I would like to honor fellow Submariners

I am just learning about this horrible tragedy yes it was a while ago, but it brings back memories. I would like to honor some fellow shipmates and hope that you dear readers will do the same. I was aboard the USS Minneapolis St Paul from 1992 to 1996. And it was just brought to my attention that 2 sailors, correction, Submariners drowned while leaving port earlier this year from that same ship.

The hazards topside are stressed every time you leave and arrive a port.  The simplest slip can result in going overboard and utlimately your death.  I never saw a man go over during my time but heard my share of stories.  The danger increases tremendously when the seas are rough. which is apparently what happened here.  A Submarine is round and the phrase “tin can” is more true than some people realize.  In rough seas a sub gets tossed back and forth much more easily than a target (surface ship) does.  A sea state 4 while not that rough to a surface ship can caue 15 degree rolls on a sub. 

Submariners are a tight nit group of people that in time of need only have each other to save them.  It is said that on a ship (submarine) if a fire burns for more than a 90 seconds the chances of survival are diminished greatly, I can tell you you have never seen panic in a man’s eyes like you have when “FIRE” is yelled on a submarine, the next closest state of panic I can envision is when you hear “Man Overboard”.  Ugh, I feel saddened for the crew and the submariners families. 

One of the most sobering things I learned while at sea is that depending on the mission if a crew member dies aboard, they don’t bury him at sea…they put him in the freezer right next to the frozen food.  The life of a submariner is nothing like people can ever imagine.  Movies rarely do it justice. 

The crew is a family and there is nothing easy mentally or physically about being a submariner.  I did the job that these 2 guys died doing, in fact there was very little I didn’t do aboard the St. Paul.  You never think people can die doing the job you do, but it happens, it happened and it will happen again.    Please take a minute with me to remember these two men, that died for their country…

God Speed.