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What's the history and background behind AAA?

Hi there,I've pulled together my answer based on what I know about AAA History and what our internal company historian has compiled. The American Automobile Association is a national federation made up of 69 individual regional motor clubs. I work for the Northern California, Nevada & Utah club (or, as we refer to ourselves, "AAA NCNU").1902: Nine motor clubs met in Chicago to form the American Automobile Association. Today, AAA is a federation of more than 50 affiliated clubs with some 1,100 offices in the United States and Canada serving more than 51 million members.1903: AAA began campaigning on motorists’ behalf for safer roadways by supporting federal legislation to establish the U.S. Department of Transportation.1905: The first AAA map was produced and depicted roads on Staten Island, N.Y. Today, AAA annually distributes about 90 million print maps and 17 million TripTik customized routings that include key travel information, such as road construction and mileage estimates.1914: AAA erected 4,000 road signs between Los Angeles and Kansas City to guide drivers and replace compasses and landmarks, such as fence posts and barns.1915: AAA’s “Men on Motorcycles” provided the first emergency road service. Today, AAA operates a network of 13,500 contract towing facilities that respond to more than 30 million roadside assistance calls per year.1917: AAA issued its first hotel directory.1920: AAA's School Safety Patrol program was created in Chicago. Today, the program sponsors about 500,000 patrols in close to 50,000 schools every year.1926: AAA released the first three editions of its TourBook guide. Today, AAA annually publishes over 22 million TourBook guides and more than 160 million copies of travel-related materials. They've become one of the largest travel publishers in the world.1930: AAA published the first Digest of Motor Vehicle Laws, outlining motoring laws in all 50 states and Washington D.C.1934: The first high school driver-education course was taught at State College High School in Pennsylvania by Amos Neyhart, the father of driver education and AAA consultant.1941: AAA established the “Keep ‘em Rolling Campaign,” a program designed to help motorists maintain their vehicles. Today, certified technicians provide repair services and offer members maintenance inspections at more than 7,000 AAA Approved Auto Repair facilities across the country.1945: AAA used two-way radios for Emergency Road Service dispatches. Within five years, 185 trucks handled more than one million calls. Today, AAA uses wireless location technology guided by global positioning system, or GPS, to summon roadside assistance.1948: AAA Travel Agency Services offered the first escorted tours.1952: The U.S. State Department authorized AAA to issue international driving permits to members and the public.1956: In 1956, the Federal-aid Highway Act passed, creating the interstate highway system.1965: “Teaching Driver and Traffic Safety Education,” was published by AAA as a textbook for college students.1967: AAA Life Insurance Co. was founded. Today, they also offer auto, home, life, health, specialty and other insurance products.1973: AAA produced its first Fuel Gauge Report.1979: The AAA Diamond rating system for hotel accommodations was adopted.1993: AAA launched the Show Your Card & Save® program.1997: AAA launched AAA.com, the official AAA Web site.2006: AAA particpated in the NASCAR racing series as the primary sponsor the No. 6 AAA Ford Fusion race car.2007: There were 50 million AAA members in North America. Launched AAA Mobile, their first mobile app to get directions, view a map, locate AAA TourBook points of interest and request roadside assistance.2009: AAA expands its wireless roadside assistance applications to the Apple iPhone.

Were the 50 destroyers given to Britain by the US in the 1940 bases agreement really old surplus being dumped?

Britain had purchased US small arms in the summer of 1940, but needed an alternative to cash transactions. The Roosevelt administration came up with the straight trade concept, and in September 1940, Roosevelt signed the Destroyers-for-bases Agreement.This gave 50 US naval destroyers - generally referred to as the 1,200-ton type - to Britain in exchange for the use of naval and air bases in eight British possessions: on the Avalon Peninsula, the coast of Newfoundland and on the Great Bay of Bermuda.During negotiations, US access to bases was extended to include several locations in the Caribbean. A letter from the US Secretary of State to the British Ambassador, dated 2 September 1940, stated:'His Majesty's Government will make available to the United States… naval and air bases and facilities for entrance thereto and the operation and protection thereof, on the eastern side of the Bahamas, the southern coast of Jamaica, the western coast of St Lucia, the west coast of Trinidad in the Gulf of Paria, in the island of Antigua and in British Guiana within 50 miles of Georgetown...'The agreement had been negotiated in correspondence between the US Secretary of State, Cordell Hull, and the British Ambassador in America. The lease was guaranteed for the duration of 99 years 'free from all rent and charges other than such compensation to be mutually agreed on to be paid by the United States'.Britain had fended off the threat of German invasion in the Battle of Britain and America appreciated that the country was willing and able to fight alone - but Churchill understood that an alliance with the US was essential if Britain was to continue the war effort.BBC - WW2 People's War - TimelineWWIITrade of 50 American Destroyers for British Bases in World War IIDuring World War II, the controversial destroyers-for-bases deal helped save the British from Nazi domination.by William H. LangenbergIn early September 1940, the world was in turmoil. The battle of Britain was nearing its climax, and elsewhere global tensions ran high. Election year strife was just beginning to augment the furor of clashes between isolationists and interventionists in the United States.The many plots to assassinate the madman responsible for the death of millions... Get your copy of Warfare History Network’s FREE Special Report, Killing Adolf HitlerThis world stage provided a fitting backdrop for the transmission of the following message to Congress by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on September 3: “I transmit herewith for the information of the Congress notes exchanged between the British Ambassador at Washington and the Secretary of State on September 2, 1940, under which this Government has acquired the right to lease naval and air bases in Newfoundland, and in the islands of Bermuda, the Bahamas, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Trinidad, and Antigua, and in British Guiana; also a copy of an opinion of the Attorney General dated August 27, 1940, regarding my authority to consummate this arrangement.“The right to bases in Newfoundland and Bermuda are gifts—generously given and gladly received. The other bases mentioned have been acquired in exchange for fifty of our old destroyers.”President Roosevelt’s Message Stirs Up ControversyThis unilateral action by the president created a heated controversy. Its legality and neutrality were openly questioned, and the sub rosa nature of the associated negotiations was severely criticized. However, as dramatic events in Europe and activities of a national election began to dominate newspaper space, the controversy gradually subsided.President Roosevelt’s trade of 50 American destroyers for British air and naval bases has frequently been described in academic articles, popular periodicals, and books. Often the complex, secret negotiations leading to the exchange have been the principal focus of attention. The consummation of the trade via presidential executive agreement rather than congressional action remains controversial to this day. And the transfer of war materiel to a belligerent nation by a neutral country is still categorized by critics as an act of war.From the time of the defeat of Poland in 1939 until April of the following year, the European conflict was in a state of relative inactivity. On April 9, 1940, however, this temporary stalemate ended. Germany launched a blitzkrieg attack on Norway and Denmark that astounded the world with its startling success. One month later, on May 10, the invasions of Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, and France began. On the day the Germans marched into the Low Countries, Neville Chamberlain resigned as Great Britain’s prime minister. He was succeeded by Winston Churchill, who immediately formed a new coalition cabinet and prepared to lead his nation through its gravest crisis.Dutch Army Surrenders, Nazis Advance WestwardMeanwhile, the Nazi offensive made rapid advances. On May 14, the Dutch Army surrendered, and the German assault turned westward toward the classic battlefields of northern France. Armored columns broke through north of the Somme River to the English Channel. From there they proceeded northeastward to the Channel ports—within sight of Britain itself.In just 11 days the Germans had accomplished what they had failed to do in four years of bitter fighting during World War I. This was a brilliantly executed military campaign, creating panic and demoralization among Allied forces. On May 28, King Leopold of Belgium surrendered. The French commander in chief, General Maxime Weygand, attempted to form a line of defense at the Somme, but this tactic was unsuccessful.On June 4, the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was evacuated from Dunkirk, and the Germans then turned south toward Paris. The French armed forces could not stem the Nazi onslaught. Paris fell on June 14, and three days later the French government sued for an armistice. Britain now stood alone in opposition to the Nazi enemy.Given this historical background, how important were the 50 American destroyers to the British cause? The ships involved in the exchange were all Clemson-class destroyers built circa 1917-1922. Both the U.S. and the British Royal navies had begun preparations for their transfer in mid-August 1940. The destroyers were rehabilitated, provisioned, and sent to the transfer port at Halifax, Nova Scotia. Royal Navy crews to man the ships sailed for that port from England.Exemplifying the alacrity of these proceedings, the first six ships to be transferred sailed for England manned by British crews on September 6, only three days after President Roosevelt announced the trade, and 40 of the 50 vessels arrived there before the end of 1940.The transfer of the American destroyers came at a propitious time for Britain. Royal Navy destroyer losses had been severe during the Norwegian campaign and the subsequent evacuation of the BEF from Dunkirk, with scant chance of their replacements joining the Royal Navy until mid-1941. Even more serious, the Battle of Britain raged in full swing during September 1940, with the outcome still undecided.Looming Threats for the BritishPerhaps most ominous for Britain was the ongoing threat posed by the U-boat menace to Britain’s lifeline of transatlantic shipping. The possibility of an all-out German cross-channel invasion was also very real. These looming threats required constant destroyer patrols in the English Channel.The 50 U.S. destroyers transferred to Britain were commissioned as Town-class destroyers in the Royal Navy. Forty-four were manned by Royal Navy crews, while six were crewed by the Royal Canadian Navy. All Royal Navy vessels initially steamed to Britain, where they were refitted to rectify defects, standardized with British