Dependents Cruise

I am interrupting the Philippine vacation pictures to share with you photos of the Dependents cruise we did just last Thursday. I guess once a year the boat does one of these cruises to allow spouses and older kids to come on board the submarine for the day to see what their sailor does on a typical work day. Although I have been on the submarine a few times when Carlton has had duty (he is not allowed to leave the boat for 24 hours), the boat was always tied to the pier. For this cruise we were taken out of the harbor and down about 500 feet so we could get a sense for what our sailors experience during their underways.

We boarded the submarine around 8am and gathered into the Crews Mess to listen to a briefing before starting our day. Each spouse had to stay with a sailor the whole time to make sure we did not venture into classified areas. For our cruise, we were given a qual card to complete in order to receive our honorary dolphins.

 After the briefing, I was taken into the control room where I got to look through the periscope and see how they drive the boat. I did not get any pictures there but then I did check out Carlton's rack where he sleeps. His is the top one (with two below him) and it is definitely interesting getting up there! Basically he has to use some metal rods above his head to lift his feet into the rack and then shimmy the rest of his body into it. I got in to see how difficult it is and to see how much space (or rather how little space) he has!

The next stop was to go up on the bridge while we were pulling out of the harbor. So I had to be strapped into a heavy duty harness and climb a couple ladders to get up to the top. Once on top, there are three rails that are put up there when people will be on the bridge and then they are removed when the boat is going to dive. So the rails are not necessarily the most sturdy looking (or feeling).

In Crews Mess, L to R Alcia, Jessica, & Nikki

L to R Me, Amy, & Winnie

In Carlton's rack. The top of the pic is the ceiling.

Heavy duty harness for the bridge.

Alicia & I all strapped in!

View from the ladder before stepping onto the bridge

L to R: Allie, Winnie, me & Alicia on the bridge

The Majors

Back of the sub with Guam in the distance

Hello!!

Allie heading back down the ladder

You can kind of see the small space we had to go through.

Alicia giving me a cheesy grin before heading down

Winnie!

After enjoying the fresh air on the bridge, we went back to the Chief's quarters where Alicia and I were shown the EAB equipment (Emergency Air Breathing equipment). In case the air on the boat was no longer safe to breathe, the sailors have this equipment for breathing and to protect them if there is a fire.

Carlton and Mike demonstrating how to put it on

Air tube is hooked up to the wall

Full masks on and ready to rock!

Oh yeah....

"Luke, I am your father" very Vader-like

Alicia also tried on the protective gloves

"Ready for your rectal exam?"

After lunch in the Crews Mess, we ventured down a level to where they keep all the torpedoes. Not only did I get to climb into a torpedo tube but I also shot a waterslug. Basically they fill a torpedo tube with water and then you shoot it using the mechanism they would use to shoot a torpedo. It was very loud!!

It was a long tube but I chose to stay here.

As you can see, the tube was quite a ways off the floor!!

Pressing the button to shoot the waterslug...

And there's the BANG!

We briefly headed back to the
Chief's Quarters to catch up with some others and found Amy and her hubby Josh checking out the EAB equipment.

This whole time we have been underwater at around 400-500 feet, so it was very smooth. When we were on the bridge there was quite a bit of rolling side to side, so the rails were helpful to have! Part of the cruise experience is to feel the angles that the crew feels when the boat goes underwater and when it surfaces. So we got to experience the boat popping out of the water. Not as big of a jump as you see in the movies but it was definitely noticeable. As we were coming up, we hit about a 22 degree angle and Carlton took pictures of me standing in the torpedo room so you can tell how big the angle is. He also got a picture of me when we surfaced. There is a brief instance of weightlessness before the boat comes back down. Even though you are expecting it, it still catches you by surprise if you are not used to it!

A little angle

A little more angle

22 degrees!!

There's the weightlessness!

It was a lot of fun going to all the different areas and seeing how the boat is operated. I also got to listen to sonar and watch the screens to see what the sonar techs deal with regularly. So I am now an Honorary Submariner! Woohoo!