Anyone ever serve on a submarine?

[cybrsage]

No internet for months? That would be hard. What do you do in free time for fun? Is there really a thing like "hot bunking" where you share a beg with two or three other people? Is the air quality really bad?

Hot bunking means 2 beds for 3 people. Not so bad, if you consider that one of those 3 people must be on watch at any given time. The biggest problem is you have to keep two of anything important, one in each bunk. You do not know which one you will get any given sleep period. They call it hot bunking because the bunks never get time to cool down.

You keep two sets of sheets and pillow cases, one in each bunk, and you strip the bunk when you are done with it each time, then the next guy put his sheets on it.

 

[Jumpem]

Hot bunking means 2 beds for 3 people. Not so bad, if you consider that one of those 3 people must be on watch at any given time. The biggest problem is you have to keep two of anything important, one in each bunk. You do not know which one you will get any given sleep period. They call it hot bunking because the bunks never get time to cool down.

You keep two sets of sheets and pillow cases, one in each bunk, and you strip the bunk when you are done with it each time, then the next guy put his sheets on it.

That's a bit repulsive too.

 

[iGas]

No internet for months? That would be hard. What do you do in free time for fun? Is there really a thing like "hot bunking" where you share a beg with two or three other people? Is the air quality really bad?

Hot bunking is the norm. Air quality can be bad.

 

[Griffinhart]

The space in that is like a 5 star hotels compare to diesel electric subs.

Man, got that right. I've taken a tour of the USS Albacore, and the crew quarters slept 49 crewmen in shifts, but was the size of my downstairs bathroom.

 

[FoBoT]

No internet for months? That would be hard. What do you do in free time for fun? Is there really a thing like "hot bunking" where you share a beg with two or three other people? Is the air quality really bad?

i was stationed on USS Florida SSBN-728 (G) from 1988-1992, so it was pre-internet. we only had a couple PC's put in the library the last year i was onboard

the two main non-bunk activities were playing cards and watching movies. they had some kind of deal where we could get VHS movies that were not yet released to video store rental and people would tape MTV music videos and such and bring those

Trident submarines have enough room so that hot racking was never necessary. friends of mine that were on Los Angeles class attack subs at the time did have to deal with hot racking for the most junior sailors

you didn't really notice the air while on board, but when you got off after two months and took your sea bag home with all your clothes, they would stink of 'boat smell' , a foul combination of diesel, lube oil and human smell. you'd have to wash your stuff several times to clear out the odor

but my division was responsible for weekly cleaning of the ventilation filters. some of them would start leaking oil during the week in between cleanings. just to be clear, air filters don't have oil in them, this was oil that was filtered out of the air. so, how clean was the air? i have no idea, but our lungs were filtering the same oil and junk that those ventilation filters were, so probably not good

 

[cybrsage]

That's a bit repulsive too.

Not if they are clean.

 

[cybrsage]

they had some kind of deal where we could get VHS movies that were not yet released to video store rental and people would tape MTV music videos and such and bring those

We had a betamax...but we had the same deal, we would get movies the same week they were released in the theater, but only if we were going out on deployment.

 

[FoBoT]

We had a betamax...but we had the same deal, we would get movies the same week they were released in the theater, but only if we were going out on deployment.

you are right, i think the hollywood tapes were all betamax. we had a vhs for tapes people brought with them

 

[shortylickens]

i always explain it like this

think of going to a factory or industrial building. like a power plant or anything with tons of equipment, except its all jammed into the rooms and the building has no windows of course.
most of the time you are submerged you can't really tell the difference between being in the boat and being in a building. unless you are very shallow or there is a really big storm, you don't feel any rocking/wave action, so again, it is like being in an industrial building where you work, but you just don't get to go home at night and you have to sleep at work, in a small bed

here is a look at the bunk rooms on a trident class SSBN

those are 3 high, the middle racks were most prized, the senior guys usually picked middle racks first. i always preferred the bottom bunk, so i didn't have to climb or disturb the other two when i got in/out

Thats how we have it on old cruisers. Except any time you want the sun is out there for you.

 

[Jumpem]

Not if they are clean.

I want my own space. Sharing like that is nasty.

 

[Linflas]

<----Actually the opposite for me.

 

[chusteczka]

I want my own space. Sharing like that is nasty.

It is better to hot-rack in a berthing space than it is to sleep in the torpedo room.

In a berthing space, people are quiet, the lights are off, and the close walls provide a comfortable level of security.

In the torpedo room, there is a torpedoman sitting watch, moving, walking, talking, and dropping things around the clock. Plus, another guy (the auxiliaryman of the watch) walks through every hour to check instrument gauges. Additionally, the torpedo room is often the second social hangout area after the mess decks.

All of a sudden, hot-racking in a berthing space is a nice upgrade.

EDIT:
s/hot-rocking/hot-racking/

 

[OlafSicky]

I think Johnfromsheffield did. He served in the air force, army and the navy.

No you are wrong he is a SAS sniper :hmm:

 

[squirrel dog]

I've often wondered what the fire power of all US subs combined would be . In megatons.