equipment, and fitted with Royal Navy antisubmarine detection and weapons systems. This process required several months, thus the majority of Town-class ships did not become operational until early 1941. After refit, the Royal Navy destroyers were assigned to East coast escort duties, participation in the northern mine barrage, and North Atlantic convoy operations. Ships assigned to the Royal Canadian Navy principally engaged in convoy escort activities in the western Atlantic.Most of the destroyers remained on frontline service until late 1943, when they were gradually replaced by more modern warships. As a group, the Town-class destroyers performed yeoman, sometimes spectacular, service. For example, between 1941 and 1943 Town-class ships participated in the sinking of 10 German U-boats and one Italian submarine while on patrol or as convoy escorts. One also unfortunately sank a Polish-manned Allied submarine that had wandered out of her assigned patrol area.At least two specific actions by Town-class ships are worthy of special note. HMS Broadway, while serving on mid-Atlantic convoy-escort duties during May 1941, participated in one of the most important events of the war. On May 9, Broadway and other escorts of convoy OB318 depth-charged the German submarine U-110 to the surface, where the boat was abandoned by her crew.Royal Navy Strips U-110 of Its Top-Secret DeviceRoyal Navy personnel boarded the crippled U-110, temporarily stemmed flooding that endangered its staying afloat, and removed intact the submarine’s top-secret Enigma machine, which was used to decipher coded messages. U-110 later sank while under tow toward Iceland, and the captured German crewmen were unaware that their boat had been boarded and stripped of its secret device.Thus, the German High Command had no knowledge of this event, which aided efforts to decipher the Enigma code and led to the gathering of vital intelligence known to the Allies as Ultra. HMS Broadwayreceived serious hull damage from one of U-110’s hydroplanes during this action, requiring two months of repairs in Britain. Thereafter, she continued convoy escort duties in the Atlantic with no further successes against submarines for nearly two years. On May 14, 1943, however, Broadway again achieved notoriety when she attacked and sank U-89. The destroyer remained active throughout the war.The most highly publicized and dramatic action by a Town-class destroyer was the destruction of the Normandie Lock at the French port of St. Nazaire on March 29, 1942, via a nearly suicidal mission led by HMS Campbeltown. The former USS Buchanan, Campbeltown was refitted in England, then served as a convoy escort until being declared expendable in January 1942. She was prepared at the Devonport dockyard for the St. Nazaire raid. Modified to resemble a German torpedo boat, the destroyer was loaded with explosives and rammed into the Normandie Lock on March 29, 1942. Hours later, the ship blew up, rendering the lock inoperable in the process.Not all of the 50 Town-class destroyers proved to be as effective as Broadway and Campbeltown. For example, HMS Cameron was being refitted in drydock at Portsmouth during December 1940 when she was blown off her blocks by a German bombing attack. Although the ship was subsequently salvaged, she was never recommissioned and was scrapped in December 1944. HMCS Columbia suffered an even more ignominious fate. After serving mostly as an convoy escort in Canadian waters, Columbia somehow steamed into a rock cliff at Moreton Bay in Newfoundland on February 25, 1944, crushing her bow. Towed to St. John’s, she lay as a bowless hulk until scrapped in August 1945.“50 Ships That Saved the World”?While some historians have asserted that these destroyers were “50 ships that saved the world,” that seems to be unwarranted hyperbole. The Town-class vessels as a whole were not refitted and ready for combat until early 1941. By that time, the Battle of Britain had been won and the German invasion threat toward England abandoned, while Hitler devoted his army’s attention to the invasion of the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, German U-boats continued to threaten crucial supplies reaching Britain by sea, and the Town-class vessels provided great service in antisubmarine operations throughout the war.The 1940 trade of the 50 U.S. destroyers for six British naval and air bases also had lasting political effects. It set a new precedent for bold executive actions by U.S. presidents, and thus remains controversial to this day. And it pioneered the acquisition by a neutral country of property rights in a belligerent nation’s territory. In the long run, perhaps the latter two geopolitical issues should be perceived as even more important than the strategic and tactical impact of the 50 Town-class destroyers upon the outcome of World War II.Trade of 50 American Destroyers for British Bases in World War IIDestroyers For Bases Agreement, September 2, 1940“In May of 1940 the public, the editors, the officials of the United States were thrown into utmost confusion by developments in Europe. Hitler had overrun quickly most of Western Europe. He had demonstrated furious and unanticipated striking power. The other countries had demonstrated weakness that was unexpected and unaccountable. Men lost their confidence in everything from seeing the nations of Europe go down so fast before Hitler’s armies.”– The Reminiscences of Robert H. Jackson. Harlan B. Phillips ed.,1955. Columbia University, Oral History Research Office. pg. 881Winston Churchill had recently assumed the premiership of Great Britain when, on May 15, 1940, he sought assistance from the United States. Churchill’s May 15 cable to President Roosevelt described the dire situation that England was in.“The scene has darkened swiftly. The enemy have a marked preponderance in the air, and their new technique is making a deep impression upon the French. I think myself the battle on land has only just begun…The small countries are simply smashed up, one by one, like matchwood. We must expect, though it is not yet certain, that Mussolini will hurry in to share the loot of civilization. We expect to be attacked here ourselves, both from the air and by parachute and air borne troops in the near future, and are getting ready from them. If necessary, we shall continue the war alone and we are not afraid of that. But I trust you realize, Mr. President, that the voice and force of the United States may count for nothing if they are withheld too long. You may have completely subjugated, Nazified Europe established with astonishing swiftness, and the weight may be more than we can bear.”Churchill, Winston, and Warren F. Kimball. Churchill and Roosevelt – the Complete Correspondence. First ed. Vol. 1. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Pr., 1984. 37-38.Churchill asked the United States for the loan of “forty or fifty of your older destroyers,” and warned that without them Britain would be unable to fight the “Battle of the Atlantic” against Germany and Italy. The defeat of Britain would be a catastrophe for the United States, leaving it at risk for war on two fronts.What followed was three-and-a-half months of negotiations. There were significant issues to sort out. President Roosevelt’s initial response was not what Churchill hoped for. Roosevelt responded, “a step of that kind could not be taken except with the specific authorization of Congress and I am not certain that it would be wise for that suggestion to be made to the Congress at this moment.”WINSTON CHURCHILL WEARS A STEEL HELMET DURING HIS VISIT TO DOVER AND RAMSGATE AIR RAID DAMAGED AREA, JULY 1940CREDIT: ASSOCIATED PRESS. “CHURCHILL DONS HELMET.” PHOTOGRAPH. NEW YORK: WORLD-TELEGRAM AND THE SUN NEWSPAPER PHOTOGRAPH COLLECTION C1940. FROM LIBRARY OF CONGRESS: CHURCHILL AND THE GREAT REPUBLIC. http://HTTP://WWW.LOC.GOV/ITEM/2004666450/ (ACCESSED SEPTEMBER 2, 2015).Throughout the rest of May, and into June, Churchill continued to reach out to the United States for assistance. On July 3, 1940, the British Navy bombed the French Navy at its base in northwestern Algeria. Jackson writes about this event in That Man: An Insider Portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Pg 85.“The specter of overwhelming German naval power, added to her seemingly irresistible air and land forces, deeply troubled the President. If the Germans should capture the French fleet, it – with Germany’s own and that of Italy, and with probable cooperation from Japan – would leave the United States to face alone a most formidable naval and air power. But in the early days of July, Britain, defying what seemed to be forces as inexorable as fate and risking alienation of the French people, boldly attacked and largely disabled the French fleet so that it could no longer be of substantial service to Hitler. Britain won not only our admiration for her courage and audacity but our gratitude as well.”During the month of August, discussions between Britain and the United States shifted from a loan or sale of the destroyers to an exchange of the destroyers for bases on British territories in the North Atlantic and the Caribbean. Jackson discussed in length the “Destroyer-Bases Exchange” in the oral history he gave to Harlan B. Phillips from Columbia University in 1952-1953. Below is a quote from pages 892-893.“On the 13th of August, Stimson recites that he, with Knox, Sumner Welles and Henry Morgenthau, met with the President and formulated a proposed agreement — that is, outlined the essential points of an agreement. Sometime before that the President had discussed with me the legal situation as to whether he had authority to make a disposition of these destroyers without further authorization from Congress. On the 15th of August, I had advised him that we, in the Department of Justice, definitely believed that we did have authority to act without the consent of Congress.”ROOSEVELT HOLDS DESTROYER CONFERENCE, AUGUST 22, 1940 - LEFT TO RIGHT, ATTORNEY GENERAL ROBERT H. JACKSON, SECRETARY OF WAR HENRY STIMSON, ACTING SECRETARY OF STATE SUMNER WELLES, AND SECRETARY OF THE NAVY FRANK KNOX.CREDIT: THE ROBERT H. JACKSON CENTER, INTERNATIONAL NEWS PHOTO COLLECTIONJackson states in his Oral History that, “the opinion contained a simple, statutory interpretation, which if it hadn’t been in the context of war, would not have been even a very important one. It approved the transfer of the destroyers, because they fell in the classification of obsolescent materials, provided the naval and military authorities certified that they were not needful for the defense of the United States. The opinion refused to approve the transfer of the mosquito boats, since they fell in a different classification, and it made no discussion of international law aspects of the transaction.”The opinion resolved that:“Accordingly, you are respectfully advised:(a) That the proposed arrangement may be concluded as an executive agreement, effective without awaiting ratification.(b) That there is Presidential power to transfer title and possession of the proposed considerations upon certification by appropriate staff officers.(c) That the dispatch of the so-called “mosquito boats” would constitute a violation of the statute law of the United States, but with that exception there is no legal obstacle to the consummation of the transaction, in accordance, of course, with the applicable provisions of the Neutrality Act as to delivery.”Opinion on Exchange of Over-Age Destroyers for Naval and Air Bases, Office of the Attorney General, Washington D.C., August 27, 1940Jackson’s opinion did not deal with aspects of international law. Later, he would write about his views on international law and the right of neutral countries to extend aid to countries at war in a speech he was scheduled to make at the Inter-America Bar Association in Havana Cuba, March 27, 1941. He was prevented from giving this speech due to a violent storm. The Honorable George S. Messersmith, American Ambassador to Cuba, delivered the speech in his absence.