Three Blasts on Diving Alarm

610ET wrote: I'm sure he just meant that both things happened. I was in Control for every dive and surface and I can assure you that both things happened and that there is no confusion on my part. Why not just enjoy your book? It doesn't seem likely that this little detail will affect the plot or outcome. Watch the Hunt for Red October or Crimson Tide if you want your head to really explode.

Are you  flippin loony? I never accused him of any "confusion." I never addressed him, as I tend to ignore his posts because of reasons best kept to myself.

The last GD thing I need is for you to tell me " this little detail will (not)  affect the plot or outcome."  Go back and read the thread from my original post.. I was enjoying myself and I think some others were too. I never asked what the proper sequence was in the book I am reading - I know that answer.  I mentioned I had seen the usage in a few other books and asked for recollections to help sort that out.

As to "I'm sure he just meant that both things happened."  The very purpose of this thread was to discuss the sequence of events.  Also, while I missed it earlier in the thread - I told you I generally don't read Steve's threads - he made the identical assertion about the sequence and also made an assertion that diesel boats didn't airless surface.  That is flat-butted wrong.

We fought a war in the Pacific where most every surface while on patrol were airless surfaces.  Think wanted to have air in the banks when that plane came swooping down after surfacing and think not wanting to run the air compressor nor make the noise when surfacing for that night time surfaced torpedo attack.  Also, many NLON school boats made numerous airless surfaces because they would otherwise air bank be limited as to continued submerged Ops and surfacing.

I was on a Diesel Boat in Key West doing daily ops for Sonar School.  We ALWAYS did airless surfaces on the way home so the Duty Section didn't have to have to do it.

Boats without bow planes and boats with smaller MBT Vents generally have a lot of trouble doing airless surfaces, because I'm sure you know, part of the airless surface process is to run with the vents and try to broach at speed using planes and angle and capture a bubble in the forward MBTs.  Come to think of it, what kind of boat has bow planes and disproportionately large vents?

I don't think I've stuck my nose into any of your threads with a cheap shot, don't know why you think its OK.

I was enjoying this thread - just hate to see misinformation and snide shots at young nukeypoo types and similar.

I'm 8-9 years younger than Steve and I honestly have no idea how much time he spent on the boats.  His posted recollection is from over 60 years ago and I typically can't recollect what I had for breakfast this morning.  More power to him!

Final thing, before I fade off into the sunset, read my post above.  While I did suggest that some of us may be confused, I did not even offer an opinion as to what the sequence of announcement/alarms actually was.  I still don't know.  Some DBFs told conflicting stories.  Some Boomers did also.  I'm not even sure if the SSNs were all consistent.

Thanks for the movie suggestions.  SPOILER ALERT:  They're both fiction.




Edited by SaltiDawg - 30 Jan 2016 at 5:49pm

atozdbf wrote: ... It was always 3 blasts followed by "Surface Surface Surface"  ...

You are the first person that I have ever heard suggest that the 3 blasts were sounded before the word was passed.

What was the sequence on subsequent boats on which you served?




Edited by SaltiDawg - 30 Jan 2016 at 2:18pm

I dunno, but for the summers of 1953&4 Toro did school boat out of NLON SUBSCOL. That's 5 days/wk 18 dives & surfaces/day for approx. 6 months. It was always 3 blasts followed by "Surface Surface Surface" and if anybody would think that, even at my age I couldn't remember that, they gotta be kidding.

AtoZ

Jon,
The Diving Alarm certainly could be heard by other vessels as a distinct transient.  That said, if the boat was surfacing it is inherently a loud evolution- as is submerging. I think the Surfacing Alarm would not be a major concern if you were about to blow all MBT and/or start the LP Blower or Diesel, or Blow MBTs with HP Air, bang hatches, and start cavitating all within a minute or so.

Generally on some boats, surfacing was initiated by saying "Surface" three times.  As you see here there are mixed reports as to whether in addition the Diving Alarm was also sounded on a routine surfacing.  Some report yes, some no. If I've read correctly, everyone agrees that three blasts were sounded following the word being passed three times in an emergency. 

I do think at least a couple of us may be confused on this point, because within the same class and same time period there seems to be conflicting resolutions. Just my own thought, I would tend to give more credence to the memories of COWs, OODs, and DO's then others - I think the rest of us may simply not remember as well. 

I'm quite sure that no one suggested anything other than two blasts on the diving alarm when submerging.  On the 637s there was a Dive Bill and also a Stationary Dive Bill for use in the ice.  Both had two blasts on the Diving Alarm following the 1MC announcement.

I was the OP and asked the question because in a book that I am reading the author reports three blasts on the diving alarm following the word being passed on a routine surfacing on a SSN-637 in 1971 to head to the barn in NLON.  At that exact time I was serving on the 2nd of 3 consecutive SSN-637s out of NLON all in the same Squadron as the boat in the book, if not on the boat in the book.  We did not at that time on that Class sound the Diving Alarm at all when doing a routine surfacing - only in an Emergency. When I posted, I knew that it was a mistake in the book I'm reading, but having seen the three blasts on routine surfaces in a few other books, I asked for recollections here. Still not sure who  did and who didn't as a matter of time or Class.

One additional action required in an Emergency Surface was that the EMBT Marotta Valves were to be monitored and possibly manually operated if directed - a dangerous proposition.




Edited by SaltiDawg - 30 Jan 2016 at 6:03pm

I have estimated doing over 1000 dives in my 5 years at sea 62-68. (this estimate uses research at the National Archives of the USS Carps deck logs) During a chat with the COB of the USS Maryland launching he said he had done maybe 300 dives in 21 years. I laughed and asked "if he had to take a refresher course before surfacing after a boomer patrol". He laughed and said "no but it was a close thing"

Doing that research would be relatively easy (if the deck logs were declassified, some years weren't). Just ask for the year you went aboard and the year you left and do the math.