Architeuthis Filmed at Depth

Architeuthis or Giant Squid for centuries has been the monster of legends and a scientific mystery. None have ever been observed in the wild until recently. The New York Times is reporting that the First Giant Squid Captured in Wild (on Film, That Is) was accomplished by a Japanese research team.

The submarine Nautilus attacked by a giant squid in Jules Verne's novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea .

Japanese scientists, Tsunemi Kubodera and Kyoichi Mori, report that they have made the world's first observations of a giant squid in the wild. The researchers followed sperm whales, that are known to feed on giant squid, to find a location for their attempted filming. A system of a robotic cameras tethered to buoys and baited with a bags of mashed shrimp were used.

At about 3000 feet and positioned about 1,000 feet above the seafloor lowest bait on the rig attracted a small Architeuthis measuring 26 feet in length. It is believed that the giant squid can grow as large as 60 feet.

Attracted by the bait the Architeuthis got caught in the bait and camera rig. The robotic camera then took pictures every 30 seconds of the giant squid for over 4 hours as it struggled to free itself.

Although Jules Verne's Captain Nemo encounter with Architeuthis was a work of fiction occasionally deep sea submersibles have run across the unexpected.

On December 20, 2001 NOAA scientists aboard the submersible Alvin encountered a 21-foot-long squid, dubbed the "Mystery Squid," while conducting an undersea project.

The Submersible Alvin (Source: NOAA)

The scientists were investigating gas hydrates in the Gulf of Mexico at a depth of approximately 6,300 feet below the surface when a 21 foot "Mystery Squid" drifted close to the submersible. The squid was captured on video before moving away after a few minutes.

NOAA scientists in 2001 could not be certain of the identity of the squid they encountered without capturing a specimen. The Japanese scientists who filmed the Architeuthis were fortunate in that a piece of the squid's tentacles was left behind after it escaped it's 4 hour entanglement. DNA analysis of that sample and other comparisons with squid that have washed ashore confirmed that it was an Architeuthis or Giant Squid.

For more information on Architeuthis go to the links page on The Search for Giant Squid webpage from a Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History 1999 exhibition.

NUWC - Submarine Engineering Support Contracts Awarded

The US Navy has recently awarded three contacts for electronic systems program engineering, life cycle and in-service support totaling approximately $112.5 million dollars. The majority of this work will be performed at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC), Newport Division in Newport, RI.

Virginia Class (Source: US Navy graphic)

GRYPHON TECHNOLOGIES in Riverdale, MD won a $44.7M contract to provide Submarine Non Propulsion Electronic Systems Programs Engineering, Life-Cycle, and In-Service Support.

ENGINEERING SERVICES NETWORK, INC. in Arlington, VA received a $42 million in NUWC support contracts.

RAYTHEON CO in Marlborough, MA received a $14.5 to $25 million contract for design, development, test and production work for X-band Extremely High Frequency (EHF) submarine communications.

The Naval Undersea Warfare Center, NUWC was once called the Naval Underwater Systems Center (NUSC) and before that Naval Underwater Research and Engineering Station.

NUWC, Newport RI falls under NAVSEA command and is the Navy's full-spectrum research, development, test and evaluation, engineering and fleet support center for submarines, autonomous underwater systems, and offensive and defensive weapons systems associated with undersea warfare.

Raging Rita

From the Eye on the Fleet photo gallery.
GOES-12 Satellite infrared image provided by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Monterey, Calif.

GOES-12 Satellite infrared image (Source: US Navy)

Infrared image shows the population centers with a very well defined Hurricane Rita. Navy assets are being redeployed to respond to this one two punch on the gulf coast. A number of Navy ships already in the gulf coast area put to sea to avoid the storm and be in position for assistance.

These ships include:
USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7)
USS Shreveport (LPD 12)
USS Tortuga (LSD 46)
USNS Patuxent (T-AO 201)
USNS Comfort (T-AH 20)

Additionally the Navy Region Northeast continues to provide assistance from Naval Submarine Base New London, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and other commands for the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

Help all those effected by supporting the American Red Cross.

Updated 9/23/05 - 13:00 Of related local RI interest I'd like to share. This is from a email forwarded to me by a recently retired RI National Guard member.

This was written by the XO of the USS Iwo Jima just before the MPs left New Orleans.

Finally, a word about our guests onboard, the 119th Military Police Company, Rhode Island National Guard.

These folks are headed home after a very long two weeks. To their credit, they were the first to enter the Convention Center and restore order with only 140 troops, though the mission called for more than 500. They saved 15 lives and evacuated hundreds.

The Company averaged more than 20 missions per day that lasted from 0600 until well past midnight on most days. I had an opportunity to accompany them on two missions and found them to be extremely professional - since they were among the first to arrive after Katrina, they became the resident experts for mission planning and execution for many other Guard and Army units. Their company even found time to care for 4 stray canines to relieve the stress.

Footnote: most of the MP Company returned from a tour in Iraq n April. Huge Heroes from a Small State.

Burton C. Quist
Colonel, US Marine Corps

Another RI National Guard MP unit from Warwick RI was one of the first units to serve at Gitmo after the start of the GWOT.

www.riguard.com
Saddle Up! Tonight We Ride!
See You On The High Ground!

Video file footage of Russian Submarine Force

Ever want to take a sneak peek at a Russian Submarine underway?

How about the inside of an operational sub complete with Russian sailors looking like "What is he doing with a camera" look on their faces?

The Russian website www.tvdata.ru has a catalogue of short (a few seconds) file clips covering the Russian Navy submarines link here. Some footage was filmed from a helicopter and others are interior views of submarine equipment. The films are from independent producers & studios. They are for sale for commercial use on the website, but I found that if you click on the image you can run a short clip with a TVDATA watermark that's not that annoying.
(Warning: links best with Broadband)

Some of my favorites - with suggested titles:

SLBM zero defects? oops back to QA. link here

On the tail of a Typhoon. link here.

Always refer to the chart before wandering around the boat. link here

Rig for visitors, or Someone left the security covers off. link here

I think I see a periscope astern better clear baffles to make sure. link here

I'm thinking the guys at Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) about 20 years ago would have loved to have seen this stuff. Back then, they were commissioning paintings like the one below of Soviet Typhoons.

TYPHOON Replenishing in the Arctic by Edward L. Cooper, 1986
(Source: DIA Military Art Collection The Threat in the 1980's)

One last one: Midrats taste like chicken....meow. link here

Trident I (C4) Missile System Retired

With little to no fan fair the Trident I (C4) missile system has been essentially retired from service.

A ceremony held on Sept. 7, 2005 marked the Change of Command for the USS Alabama SSBN 731, combining of crews and the retirement of the Blue Crew CO Cmdr. Kevin A. Fontes. It also marked the last Trident submarine scheduled for shipyard conversion to the Trident II (D5) missile system.

The USS Alabama Gold Crew was also awarded the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Afloat Safety Award on Sept. 2 after the completion of the Sub's historic 67th deterrent patrol and the last operational deployment of the Trident I (C4) missile system.

First Test Launch of Trident I (C4) Missile Jan. 18, 1977
(Source: DOD File Photo)

The C4 missile system, at 26 years, was the longest deployed US SLBM entering service in 1979 and being retired this year. The Missile was first back fitted to 12 Poseidon submarines and later the first 8 Tridents. The USS Francis Scott Key (SSBN-657) was the first submarine to successfully launch a C4 missile in July 1979. In October that year, SSBN-657 became the first submarine to go on patrol with the Trident I C-4.