“Present aggressive wars are civil wars against the international community. Accordingly, as responsible members of that community, we can treat victims of aggression in the same way we treat legitimate governments when there is civil strife and a state of insurgency – that is to say, we are permitted to give to defending governments all the aid we choose.”On September 2, 1940, President Roosevelt signed the Destroyers for Bases Agreement. Today, 75 years later, we remember the significant events that happened during the summer of 1940. September 2, 1945, Japan formally surrenders to the Allies, bringing an end to World War II. A few months later, on November 21, 1945, Robert H. Jackson steps to the podium in the Palace of Justice in Germany to give his powerful Opening Statement before the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg.ROYAL NAVY AND U.S. NAVY SAILORS INSPECT DEPTH CHARGES ABOARD WICKES-CLASS DESTROYERS, IN 1940. IN THE BACKGROUND ARE USS BUCHANAN (DD-131), AND USS CROWNINSHIELD (DD-134). ON 9 SEPTEMBER 1940 BOTH WERE TRANSFERRED TO THE ROYAL NAVY. BUCHANAN BECAME HMS CAMPBELTOWN (I42), WHICH WAS EXPENDED AS A DEMOLITION SHIP DURING ST. NAZAIRE RAID ON 29 MARCH 1942. CROWNINSHIELD BECAME HMS CHELSEA (I35) WHICH WAS TRANSFERRED TO RUSSIA ON 16 JULY 1944 AND RENAMED DERZKIY. SHE WAS FINALLY RETURNED TO THE UK FOR SCRAPPING ON 23 JUNE 1949.CREDIT: UNITED STATES OFFICE OF WAR INFORMATION. OVERSEAS PICTURE DIVISION, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.Destroyers For Bases Agreement, September 2, 1940 - Robert H Jackson CenterLend-Lease and Military Aid to the Allies in the Early Years of World War IIDuring World War II, the United States began to provide significant military supplies and other assistance to the Allies in September 1940, even though the United States did not enter the war until December 1941. Much of this aid flowed to the United Kingdom and other nations already at war with Germany and Japan through an innovative program known as Lend-Lease.FDR Signing the Lend-Lease BillWhen war broke out in Europe in September 1939, President Franklin D. Rooseveltdeclared that while the United States would remain neutral in law, he could “not ask that every American remain neutral in thought as well.” Roosevelt himself made significant efforts to help nations engaged in the struggle against Nazi Germany and wanted to extend a helping hand to those countries that lacked the supplies necessary to fight against the Germans. The United Kingdom, in particular, desperately needed help, as it was short of hard currency to pay for the military goods, food, and raw materials it needed from the United States.Though President Roosevelt wanted to provide assistance to the British, both American law and public fears that the United States would be drawn into the conflict blocked his plans. The Neutrality Act of 1939 allowed belligerents to purchase war materiel from the United States, but only on a “cash and carry” basis. The Johnson Act of 1934 also prohibited the extension of credit to countries that had not repaid U.S. loans made to them during World War I—which included Great Britain. The American military opposed the diversion of military supplies to the United Kingdom. The Army’s Chief of Staff, General George C. Marshall, anticipated that Britain would surrender following the collapse of France, and thus American supplies sent to the British would fall into German hands. Marshall and others therefore argued that U.S. national security would be better served by reserving military supplies for the defense of the Western Hemisphere. American public opinion also limited Roosevelt’s options. Many Americans opposed involving the United States in another war. Even though American public opinion generally supported the British rather than the Germans, President Roosevelt had to develop an initiative that was consistent with the legal prohibition against the granting of credit, satisfactory to military leadership, and acceptable to an American public that generally resisted involving the United States in the European conflict.British Prime Minister Winston ChurchillOn September 2, 1940, President Roosevelt signed a “Destroyers for Bases” agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, the United States gave the British more than 50 obsolete destroyers, in exchange for 99-year leases to territory in Newfoundland and the Caribbean, which would be used as U.S. air and naval bases. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had originally requested that Roosevelt provide the destroyers as a gift, but the President knew that the American public and Congress would oppose such a deal. He therefore decided that a deal that gave the United States long-term access to British bases could be justified as essential to the security of the Western Hemisphere—thereby assuaging the concerns of the public and the U.S. militaryIn December 1940, Churchill warned Roosevelt that the British were no longer able to pay for supplies. On December 17, President Roosevelt proposed a new initiative that would be known as Lend-Lease. The United States would provide Great Britain with the supplies it needed to fight Germany, but would not insist upon being paid immediatelyInstead, the United States would “lend” the supplies to the British, deferring payment. When payment eventually did take place, the emphasis would not be on payment in dollars. The tensions and instability engendered by inter-allied war debts in the 1920s and 1930s had demonstrated that it was unreasonable to expect that virtually bankrupt European nations would be able to pay for every item they had purchased from the United States. Instead, payment would primarily take the form of a “consideration” granted by Britain to the United States. After many months of negotiation, the United States and Britain agreed, in Article VII of the Lend-Lease agreement they signed, that this consideration would primarily consist of joint action directed towards the creation of a liberalized international economic order in the postwar world.Lend-Lease MemorialThe United Kingdom was not the only nation to strike such a deal with the United States. Over the course of the war, the United States contracted Lend-Lease agreements with more than 30 countries, dispensing some $50 billion in assistance. Although British Prime Minister Winston Churchill later referred to the initiative as “the most unsordid act” one nation had ever done for another, Roosevelt’s primary motivation was not altruism or disinterested generosity. Rather, Lend-Lease was designed to serve America’s interest in defeating Nazi Germany without entering the war until the American military and public was prepared to fight. At a time when the majority of Americans opposed direct participation in the war, Lend-Lease represented a vital U.S. contribution to the fight against Nazi Germany. Moreover, the joint action called for under Article VII of the Lend-Lease agreements signed by the United States and the recipient nations laid the foundation for the creation of a new international economic order in the postwar world.Milestones: 1937-1945The Town-class destroyers were a group of destroyers transferred from the United States Navy to the Royal Navy and the Royal Canadian Navy in exchange for military bases in the Bahamas and elsewhere, as outlined in the Destroyers for Bases Agreement between Britain and United States, signed on 2 September 1940. They were known as "four-pipers" or "four-stackers" because they had four smokestacks (funnels). Later classes of destroyers typically had one or two.Some went to the Royal Canadian Navy at the outset. Others went on to the Royal Norwegian Navy, the Royal Netherlands Navy, and the Soviet Navy after serving with the Royal Navy. Although given a set of names by the Commonwealth navies that suggested they were one class they actually came from three classes of destroyer: Caldwell, Wickes, and Clemson. "Town class" refers to the Admiralty's practice of renaming these ships after towns common to the United States and the British Commonwealth.[3]Ships initially commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy, however, followed the Canadian practice of giving destroyers the names of Canadian rivers. The rivers selected for the Town class were on the border between Canada and the United States, with the exception of the Nova Scotia river sharing the name of the United States Naval Academy location.[4]One of the Towns achieved lasting fame: HMS Campbeltown (ex-USS Buchanan). In the Commando raid Operation Chariot, Campbeltown, fitted with a large demolition charge, rammed the Normandie Lock at Saint-Nazaire, France. The charge detonated on 29 March 1942, breaching the drydock and destroying Campbeltown, thus destroying the only drydock on the Atlantic coast capable of accepting the German battleship Tirpitz. This exploit was depicted in the 1950 Trevor Howard film The Gift Horse, which starred HMS Leamington (ex-USS Twiggs) after her return from service in Russia.Contents1Characteristics2Ships by United States Navy class2.1Caldwell-class destroyers2.2Wickes-class destroyers2.3Clemson-class destroyers3Ships by World War II navy4Notes5References6External linksRoughly contemporaneous to the British V and W-class destroyers they were not much liked by their new crews. They were uncomfortable and wet, working badly in a seaway. Their hull lines were rather narrow and 'herring-gutted' which gave them a vicious roll. The officers didn't like the way they handled either, since they had been built with propellers that turned the same way (2-screw ships normally have the shafts turning in opposite directions as the direction of rotation has effects on the rudder and the whole ship when manoeuvring, especially when coming alongside), so these were as awkward to handle as single-screw ships. Their turning circle was enormous, as big as most Royal Navy battleships, making them difficult to use in a submarine hunt which demanded tight manoeuvres, compounded by unreliable "chain and cog" steering gear laid across the main deck. They also had fully enclosed bridges which caused problems with reflections in the glass at night. Despite their disadvantages they performed vital duties escorting convoys in the Atlantic at a time when the U-boats, operating from newly acquired bases on the Atlantic coast of France were becoming an increasingly serious threat to British shipping.[citation needed]However, one Royal Canadian Navy corvette captain described them as "the most dubious gift since the Trojan Horse".[5]The original armament was four 4-inch (102 mm) guns,[6]one 3-inch (76 mm) anti-aircraft gun, and twelve torpedo tubes.[7]On the Wickes class, the 4-inch gun placement was one gun in a shield on the forecastle, one on the quarterdeck and one each side on a platform between the number 2 and number 3 funnels. The Admiralty promptly removed one of the 4-inch guns and six torpedo tubes to improve stability.[8]Twenty-three of the class had further armament reductions for anti-submarine escort of trade convoys.[9]Two of the remaining 4-inch guns and three of the remaining torpedo tubes were removed to allow increased depth chargestowage and installation of Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar system.