd outside still on the pier waiting in high-definition for their tour (the line seemed like it stretched for MILES, though that could've been just a neener-neener reaction since we were in the first tour group after all the platform muckety-mucks). Take a listen to the little 2 inch waves gently lapping against the pier, really, really loud. I found it interesting that they still have the "waterfall" displays for sonar and they still use a lot of the same color/shape symbols for various valves and things from the old days. All done nowadays on the computer screen, of course, and no doubt with lots of spooky computer processing power under the hood that the old guys probably never even dreamed about.
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| Kate & Jay prepare to launch a Tomahawk |
Also visited the torpedo room, or as they say "the ballroom." Biggest open space on the boat, and they can move torpedoes & Tomahawks around like puzzle pieces to get what they need where they need it. All done with joysticks, of course. If need be, they can stuff 50 bunks in the center of the torpedo room, only 30 if the occupants are Navy Seals. One can imagine that the Seals come equipped with a bit of space-taking hardware of their own...
Got to see where Michele sleeps while they're doing sea trials. The bunks are, shall we say, tight. Like the bunks in a train, only tighter and less plush. Also you don't have that guy who comes in and makes your bed while you're at breakfast.
Had a contest for the kiddies who I knew were going to be jamming needles in their eyes during the speeches. I might have put in one or two myself... Had them all kick 2 bucks into the pot, and Karen and I put in a tenner. The challenge was to come up with the coolest thing they saw all day that they *couldn't* have seen otherwise. The decision would be made in the van as we were ready to leave to head home. Kate thought the ability to steer a torpedo once it left the boat was cool. Karen thought a similar thing, but about re-purposing the cruise missile in flight. Jon (Donna's BF) and I thought moving the puzzle pieces (they even call the torpedoes & Tomahawks "shapes") around in the torpedo room was coolest. I also liked the guy with the patch on his vest that said "Bottom Gun." Donna thought the best thing was the pride all the crew showed and how happy they all seemed, given that they were about to be locked in a can 800 ft. below the surface of the ocean for weeks at a time. Jay loved the bridge with all the computer screens everywhere.
Michele offered to be the judge... and after deliberation thought that Donna's was the winner. I'd have to agree, everyone involved was so proud, and it was great to see. If all the crews on all the subs under all the water are half as proud and sharp as these guys, we're in very good hands indeed and the bad guys better stock up on worry beads.
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| Kmetz Krowd at the sail |
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| Leaving the Mighty Mo... we're in good hands! |