The Trident I C4 missile was developed primarily a weapon of deterrence, adhering to Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara's Mutual Assured Destruction or MAD doctrine. The missile had an estimated range of 4000 nm nearly double it's predecessor but lacked the ability to effectively target hardened enemy ICBM missile silos.

The current Trident II (D5) missile is the culmination of Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger's concept of counterforce as deterrence. Entering service in 1990 the D5 missile could be considered a first strike weapon when measured against the improvement in accuracy and range over it's predecessor the C4. However, under the counterforce as deterrent doctrine the targeting of enemy's strategic weapons systems would only be used an immediate retaliatory response and for a first strike.

It seemed only fitting to post the news on this planned obsolescence of the C4 weapons system. I served on one of the first subs USS Simon Bolivar (SSBN 641) and the very last USS Alabama (SSBN 731) the last to carry that system to sea.

Update: 9/21/05 - 13:00 From a reader of TheSubReport "The conversion of the Alabama to D5 Backfit also marks the end of the SINS based navigation system. This system has been supporting the Strategic Weapons System since the Polaris days, almost 50 years."

Almost 50 years longevity is a remarkable achievement for a system as complex as the SINS -Ships Inertial Navigation System. SINS was created out of the joint Army/Navy JUPITER program then further developed to support the POLARIS program. Although a Regulus guided missile submarine, the USS Halibut (SSGN 587) was the first submarine to carry the Ships Inertial Navigation System (SINS) back in 1960.

Cocaine Submarine Force Reduction

The Columbian cocaine Navy is at it again, this time with a drug cargo UUV (Unmanned Underwater Vehicle). AP World News is reporting "Coast Guard Seizes Cocaine in Pacific" (Hat tip: thesubreport.com) excerpt:

BOGOTA, Colombia -- The U.S. Coast Guard, acting on Colombian intelligence, intercepted a ship towing an unmanned submarine-like vessel that held more than 2 tons of cocaine, Colombia's anti-narcotics police chief said Thursday.

The boat was raided Wednesday off the coast of the Ecuadorean-owned Galapagos Islands, Gen. Alberto Gomez told reporters. The underwater capsule, which was attached by a metal cable, was designed so smugglers could tow it below their boat and escape detection if drug agents searched the ship.

Of course this isn't the first attempt to construct and use a submarine type vessel to smuggle drugs. Just last March Colombia's secret police discovered a nearly complete fiberglass submarine (CBS news) designed to carry cocaine to speed boats offshore.

Then there was the September 2000 discovery of a half-built submarine in a warehouse in Bogota, Remember that one?

Cocaine Submarine Under Construction Sept 2000.

The BBC reported the submarine under construction back in 2000 as being sophisticated and based on a Russian design. It was speculated that the Russian mafia or Russian technicians were involved in its construction.

So here's the tally:
1) The Russian designed large Sub was found in 2000 half way through construction.
2) The fiberglass Sub found in March of this year was nearly complete.
3) And now the drug smugglers have had a nearly successful sea trail of a towed UUV variant.

What's next?

I Feel The Need, The Need for Speed!

Having grown up as a Navy brat I was usually near a military installation that started with NAS. My father was a career Navy Seabee and I lived in places like Yokosuka Japan, Port Hueneme CA, Keflavik Iceland, Quonset Point RI, all before I was a twelve. Watching the jets was a fascination for me and always exciting. If there was an air show near by I would be there, as close to the flight line as possible, eyes glued skyward.

It must have been this fascination with complex machines that do extraordinary things that brought me to submarines and if my life choices had been a little different I may have earned Wings instead of Dolphins.

That being said I felt the need to share some aviation eye candy.
Scroll down and fulfill your "Need for Speed" complete with trans-sonic vapor clouds.

F/A-18 Hornet going Supersonic Location Taehan-min'guk – Republic of Korea, July 7, 1999
(Source: US Navy -Ensign John Gay)


F/A-18F Super Hornet July 27, 2005 USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) Philippine Sea
(Source: US Navy - Photographer's Mate 3rd Class Jonathan Chandler)


F/A 18 going Supersonic (Source: US Navy)


F-14B Tomcat USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) Mediterranean Sea Mar. 30, 2005
(Source: US Navy -Photographer's Mate 3rd Class Justin S. Osborne )


F14-B Tomcat going Supersonic Mediterranean Sea, April 22, 2003
(Source: US Navy - Justin S. Osborne)


B-1B subsonic but super low (Source: USAF)


STS-106 Space Shuttle Atlantis, September 8, 2000 going Trans-sonic
(Source: NASA)

OK, if the photos weren't enough to satisfy, then you may want to try this (I did) or this or maybe even this.

Alligator Hunting

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA and the Office of Naval Research ONR have teamed up to search for the civil war submarine USS Alligator. This is the second year for this NOAA-ONR collaborative effort schedule to resume Sept. 9-12 off Cape Hatteras, N.C.
The newsobserver.com has a short article on this current effort.

The USS Alligator (Source: NOAA - Painting by Jim Christley)

The Alligator was so named because of it's low profile and distinctive green color. The 47 foot long sub was lost in April of 1863 while being towed by the USS Sumpter. The Sumpter was to tow the Alligator from Virginia to Charleston S.C. to participate in Union attacks on that Confederate port. The sub sank in a fierce storm somewhere south of Cape Hatteras and Ocracoke Island, N.C. in an area known as the “Graveyard of the Atlantic”. In a heavy gale and no crew aboard the USS Alligator the captain of the USS Sumpter unable to make headway cut the tow line.

Hunting the Alligator (Source: NOAA)

An initial side-scan sonar search by the NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson in the spring of 2005 identified several new targets. Additional investigation of these targets will be conducted using marine magnetometer and a remotely operated vehicle (ROV). Operating out of Ocracoke, N.C., a team of marine archaeologists and researchers will work aboard ONR’s 108-ft. “Afloat Lab” (YP-679), deploying a number of these undersea search and survey tools.

The USS Alligator has a distinctive place in history which few are aware. It was the US Navy’s first submarine.

There is some confusion around the first US Navy submarine claim. David Bushnell’s The Turtle used in the revolutionary war in September 1775 was piloted by an Army Sergeant and volunteer and not commissioned by the Continental Navy/Marines. John Holland's Holland VI is many times incorrectly cited as the US Navy's first Submarine even though it came some 26 years after the USS Alligator.

The USS Alligator was an innovation in naval design at the time and included many features and firsts for a submarine:

First submarine ordered and built for the U.S. Navy
First submarine to have a diver’s lockout chamber.
Was deployed to a combat zone.
First submarine to have onboard air compressors for air renewal/diver support.
First submarine commanded by a U.S. Naval officer (who would later achieve Flag rank).
First submarine designed with an air purifying system.
Had an underway test witnessed by a U.S. president (Abraham Lincoln).
First submarine to have electrically-detonated limpet mines.
Underwent an overhaul in a U.S. naval shipyard.

If you're interested in the project to find the USS Alligator and the sub's history, more information can be found at the NOAA website (Link here) specifically devoted to this project.

The Original Silent Ships

One hundred and fifty four years ago on August 31, 1851 the Yankee clipper ship The Flying Cloud arrived in San Francisco from New York after a record run of only 89 days, 21 hours . That record of 89 days was only shared by one other ship of that era the Andrew Jackson . No other sailing ship beat the 89 day mark for nearly 130 years when in 1989 the OSTAR single-handed racing yacht Thursday's Child bested the record by 9 days. The Flying Cloud is considered to have been the fastest clipper ship ever launched. The ships navigator was Ellen Creesy, the wife of the captain Josiah P. Cressy.