[9]USS Conner became HMS Leeds on 23 October 1940. She was scrapped on 19 January 1949.USS Conway became HMS Lewes on 23 October 1940. She outlived all of her sisters in British service and was stripped of valuable scrap and scuttled off Sydney, Australia on 25 May 1946.USS Stockton became HMS Ludlow on 23 October 1940; stripped and beached as a target for rocket firing aircraft off Fidra Island, United Kingdom.USS Aaron Ward became HMS Castleton on 9 September 1940. She was scrapped on 2 January 1948.USS Abbot became HMS Charlestown on 23 September 1940. She was scrapped on 3 December 1948.USS Buchanan became HMS Campbeltown on 9 September 1940. She was destroyed in Operation Chariot on 29 March 1942.USS Claxton became HMS Salisbury on 5 December 1940; she was employed as a special escort for specific convoys, including escorting Wasp during the supply of Spitfires to Malta. She was scrapped in the US in April 1945.USS Cowell became HMS Brighton on 23 Sep 1940; transferred to the Soviet Union as Zharki on 16 July 1944; returned to the Royal Navy on 4 March 1949. She was scrapped on 18 May 1949.USS Crowninshield became HMS Chelsea on 9 September 1940; transferred to the Soviet Union as Derzkiy on 16 July 1944; returned to the Royal Navy on 24 June 1949. She was scrapped on 27 July 1949.USS Doran became HMS St. Marys on 23 September 1940. She was scrapped in December 1945.USS Evans became HMS Mansfield on 23 October 1940; heavily involved in the critical convoy actions of March 1943 with convoy HX-229, landing survivors in the United Kingdom; sold on 24 October 1944 for scrapping.USS Fairfax became HMS Richmond on 26 November 1940; transferred to the Soviet Union as Zhivuchi on 16 June 1944; returned to the Royal Navy on 26 June 1949. She was scrapped on 29 June 1949.USS Foote became HMS Roxborough on 23 September 1940; while with convoy HX-222 Roxborough met with such heavy weather that the entire bridge structure was crushed, with eleven dead, including the Commanding Officer and 1st Lieutenant; the sole surviving executive officer managed to regain control of the ship, and under hand steering from aft, she made St. John's, Newfoundland; was transferred to the Soviet Union as Doblestnyi on 10 August 1944; returned to the Royal Navy on 7 February 1949. She was scrapped on 14 May 1949.USS Hale became HMS Caldwell on 9 September 1940. She was scrapped on 7 June 1945.USS Haraden became HMCS Columbia on 24 September 1940. She was scrapped on 7 August 1945.USS Hopewell became HMS Bath on 23 September 1940; while escorting convoy OG 71 between Liverpool and Gibraltar, Bath was torpedoed by U-204 on 19 August 1941 and sank rapidly.USS Kalk became HMCS Hamilton on 23 September 1940; lost while being towed to Boston for scrapping in 1945.USS MacKenzie became HMCS Annapolis on 29 September 1940; towed to Boston for scrapping on 22 June 1945.USS Maddox became HMS Georgetown on 23 September 1940; transferred to the Soviet Union as Zhostki in August 1944; returned to the Royal Navy on 9 September 1952. She was scrapped on 16 September 1952.USS Philip became HMS Lancaster on 23 October 1940. She was scrapped on 30 May 1947.USS Ringgold became HMS Newark on 5 December 1940; consigned for scrapping on 18 February 1947.USS Robinson became HMS Newmarket on 5 December 1940. She was scrapped on 21 September 1945.USS Sigourney became HMS Newport on 5 December 1940. She was scrapped on 18 February 1947.USS Thatcher became HMCS Niagara on 26 September 1940; on 28 August 1941 Niagara was involved in the capture of U-570, which had surrendered to an RAF Hudson the previous day. She was scrapped by the end of 1947.USS Thomas became HMS St. Albans on 23 September 1940; while with convoy SL 81, St Albans took part in the sinking of U-401 on 3 August 1941; encountered the Polish submarine Jastrzab, and in company with the minesweeper Seagull, attacked and sank it in early 1942; transferred to the Soviet Union as Dostoinyi on 16 July 1944; returned to the Royal Navy on 28 February 1949; towed for scrapping on 18 May 1949.USS Tillman became HMS Wells on 5 December 1940. She was scrapped February 1946.USS Twiggs became HMS Leamington on 23 October 1940; during the fighting around convoy SC 42 in the North Atlantic she shared in the sinking of U-207 on 11 September 1941; while covering convoy WS-17 in the UK approaches, sank U-587 on 27 March 1942; transferred to the Soviet Union as Zhguchi on 17 July 1944; returned on 15 November 1950; hired for the film The Gift Horse, the last Town-class destroyer at sea under her own power. She was scrapped on 3 December 1951.USS Wickes became HMS Montgomery on 25 October 1940; on convoy escort Montgomery rescued the survivors of Scottish Standard on 21 February 1941 and sank the Italian submarine Marcello the next day. She was scrapped on 10 April 1945.USS Williams became HMCS St. Clair on 29 September 1940. She was scrapped on 5 March 1946.USS Yarnall became HMS Lincoln on 23 October 1940; transferred to the Soviet Union as Druzhny on 26 August 1944; returned to the Royal Navy on 24 August 1952. She was scrapped on 3 September 1952.USS Abel P. Upshur became HMS Clare on 9 September 1940. She was scrapped on 18 February 1947.USS Aulick became HMS Burnham on 8 October 1940. She was scrapped on 2 December 1948.USS Bailey became HMS Reading on 26 November 1940. She was scrapped on 24 July 1945.USS Bancroft became HMCS St. Francis on 24 September 1940. She was wrecked while being towed for scrapping on 14 July 1945.USS Branch became HMS Beverley on 8 October 1940; she attacked and sank U-187 on 4 February 1942. Beverley was torpedoed by U-188 on 11 April 1943 and was sunk with the loss of all but four of the ship's company of 152.USS Edwards became HMS Buxton on 8 October 1940. She was scrapped on 21 March 1946.USS Herndon became HMS Churchill on 9 September 1940; transferred to the Soviet Union as Dyatelnyi on 30 May 1944; torpedoed and sunk by U-956 on 16 January 1945 while escorting a White Sea convoy; the last war loss of the class and the only one of the destroyers transferred to the Soviet Union to be lost.USS Hunt became HMS Broadway on 8 October 1940; while escorting convoy OB 318, Broadway took part in the attack on U-110 on 9 May 1941; abandoned by its crew, U-110 was boarded and taken in tow. Escorting convoy HX 237, Broadway located and sank U-89 in the North Atlantic on 14 May 1943; allocated for scrapping in March 1948.USS Laub became HMS Burwell on 8 October 1940; one of the ships involved in the recovery of U-570 after its surrender to an RAF aircraft; consigned for scrapping in March 1947.USS Mason became HMS Broadwater on 2 October 1940; escorting convoy SC 48 between St. John's, Newfoundland and Iceland, Broadwater was torpedoed by U-101 and sunk on 19 October 1941.USS McCalla became HMS Stanley on 23 October 1940; escorting convoy HG 76 from Gibraltar, Stanley and accompanying vessels sank U-131 on 17 December 1941 and U-434 on the following day; Stanley was sunk by U-574 on 19 December 1941 with the loss of all but 25 of her crew.USS McCook became HMCS St. Croix on 24 September 1940; escorting convoy ON 113 she attacked and sank U-90 on 27 July 1942; escorting convoy KMS-10, St Croix and HMCS Shediac sank U-87; while escorting the combined convoys ONS 18/ON 202, St Croix was twice torpedoed by U-305 and sunk on 20 September 1943; survivors were taken aboard the frigate HMS Itchen, which was sunk on 22 September with very heavy loss of life; only one of St Croix's crew of 147 survived.USS McLanahan became HMS Bradford on 8 October 1940; consigned for scrapping in August 1946.USS Meade became HMS Ramsey on 26 November 1940. She was scrapped July 1947.USS Rodgers became HMS Sherwood on 23 October 1940; stripped of usable parts, Sherwood was beached on 3 October 1943 as a target for RAF rocket-equipped Beaufighters.USS Satterlee became HMS Belmont on 8 October 1940; while escorting troop convoy NA-2 from St. John's, Newfoundland, Belmont was torpedoed by U-82 on 31 January 1942 and sank with the loss of her entire ship's company.USS Shubrick became HMS Ripley on 26 November 1940; consigned for scrapping on 10 March 1945.USS Swasey became HMS Rockingham on 26 November 1940; while returning to Aberdeen on 27 September 1944, poor navigation brought her into the defensive minefields off the east coast of the United Kingdom, and after striking a mine Rockingham was abandoned and sank with the loss of one life.USS Welborn C. Wood became HMS Chesterfield on 9 September 1940. She was scrapped on 3 December 1948.USS Welles became HMS Cameron on 9 September 1940; Cameron never reached operational service; hit and set on fire by an air raid in Portsmouth on 5 December 1940, she was considered by the U.S. Navy as the worst damaged but surviving destroyer available and was extensively studied for explosive effects and damage control; consigned for scrapping on 1 December 1944.Royal Canadian NavyAnnapolis (ex-USS MacKenzie)Buxton (ex-HMS Buxton)Columbia (ex-USS Haraden)Hamilton (ex-USS Kalk)Niagara (ex-USS Thatcher)St. Clair (ex-USS Williams)St. Croix (ex-USS McCook; lost on 20 September 1943)St. Francis (ex-USS Bancroft)(RCN: loaned from the Royal Navy)Chelsea (ex-HMS Chelsea)Georgetown (ex-HMS Georgetown)Leamington (ex-HMS Leamington)Lincoln (ex-HMS Lincoln)Mansfield (ex-HMS Mansfield)Montgomery (ex-HMS Montgomery)Richmond (ex-HMS Richmond)Salisbury (ex-HMS Salisbury)Royal NavyBath (ex-USS Hopewell; to Norway as Bath)Belmont (ex-USS Satterlee; lost on 31 January 1942)Beverley (ex-USS Branch; lost on 11 April 1943)Bradford (ex-USS McLanahan)Brighton (ex-USS Cowell; to the Soviet Union as Zarkij)Broadwater (ex-USS Mason; lost on 18 October 1941)Broadway (ex-USS Hunt)Burnham (ex-USS Aulick)Burwell (ex-USS Laub)Buxton (ex-USS Edwards; to Canada as Buxton)Caldwell (ex-USS Hale)Cameron (ex-USS Welles; lost on 5 December 1940)Campbeltown (ex-USS Buchanan; lost on 28 March 1942)Castleton (ex-USS Aaron Ward)Charlestown (ex-USS Abbot)Chelsea (ex-USS Crowninshield; to the Soviet Union as Derzki)Chesterfield (ex-USS Welborn C. Wood)Churchill (ex-USS Herndon; to the Soviet Union as Dejatelny)Clare (ex-USS Abel P. Upshur)Georgetown (ex-USS Maddox; to the Soviet Union as Zostki)Hamilton (ex-USS Kalk; to Canada as Hamilton)Lancaster (ex-USS Philip)Leamington (ex-USS Twiggs; to the Soviet Union as Zguchi) (starred in 1950 film The Gift Horse, which depicted the St. Nazaire Raid)Leeds (ex-USS Conner)Lewes (ex-USS Conway)Lincoln (ex-USS Yarnall; to the Soviet Union as Druzny)Ludlow (ex-USS Stockton)Mansfield (ex-USS Evans; to Canada as Mansfield; to Norway as Mansfield)Montgomery (ex-USS Wickes; to Canada as Montgomery)Newark (ex-USS Ringgold)Newmarket (ex-USS Robinson)Newport (ex-USS Sigourney)Ramsey (ex-USS Meade)Reading (ex-USS Bailey)Richmond (ex-USS Fairfax; to the Soviet Union as Zivuchi)Ripley (ex-USS Shubrick)Rockingham (ex-USS Swasey; lost on 27 September 1944)Roxborough (ex-USS Foote; to the Soviet Union as Doblestnyj)Salisbury (ex-USS Claxton; to Canada as Salisbury)Sherwood (ex-USS Rodgers)St. Albans (ex-USS Thomas; to Norway as St. Albans; to the Soviet Union as Dostojny)St. Mary's (ex-USS Doran)Stanley (ex-USS McCalla; lost on 19 December 1941)Wells (ex-USS Tillman)Royal Netherlands NavyCampbeltown (March to August 1941. Returned to RN service in Sept 1941 as HMS Campbeltown)Royal Norwegian NavyBath (ex-HMS Bath) (lost on 19 August 1941)Lincoln (ex-HMS Lincoln)Mansfield (ex-HMS Mansfield)Newport (ex-HMS Newport)St. Albans (ex-HMS St. Albans)Soviet NavyDejatelnyj (ex-HMS Churchill; lost on 16 January 1945)Derzkij (ex-HMS Chelsea)Doblestnyj (ex-HMS Roxborough)Dostojnyj (ex-HMS St. Albans)Druznyj (ex-HMS Lincoln)Zarkij (ex-HMS Brighton)Zguchij (ex-HMS Leamington)Zivuchij (ex-HMS Richmond)Zostkij (ex-HMS Georgetown)Town-class destroyer - Wikipedia

If you were in the military, what were your duties and when and where did you serve?

