Submarine games

November 29, 2017, 05:08 PM

olfuzzy

Submarine games

I didn’t want to derail the Argentina Sub thread but since so many are following it I thought you might find this interesting.

I guess you could call it Bumper Boats or Submarine Tag but it’s the game that we played during the cold war and is most likely still going on today. It’s the underwater equivalent of Soviet fighters buzzing our surveillance planes and some of the consequences.

They do seem to have left a few off the list though.

https://everything2.com/title/Submarine+Collisions

November 29, 2017, 05:17 PM

ScorpionBoy

That is interesting, thanks. My dad was on one of those boats. He was in 62-66 if I recall.

he was on
USS Barbel SS 580
USS Bonefish SS 582
USS Menhaden SS 377
USS Sabalo SS 302 EM3(SS) Jul65-Jul66
USS Grayback SSG 574

November 29, 2017, 05:39 PM

Rinehart

ScorpionBoy, please give your dad my regards. He was an genuine old school bubblehead.

I was on Bonefish (SS582) 76 to 79 (qualified in submarines on Bonefish) and had a few ops on Barbel and Grayback. In those days most all of the diesel boats (except for Grayback) were in Pearl Harbor.
Many of the DBF (Diesel Boats Forever) crowd switched between Blueback, Bonefish and Barbel to stay in the diesel group up until they decommissioned the pigboats.
When we did a homeport change to San Diego/Point Loma the admiral told us we could not wear any DBF belt buckles/pins/shirts/etc any longer as "It was the new Navy..."

Grayback was a interesting sub and did some very unique special ops for the day.

I still think it's funny when boomer submarine friends ask me where we had the washers and dryers on the diesel fast attacks...
...There were none- and no exercise or "entertainment" rooms either...
You were allotted one shower a week, as well. On the 580 class the fresh water stills could only generate around 1000 gallons of FW per day.
(You could take all of the salt water showers in the engine room you wanted, however).

November 29, 2017, 05:41 PM

Fenris

When two titans bump in the night.

November 29, 2017, 05:42 PM

olfuzzy

quote:
Originally posted by ScorpionBoy:
That is interesting, thanks. My dad was on one of those boats. He was in 62-66 if I recall.

he was on
USS Barbel SS 580
USS Bonefish SS 582
USS Menhaden SS 377
USS Sabalo SS 302 EM3(SS) Jul65-Jul66
USS Grayback SSG 574

I was on the Sabalo 63-64

November 29, 2017, 05:46 PM

ScorpionBoy

quote:
Grayback was a very interesting sub and did some very unique special ops for the day.

Was this the boat the put the missile pod thingy on the bow?

oldfuzzy, you two might have crossed paths!

November 29, 2017, 05:48 PM

DrDan

IIRC, Blind Man's Bluff described some of the sub games that were/are played. Harrowing accounts.

November 29, 2017, 05:48 PM

Rinehart

yes, Grayback was the first to carry the Regulus II sea-to-surface missile thingy.

Your dad would have had some memorable Westpacs...

November 29, 2017, 05:53 PM

Rinehart

olfuzzy, ah, yes... you bring back memories.

I remember staying awake for four days+ as we tracked a Russian sub that had a engineering issue near Japan. After the second day the XO would let us (those doing sonar, ESM, and fire control tracking team) take a 15 minute break every so many hours. I would lean against the fathometer in the control room (which was in standby and warm) and nap for those 15 minutes. Amazing how when you are sleep deprived even a little time can make a difference.

Did I mention Westpacs?

November 29, 2017, 06:00 PM

ScorpionBoy

quote:
Originally posted by Rinehart:
yes, Grayback was the first to carry the Regulus II sea-to-surface missile thingy.

Your dad would have had some memorable Westpacs...

he has told some sea tales for sure. he claims a crazy captain drove the boat up the danang river. I thought that was just a yarn until we went rafting with a guy who was a VN era SEAL and they were talking about dropping of SEALs in all sorts of places with the subs. Still not sure what all to believe, he is like the dad in the 'Real Big Fish' movie if you have ever seen that.

November 29, 2017, 06:04 PM

BigCity

Does anyone know which boats had "spooks" on them to listen in on the Soviets?