The Flying Cloud (Source: National Archives)

The Silent Ship by Colin West

I sailed a ship as white as snow,
As soft as clouds on high,
Tall was the mast, broad was the beam,
And safe and warm was I.

I stood astern my stately ship
And felt so grand and high,
To see the lesser ships give way
As I went gliding by.

That was the Golden Age of Clipper Ships romanticized in books and movies.

In another one hundred and fifty years will these be the new silent ships of legends?

(The Urban Legends link above is for my friends back in maneuvering ;-)

Repel Boarders "The Video Game"

The old adage “practice makes perfect” takes many forms. Athletes call it muscle memory where you do same physical moves over and over until you don’t even have to think, you just do. Musicians say they’re in the groove when rhythm and melody flow together without much mental effort. Logical-Mathematical Intelligence is developed when an individual through practice can recognize sequential patterns such as 1 + 1 = 2 or 1,055 joules = 1 BTU or where there’s smoke there’s fire.

Therefore, the brain learns through pattern recognition and deduction, the more embedded the pattern the stronger the memory and the quicker and easier the response. Which brings us to shipboards drills, you remember those, reactor scram, fire in the galley, torpedo hot run, WSRT, etc. Now the Navy is putting a new twist to the Repel Boarders drill - practice it with a video game.

Navy SSN 688 class submarine crews will use a custom built video game to practice anti-terrorism tactics aboard ship. The company 3Dsolve developed what is called a Force Protection Anti-Terrorism Simulation Trainer, a three-dimensional, first person view, decision making game.

National Defense Magazine has an article you can read for the details on this new twist to a common shipboard drill.

When given access 3Dsolve animation developers said they were stunned by the complexity they found inside a SSN 688 class submarine. Only 688 class Subs at the Submarine Base in New London have had scenarios created but the Navy plans on a new version to include SSBN 726 class submarines and additional port scenarios.

In 1981 I would play Asteroids at the video arcade in Virginia Beach while at Dam Neck FBM “C” school. But, I never thought someday you could play something just short of DOOM3 for your watchstation quals, times have changed!

Brac - Clean Sweep!!!

That is a clean sweep for the Submarine community in New England.

The Brac Commission has voted to take the Submarine Base in New London and the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard off the list of base and facility closures.

Clean Sweep (Source: US Navy via navsource.org)

Photo is from the USS Montpelier (SSN-765) preparing to moor at Naval Station Norfolk. I choose this Photo as a little poetic justice on my part. Now I wonder if any Subs will end up moving from Norfolk to Groton, only time will tell.

We Build the Best -Submarines

“WE Build thE Best” written in a silhouette of a Submarine, that was the bumper sticker I had on my car in 1978 when I worked for Electric Boat (EB) as a machinist. At the time, EB and Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company (NNS) were prime competitors for the submarine construction business. Newport News had designed and built the lead unit of the 688 class fast attack submarines and Electric Boat was building 688 SSNs and Trident 726 class SSBN submarines. Both yards were producing between one to three 688s a year each. The 688 production run lasted from the late 1970s into the 1990s. During that roughly 20 year timeframe EB produced 33 688 SSNs and 18 726 SSBNs, NNS produced 29 688 SSNs.

General Dynamics Electric Boat (Source: US Navy Photo)

The last 688, a 688i variant, SSN 773 the USS Cheyenne was delivered to the Navy in September 1996 by NNS. Since then EB has delivered three SSN 21 Seawolf class submarines, was the lead designer of the new Virginia class submarine and delivered the SSN 774 USS Virginia in October of 2004. Newport News has not built another submarine since 1996 until the recent launch of the USS Texas SSN 775 in April of 2005. Newport News Shipbuilding also produces the best Aircraft Carriers in the world, the Nimitz class, of which nine have been built and one is currently in construction.

Therefore, who builds a better submarine General Dynamics Electric Boat or Northrop Grumman Newport News Shipbuilding? I was qualified on and rode two different boats, one built by NNS in 1965 and another built by EB in 1985. Not a fair comparison two different classes with 20 years difference in technology and design. And as I indicated before I was once a EB yardbird, so there is a built in bias here, fair warning in where I’m going with this.

Newport News has always built a quality submarine. The USS San Francisco SSN 711 built by NNS ran into a seamount at a full bell crushing it bow in January. The San Fran may not have survived if not for the quality of its construction and professionalism of the crew. But if being the “Best” means also staying on budget and delivering when contracted to then Newport News get a losing grade. NNS will not deliver the USS Texas to the Navy until May 2006 almost a year after the initial projected delivery date. Newport News Shipyard’s construction of the Texas is also an estimated 24 percent over projected cost.

Lead units are usually problematic and NNS will have had a nearly 10 year hiatus between deliveries of its last two submarines, but the Virginia class is different. In order to maintain two active submarine construction yards, production of the 10 projected Virginia class submarines is being split between EB and NNS with whole systems produced by one or the other. For example, EB will build the ships Command and Control Systems and NNS will build the Weapons Systems. Final submarine assembly will be split between each shipyard EB has completed the USS Virginia and NNS is in the process of completing the USS Texas. This is different from the 688 contracts where each yard did the bulk of its own component fabrication and construction.

Therefore, here is my argument, its not who builds thE Best submarine but who is the better shipyard at submarine construction? Both shipyards have had their share of cost overruns and problems and in the end both build a quality submarine. However, Electric Boat has an advantage in that its only business is in the design and construction of nuclear submarines for the US Navy. Newport News Shipyard builds submarines as well, but also produces Navy surface ships and has an extensive surface ship overhaul and conversion business. Additionally Electric Boat’s Quonset Point facility is dedicated to the quality fabrication of submarine pressure hull sections. In fact, a major portion of the pressure hull sections that NNS will use in the construction of Virginia Class subs will come from Electric Boat Quonset Point. Also recently the Navy has been concerned about NNS construction delays and cost overruns has asked EB to take a more active role as the lead design yard in managing Newport News Shipyard’s Virginia class submarine construction program.

With the current reduced production rate of submarines the Navy is hard pressed to keep two shipyards building submarines efficiently. Therefore, at 1.6 billion the Virginia class submarine was to be a cost saver for the Navy and far cheaper than the 2.8 – 3.0 billion Seawolf class, but the current Virginia class subs are now costing between 2.4 -2.7 billion a copy. With the current procurement rate of one submarine a year that cost could drop to just around 2.0 billion per hull if the build rate were increased to two subs per year. A side note two new subs a year would also keep our force level at it’s current state where as the one per year rate will further reduce the size of the SSN fleet as older 688s are decommissioned.

The Navy has some tough choices. In order to keep a two competitive shipyards producing submarines it must split what a single shipyard could handle easily between two yards. However, this decision comes at the expense of higher production costs. There is no economy of scale in production and smaller regional parts suppliers can no longer be supported by the effective reduction of orders. Additionally the shipyards are forced to retain higher cost engineers and trades people in order to maintain the required instructional skill sets while reducing their work force. These highly skilled shipyard workers end up back filling functions that are below their skill level or worse doing busy work thereby further driving up production costs.

Hopefully the Navy and the two remaining submarine manufactures EB and NNS can made this joint production competition/non-competition thing work. But if not and costs drive procurement rates down like the Seawolf class, from 29 hulls down to only 3 we could some day be saying that a foreign manufacture builds the “Best” submarines in the world.

Submarines True Systems of “Transformation”

Consider the following questions:

Do submarines provide a valuable asset to the “Transformation” of the American military into a network-centric fighting force or are they just inflexible relics of the Cold War and 20th century?