“If you were in the military, what were your duties and when and where did you serve?”At first, I was going to bypass this question as being too bulky, but then I decided OK, what the heck. Why not? I’ve answered it, partially, in the past, in various questions, so we’ll see how long it takes, this time. Hours, I’m sure.This is covering nearly 14–1/2 years, longer than the resume of many younger-generation workers. I’ll start with the “when and where” because it’s a lot easier.12/76–3/77. Recruit training, RTC/NTC (Recruit Training Command/Naval Training Center) San Diego, CA. I spent Christmas in my first week of boot camp, on purpose, because I didn’t like having to go to Christmas Dinner at my sister’s In-Laws (upper-crust jerks). I was 18, 5′7″ and 118 lbs (That’s not a typo. I was starving to death, living on my own.)3/77–4/77. Home on leave.4/77–6/77. FLEASWTRACENPAC (Fleet Anti-Submarine Warfare Training Center, Pacific), San Diego, CA. A-School to become an STG (Sonar Technician, Surface), even though I had volunteered for Submarine Service. The all-knowing, never-wrong, Navy decided that was where they needed me, in the surface fleet. Specifically, operating the SQS-26CX active sonar system and MK 114 ASROC (Anti-Submarine Rocket) Fire Control System. While there, in the course of various phases of the training, I was advanced from SR (Seaman Recruit) (E1), to SA (Seaman Apprentice) (E2), SN (Seaman) (E3), STGSN (Sonar Technician, Surface, Seaman) to STG3 (Sonar Technician, Surface, Third Class) (E4).7/77. FTG (Fleet Training Group) San Diego. Fire Fighting, Damage Control, and First Aid training. My first Independence Day in the Navy, I had Barracks Petty Officer duty, and watched the fireworks from the door to the barracks. Part of the transfer period was spent at Treasure Island, CA. Went to San Francisco to stand in a three-block-long line to watch Star Wars.8/77–9/77. FLTACTS (Fleet Activities), Yokosuka, Japan. Cultural Awareness Training while waiting for my first ship to return from sea.9/77–4/78. USS Lockwood (FF-1064), 3rd Division (The ASW division, which had Sonar Technicians, ASROC Missile Gunner’s Mates, and Torpedomen), a Knox-class frigate, forward deployed to Yokosuka, Japan. The First Responders for international events in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Most of the time was spent at sea. Much of the time was in and out of the Navy base in Chinhae, South Korea. In my first six months, we deployed with the USS Midway (CV-41) Carrier Task Group to the Indian Ocean. We visited Singapore, The Philippines, Bunbury, Australia, Diego Garcia (British Royal Navy base), and Bandar Abbas, Iran, Navy base (Under the Shah, before the Iranian Revolution). The last three months were spent in drydock, for a mini-refit, which included installation of a new passive towed array sonar system (SQR-18). I was transferred to another ship in the squadron, as a trade. The other ship had an extra VDS technician, and mine didn’t have any. They transferred me one week before my birthday, which really sucked. The first ship gave birthday-boys a day off. The new one didn’t.4/78–7/79. USS Francis Hammond (FF-1067), AS Division (same thing as 3rd Division, just a different name). We visited Chinhae, of course, Hong Kong, Taiwan (before the US broke diplomatic ties to Taiwan, in deference to the People’s Republic of China), The Philippines, and Pattaya Beach, Thailand. While enroute to Thailand, we rescued two boat-loads of Vietnam “Boat People” refugees (77 men, women and children). Our visit was extended while the US negotiated with Thailand to allow the refugees to go ashore. The end result, as I remember, was that the US had to guarantee they would give them refugee status in the US, and pay for their transport. Thus began Operation Boat People over the next few years, looking for, and rescuing them at sea, hopefully before the pirates got to them. The crew was awarded the Humanitarian Service Medal. My last four months was spent in drydock, doing another mini refit, identical to the first one. During my final year, after a lot of pestering the Chain-of-Command, writing an essay, and having an interview with the Commodore in command of the submarines in Japan, my request for transfer to submarines was approved. While there, Star Wars was released in Japan. The actor Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) was there, and visited the Base. It turns out that he’s a Navy Brat, and graduated from high school at the Yokosuka base High School. He visited his school, got a tour of the base, and a tour of our ship. When done, he visited with the crew in the Crew’s Mess. He told us he was proud of us, that WE were the REAL Star Wars, and then signed autographs. I was surprised at how short he was, when he shook my hand. A great guy!While there, I nearly finished PQS (Personnel Qualification Standards) for the new ESWS (Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist) designation (What submariners derisively called “Skimmer Dolphins”), but didn’t have enough time. I DID qualify as an In-Port Repair Locker Leader. I also was advanced to STG2 (E5), after my first advancement exam.7/79–9/79. At home on leave, and transiting to my next duty station.9/79–10/79. Submarine School, New London, CT. Learning all the basics about submarines and, in my case, unlearning all of my surface-ship “bad habits”. LOL Most of my classmates were fresh out of boot camp, and I was a PO2 (E5). In fact, I found out later, most of them were afraid of me, since their only experience with Petty Officers were their boot camp Company Commanders (a Navy Drill Instructor). I thought it was pretty funny.After graduation, I was given the SU (Submarines, Unqualified) designation, STG2(SU)10/79–11/79. BEE/NTC (Basic Electricity and Electronics/Naval Training Center) San Diego, CA. An 8-week “Independent Study” course, that I finished in 4-weeks, just to get out of that training-base hell hole. Watched the World Series for the first time in my life. I remember watching Kent Tekulve, and his crazy pitching style.11/79–5/80. FLEASWTRACENPAC, San Diego, CA. C-School, for an STS (Sonar Technician, Submarine). Before starting the technical training, I had to beg for some submarine sonar operational training. In their infinite wisdom, the Navy said I already GOT my A-School, back in ‘77, and they couldn’t give me a student billet. I argued that me SURFACE operational training was useless on a submarine, because submarines don’t use an active sonar. They compromised, by allowing me to monitor an STS A-School class in my off-time, and loaned me tapes to listen to, to learn the sounds of the sea and learn how to do a turn-count (timing, by ear, the speed of a ship). So, I was doing training about 17 hours per day, M-F. Fortunately, my technical training was on the swing shift, and the operational training was day shift. I had zero social life.The C-School training was for the 0421 job code, making me a SPACE-Tech (Special Purpose Auxiliary Combined Equipment), which meant I could be assigned to any submarine. Everybody else got a C-School that locked them in to either a Boomer (SSBN) or Fast Attack (SSN), with nearly zero cross-over. That fact served me well, later. The equipment I trained on did everything EXCEPT detecting anything on sonar. Tape recorders, spectrum analyzers, underwater communications, navigation equipment, oceanographic measurement equipment, you name it, I fixed it all. And, in a pinch, I could figure out how the main sonar systems worked, and help fix them, too.After I graduated, I converted from STG2(SU) to STS(SU)6/80–8/80. SUBRON (Submarine Squadron) 15, Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, HI. Waiting for the submarine crew I was assigned to. They were on patrol and, later, in training, while somebody decided who I would actually go to. My job was working in the abandoned hanger where single men on patrol could store their cars. Every week, a crew would return from patrol and get their cars. That took one or two days. I had a little cart with several charged car batteries I used to give a jump start, and some gasoline to prime an empty carburetor (no fuel injection, back then). The rest of the time was roving security, and shooting the shit with the Senior Chief in charge. Finally, I was called in to Squadron at lunch, and told to pack my sea-bag with deployment clothes, don a travel uniform (Summer White), and catch a Pan Am flight to Guam. I was finally going to the boat and crew I had original orders for!8/80–3/81. USS Patrick Henry (SSBN-599) Blue, a George Washington-class Polaris SSBN operating out of Guam. This was the first class of SSBNs, built in the ‘50s. This boat was the second one, and, together with the USS George Washington, did all of the trial launched of the first A1 Polaris missiles. This class was the boats where they took a Skipjack SSN, and stuck a missile compartment in the middle. This particular one carried the Polaris A3 missiles. Later boats carried the Poseidon missile, which was too big to fit in our smaller missile tubes. On my first patrol, we got a rare mid-patrol break, and visited (guess it) Chinhae, South Korea! My old stomping ground! In fact, my old frigate was there, and I visited with some of my old shipmates, who had arrived just before I left, 18 months earlier. For off-crew, we flew back to Ford Island on an Air Force MAC flight. I re-enlisted then, and used my re-enlistment bonus to pay six months advance rent on an apartment on the other side of Oahu, on a secluded golf course near Kahuku. In the middle of our next patrol, I qualified submarines, four weeks ahead of schedule. No quals for a couple of weeks was a dream come true, then they handed me a binder of watch-stander qual cards, and told me to “turn-to” (from the surface ship announcement, “All Hands Turn-to, Commence Ship’s Work’). While on patrol, we got word that our boat had been selected to be the next SSBN to be converted into an SSN (due to the SALT treaties with the USSR, reducing the nuclear arsenals). So, when we got back from patrol, they would be consolidating the two crews, and transferring the rest to the rest of the fleet. One of my shipmates, the other SPACE Tech in our crew, had orders to an old, archaic SSN, and DIDN’T want to go. I did, so we swapped orders. Another good choice for me. Once again, I was transferred just before my birthday.3/81–3/83. USS Seadragon (SSN-584), an ancient Skate-class SSN, built in the ‘50s, the first SSN class in the US Navy, Pearl Harbor, HI. The pier where she usually moored, next to the Sub-Base Enlisted Club, was generally known as the Seadragon Pier, because she spent a lot