Friday, December 27, 2013

USS Nautilus (SSN 571) - The original nuke sub

Here is the text of an entertaining lecture given by my former commanding officer. I was on board USS Nautilus during each of the events he mentions:

http://www.ussnautilus.org/events/2004Nov17goldenyear/Riddell_lecture.shtml


No, I was not the fat guy but I do remember him. And the sound from Project MACS was not all that loud, at least not on board. I pity the fishes, though. They got blasted.


And let me tell you about that "big fleet exercise near Halifax, Nova Scotia". It was held in the middle of a gale. Halfway through the exercise, the sissy Canuck fleet went back into port, not being able to take the bad weather. We stayed out to sea by ourselves and got pounded by the huge swells. Our main drain pump had quit, and the bilges were filling up fast with seawater from our leaking propeller shaft seals, to a level that threatened to drown our condensate pumps. I had to rig a set of emergency submersible pumps which discharged to the drain header to pump down the bilges and keep the ship from sinking. Had I not done that, you would not be reading this post or the lecture by VADM Riddell.

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