 

[cirrrocco]

No you are wrong he is a SAS sniper :hmm:

I know [ well that's what he claimed before he was banned]. I was just showing how be bs'ed the forum for years and I am guessing we would see the same here as well.

 

[Puppies04]

Is there really a thing like "hot bunking" where you share a beg with two or three other people?

Seems like common sense to me, if you have 100 people onboard and a maximum of 25 will ever be off duty at a time how much space should you give over to beds...

 

[Sonikku]

Thanks for answering all the questions guys. I'm curious if they let people take laptops to play single player games on or PSP's or stuff, though I doubt they let you have anything connected to the net. Has anyone served on a modern ship?

 

[Linflas]

Thanks for answering all the questions guys. I'm curious if they let people take laptops to play single player games on or PSP's or stuff, though I doubt they let you have anything connected to the net. Has anyone served on a modern ship?

Unless things have changed radically in the years since I got out they really don't care what you bring on board with you so long as it fits in your assigned storage space/locker and is not prohibited by regulations (think alcohol, drugs etc). When I was deployed on a carrier I had a guitar with me and later into the cruise a stereo receiver and tape deck fastened down securely to my rack locker.

 

[BoomerD]

OP, are you looking for a "tube-shaped object full of seamen?"

 

[pcgeek11]

Well I see some of the guys here had the newer ( T Hull ) submarines. They are a luxury hotel compared to the older boats. My first boat I had to sleep on cases of beans behind the torpedoes on the forward trim tank on an air mattress. TMSN nonqual pukes don't get a lot of respect. The only entertainment was in the form of reel to reel movies played on the crews mess after the evening meal. The missile lower level outboards were lined end to end with mesh bags of veggies carrots potatoes cabbage etc. The torpedo room bilges were full of cases of eggs. There was no crews lounge except for the mess deck.

We lost one of the freshwater stills once and couldn't shower or cook hot food for almost two weeks. Fresh water goes to the reactor first cooking second and everything else is last. We could brush our teeth.

Once the TDU ( trash disposal unit ) had a can get stuck in the muzzle ball valve and we had to store garbage for a month. You don't know what stink is until you experience this.

Nothing builds comradery like adversity.

The newer boats I understand are a lot more feminine and do not have these issues. They even have porcelain flushing toilets vice a stainless steel bowl with ball valves.

 

[cybrsage]

I want my own space. Sharing like that is nasty.

I was senior second on board, the only time I had to hotrack was during sea trials when we had a lot of visitors on board.

Still, as others have said, the alternative is sleeping in the torpedo room on the lower torpedo rack. Sucks when they move weapons around, though, as you lose your rack. During one set of sea trials I had to sleep down there - we had close to 50 civilians on board. Sucked bad...we became known as the Asheville Homeless - moving from place to place in an effort to find sleep.

 

[cybrsage]

The newer boats I understand are a lot more feminine and do not have these issues. They even have porcelain flushing toilets vice a stainless steel bowl with ball valves.

If the toilet goes "cooshee" when you flip a handle, you are on a cooshie boat.

How to flush on a real sub:
Step 1, open upper valve to allow water to start flowing into the bowl.
Step 2, open ball valve, allow contents to drail and some extra to cleanse the bowl.
Step 3, close ball valve.
Step 4, allow water to fill bowl 1/4 full, close upper valve.

Of course, never forget Step 0, ensure they are NOT blowing san tanks...

 

[chusteczka]

...

Of course, never forget Step 0, ensure they are NOT blowing san tanks...

That was my job before I qualified for the AMR watch!

My shipmate once started the process for blowing the sanitary tank by pressurizing the tank. At that point, the captain told the OOD to surface and go up in the sail. The tank stayed pressurized as my shipmate handled all the tasks required for surfacing. After the OOD and lookout went up in the sail, my shipmate was able to return to blowing the san tank. He opened the hull valve to the overpressurized tank, since we were now surfaced, and blew the contents 30 feet up into the air, covering the OOD and lookout in a literal cloud of poop.

 

[pcgeek11]

If the toilet goes "cooshee" when you flip a handle, you are on a cooshie boat.

How to flush on a real sub:
Step 1, open upper valve to allow water to start flowing into the bowl.
Step 2, open ball valve, allow contents to drail and some extra to cleanse the bowl.
Step 3, close ball valve.
Step 4, allow water to fill bowl 1/4 full, close upper valve.

Of course, never forget Step 0, ensure they are NOT blowing san tanks...

Before I retired I was LPO of the Weapons Repair Shop in Kings Bay, GA. Those boats are cooshie. Really IMO anything with a Spiral stairwell just isn't a fuckin submarine at all.

See this link: http://www.hspig.org/gallery/view_photo.php?set_albumName=NAVSEA&id=208_G

We had a cook that opened the ball valve and blew shit all over himself. After he closed it he opened it again. I guess he couldn't believe he did it the first time.

Damn that was some funny shit!

 

[Bacstar]

Hehehe... When I first reported to my submarine, a group of guys wrote up a set of danger tags to "blow the DCA" and had me go to the EOW for approval. Being the new guy, I hadn't a clue what the DCA was at the time and the EOW was the DCA. I remember those guys were having hysterical fits of laughter around the corner. (This was over 20 years ago, so my acronyms may be all messed up)