What is today’s force level requirement for Submarines? Do we need the Cold War level of roughly 100 SSNs or should we let the submarine force draw down to about 30 boats?

Capt. James H. Patton Jr. USN (Ret.), president of Submarine Tactics and Technology, Inc. and former member of the Naval War College faculty addresses the above questions in a recent Newport Naval War College linked white paper “THE SUBMARINE AS A CASE STUDY IN TRANSFORMATION – Implications for Future Investment.” I recommend reading the entire paper, about five pages, but I've also provided a summary and some thoughts below.

TRANSFORMATION

Mr. Patton’s paper outlines the evolution of the submarine from 1900 to present providing examples of submarine designs adapting to unforeseen requirements. Part of that evolution:

S-Boats designed in the 1920s for coastal defense and fleet boats designed in the 1930s as battle-fleet scouts found themselves in 1942 as distantly deployed commerce raiders.

The Skipjack class, designed to provide terminal guidance for nuclear-tipped Regulus cruise missiles fired from a large fleet of Halibut-class SSGNs, never materialized because of the advent of the Polaris ballistic missile.

The Thresher/Permit-class SSNs, designed to operate in pairs while firing rocket-propelled nuclear depth charges at distant Soviet subs, never carried out that mission, due to the failure of Sesco, a secure acoustic communications system needed for information exchange and the triangulation of sonar bearings for target localization.

Escorting carrier battle groups was the justification for the high speed of the Los Angeles class in the late 1960s. Even though submarines were used in direct support of battle groups in a 1977 Pacific Fleet exercise (RimPac), and a Navy warfare publication was published in 1980 based on further experimentation in RimPacs 1978 and 1979, this mission was not routinely assigned until after the Cold War ended, when many of the class were being decommissioned.

With the above examples and others, Mr. Patton presents an argument in that “To avoid obsolescence, it was sometimes necessary for extreme variant requirements to be made technically (and tactically) during a ship’s (and crew’s) lifetime. As a result it can be safely said that no U.S. submarine has ever been employed for its designed purpose, and no commanding officer ever performed that for which he was trained.” The only exception I would make is that of SSBN Fleet Ballistic Missile submarines who's purpose of nuclear deterrence has not changed since the 1960s only the targeting packages.

But then again, excess 726 Class SSBN capacity post the Cold War has resulted in four Tridents scheduled for conversion to the new Ohio Class SSGN. This will result in adapting a submarine platform from its initial design of nuclear deterrence to one of an Information Systems Research (ISR) intelligence processing node and Special Operation Forces (SOF) platform with land strike capability. A truly network-centric warfare system as Mr. Patton qualifies with using the Giant Shadow and Silent Hammer counterterrorism exercises as examples.

USS Virginia (Source: US Navy)

Another point made in the white paper is this:

“It should also be clear, to those who think deeply about such matters, that the SSGN program is far more than just a way to extend the operational viability of declining SSBNs; it is a pilot program to investigate just what the Virginia class should become when it has fully evolved in ten years.”

Essentially the Ohio SSGN program is a proving ground for technologies and tactics that well evolve and be incorporated into the new Virginia class submarines.

FORCE LEVEL

The latter part of the Mr Patton's paper briefly addresses the number of submarines we will require for our furture submarine force "Force-Level" with this.

However, with the world situation becoming increasingly unstable, there are more than one or two places where a credible, actual, or virtual U.S. presence must be claimed or maintained. Therefore, to sustain persistently unseen assets around the world, there is a force-level number that must be maintained. This number is significantly more than thirty, the level resulting from a one-per-year build rate of thirty three-year-design-life hulls, when operating tempos, maintenance, and transits are factored in. All post–Cold War submarine force level studies by several agencies indicate an enduring need for numbers of SSNs far in excess of what can be sustained by a one-per-year build rate.

I think what unstable areas Mr. Patton alludes to is obviously the Middle East and Western Pacific. But without long forward deployments a SSN force of 30 hulls, with some in the shipyard some deployed for carrier taskforce ASW protection and some in port, the Navy would be hard pressed to “sustain persistently unseen assets around the world”.

It is stated in the paper that "SSN taskings by fleet and national commanders have essentially doubled since the end of the Cold War" even though the force level of SSNs has dropped from 100 to roughly 50 today. The predicted affect is: “Because of this submarine shortage, existing ships must now transit at much higher sustained speeds than originally planned, which threatens the life span of their reactors.” If this is true then SSNs would be heading to the shipyard sooner for refueling thereby putting addition pressure on our existing submarine assets.

Conclusion

To me all the above (Submarine systems adaptability and increased force requirements and tasking) seems to run counter to the current DOD and Navy decisions with regards to the New London Sub Base being on the Brac list and the reduced build rate for the Virginia class Subs. My concern is that the powers that be (budgetary and political) may indeed hurt Submarine Force and lessen this country’s ability to defend itself.

Film of the Shot of the Day

Back a little over a week ago I had a "Shot of the Day" featuring the USS Pilotfish (SS-386) resting in 175 feet of water at the bottom of the Bikini Atoll. It as well as other ships were sunk as part of atomic bomb testing in July 1946 and are now dive destinations.

Operation Crossroads Baker Shot (Source: DOE)

I ran across some film of the Operation Crossroads Baker shot (National Geographic HERE or the DOE HERE) that resulted in the test target USS Pilotfish, moored at a depth of 168 feet and at a range of 363 yards from the point of the blast, in sinking. Only 21 of the 71 ships in the Able and Baker tests actually sank but all sustained damage. If not sunk during the tests the remaining ships were heavily contaminated with radiation and were either scuttled, sunk in gunnery exercises or scrapped.

The Baker shot was a 21-kiloton shallow water test detonated some ninety feet underwater and was the final weapon test conducted as part of the original Manhattan Project.

My Russian Watch is Broken

About a year and a half ago, I purchased a Russian Submariner's watch over the internet. Sometime after I started wearing it I showed it to Vika a programmer originally from Russia who works for the same company as I do. She had two comments; the first was "You bought Russian watch?", with a look on her face of disbelief, followed by "Don't get it wet". I also found out that what was advertised as a self-winding watch meant you wind it yourself (Must have been a translation problem).

Hey, I thought it looked cool anyway and I needed a watch at the time. Live and learn, the watch's winding stem fell off two months ago. I've changed country and service branch since, my new watch is a Swiss Army.

Therefore, when I saw this headline "Navy team given Russian wristwatches for sub rescue" (Hat tip: TheSubReport) My first thought was, I hope they get something of better quality, followed by Vika's recommendation "Don't get it wet" which I'm thinking could also apply to the current state of the Russian Navy.

I was Four Striper for Four Minutes Today

Actually two four stripers (CAPTs), so here is how it happened. I went to the Russian Juliett 484 in Providence today as I do every weekend. I try to put in a good 4 or 5 hours on my new pet restoration project, the starboard outboard diesel powered 4 stage high pressure air compressor. It’s in the engine room upper level just forward of the 3,500HP starboard main diesel.

The restoration work is dirty so I wear steel toe work boots, old blue jeans, a tee shirt, ball cap and safety glasses. The manager of the Juliett has asked the Subvets that volunteer to wear something to add color to the tours. Some of the docents wear Russian seaman shirts and hats. I’ve been doing maintenance work so I wear a tee shirt and ball cap with silver dolphins and saying simply “US Submarine Force – Silent Service”. My real job has me at a computer all day so getting down in the bilges, so to speak, and using a wire brush and scrapper feels good (as long as its my idea) and telling a sea story to a passing inquisitive tourist is, well, sort of like blogging in person. But I digress….