November 29, 2017, 06:13 PM

olfuzzy

quote:
Originally posted by BigCity:
Does anyone know which boats had "spooks" on them to listen in on the Soviets?

November 29, 2017, 06:29 PM

sgalczyn

I found this incident ironic:
March 20, 1993: USS Grayling
Grayling (SSN-646) collided with a Russian Delta III missile sub in the Barents Sea. No one was hurt but President Clinton was furious that the navy was still taking such risks.

Bill so upset when cigar tubes are found in places they're not supposed to be...............

November 29, 2017, 07:24 PM

goose5

quote:
Originally posted by Rinehart:
ScorpionBoy, please give your dad my regards. He was an genuine old school bubblehead.

I was on Bonefish (SS582) 76 to 79 (qualified in submarines on Bonefish) and had a few ops on Barbel and Grayback. In those days most all of the diesel boats (except for Grayback) were in Pearl Harbor.

Many of the DBF (Diesel Boats Forever) crowd switched between Blueback, Bonefish and Barbel to stay in the diesel group up until they decommissioned the pigboats.
When we did a homeport change to San Diego/Point Loma the admiral told us we could not wear any DBF belt buckles/pins/shirts/etc any longer as "It was the new Navy..."

Grayback was a interesting sub and did some very unique special ops for the day.

I still think it's funny when boomer submarine friends ask me where we had the washers and dryers on the diesel fast attacks...
...There were none- and no exercise or "entertainment" rooms either...
You were allotted one shower a week, as well. On the 580 class the fresh water stills could only generate around 1000 gallons of FW per day.
(You could take all of the salt water showers in the engine room you wanted, however).

My brother served on the George C. Marshall during the same time.

November 29, 2017, 07:36 PM

SpinZone

quote:
Originally posted by DrDan:
IIRC, Blind Man's Bluff described some of the sub games that were/are played. Harrowing accounts.

A great read. What the old school Navy did was incredible. Thunder Below is another good read.

IIRC, there was an outcry about Blind Man's Bluff from other submariners about writing the book. They took the whole silent service Thing very seriously.

“We truly live in a wondrous age of stupid.” - 83v45magna

"I think it's important that people understand free speech doesn't mean free from consequences societally or politically or culturally."
-Pranjit Kalita, founder and CIO of Birkoa Capital Management

November 29, 2017, 07:56 PM

Hound Dog

quote:
Originally posted by BigCity:
Does anyone know which boats had "spooks" on them to listen in on the Soviets?

Halibut and Parche were the 'dedicated' spook boats, from what I've heard. I suppose you can google those for more info.

If you already haven't read Blind Man's Bluff, it's pretty much required reading on Cold War sub ops.

I've never been a submariner (for some irrational reason, the USAF never invested in subs), but I have always wanted to. Some really cool stories out there. . .

November 29, 2017, 08:04 PM

V-Tail

quote:
Originally posted by Rinehart:
yes, Grayback was the first to carry the Regulus II sea-to-surface missile thingy.

Your dad would have had some memorable Westpacs...

My Navy time was 1956 to 1960, USN, plus two more years USNR.

I was a missile systems techie, Regulus I (the "real" Regulus!). I never had submarine duty while I was regular Navy, but I did some of my reserve time with a reserve sub outfit in Brooklyn NY. My two-week summer "cruise" was at school in New London. First in my class academically, but flunked out when the doc told me to take my glasses off and read the chart on the wall.

November 29, 2017, 08:57 PM

Rinehart

V-Tail, now that is interesting... I never met anyone who worked on those systems before.

BigCity, ALL submarines listened to the Soviets. (Further than that I cannot confirm or deny).

Regarding special ops-
I can tell you that diesel fast attacks (or any submersible design for that matter) would rely on a system for any sea chests (water intakes for various things, not necessarily a thing for all subs, shall we say) being designed as well as the keel for potential grounding on the bottom. In case you needed to stay near a coastline, for example.

Many of the WWII fleet boats went so far inland and near shores for ops that they frequently touched bottom. Nuclear boats have been known to prefer deeper water as you can be detected quickly in shallow areas.

Theorically, if you wanted to send some.. say, tourists ashore you might want to get as close as possible to make their journey a quick and undetected one.