Ultraquiet Broken?
This is one of the more interesting Cold War submarine stories to re-surface in quite a while: Cold War submariner ends 30+ years of silence.
Was it actually published without due dilligence? It certainly appears that way, but such may not be the case.
Submariners will find a telling remnant of censorship (or self-censorship) in the article, along with some "out of school" commentary.
The curious can read more about Tautog's collision with the Black Lila in the Blind Man's Bluff collection of unofficial submarine stories and anecdotes here, etc. on the web.
Dunn, was the Terrible T's QM1(SS) at the time of its collision. Should we expect to hear from one of its torpedomen next?
Was it actually published without due dilligence? It certainly appears that way, but such may not be the case.
Submariners will find a telling remnant of censorship (or self-censorship) in the article, along with some "out of school" commentary.
The curious can read more about Tautog's collision with the Black Lila in the Blind Man's Bluff collection of unofficial submarine stories and anecdotes here, etc. on the web.
Dunn, was the Terrible T's QM1(SS) at the time of its collision. Should we expect to hear from one of its torpedomen next?
Quoting Admiral (Bruce) DeMars: "We belonged to a very elite group," Dunn said.
For those who served in the Cold War submarine service, that was certainly no understatement.
Eliteness applies every bit as much today, although too many now attempt to portray today's submariners as sanctuary seekers, combat cowards or ultrasafe cruise ship sailors for VIPs and dependents. I bid you ask yourselves when and what started these flagrant misconceptions.
How did such nonsense originate in an extraordinarily honorable service of men so fearless they had been thought insane?
Could the balderdash underly persistently ill-advised attempts to assign women sailors to submarines? You be the judge. Both this article's author and one of Blind Man's authors are female journalists who don't seem to be buying into that sort of folly.
Eliteness applies every bit as much today, although too many now attempt to portray today's submariners as sanctuary seekers, combat cowards or ultrasafe cruise ship sailors for VIPs and dependents. I bid you ask yourselves when and what started these flagrant misconceptions.
How did such nonsense originate in an extraordinarily honorable service of men so fearless they had been thought insane?
Could the balderdash underly persistently ill-advised attempts to assign women sailors to submarines? You be the judge. Both this article's author and one of Blind Man's authors are female journalists who don't seem to be buying into that sort of folly.
posted by Vigilis @ 9:55 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Many thanks, Biby Cletus, I will be certain to learn more about yours, as well.
I've heard these rumors myself. On submarines, when the shit hits the fan, there's only one way to run... Right into it. Nobody with a living brain cell can ever, ever call a submarine sailor a coward just because he's not dodging bullets somewhere. I call anyone out who thinks so.
I've run into that mindset when talking to libs about the war in Iraq. This especially was true in the runup to the '04 election whenever the topic of Kerry's qualifications came up. Nothing seems to trump combat experience.
Fine. Whatever.
I'm reminded of my last command, USS Archerfish SSN 678, when we were training with a SEAL team. We had their senior enlisted man (also their #1 sniper) wanting to learn how to be a planesman. After getting trained up he was given the final "grilling" that was standard for all nonquals. This included donning an EAB with the lights out in Control, shifting to emergency on the stern planes and rudder while transiting to the periscope depth. Tough sure, but I believe we've all "been there, done that", no?
When he was finally relieved his first comment (said with a colossal grin) was, "You f****ers are crazy!"
Rather a bit of a compliment, don't ya think?
Sonarman, your comment is much like it was and still should be. Thank you for expressing your genuine attitude.
Subvet, have personally witnessed similar cases. Thank you for helping make the point with an even better example.
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