I had been working for about two hours and was getting hot so I got my can of ginger ale and went topside. One of the Russian subs watch standers (employee) was busy bringing up folding chairs from below decks for a Senior Chief Sonarmen’s retirement ceremony. With only one person from the Juliett doing the setup I stepped in to assist. Because of the number of the attendees 30-40 with some elderly or in a wheelchair we decided to set things up on the pier verses the Juliett’s missile deck. Within 45 minutes, everything was setup and ready to go chairs, podium, Colors, big quarterdeck shells and sideboys complete with bosun’s pipe. OK, back below for this civilian to continue my bilge therapy session.

Not so fast, time for a quick rehearsal and they need someone to fill in and be piped aboard. So yours truly is enlisted once again, this time as a couple of COMSUB or SUBRON somethings (Squadron Twelve was one I think, sorry didn’t pay attention). Must have been a site, me looking like an A-Gang striker covered head to foot in Russian pigboat dirt, being piped aboard with sideboys and all, had a little chuckle to myself.

Ceremony looked like it went off without a hitch.

Best of luck Senior Chief and thanks for your service.

Bad Air and AS-28 Submersible Rescue

During this crisis, there had been ongoing conflicting reports on how much air the trapped crew of AS28 had to survive on. Bubblehead noted this here in a Reuters article from early Saturday:

"We must complete the operation in 24 hours because the supply of air on board is not without limit," Interfax news agency quoted the deputy chief of navy staff, Vladimir Pepelyaev, as saying.

"It is believed that there is still enough air for slightly more than 24 hours," Pepelyaev added. Initial offical reports said the AS-28, itself a rescue vessel, ran into trouble when its propeller became entangled in fishing nets during a military exercise. They said it had five days' supply of air -- more than enough for any rescue mission.

However, about 1100 BST on Friday, naval spokesman Igor Dygalo said the trapped vessel had only 24 hours' worth of air left. There was no official explanation why estimates of air remaining still stood at 24 hours on Saturday morning.

This submersible was primarily submarine rescue vehicle and therefore the crew would have been trained in all aspects of submarine rescue problems, including air quality and conservation. Once the crew knew that they needed to await outside rescue that training would have kicked in and may have been what pushed the air supply to the more optimistic estimates.

If my experience with doing restoration work on the old Soviet Juliett 484 is any indication the Russians kept an ample supply of lithium hydroxide for CO2 absorption. They may also have kept chlorite candles chemically similar to what is in an OBA for emergency O2 generation on board their submarines. It would be reasonable to think that this practice would include a submarine rescue submersible if not for its own use then to supplement a submarine on the bottom. Any submarine rescue vehicle would require multiple trips to a stricken submarine to effect a complete crew rescue.

As far as the political air is concerned, Putin and some Russian admirals can get some sleep tonight. It would have been a political crisis similar to that of the Kursk if things had come out differently, for the sake of the AS-28 crew, thank god and the Brits ROV team it didn't.

Been on watch - since Wed.

I have been the single parent since the middle of the week with the significant other in DC at a conference, that means kid duty. So, I haven't been able to follow the Russian Bathyscaphe AS-28 story closely. Looks like Pig Boat Sailor and Bubblehead have been consolidating the news and keeping on top of things on their blogs as well as at Ultraquite No More. Check my submariners blogroll for others that may have additional info.

Sorry about no updates here but it's been chicken nuggets, popsicles and tubbies for three days. Makes for a bad blogging schedule.

Microsoft has a Navy now??

No, But Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has $200 million private yacht in construction that sounds like a Navy ship. In a CNN/Money piece "Superyachts of the CEOs" Allen's yacht is described as such:

Imagine yourself cruising the high seas in a lavish, super-secret ocean-faring vessel complete with a remote controlled undersea rover, a 12-man submersible and a personal crew of 60, including several former Navy Seals and a recording studio.

First off I didn't know Navy Seals could sing, unless they were really drunk, nevermind be good enough to record!!! Paul Allen's 416-foot boat named Octopus has some other nice warship like features including:

• Garage with a 4x4 vehicle (maybe a Hummer, up-armored of course)
• Transport craft to take the 4X4 to the beach (amphibious I'm guessing)
• Two helicopter pads (no waiting for the flight back to headquarters)
• Under hull docked 12 man submersible (stealth is key for the super rich)
• Staff of former Navy Seals (for the south asian software pirates I presume)

Not to be outdone Larry Ellison CEO of Oracle has a larger 452-foot superyacht named Rising Sun also in construction.

I guess this is what you buy when the money flows like water into your bank account. Not to complain or anything but, I'd be happy with just one of their old leaky sub accounts and a used Boston Whaler......

Shot of the Day

The USS Pilotfish (SS-386) was used as a target for the Operation Crossroads atomic bomb test at Bikini Atoll in July 1946 and lies in 175 feet of water.

USS Pilotfish (SS-386) Bikini Atoll
(Source: US National Park Service)

The USS Pilotfish as well as the USS Apogon (SS-308) are among a number of wrecks from the nuclear tests that are now dive destinations.

Russian Nuclear Barges???

The TimesOnline in the UK is reporting in this piece “Safety fear overruled for Putin's floating reactors” that the Russians are planning to build floating nuclear power plants. The intent is to provide electricity to remote northern ports that are inaccessible by road. An excerpt:

Each floating plant will house a 70 megawatt reactor similar to that on a nuclear submarine, or icebreaker, and big enough to power a city of 200,000 people. They will probably be assembled in St Petersburg, Russia’s second city, before being towed to their destinations around the coast.

The far eastern regions of Kamchatka and Chukotka — governed by the oil tycoon Roman Abramovich — have already signed up for one each and other regions are expected to follow. Each plant is designed to last 40 years and will cost about $200 million (£115 million).

China signed a $86.5 million deal this week to build the boat for the first one, while Russia will construct the reactor block. Russia also plans to export plants to China, Thailand, Indonesia, the Middle East and even Canada.

The TimesOnline article brings up some valid concerns especially when it comes to the Russians. The first concern being the poor environmental record the Russians have with nuclear power. (Although using the Kursk for an example of this doesn't quite fit the theme of the piece) I posted similar environmental concerns on a different nutty Russian proposal regarding Nuclear Submarine disposal back in April.

The second problem is related to the first in that they claim the reactor will be 9/11 style terrorist attack hardened and therefore safe from an environmental disaster. A hardened reactor for just $200 Million a pop, that doesn’t sound right. But then they intend to put floating reactors up for sale to the MIDDLE EAST!!! So I guess the real strategy is, don’t fly planes into our reactors and we’ll just sell you one of your own. How do you say "proliferation risk" in russian?

Portable nuclear power plants moved by ship/barge is an interesting concept if it didn't come from government that is broke, corrupt and sliding back to authorianism. Any thoughts from the maneuvering watchstanders?

Highway Bill to Detour previous Brac closing

The Washington Post has an AP report that congress is on the verge of approving $286.4 billion in highway bill and as always highway appropriations means funding pig crossings, the congressional pork kind. Buried in the bill is something that has got Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn. a little upset.

Excerpt From the AP:

Sen. Max Baucus (Mont.), the top Democrat on the Finance Committee, said he succeeded in inserting a provision in the bill to reopen a closed runway at Malmstrom Air Force Base.

With this the reported reaction:

Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., whose own state could lose a submarine base at Groton under the latest round of proposed base closings, said it was "absolutely outrageous" that the highway bill was being used to reverse a previous decision on closing a military facility.

