Originally posted by saabster5
reply to post by orangetom1999
Oh it was an experience. Not sure if I should have mentioned the tomahawk thing tho....oops... One of my favorite sub stories is when we pulled out
of the shipyard for an overhaul. Lived in Pearl Harbor at the time, and the shipworkers had lei's (flowery necklaces) hanging on all the places
where they had cut into the hull. The lei's were supposed to bring good luck or something. Talk about a feeling of security! Especially when
performing the shakedown of the boat.
But I agree, there's so much that goes into the construction of these things. Was up in CT when the boat after the Seawolf was still being worked
on. Would drive by that shipyard all the time, just gawking at the enormity of the thing.
My salutes to you maintaining our fleet. Couldn't have been successful in our missions without the support from dedicated individuals like yourself,
who put their own sweat into helping maintaining these beasts.
No problem saabster5,
I've worked on the VLS systems both on 688s and on Virginia's. You need to be very aware of what it is on which you are working when hanging around
the bath tub/free flood area. That system works so quietly you would never know it if it closed on you. I am in the habit of checking immediately for
the safety pin installation even before I step into the bathtub area/free flood area.
Worked with alot of A gang peoples throughout the boat..fore to aft..top to bottom. Most peoples know of the existence of this tomahawk system ..and
many on aircraft as well as on the boats. Different systems but most know they exist. We are not giving away any state secrets here.
You know saabster5..in sort of an anachronistic type of speaking..I had the opportunity to go to Charleston, South Carolina and look at the
Confederate submarine ..the CSA...Hunley. I was shocked after working on the boats up here. I looked at that thing in the circulating tank in which it
was being prepared. My reaction was....
"Holy S--T!!!!!! They went out in that thing!!!!!!????"
But ..one can say that was the state of the art back then.
The other thing I noted about the CSA Hunley..was that people must have averaged of a significantly smaller stature than are we today. We think
we..many of us are pretty average size today. But they must have been on the average much noticeably smaller back then. This was obvious and startling
when it dawns on you.
We take so much for granted today...even our technology as well as ourselves.
I've also had the experience of seeing the USS Monitor ...the engine when it was brought here to Newport News Shipyard and placed in the bottom of a
dry dock with hoses spraying salt water on it while the desalination tank for it was being finished up at the Mariners Museum in upper Newport News,
Virginia. What an experience to see history right before you ...before most others get to see. It was a very crude piston engine affair.
Same reaction....
"Holy S--t!!!! They went out in that thing!!!???"
Talk about sailing by the seat of your pants...
They have since raised many portions of the USS Monitor and sent them to this museum. The rotating turrent and even the Dahlgren guns from it. But it
is a humbling experience when you know intimately what is the current state of the art.
I've learned alot in the years of working on these ships. Alot of mechanical skills as well as simple safety skills and thinking and when that does
not work...I've learned to improve my "language skills!!"
But it all works out. It has helped me to tackle alot of tasks/jobs at home to which I would not have otherwise solved, succeeded, or even
attempted.
Thanks again,
Orangetom
