I've been so fortunate to have the opportunity to experience things that few people can, and my latest embarkation on the USS Santa Fe--a Navy attack submarine--was quite a unique one. My blog today is a little general, but next week be watching for a story by Military reporter William Cole and photographer Richard Ambo (who got some great shots). I'll share some photos with you over the next few days to give you a glimpse of my day yesterday.

Honolulu Advertiser President & Publisher Lee Webber goes down the hatch.

Have you ever boarded a Navy submarine? Many people say that it's cramped and claustrophobic, but I thought they made efficient use of what little space they had to create as much comfort as possible. The evolution of flat screen monitors--which they have throughout the sub to monitor ocean activity at any time--is one part of that. I guess if I lived on a sub, I might think differently.

Deputy Commander for Training (Squadron 7) Douglas Perry, who reads my blog, briefing us in the board room on submarine life.

One thing I didn't realize about submariners is that the Navy selects the cream of the crop for this work. They're mostly technicians, each specializing in a complex area of technology and (for lack of a better word) surveillance. There is a stringent requirement process to get to work on a submarine, and a more rigorous process to get promoted. They're scientists, mechanics, and engineers.

We didn't get to see how they live, or as much as we saw on the USS Nimitz. Part of this is due to sheer physical size; the other part is the fact that so much of what submarines do is stealth operations, so obviously we can't give away the farm. It was still fascinating.

This was about as much as I was allowed to capture in the control room. They have two periscopes, fiber optically connected to the flat screens throughout the submarine. The guys operating it constantly walk in a circle as they observe the external surroundings and call out things they see (if necessary), and switch out every few minutes to keep from eyeball fatigue.

THIS was kind of neat--the sonar room. These guys listen for everything, and after years of training can tell you if the sound they hear is a cruise ship or the competitors sneezing two miles away. When you do a rapid descent, if you are going through a school of shrimp, it sounds like crackling bacon. As we went into deep water, we could hear whales singing, which was outrageously cool.

As we got into deeper water, they showed us how they dive and ascend quickly. Your ears don't pop like on an airplane, since the atmosphere and pressure is controlled. However, the submarine has to tilt to get moving quickly, so we were standing at extreme angles. Can you see blogger Nathan Kam leaning? We did this a few times.

Inside the torpedo room. It's impossible to get a good shot because of the close quarters; they even have beds for their staff to sleep in here. Can you imagine getting that rack assignment?

While in the control room, we also went through a simulated attack drill, where they shot a "water torpedo" at a target. It was pretty intense--the guys were lined up at different monitors, busy scribbling on dry erase charts and calling out coordinates and status reports. When they finally fired their torpedo, the sudden release of pressure caused our ears to pop a little. We later talked about the various ways they can release their weapons: vertically, horizontally, even land missiles. Technology has advanced so far that you can now fire a missile at a target, and if he moves location while the missile is still traveling, they can program it to change direction.

Commanding Officer David Adams oversees about 130 personnel, sometimes as much as 170, on the USS Santa Fe.

We also got to sit with Commanding Officer David Adams to talk about submarine operations. He was telling us about how they have about 150 people on board when deployed, but only 120 racks (beds) so the staff has to double up and sleep in shifts. Beds that are assigned to two people are called "hot racks"--I guess because the bed doesn't get a chance to get cold due to the sleep shifts. They work in 18 hour increments, mostly because they only have enough personnel for three shifts. So you might work six hours, and during the next 12 do things like maintenance, studying, sleeping, or eating.

I could see where work on a submarine is probably pretty intense, but not for the living quarters. They said that if you work on a sub, there's no room for procrastination because the pace is quick and there is constantly work to do. Most of the guys that I observed were pretty focused (or "chop chop," as my friends would say) and super task-oriented. As they got higher up the ranks, you could see the demeanor relaxed a little more, but for the most part all of the submariners are always concentrating on the target of the day--whether it's the competition, upgrades to the ship, learning a new task, or showing civilians their operations--and thinking of how to do it in the most efficient way possible.

Climbing up & down around the submarine is very tight and very vertical! You need good upper body strength, IMHO, do to this long-term.


Nathan Kam, Ron from the Navy, me, and Burt Lum. Nathan and Burt did NOT get to throw me overboard as they had planned!

Tomorrow: More cool things we saw on the USS Santa Fe. You can see Nathan's pictures here and Burt's pictures here.