Isn't politics interesting, a blue state Republican, whose state may loose a major military installation under a Republican administration, is complaining about a red state Democrat's tactic to reopen a military installation closed under a Democrat administration.

Anyone else see the ironic twist in this?

It wasn’t me Copper! I’m a Navy Veteran

Ever dig up odd facts on the internet, here is a little bit of Navy trivia for you.

Today is the anniversary of John Herbert Dillinger “Public Enemy #1” joining the US Navy.

Would you call this man Shipmate?
(Source: FBI)

Dillinger joined the Navy on July 27, 1923 to avoid charges of auto theft in Indiana and went to basic at the Great Lakes Naval Training Facility. He was later assigned to the ill fated USS Utah (BB-31).

The Navy life did not agree with Dillinger. Five months after enlisting, the man who would become America's most wanted bank robber, deserted the Navy on December 4, 1923 when the USS Utah docked in Boston MA.

A quick timeline of Dillinger's crime career, including his going AWOL from the Navy, can be found here.

As far as my research can tell, there is no truth to the rumor that Dillinger took the XO's door on the way off the USS Utah.

Coryphaenidae Qualified Kleptomania

Coryphaenidae qualified kleptomania or dolphin fish qualified thievery.

Submarine enlisted crewmembers have been known to from time to time procure a certain luxury item from the Executive Officer without his prior knowledge. Said item affords the XO a level of needed privacy while underway. The selection and gratuitous theft of this item seems to be a bit of a tradition in the Submarine Service.

All you Submariners out there know exactly what I’m writing about it’s……. “Who took the XO’s door!!!!”

Where the F*^*#$% is my door?!!!!!

In the past and present, I've had a number of shipmates and friends relate theirs and others stories of XO stateroom doors that have gone missing. Here’s a few presented purely for their entertainment value (Active duty, please this is not a meant to be a how to guide).

My story:
I was a on my first patrol on the Simon Bolivar SSBN641 and we had been underway for about a month. Off watch and studying my ships Quals I had found the upper level electronic room forward of sonar a quiet place to read ship systems manuals. After about a half hour of study I was suddenly interrupted by a QM2(SS) standing in the passageway with the XO’s door. He proceeded to quickly slide the door behind a large sonar equipment cabinet just inside the electronics room door, put his finger to his lips and went Sssssss and left.

Not 10 to 15 minutes later I’m interrupted a second time, this time it’s the Chief of the Boat COB. He looks at me and says, “The XO’s pissed and wants his door back, I know someone in NAV division took it, do you know who and where it is.” I said “No COB, don’t know a thing, just been sitting here studying my Quals.” If it was a snake it would have bit him, but he didn’t see it and went on with the search.

I little while later I went to the control room and found the watch section discussing the missing door, a busy QM2(SS) was the only one not participating in the conversation. The door was found a few days later just before Halfway Night.

Ric Hedman manager of Juliett 484 had this story for me today:

As Ric tells it on the USS Flasher SSN613 the XO's stateroom door went AWOL during the maneuvering watch while heading out on patrol. The XO stationed a someone outside his stateroom to verify that anyone entering the passageway had to either have the CO or his permission to be there. Ric being a Stewards MateTN(SS) was the only one who had a blanket permission. This went on for the entire patrol and no door. Finally at the end of patrol and, of course during the maneuvering watch, the XO's door was retrieved from the freezer, frozen solid, and returned its proper location. The ice that accumulated in the XO's door promptly melted ruining the fine wool carpets that were donated and installed in the boat during construction. The XO was not pleased.

Stories from others I found searching the internet:

From the USS Memphis guestbook.
"I remember stealing the XO's door and hiding it in ERUL outboard the Port Main Engine. After the Wardroom poker game broke up the XO went up to his state room (sp?) then got on the 1MC and ordred field day until his door was found and returned. That was a great night. Soaking Ens. Grosicki and the Engineer between the MSW Pumps was very satisfying too. Looking back, I can say the time I spent on MEMPHIS was a great time of my life.
Sincerely, "Spit"MM1(SS) Scott Benson"

From the USS Spinax newsletter page. or Submarine Sailor.com humor page
"On board the Robert E. Lee SSBN601B, the crew stole the XO"s door. The next day's POD said there were to be no movies until it was returned. For privacy the XO, E.O. Warren hung a blanket over the opening.
By the 3rd day he had gotten into the habit of walking thru the blanket instead of moving it. On the 5th day we replaced the door. Re-hanging the blanket over it, and then settled back to watch the fun.
Suddenly the XO came running down the passageway enroute to his stateroom and thru the blanket/curtain, coming up very short upon meeting the door. Nose bleeding and demanding an answer, the CO came to his rescue.

After surveying the damage the CO, R.W.Aldinger, marched to control, grasped the 1MC and announced, "This is the Captain. The XO's door has been found. MOVIE CALL!"
W.S. Wantland QMC(SS) USS Hawkbill SSN 666"

Sea stories on spookgroup.tripod.com
"From LCDR(Ret) John Arnold
On Halibut, after our 2nd back-to-back Ivy Bells mission, my 4 Chiefs were bored and up to mischief on our return to CONUS. They stole the CO's stateroom door. The CO had the XO's door transfered to his stateroom & told the XO he didn't care if they ever found the door. Needless to say the XO was ticked. Each watch section had a search/recovery team looking in vain for the elusive door. To add insult to injury, the spook Chiefs re installed the (missing for 10 days) door on the XO's stateroom. All of this accomplished without discovery or even a clue as to who pulled off this great TF. It wasn't until our mission debrief at NSA that we revealed the Mystery to the skipper-Chuck Larsen. I've heard that other ships have tried this but the door has always been found and many times the culprit is caught in the act of removing the door. These guys were a cleaver team aside from providing NSA with hundreds of the finest broadband tapes that they had ever received! "

SSBN622 homestead Sea Stories webpage
"I was stationed on the Monroe from 1979 to 1983. The XO at the time had a thing about DYNO labels being around the boat. The officers aboard got together and put labels all over his stateroom. He didn't know who did it but he blamed the nukes on board and made them do an extra field day. Then a A-Gang member stole his stateroom door and hid it. One thing to remember is that we were underway and we couldn't compact it. The XO went for three days searching for the door and couldn't find it until he made some A-Ganger act as a door until the door showed up. The XO apologized to the nukes and we allowed him to bring us bug juice for a couple of shifts.
Robert Crowe "

A couple of good ones from a Military.com forum

"one halfway night the XO's door showed up, with the ENG taped to it. Carried by 2 MM1's. Now that was a halfway night."

and this

"I got an old door from salvage one time and cut it into a jig saw puzzle. Took the XO's door at halfway night and put the pieces on his rack. He really freeked. We hid his real door under the deck plates in the crew's library, you know how many screws there are in those deck plates? (Lafayette Class 616) Takes hours..."

And finally this about not taking the door

"There was one time the door did not disappear. The XO at the time had a thing about flickering fluorescent light bulbs and was constantly combing the boat for 'em. Pissed E Div off to no end.Anyway, the XO comes back from halfway night festivities to find his door still there, he's shocked and amazed. He opens the door to his stateroom and flicks on the lights. Every bulb had been replaced with the flickering lights he made E div change out."

If anyone has their own story of an UNHINGED XO door or otherwise just add to the Comments section.

BBC writes about blogging - I SPY a Submarine

The BBC has an article today titled "Digital Citizens: Your creativity" with a short run of examples of blogs by English citizens. One caught my eye STEVE GOES TRAVELLING with an entry the BBC decided to show about Steve finding a captured North Korean Submarine.