of time there, broken. The boat was 25 years old, in a unique class of 4 boats, with two different first-generation reactor designs, so repair parts were scarce. That included sonar, so maintenance and repair was a challenge. I LOVED it! Work-arounds were the Order of the Day.Before reporting aboard, I was given orders to a special sonar school, SSSA (Submarine Sonar Subjective Analysis). It is, in my opinion, the hardest school in the Navy, because it’s entirely subjective. This is where we learned to distinguish exactly what contact we were listening to, by class of ship/sub, sometimes down to the exact hull. Is that a Victor I or a Victor III SSN? Is it a Yankee or a Delta II SSBN? Is it a Kashin destroyer or a Krivak frigate ? Is it a Permit or a Sturgeon? Is it a Knox FF or a Spruance DD? Nothing is written in stone, because they’re all similar, and sound conditions may obliterate part of the expected signal. That’s why it’s “subjective” and that’s why AI, to date, won’t work. It’s not like the movies, at all. You can’t just feed it into a computer and get a print-out.Once I reported aboard, came a huge surprise. Just before I arrived, nearly the entire sonar crew was discharged from the Navy for illegal drug use. The only survivors were the top two, the Chief and the STS1. And I was the replacement for the First Class. I suddenly went from being a junior nub STS2 on my first boat, to the senior non-Chief on the new one. The Chief did all the paperwork, and left the rest of the leadership to me, to figure out on my own. More about that later, when I discuss duties.While on Seadragon, in addition to myriad short deployments (the other reason they called it the Seadragon Pier was because most of our sea-time was M-F, being a training target for the skimmers and airedales), we made two WestPac deployments. We visited Hong Kong, the Philippines, Hobart, Australia, Midway, Guam (another old stomping ground) and a short visit in Yokosuka, Japan (all the skimmers were deployed, so we were alone). Interesting note about Yokosuka. Unlike all of the other submarines in the fleet, our topside sentries weren’t armed with a pistol. Our Captain had us armed with a shotgun. When we arrived in Japan for some maintenance, none of the shipyard workers would set foot on the boat, because of the shotgun. The base Admiral ordered our Captain to ditch the shotgun and arm us with a .45, instead, or go back to sea, broken. Most of our deployed time was doing Special Operations in sundry places near Japan.While there, I met my wife in the Philippines, got married, and got a new apartment near the Laie Mormon Temple and Brigham Young University, where most of my friends were. It was in Hanohano Hale, on the beach, next to the Pat’s at Punalu’u condos in Hau’ula. (I LOVE those Hawaiian names!!). I chose that location, and didn’t own a car, because my Division Officer was a jerk who liked to wake me up in the middle of the night, to work on stuff that could wait until the next morning. When I was single, it was OK, but as a newlywed, it was unacceptable. The bus didn’t run all night, and I always caught the first one in the morning, arriving on the boat just after 7:00. One time, he wanted to call me at 11:00 at night, so the Senior Chief had a little talk with him. “Sir, you know he rides the bus to work every morning, right? And he gets here at 7:00 every morning, right? Is it so important that you want to send the Duty Driver to Hau’ula, a two-hour round trip, to get him here, now?” “No.” “Then sir, why call him, now? Why don’t you let him get some sleep? He’ll fix it in the morning.” And I did.While on Seadragon, I spent a lot of time wrangling orders to my next school, to the newest top-of-the-line part of the submarine service, TRIDENT SSBNs. I was eventually told that I would be receiving orders, soon, to go to school for a year in Bangor, WA, a few miles from my home. One of the best aspects was that the Trident program was different from all previous submarine programs. There was just one base (eventually, two), where EVERYTHING was done. The boats were there, the refit facility was there, the training was there, all afloat and ashore administration was there, all family housing was there, on one base. Consolidation made this program popular with the crews, because you could put down roots, knowing that your family never had to move, and popular with Congress, because it saved so much money.BUT. We were short-handed, and the boat kept postponing my transfer. Until we were about to leave Hobart, Australia. We got an urgent message, directing the boat to transfer me ASAP, because I had a school to go to, and they wouldn’t reschedule it. So, the night before we were supposed to leave and return to Pearl, the boat’s Yeoman had to stay aboard, while everybody else was partying, writing my orders and arranging my flight home, and my flight, with my wife, to Bangor, and my move out of my apartment (actually easy, because our apartment was fully furnished, so we had no household goods.).While there, I was advanced to STS1 (E6), after my first advancement exam, about one year before transfer. Also while there, a new, more senior STS1 arrived, as the Chief’s replacement. So I maintained my position as ALPO (Assistant Leading Petty Officer), and gained a friend and better mentor.3/83–4/83. On leave at home and transferring to new duty station.4/83–3/84. TRITRAFAC (Trident Training Facility) Bangor, WA. Another C-School, getting the 0426 Level III job code, fixing EVERYTHING on an Ohio-class SSBN. Not just the detection sonar systems, but all of the auxiliaries, too. My wife and I initially got an apartment in Bremerton, near the Shipyard, but, after a few months, got a base-housing unit, a five-minute walk to the school building. While going through class, we all got orders to the same boat, then under construction, following the class that left six months before us, going to the same boat.3/84–5/84. On leave and transiting (driving) to the Electric Boat shipyard in Groton, CT.5/84–10/84. PCU (Pre-Commissioning Unit) Henry M. Jackson (ex-PCU Rhode Island) (SSBN-730), Groton, CT. I say “ex-Rhode Island” because the name of the boat was changed after Senator Henry M. “Scoop” Jackson (D-WA) died of an aortic aneurysm. He was one of my Senators, and instrumental in authorizing the TRIDENT system and getting the base built in Washington.Out of the 24 of us, I was, again, the senior sonar white-hat (non-Chief). We had three Chiefs. After commissioning and splitting the crew, one crew (Blue) would have two Chiefs, and the other would have one, with me being, again, the ALPO.Out of the 24, only one other had been to sea before. During construction, we sent one of the first 12 TDY to an earlier boat (USS Michigan, IIRC) to go on patrol and get some sea experience. So, when we went on our first sea-trials, there were six experienced guys, enough for two complete watch sections. I, personally, went on every trial, first as a Sonar Operator, then, on the longest (two weeks) one, as a Sonar Supervisor, so one of the Chiefs could stay home with his family.Before commissioning, half of the Gold crew (those with families) were given the option to transit to our home port (Bangor, WA) one month before Commissioning. Most of those chose to drive to the West Coast, including me.10/84–12/84. Leave and transiting to Bangor, WA.12/84–1/87. USS Henry M. Jackson (SSBN-730) Gold. Home port was NSB Bangor, Silverdale, WA, but, initially, the boat itself was still operating out of NSB New London, Groton, CT, for post-commissioning modifications in Groton, and missile testing and certification in the Bahamas. While in Bangor, my crew went through a lot of training, including some factory training on a new sonar system, at the Rockwell factory in Anaheim, CA. We elected to drive there, using the excess travel time as leave, and brought our wives. They had a GREAT time, sight-seeing while we sat in the classroom or went on the factory floor.After the missile testing, our crew had the opportunity to take the boat through the Panama Canal, and dip below the equator, to initiate a new batch of polliwogs into the Order of Shellbacks. This was my third excursion (after USS Lockwood and USS Seadragon). Good times were had by all!Once in Bangor, over the next several months, both crew did tests of the new sonar system, then our crew loaded 24 missiles, and took the boat out on patrol (The other crew got the honor of the First Patrol, after we did the hard work loading the missiles LOL). Just before our 2nd patrol, our Chief was suddenly transferred (don’t know why, specifically), we couldn’t get a new Chief on short notice, so we went on patrol with me as the LPO. I made another patrol, with a new Senior Chief.In that period, I passed my Chief’s Exam the first time, and was board-selected for advancement to Chief.At the end of the patrol, I re-enlisted, was advanced to Chief, participated in my CPO Initiation (At the Keyport CPO Club), and was transferred. It’s traditional to transfer a new Chief immediately, so he has an open slate in his new leadership role.1/87–2/90. TRITRAFAC Bangor. Instructor duty. Four weeks of Instructor training, earning the 9502 job code of Navy Instructor. Lead Instructor for the Level III portion of NEC 0426 (BQQ-6 maintenance), the Sonar Supervisor course, and the TSOT (Trident Sonar Operational Trainer) simulator, teaching new tactics to all of the sonar crews. Later, put in charge of the maintenance of all of the sonar lab equipment (an entire operational sonar system and two simulators, plus lab-only equipment).2/90–2/91. USS Henry M. Jackson (SSBN-730) Blue. CPO of Sonar Division.2/91–5/91. NSB Bangor Public Relations Department. Discharge processing. Discharged after two patrols, for being overweight.Over 14 years of outstanding service and advancement, gone because I didn’t look like Tom Cruise (Actor in Top Gun) and couldn’t lose weight. I say “couldn’t”, they said “wouldn’t”. Turns out I was right, “couldn’t” due to a hormone imbalance issue not diagnosed until 1995. Note that, with the exception of the PBF (Percentage of Body Fat) measurement, I was in excellent physical condition, outperforming my students in the PRT (Physical Readiness Test), and the PBF measurements were bogus because of the hormone imbalance shifting the distribution of fatty tissue.Now, for duties. The list is long and variable, depending on duty station (sea duty, vessel type, shore duty) time in service (experience), rate (rank), rating (general job description), collateral duties (morale, secret publications librarian, etc.), NEC (similar to Army MOS, a specific job category), training (operational, technical, leadership, administrative), assigned watch stations (underway, in-port, shore), warfare specialty (Surface, Submarine, Aviation, Special Operations, etc.), and others (religious, supply, service, construction, etc.). I’ll list mine in the various categories, starting with the universal and generic, and going deeper from there.I’ll start with shore duty, because I didn’t have much.Recruit Training.Student.Marching.Exercise.Sentry.Special Company (Specializing in PR performances). Mine is in bold. It’s all voluntary, chosen on the first day.Drum and Bugle Corps. Musical performancesPrecision Rifle Team. Skilled rifle manipulation.50 Flags Team. Precision marching with National, State, and Organization flags.Bluejacket Choir. Musical performances.Collateral Duties.RCPO (Recruit CPO). Recruit in charge of Company.