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The following was contributed by Warren P. Rucker
of Ruckerville, VA.
Should Teddy Roosevelt be the patron saint of submariners? Roosevelt was
the first American President to go aboard a submarine and to make a dive.
Roosevelt ventured beneath the waters of Long Island Sound aboard USS
Plunger (SS 2) on March 25, 1905. Plunger was the United States' second
submarine, commissioned in September 1903....
Beyond this historical first, however, is
the fact that Roosevelt was the man directly responsible for submarine
pay. The Naval hierarchy in 1905 considered submarine duty, neither
unusual nor dangerous, and classified it as shore duty. Therefore,
submariners received twenty-five percent less pay than sailors going to
sea in Destroyers, Cruisers and similar surface ships.
Roosevelt's two-hour trip on Plunger
convinced him that this discrimination was unfair. He described submarine
duty as hazardous and difficult, and he found that submariners "have to be
trained to the highest possible point as well as to show iron nerve in
order to be of any use in their positions…"
Roosevelt directed that officer service
on submarines be equated with duty on surface ships. Enlisted men
qualified in submarines were to receive ten dollars per month in addition
to the pay of their rating. They were also to be paid a dollar for every
day in which they were submerged while underway. Enlisted men assigned to
submarines but not yet qualified received an additional five dollars per
month.
Roosevelt did not dilly-dally once he
made a decision. He issued an Executive Order directing the extra pay for
enlisted personnel. This was the beginning of submarine pay!
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The following was contributed by Virginia Neal Thomas
of Bluecreek, Washington.
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The following was contributed by Capt. Pat Taylor USN (Ret),
the skipper of the USS GRAMPUS from 1969 to 1970.
The Diving Alarm Ballet
by
Mike Hemming
As I
pass between the controllermen, the oogah, oogah, "Dive!", "Dive!" comes
over the speakers and they leap to their sticks and rheostats. The engine shut
down air lever is hit, rheostats spun down, sticks are thrown, as the ballet
begins. Generator electricity wanes as the huge storage batteries are called on
for power. Sticks pulled to new positions and rheostats spun back up to keep the
motors turning. The flurry of intense activity over, minor adjustments made and
times logged while listening, always for the sound of water doing something it
shouldn’t.
As I
walk forward at the same time into the engineroom, the two men in each one do
the shutdown dance. Throttles are slapped down, hydraulic levers pulled to the
closed position to shut exhaust valves and drains opened by the throttleman. As
his oiler spins the inboard exhaust valves the 32 turns to shut it, either the
oiler or the throttleman (depending on who is closer) will have yanked the pin
holding the great intake air valve open so it falls shut with a loud clang. His
inboard exhaust valves shut, the oiler drops below to secure the sea valves that
allow the seawater to cool the engines. Then, the throttleman checks everything
secure one more time.
In the
control room, the other area of great activity on a dive, lookouts almost free
fall to their diving stations on the bow and stern planes. Quickly the bow
planesman rigs out his planes and both he and the stern planesman set their
charges to the prescribed angles for the dive. Arriving soon after the planesmen,
the OOD, now the diving officer, gives the ordered depth to reach and the angle
to do it. Then he checks that all is well and will watch the planesmen to learn
if the trim needs changing.
The
Chief of the Watch having closed the huge main air induction valve, will watch
the Christmas Tree to see that all hull openings are closed. Then he pulls the
vents to flood the main ballast tanks and watches the depth to signal the
auxillaryman on the air manifold when to blow negative tank to the mark to stop
our descent into the depths. The manifold operator will hammer open the valve
and then close off the roaring rush of compressed air, as needed.
By this
time, the trim manifold operator will have arrived from the engine room. After
climbing over the stern planesman he will be ready to pump and flood seawater to
the tanks. This will trim up the boat to neutral buoyancy.
In the
conn, the helmsman will have rung up standard speed so the boat will be driven
under by the screws. The QM of the watch will dog the conning tower hatch when
the OOD, the last man down from the bridge, pulls the lanyard to close it.
There is no music to guide this dance except calm orders given and
acknowledged. Started in a flurry of activity, it will end by winding down
quietly to a state of relaxed vigilance by men practiced and confident of
themselves and each other. They have done this many times, this graceful and
awkward descent into the depths. They do it as fast as is safely possible. This
is where they belong, with many feet of sea hiding the strong steel of the hull.
Men asleep in bunks half-awakened by the raucous alarm and noisy ballet, drift
back to deep sleep, confident they are at home where they should be.
The following was contributed by Capt. Pat Taylor USN (Ret),
the skipper of the USS GRAMPUS from 1969 to 1970.
I was skipper of Grampus 1969-'70 - and had the opportunity to sail with her
during the July- December deployment around South America on
the annual UNITAS cruise... UNITAS X, under the command of
RAdm James Dare, ComSoLant, took our US Naval Forces, under his flagship, USS
Leahy (CG 16), several destroyer and frigate types, Grampus and Patrol Wing aircraft on the circumnavigation of South America for a
4-1/2
month fleet exercise. Under the command of Commander Patterson C. Taylor USN, Grampus was a principal player in Anti-Submarine
Warfare
exercises with units of the Columbian, Ecuadorian, Peruvian, Chilean, Argentinian, Uruguayan, Brazilian and Venezuelan navies.
Coupling the
fleet exercises with good will visit to all the participating countries, Grampus transited the Panama Canal,across the
equator, a
stay in the Galapagos Islands and passage through the Straits of Magellan before returning to Submarine Squadron 6 in Norfolk.
After a
brief overhaul in Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Grampus continued participating in submarine and anti-submarine exercises with
new
nuclear submarines joining the fleet.
In 1972 Grampus was decommissioned and was re-commissioned in the Brazilian Navy.
Here's a snapshot of Grampus conducting a "battle surface"
demonstration for our Latin Navy participants in UNITAS X, 1969
USS GRAMPUS (SS-523)