And I thought that Bubblehead at The Stupid Shall Be Punished and Eric at The Sub Report got all the submarine news scoops! Perhaps going to "Gangneung for what seemed to be a never ending quest for a beer" as Steve did, is the way to go.

Class Struggle

When it comes to funding new classes of ships the US Navy is in a difficult position these days. Greater per unit procurement costs, budget constraints, mission requirements and the need to maintain a shipbuilding industrial base are all factors that must be taken into account when embarking on creating a new class of ship. In many cases the design and development of a new class of ship has a lead time of a decade or more of engineering work before construction starts. During that time technology advances and even operational requirements can change.

Here's a couple of examples of how a ship's design, development and construction process can go poorly or pretty well.

The Navy's newest class of amphibious ships is getting bad reviews by Navy inspectors in recent months. The USS San Antonio is a $1.2 billion helicopter and troop carrier schedule to join the fleet this fall.

USS San Antonio LPD17 (Source: US Navy)

The HamptonRoads.com article titled "Problems on new ship a bad sign, analyst warns" states:

The ''poor construction and craftsmanship'' Navy inspectors say they found last month aboard a new amphibious ship could be an ominous sign for the service and the U.S. shipbuilding industry as they embark on a host of other ship programs, a veteran naval analyst warned Wednesday.

Additionally there's this statement:

Inspectors said they found such deficiencies as hazardous wiring, uninstalled ventilation and a crash-prone engineering control system. Though the Navy expects to take possession of the ship in August, the inspectors said the San Antonio is not ready for its crew to come aboard.

That's troubling, the ship is not ready for the crew to come aboard? I know what they really mean is become operational, she's already manned, but the Navy has a problem here and it sounds like another poorly run program and problems with the Shipbuilder.

Joseph F. Yurso a former commander of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine is quoted in the above article as saying "A nuclear-powered submarine or aircraft carrier receiving its first exam from the Board of Inspection and Survey generally gets fairly high marks". But then goes on to argue that amphibious ships always seem to be at the end of a food chain. What I can't understand is the price tag, $1.2 Billion for a conventionally powered (diesel) ship that looks like a big sub tender, how is that the end of the food chain?

But Mr. Yurso brings up a good point, at least in recent history, that new class submarine programs seem to have the good record. In contrast take progress of the new Virginia Class SSN as reported in The New London Day back in June:

The Groton-based USS Virginia could deploy later this year, more than a year ahead of what would be a typical schedule, becoming the first nuclear submarine to go on an official mission before a year of testing and a year of repair, top Navy officials said this week.


Virginia Class Submarine (Source: US Navy)

A few of my fellow bubbleheads have commented on the USS Virginia's program success back then, such as here and here as well as comparing the Virginia class to the DDX program here or the LCS program here.

This former EB yardbird and Submariner may be a little bias but I think the submarines are money well spent in comparison to some of the Navy's new surface ship classes.

"I am become death the destroyer of worlds."

60 years ago today J. Robert Oppenheimer recalled a passage from the Bhagavad-Gita: "I am become death the destroyer of worlds".

July 16, 1945 at 5:29:45 am local time saw the first test detonation of an Atom Bomb.

First Atomic Test (Source: DOE)

Today there stands a marker at ground zero of the Trinity Test site.

Trinity Site Marker (Source: White Sands Missile Range- US Army)

If your interested in the history behind the Trinity Site the White Sands Missile Range has an extensive website on the site's past and present history. Here's an excerpt about the current radiation levels at ground zero:

Radiation levels in the fenced, ground zero area are low. On an average the levels are only 10 times greater than the region's natural background radiation. A one-hour visit to the inner fenced area will result in a whole body exposure of one-half to one millirem.

In addition to over 80 photos and eye witness accounts the website provides information on the White Sands Missile Range open house at the Trinity Site. The open house started today on the 60th anniversary.

If your also interested in the history on the Manhattan Project the DOE has an interactive website as well.

The first Soviet atomic bomb test took place in August, 1949 four years after the Trinity Test. The Cold War and Nuclear Arms race had begun and didn't end until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Previous Shuttle Launches – A Submariner’s Perspective

One of the rare treats this former SSBN boomer sailor experienced was to watch a Space Shuttle launch from the pier at PCAN (Port Canaveral). In 1985-86 the USS Alabama SSBN 731 had just finished our post construction and shipyard evolutions. We had done all our workups, shakedowns, DASOs and were ready to go on patrol. During one of our last AUTEC visits we did a port call at PCAN, one of the few places where an 16,764 surface tons 38’ draft Trident submarine can go.

What I got to witness was, what I seem to recall, the last Shuttle launch before the Challenger disaster. STS-61C Shuttle launch #24 occurred at 6:55 am on January 12, 1986. Our Commanding Officer had us all go topside to the pier for our morning muster. After the division heads and COB had reported to the CO that all was present and accounted for (liberty in Cocoa Beach can be a little distracting) the crew waited silently.

Shuttle Launch (Source: NASA)

The calm of that cool January morning changed dramatically when the dim light of dawn became much brighter and the morning quiet was interrupted with the characteristic low frequency rumble of the Shuttle Columbia's engines and boosters lighting off. What an awesome event to experience, you could feel the sound in our bones. But within minutes all was back to normal, the only evidence being a slowly dissipating contrail path of the Shuttle’s trajectory. The Columbia had a successful 6 day mission landing at Edwards Air Force base on January 18 1986.

STS61C Launch (Source: NASA)

About a month later, with the experience of watching a Space Shuttle launch fresh in my mind , I was on the Alabama doing a submerged transit through the Straits of Florida. We were on our way to the west coast and the Bangor Submarine Base WA via a goodwill PR visit to our namesake state and the City of Mobile when we got the news. I had just hit the rack when the CO comes on the 1MC with the news of the Challenger’s explosion. The obligatory moment of silence somehow didn’t seem adequate. Years later the Shuttle Columbia, that I watched liftoff in 1986, was also lost on its 2003 STS-107 mission deorbit.

I may be projecting here but I think submariners feel a distant kinship to astronauts. We both operate some of the most complex machines built by mankind. We work in inhospitable environments where a mistake can cost you and your shipmates their lives. In a recent generation both have lost some of their finest Challenger and Columbia; Thresher and Scorpion.

Throughout these tragedies, our country has risen to the greater challenge. We have found men and women willing to take the risks in the vacuum of space or the pressure of the deep ocean.

Apollo 11 Launch 1969 (Source: NASA)

Today 7/13/05 NASA is ready for the challenge again and return to flight. I would love to be at PCAN again to watch this next Shuttle launch. In any case I'll be watching on TV and wishing the crew of the Shuttle Discovery and mission STS-114 gods speed and a successful mission.

SOSUS vigilance from the Cold War to Terrorism

The Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS) was a critical component of the US Navy’s intelligence capabilities during the Cold War. The function of SOSUS during that time was to identify and track the estimated 700 submarines produced by the Soviets. The SOSUS system used the unique propulsion plant acoustic signature produced by a Submarine for its identification and tracking.

First Atlantic SOSUS Stations (Graphic: US Navy Undersea Warfare Magazine)

Since the close of the Cold War the national security role of the SOSUS system has diminished and it has been utilized for more marine environment research applications. But the national security role of SOSUS may be expanded again, this time in response to the terrorist threat and our vulnerability to an attack via a merchant ship. According to this recent Sea Power Magazine article:

The Navy and other U.S. government agencies intend to identify and track the world’s 121,000 merchant vessels with the same persistence and precision that characterized the Navy’s location, identification and tracking of Soviet submarines during the Cold War era.