(RPO1) Recruit PO1. Assists RCPO.Yeoman. Administrative.Master-At-Arms. Company security.Supply Petty Officer. Orders supplies.Religious PO. Religious/moral support. Leads voluntary evening prayers. Mine happened because our first evening was just before Christmas, and I joined the group going to evening Christmas service without getting permission first, or telling anybody. Everyone started to panic when I missed the evening bunk check. Fortunately, I was marching with the Christmas group when we returned, proving where I had been. They all thought I had “gone over the fence” (desertion). Naturally, the next day, my CC (Company Commander, i.e. DI) asked if I was interested in volunteering.Training commands.Student.SentryStaff.Command Duty Officer (Monthly, overnight, supervising security, CO representative). Our officers didn’t do diddly-squat, so the Chiefs had to take-up the slack.Lead Instructor. In addition to being an instructor (which includes instructing, examination, lesson preparation, lab preparation, test preparation, and contributing to the exam data bank), supervising and in-class monitoring the group of instructors assigned to your particular course(s). Mine were an advanced maintenance course, Sonar Supervisor course, and the tactical simulator (training all of the region submarine sonar crews, both as the individual sonar crews, and, together with the officers in THEIR tactical simulator, as a weapon-control team.Supervisor of Sonar Division lab equipment (sonar systems, simulators, stimulators, special equipment, etc.) maintenance and repair, supervising several junior technicians. Doing all maintenance administration and division budgets. Yearly personnel performance evaluations.Collateral duties. Secret Material Librarian. MARS (Military Affiliate Radio System) radio station Chief Operator, building, maintaining, operating and supervising operations of the volunteers.Sea Duty.Surface ships (much different from submarines).Eight-hour work day, both underway and in-port.Cleaning. If you’re not doing anything specific, clean. Twice a day, for 15–30 minutes, EVERYBODY cleans. "Sweepers, Sweepers, man your brooms. Give the ship a clean sweep down both fore and aft! Sweep down all decks, ladders and passageways! Dump all garbage clear of the stern. Sweepers."Collateral duty. Damage Control Petty Officer. Did PMS (Preventive Maintenance System), AKA planned maintenance, on all damage control equipment in our divisional spaces, every week. This included fire extinguishers, fire hoses, submersible pump hoses, etc.. The equipment all belonged to the Damage Control Division, but they didn’t have the manpower to do it all, themselves. They did the administration, so we had to annotate their weekly maintenance schedule when we completed a task (such as the monthly weighing/inspection of all CO2 fire extinguishers). Everybody else in the division hated doing it, because you had to get dirty. I loved it, because I grew-up fixing old cars. If there was something going on in the division, and I wanted out of it, or if I just wanted to wander the ship without somebody telling me what to do, I’d grab one of my DC gear MRCs (Maintenance Requirement Card, a laminated card that detailed all of the steps to do the task, plus a list of tools and material needed to do it), stick it in my back pocket, visible, hang a greasy rag out of another pocket, or tuck it into my belt, put a tool of some sort, such as a spanner-wrench, hanging out of another pocket, and wander the ship. If somebody saw me, it was obvious I was doing useful work, somewhere, so they never bothered me. As long as I got my assigned work (both sonar work and DC stuff) finished every week, they didn’t care, and they never told me to go clean something. Besides, would you send a guy with a greasy rag in his belt somewhere to clean?Other duties. “Fire Watch Division” Assistant LPO. When we were in extended refit, with lots of shipyard welders needing a fire-watch (somebody with a fire extinguisher, looking for stuff the welder accidentally set fire to, putting it out), the damage control guys were short-handed, plus some divisions didn’t have ANY welding in their spaces, while others had lots. So, to be fair, every division had to contribute some junior guys, on a proportionate basis (larger divisions contributed more people). These people were formed into a special division, working for the Engineer. They mustered every day, as a division, with the DCA (Damage Control Assistant) as the Division Officer, and the leading HT1 (Hull Technician) as the LPO (Leading Petty Officer). He was really busy, so I was volunteered to be his ALPO (Assistant LPO). My only duty was to assign a fire watch to every shipyard welder who showed-up. Sometimes, we ran out of people. When that happened, I called the LPO of the affected division and told them to send another guy. I was only an STG3 (an E4), and they were all First Class (E6), so I got a lot of static, at first. I got things like “You already have three of my guys, use one of them.” Or “You’re not doing anything. YOU do it!” I would tell them where their other guys were (usually in their own space, already), and for the last one, a simple “If I do that, the next time a welder comes along to weld in your space, there won’t be anybody to find a fire watch for him. He’ll go back to the shop, tell his supervisor, and the Ship Supe will come running to the ship, find you, and demand to know why the hell you’re holding-up the work! Maybe you should go talk it over with Petty Officer Case (the HT1) or the DCA.” After a week of me being a hard-ass, they quit whining, and PO Case LOVED me! He had too much work to do, without listening to a bunch of whiners. Yeah, First Classes whine just as much as anybody else, but only when there’s nobody else in ear-shot! They can’t let the junior guys hear it. A Filipino Chief drilled that into my head, once, soon after I made Second Class. Pissed me off, but he was right.In-port.Sentry Duty. Because I was a PO3, I stood POOW (Petty Officer Of the Watch), armed with a .45 pistol, assisting the OOD at the Quarterdeck. I controlled access (ID cards), made 1MC (ship-wide PA system) announcements (Reveille, Quarters, Turn-to, Sweepers, etc.), kept the official Ship Log, raised/lowered the Ensign for Colors (8:00 AM and sunset), watched for approaching senior officers on the pier (Captain and Squadron Chief of Staff most common) to make the appropriate announcement (<ding-ding ding-ding> on ship’s bell “Lockwood, Arriving” <ding>), alarms (General Alarm for fires, with an announcement), calling various spaces on the phone (call AS Division for the Duty Sonar Tech to come to greet a visiting ST). When at anchor, watch for approaching boats, and make appropriate announcements (especially if it’s something like another ship’s Captain’s Gig, so the CO can greet him).Damage Control Party. Once qualified, I had various assignments, for fighting fires, flooding, etc. (hoseman, P250 pump operator, submersible pump hose, etc.).Underway.Sonar Watch. Operating various sonar consoles, fire control consoles, communications phone talker.Battlestations. At different times, in addition to sonar operation, operated other systems, such as the VDS (Variable Depth Sonar) hoist, the T-Mk-6 torpedo countermeasures hoist, XBT (Expendable BathyThermograph) launcher, Torpedo Tube loader.UNREP (Underway Replenishment, receiving fuel and stores from other ships). Working the Phone and Distance Line, a line going from the ship to the other ship, which had a telephone line in it (so each bridge could talk to the other) and a series of flags at set intervals, to let the OOD know the distance between the ships, 100 feet or so).Sea and Anchor Detail. Being part of Weapons Department, AS Division was responsible for one or two mooring lines on the fantail. In addition to faking the lines on deck, in preparation, after mooring, the lines are doubled, frapped (wrapped with a cord to keep the three line portions together) and rat guards installed. To do the last two, one person, wearing a life preserver, straddles the line, frapping it as he inches to the other end. Once done, he installs the rat guard in a position where a rat couldn’t jump over it, from the pier.Now to the Sonar Technician (ST) Rating. That’s my specific job. An ST is both a technician (maintenance and repair) and an operator. Historically, when the rating was first invented, there were technicians (ST) and operators (SO). As time went on, big differences developed, between sonar on ships (active pinging) and sonar on subs (passive listening). It was considered too difficult for junior men to learn all about both (I disagree, but I’m weird), so they were split. There were four kinds of soundmen (the original phrase before the term “sonar” was applied to the crew), Two for submarine (STS and SOS) and two for surface ships (STG and SOG). There has always been debate about why “G” was chosen for the surface-ship rating. When I was in STG A-School in 1979, we were told that STG stood for “Guns” because one ASW weapon, then, was the depth-charge K-Gun. Members of the National Sonar Association (https://sonarshack.org) have made many searches, and have not been able to find credible evidence about the origin.The difference between the rating badge for ST and SO was only in the direction of the arrow. The ST arrow pointed left, and the SO arrow pointed right. Since the ST was a left-arm rating and the SO a right-arm rating (IIRC, right-arm ratings were operational, and left-arm ratings were administrative and technical), in both cases, the arrow pointed forward. When the left-arm/right-arm distinction was eliminated throughout the Navy, the SO rating was eliminated and absorbed into the ST rating.Initially, the two ratings were combined into one ST rating, at the PO1 level. Then, it was done