"Legend of Whitey Mack"
Music courtesy of Tommy Cox, SSN-661 Lapon

Submarining is a lot like Flying;
Long periods of boredom, punctuated with
brief moments of panic.

(There are lots of graphics on this page, please be patient...)

Because Submarines look rather unremarkable on the surface (like an iceberg, you can only see the top 1/3rd or less above water), I have tried to collect photos of "airborne" boats. Note that subs appear to fly better than jets can swim.

A routine Emergency-Surface drill, usually from test-depth.

An SSBN (Trident) heads out on Patrol.

Another "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" imitation.
A Fast Attack sub could reach the speeds neccessary to "broach" like this from a fairly shallow depth, unlike a Fleet Ballistic Missile boat. At three times the weight and twice the size, the "Boomers" need a lot of water to surface fast enough for this effect, but we did it regularly, during sea-trials before each Strategic Nuclear-War Deterrent Patrol.

The SLBM (Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile).
Capable of carrying either 10 or 14 independently targetable (MIRV'd)
nuclear weapons on each of the 16 missiles (now 24 missiles on Trident boats),
a Ballistic Missile Submarine is capable of serious ""urban renewal".
There are videos of Trident Missile launches after this page.

Polaris A-1,2 & 3 on the left, Poseidon C-3 & C-4 on the right,
Trident D-5 (current inventory) at center.
Missile Technicians (yours truly) worked inside each of these birds while inside their launcher tubes and underway on patrol. MT's intalled the ignition inverters, swapped out guidance systems, batteries etc., then operated and monitored the launch control system and weapons throughout the patrol. As soon as I acquire a scanner, I'll load some pics of the inside of my boat (USS Andrew Jackson) and crew, SSBN 619 (Gold).

"Angles and Dangles"
Sub-talk for "Trashed everything not welded down"

USS Maine displaying equivalent of 6-digit horsepower.

Why they do this still escapes me...

Fast Attack in drydock, Norfolk, VA.
Note the dark-black paint topside - the part visible when surfaced.

Click the "Boomer" to visit Holyloch, Scotland, fmr. refit site of the AJ.

Watch a Trident Missile Launch (short)
Watch a Trident Missile Launch and the Aftermath (Best!)

A memorial to my Father-in-Law "Papa-Joe",
a WWII Submarine Vet

Take a 3-D virtual tour of USS Springfield (a PBS-NOVA site)

Still not sure that Submarines can really "fly"? Watch this

Here's a taste of what going on patrol was like... Really

Watch a screen-show of the power of a MK-48 Warshot

(Try hitting stop/refresh if any video-loading pauses too long)

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