Container Ship (Source: NOAA)

SOSUS will become part of a larger integrated data collection system to track and provide real time identification of merchant ships. Additional components of this intelligence data collection system would include space-based surveillance, an existing maritime Automatic Identification System (AIS) and newly developed Advanced Deployable Systems (ADS).

SOSUS will be expanded and upgraded so that acoustic surveillance of ports and littoral areas can be included. These littoral areas have high ambient noise levels that make it difficult to conduct acoustic surveillance.

A comprehensive system to track merchant shipping is one method that could help prevent a large scale sea-based terrorism event. In this link "Terror at Sea the Maritime Threat" author Ophir Falk documents how terrorist groups such as Al Qalda not only have been a threat to shipping but may turn to using vessels carrying hazardous materials as terrorist weapons. For example from the article:

The recent appointment of Saud Hamid al-Utaibi as new al-Qaida commander in Saudi Arabia-largely thanks to his expertise in marine terror-has caused many security experts to raise the threat level to maritime security. Hamid al-Utaibi's experience includes an active role in blowing up the USS Cole in October 2000 and in attacking the French Limburg tanker two years later-both rammed by exploding speedboats in Yemeni waters. Subsequent to the appointment, the United States warned a number of Mediterranean states that maritime attacks involving chemical agents might be imminent.

Of additional concern is what could be called "the poor man's missile platform". States that sponsor terrorist activities such as Iran have recently experimented with outfitting merchant vessels with Scud missiles. It was also widely reported in 2003 that Al Qaeda may also have a navy of sorts consisting of fishing boats and cargo vessels.

The integration of all this data from so many sources seems like a monumental task, but a task worth doing. I can see additional benefits as well as increasing port security, such as providing information for use in the Proliferation Security Initiative, help in locating lost or missing ships in emergencies as well as knowing where all the good targets are if things ever get hot. But I wonder how a operational conversation would be if SOSUS starts tracking all the merchant ship traffic. Will the sonar operator's report be "Duty Officer I hold Sierra 119,991 leaving Doha, Qatar course 045, speed 12 knots, range... ah hell what do I care we're in Virginia" ?

Moral Equivalence, the Got-ya Media and Guantanamo

The string of hyped Gitmo stories in the media and Senator Richard Durbin’s (D, IL) recent non-apology for his comparing US military personnel in Guantanamo to Nazis and the like has finally got to me. I haven’t been very political in this blog but the outcry against the use of Gitmo as a detention center has me wondering about the critic motivations.

I can understand the opposition some people may have to the prolonged detention of the “detainees”. After all it has been years since 9/11 and I guess time is suppose to heal all wounds. Additionally Americans are a moral and just people and therefore would not violate a person’s basic rights. Why continue to keep the “detainees” locked up seems to be the argument.

Because they are NOT JUST “detainees” they are Al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners caught on the battlefield. If they did not directly assist in 9/11 they were a part of a network of hatred that perpetrated a series of terrorist acts against the United States and others in the western world. Left to their own means or worst yet sponsored by rouge states these terrorists would inflict even greater destruction on our citizens, economy and way of life. I am not saying to keep them indefinitely without cause, I’m saying we HAVE CAUSE. The problem as I see it is that as time passes people move on with their lives. The public finds it easier to forget the death and destruction inflected on us and begins to feel concern for “victims of our aggression”. The only exception is those who were directly effected by 9/11, their pain remains real. The press helps in this desensitizing of the public by first turning to neutral language, their no longer terrorists but detainees, and second by turning the terrorists into victims.

So goes the moral equivalence trap. Loud music, lack of sleep and uncomfortable conditions become torture not pressure. Prolonged detention becomes a gulag or death camp. The supplying of materials for worship becomes items of desecration and religious insult. Prompt and full investigations become suspect to a larger cover-up. When our government makes mistakes or things go wrong the mainstream media amplifies it to a point where it’s used against us around the world. Even when media allegations are proved untrue or dubious, no mind, we will have a semi-retraction in section C page 12 a week later. Or a Senator’s remarks that spark a backlash of protest turns to the non-apology apology of I’m sorry if I offended anyone. Sort of like calling someone an SOB and then saying, I’m sorry if you’re offended but I still think you’re an SOB, live with it.

I have yet to see any real evidence of prisoner abuse from Guantanamo, speculation followed by allegation and then media hyperventilation YES, but evidence NO.

I would not write about this unless I had a reason to feel that political gain against the current administration is the reason for the Gitmo hype. This type of misrepresentation of events hurts us all and particularly those who serve our country. For I know one such individual who has been to Guantanamo with the RI National Guard in support of the detention facility. This person is a co-worker who I respect and is now retired from the RI National Guard, let’s call him DB.

DB was deployed with the 43rd Military Police unit of RI National Guard in May of 2002, The first National Guard unit to go to Gitmo post 9/11. DB an Officer was at Gitmo for 6 months and was missed by his civilian co-workers. After DB returned to work I would ask him about his experiences and the type of prisoners at Gitmo. His answers were always straight forward and factual in manner. DB didn’t spin any tails of hardship or bravado like some do. The experiences expressed were always of professional conduct by the men he served with. The only negative he related to me was that many of the prisoners were truly evil people, an opinion I think most would concur with.

So when recent News reports speculated about abuse at Gitmo I would ask if he ever saw anything that could be interpreted that way. His answer was always a head shaking disbelief “No, I can’t believe that crap, I never saw anything even close to that”. DB is pretty soft spoken person who is the first to admit a mistake, so to me he’s 100% believable.

Only once did DB give me any details (I never really pushed anyway) about Gito. He said that the commanding General did a daily walkthrough of the facility, now that’s command oversight. He also said that all interrogations required three witnesses present and were video taped. Detailed Command oversight, taped interrogations and full access to the Red Cross it should be easy to find documented abuse evidence if there was any, but there isn’t.

What was one of DB’s jobs during his tour at Guantanamo in 2002? Ordering religious materials for the “Detainees”.

Quadrennial Defense Review - Key to New London Sub Base Defense

Connecticut officials will meet with the BRAC commission in Boston today on the fate of the New London Submarine Base. Among the chief arguments against its closing will be the still unconfirmed size of the future submarine force. The sub force numbers quoted by various Navy sources have ranged from as low as 30 to as high as the current 54 submarines putting into question what that final number will be. An AP report in Newsday puts it this way:

The Pentagon's four-year review of the nation's military strategy, called the Quadrennial Defense Review, could be the final word on the subject and is expected to be released late this year. By then, however, Groton's fate likely will be sealed.

Simmons, a Republican whose district includes Groton, said closing the facility based on uncertain projections of the fleet's size would amount to the BRAC commission writing military policy.

Part of their argument may well be to wait until the Quadrennial Defense Review provides definitive numbers on submarine force size requirements and settles the differences between the Pentagon planners and the submarine force fleet commanders.

Additional points will be made about the sub base, synergy, and military value with other facilities and contractors. It will be argued that the Navy did not take into context the New London Sub base vicinity to nearby Submarine contractor Electric Boat and Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, R.I., which develops submarine technology. Maintaining an industrial base and shipbuilding capacity has been of continuing concern to the Navy.

CT State commissioners will also discuss community, economic, and environmental issues.

Age old question: "what to do with an empty?"

Empty Trident Missile Tube

What to do with the empty? (Click on image to find out)

Is it Miller Time #1
or
Miller Time #2
or
Miller's Time #3
or
Miller Time #4?

My choices are 4 and 1 in that order.