at the CPO level. When I joined the Navy, it was at the Senior Chief level, and by the time I was studying for advancement to Chief, it was split all the way to the Master Chief Level, where it is, today. This is interesting, because today, there are few differences between the two, operationally. All Sonar Technicians now use both active and passive sonar systems, all use towed arrays, and all conduct passive TMA (Target Motion Analysis). The biggest difference is in equipment, where submarine equipment is more sophisticated (spherical arrays, backless bow arrays (with NO hydrophones… amazing!), line arrays, flank arrays, sail arrays, chin arrays, mast arrays, ice and bottom sounders), and surface ships can use air-dropped sonobuoys and low-frequency ACTIVE towed arrays (to dig-out bottomed submarines in littoral regions).Operationally, the duties are sonar system operators, external equipment operators (VDS hoists, towed array reels, countermeasure reels, XBT/SSXBT launchers, etc.), torpedo/rocket fire control operators (surface ships), communications phone talkers, and manual plotters on paper (DRT, geographic plot, contact evaluation plot, time-bearing plot, expanded bearing plot, frequency plot, all used to manually evaluate the target of interest) and external computation devices, to do things like sound propagation analysis, sound path ray analysis, etc., plus other new things I have no clue about, but can imagine.Technically, the duties varied by training and experience. For all maintenance ratings there are the PMS schedules. At the bottom is the maintenance worker, who looks at a weekly schedule to see what needs to be done each day. When a job is completed, it is x’d out. If it’s partially done, it’s circled, if not done, not annotated. The next level is the Work Center Supervisor, who monitors the workers’ activities and originates the weekly schedule, based on a monthly schedule. From this point, who does what, administratively, depends on the individual command. The people above the Work Center Supervisor are ALPO, LO, LCPO, Division Officer, and Department Head. For schedules, the monthly schedule is derived from a quarterly schedule, the quarterly schedule is derived from the annual schedule, and the annual schedule is derived from the cycle schedule. After each schedule is completed, the exceptions are annotated on the back, the originator signs it, and sends it up the chain for review and signature.Other administrative items include things like the Equipment Status Log (every malfunction or issue is logged, updated at least weekly with status or completion, and reviewed (and signed) by the Division Officer and (sometimes) the Department Head.Other maintenance paperwork includes includes casualty reports, repair assistance requests, etc., with names like 2-Kilo (2K) and 2-Lima (2L).For parts, a junior petty officer is assigned the duty of RPPO (Repair Parts Petty Officer) who maintains the parts logs, orders whatever repair parts that are need, and goes to Supply to get them when they arrive (if on order) or are picked from stock on board. This isn’t just repair parts. It’s anything the division needs from Supply. If the division runs out of pens, the RPPO can order a box.Another administrative duty is training. A more senior person may be designated as the Training Petty Officer, whose job is to schedule individual and classroom training for all members of the division.Then, there is career planning. Somebody, usually the Chief, with assistance from the Department and Command Career Counselors, monitors and guides each division members progress in advancement, future career planning and milestones, what each person wants to do, and where to go, in the future, and either talks with the career detailers (the people in Washington who decide where everybody goes) or arranges for the individual to talk with them.Finally, there’s service record administration, specifically periodic evaluations. The LPO or Chief interviews each person, writes an evaluation, and sends it to the Division Officer, then Department Head, and XO (Executive Officer, the Second in Command,beneath the CO.) At each level, changes are made and, in some cases, interviews happen. Eventually, it’s done, and goes to the CO for final signature.I’ve had all of those jobs, except for the RPPO. I missed that one when I was thrust into leadership at a young age.Other collateral duties included things such as Ship’s Key Custodian and Classified Material Custodian.Submarines are very similar, except that many jobs and duties are consolidated, reducing the number of crew required.To begin with, the culture is completely different. Surface ships are very strict and hierarchical. Submarines are much looser. Relationships between officers and enlisted are much looser. Sure, submariners still say “sir” and “ma’am” and address junior officers as “Mister” but they’re also more colloquial, and willing to have fun. Example, officers are often involved in pranks. The junior ones are instigators or collaborators, the senior ones are willing victims. Many things happen, such as stealing the XO’s stateroom door. The last time I saw that happen, the XO started with putting the crew into Battlestations, until the culprits confessed and returned the door. That didn’t work, but the XO “knew” who had done it, he just had no evidence. So, he took the two off the underway watch-bill, and put them into a port-and-starboard rotation, being his stateroom door. When somebody came to visit the XO, they would shout “knock-knock-knock” then, as the person walked by, a “screee” of a door hinge, followed by a “thump” when the door was closed. This went on for two days, until some other accomplices managed to rehang the door, while the XO was “asleep”.Another time, somebody stole the Captain’s mattress. Once, a group of guys kidnapped the XO’s favorite mug, a Canadian McDonalds thing (with maple-leaf drawings), holding it ransom, taking hostage demand photos throughout the ship, using an illegal Polaroid camera (before cell phones, NOBODY was allowed to have a camera aboard, except the Ship’s Photographer and the XO (to take pictures of dolphin-award ceremonies). We went to Battlestations many times, had an extra day-long Field Day instead of the normal drills, the XO would ransack the compartment shown in the latest photo (of course, it had been surreptitiously moved). The kidnappers identified themselves as The Desperadoes. This went on for three weeks, at the end of the patrol. In this case, by the end of patrol, the mug was still missing. Then, during our flight from Guam to Hawaii (a rare Commercial Flight, booked to satiate Pan AM), the flight attendant delivered to XO’s alcoholic drink in his missing mug. The photographer was a senior Sonar Tech.Anyway, certain jobs, even divisions, just didn’t exist. For example, there were no Department and Command Career Counselors. The only trained CC was at Squadron. There was no Master-At-Arms (ship police) force. There were no separate LCPO, LPO, ALPO, or Work Center Supervisor. Just the Chief or, sometimes, a PO1 if there were no Chiefs available.For grunt work, on a surface ship, only non-petty officers had to be Mess Cooks (cook assistants. Every division sent one). On submarines, it was PO3 and below. On surface ships, only junior people cleaned the head. On submarines, EVERYBODY cleaned the head. During my first Field Day on a submarine, they made it a point to assign me to clean the toilets, even though I was a PO2. Then, before it was over, they made it a point to take me to Crew’s Mess, where the Chief Cook was on his knees, waxing the deck. On surface ships, junior people cleaned the Goat Locker (CPO Quarters) and, during Field Day, all the Chiefs did was supervise. On submarines, the Chiefs cleaned the Goat Locker, including the Chief’s Head. On surface ships, the Chief’s ate in the Goat Locker. On submarines, they ate in crew’s mess, at the “Chief’s Table”. (Anybody could eat there, if they got permission first, or the Chiefs were done eating). Also, the Chiefs didn’t stand in the chow line. When a meal started, a Mess Cook was sent to the Goat Locker, and the Chiefs ate first, until the Chief’s Table was full. Then, they waited, just like everybody else. On a surface ship, the officers ate their own food, and had to pay for it. And, most of the time, the Captain ate alone (not in the Wardroom with the other officers.) On submarines, the officers ate the same food as the crew (still had to pay for it), but in the Wardroom, on fancy dishes, WITH the Captain.On subs, the Chiefs did all of the paperwork, except for some things delegated to more senior members of the division. On my second boat, even though I was the Chief’s assistant, I had no idea what he did when he wasn’t on watch. He had no mentoring capability, at all. I only set foot in the Goat Locker once, in all the years I was aboard, and that was to ask one of the Chiefs to go wake my Chief up. On my first boat, we had no Sonar Chief, so our PO1 slept in the Goat Locker and relaxed in the Goat’s lounge. One time, they had me make them a new cu of coffee. I didn’t drink coffee, myself, and had no idea how to make it. They refused to tell me, so I guessed. The end result was triple-strength coffee-mud, and they never, ever told me to do it, again! HAHAHASo, yes, submariners had the same duties as on a surface ship, but the distribution was totally different.OH, I forgot! Submarines don’t have a Quarterdeck or ANY of the in-port foofarah surface ships have. At the brow, there’s one (on an SSN) or two (SSBN) Topside Sentries, always junior enlisted. If they need anything, they use the Bridge Suitcase (an intercom box) to call down to the Control Room and get some help. He also checks forward and after draft every hour or so. If there’s unknown flooding below decks, he may be the first one to know, when the draft suddenly changes.For in-port, a surface ship duty section has a Command Duty Officer representing the CO, and the on-watch OOD at the Quarterdeck. A submarine has a Duty Officer, for the whole ship, and an Engineering Duty Officer, for the reactor. Everything else is all enlisted men. There’s a Duty Chief, an Engineering Chief, and, forward on watch, a roving Below Decks Watch. He visually checks the status of the Topside watch every 30 minutes or so. The nukes have more, back aft, but exactly who varies, based on reactor plant status. Oh, yeah, back to topside! For Colors, the Topside Watch does the Ensign and the Below Decks Watch does the Jack.Bottom line, on a submarine, enlisted do a lot of the duties that officers do on surface ships.

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