this post was submitted on 05 Jul 2023
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Ask Me Anything

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Ask Me Anything (AMA) Community Rules and Guidelines

This is the lemmy.ca AmA.

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SSBN. ETV. Will not respond to questions about sensitive or classified subjects. My views are my own and I do not represent anyone.

Hi there!

Edit: since this has been asked several times:

SSBN stands for “submersible ship, ballistic missile, nuclear powered”. That is, the same overall type of ship as the Red October.

ETV stands for “Electronics Technican, Navigation”, because N was already taken by Nuclear Electronics Technicians. I work with everything from interior communications and announcing circuits to Electronics, shipwide atmospheric monitoring, navigational inertial gyroscopes, strategic nuclear missile navigation, and tank level indicators to basic underwater submarine navigation using the voyage management system and even helming the ship itself.

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[–] dannoffs@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Are a bunch of people in your real life who know what you annoying you with questions about the titan implosion?

[–] wanderingmagus@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Nah. We all knew it was stupid, and I've already explained ad nauseum the dangers of being in a sub.

[–] vraylle@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Does the smell get as bad as I'd expect on extended duration missions?

[–] wanderingmagus@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

No, we take regular showers and use deodorant, and if you genuinely smell the ship's Doc will force you to shower with someone watching you.

[–] tal@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

How about the boat itself? I've read some pretty critical takes of the atmosphere, though a lot of that was early -- like, diesel fumes wouldn't be a factor on your SSBN.

googles

https://teddit.net/r/submarines/comments/b30qkm/does_a_sub_leak_does_it_smell/

This is more modern. Here's a guy who said that he was on two 688s:

how is the "air" in a sub ? Dry ? Humid ? I know there are oxygen systems, and I've read here that the air is cleaned all day long so - is it like living in an aircon flat ? does it smell (oil, grease, metal, food, etc ?)

The air sucks. Straight up huffing lightly oiled air that smells like a fart rusted. If you're not on the boat for awhile you can smell it as soon as you get down the hatch. Then you get used to it after awhile. My first long deployment I thought there was something wrong with my washing machine. No matter how many times I washed my uniform it smelled like a mix between amine (ammonia) and something vaguely metallic (like you licked a nickel, but a smell instead of a taste). Underway the air is usually moist because once you get deep enough, no matter where you are in the world, the water is coooooold (no sunlight). So most people usually bundle up pretty tight, especially if you work around electronics (like sonar or fire control); they keep these spaces extra cool to make the electronics happy. We do have "air conditioning", but like I said, these are more for the electronics. I remember one underway putting my shoes on day after day for watch, and each passing day my shoes went from dry, to moist, to damp, to wet. No matter where I put them to dry they wouldn't, resulting in prune feet that wouldn't stop peeling for a few weeks.

An Royal Navy submariner in the same thread:

I'm an ex RN submariner but I still work in the business, so to speak.

I was on a boat still in build a few months ago and it already smelled of boat, which leads me to believe that not only does the smell come pre-installed, but it must be part of the original design requirements.

So, not just submariner fart and hydraulic oil. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Someone on the USN side again:

The boat does get pretty smelly, yeah. On VA--at least when I was in--SONAR stood lookout while surfaced. It's the best watch, chilling out on the sail... fresh, moving air...

Until you have to come back below. It's like a giant fist of farts and ballsacks and fried hamsters dragon punching you in the face as soon as you get back into the hatch... hell just leaning over the hatch. Only time I ever came close to retching on a submarine.

[–] tal@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago

This page blames it on the CO₂ scrubbers, in part:

https://www.wired.com/2014/11/nano-sub-co2-scrub/

I take that back, the air is gross, because the chemical used to remove CO2 smells like old diesel mixed with a dash of sulphur, and it permeates everything on board. This chemical, called amine, is known by every submariner (I was one for 3 years), as well as every submariner's wife, husband, or anyone else who encounters that sailor's laundry.

[–] wanderingmagus@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Smells like amine, rust, hydraulic fluids, paint chips, and 100 sailors stuck in a can, yes. You get used to it, and it's actually not noticeable in some places with good ventilation.

[–] HidingCat@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Man, was in army (conscripted), and there were some guys I interacted with who definitely could do with a forced supervised shower. Cannot imagine that level of hygiene in a sub.

[–] wanderingmagus@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

That's why, for all that other branches tell me they couldn't imagine voluntarily going into a sinking ship, I can't imagine rucking in the Army or jumping out of a functional airplane. Everyone has their own little insanity, mine just happens to be willingness to lock myself in a tin can and diving into the abyss.

[–] tenochtitlan@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (5 children)

How accurate is this video?

https://youtu.be/bPJUVKizh90

Do you have to recalibrate to the passage of time being based off day night cycles and not meal times?

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[–] Odusei@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

How much notice are you given when they suddenly need you because one of the Seattle Mariners is injured?

[–] picnic@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

How do you feel about titan crash?

[–] wanderingmagus@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Tragic but expected. That thing was rated a death trap by James Cameron himself.

[–] nLuLukna@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 year ago

What's your least favourite task to do?

[–] someguy3@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 year ago (4 children)

SSBN. ETV.

What do these mean?

I read before that books were the hot commodity because options were limited. Are handheld consoles the big thing now?

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[–] vsp@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Q: Why are enclosed spaces dangerous? And why would someone need specialized training to work in those areas?

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[–] head_node@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Speaking of ratings; Are you looking ahead at the civilian side of the industry (like MSC) to do when, or if, you get out of the Navy? Is that even a desirable life to a Submariner?

[–] wanderingmagus@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Honestly I'm just trying to apply to OCS. Failing that, I'd ideally find a decently paying job with similar benefits and coworkers that are motivated and driven to learn and succeed on their own without the threat of petty firing looming overhead. Just a dream, but who knows.

[–] keeb420@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

how does it feel being a rolex?

but seriously how deep have you gone, that you are allowed to disclose. im not trying to get anyone in trouble.

[–] wanderingmagus@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

I've been to test depth. There's various guesses online as to how deep that is, and I won't confirm or deny any of them.

[–] Clithzby@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Scariest thing to ever happen to you while in a submarine?

[–] wanderingmagus@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Fire in the torpedo room. Scariest 1MC announcement I've ever heard. Nothing came of it obviously, but still - a fire in a room full of explosives.

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[–] BaroqueInMind@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There is a joke I heard in the Army that 100 sailors go down in a submarine, and 50 couples come back up. How prevalent is sexual harassment in the Navy? What is being done to reduce all that?

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[–] HidingCat@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

How is food handled/stored? Given you can be out for months I assume this is actually very crucial and critically handled? Does it taste worse than what is served in the regular meal halls?

[–] wanderingmagus@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

We have fresh food for the first two weeks. After that, it's all taken from the Dry Stores, Chill Box or Freezer. That being said, it's actually rather high quality meals, compared to other branches and the surface (except Air Force and Space Force, they're special cases). We get hot dogs and chili on Wednesdays at the lunch meal, burritos on Tuesdays, burgers and fries on Friday lunch meals, and pizzas and wings on Saturday dinner meals. Breakfast is usually pancakes or waffles with bacon and eggs and occasionally sausage gravy on biscuits or toast. Other dinners can rotate between meatloaf, peas, and mashed potatoes, and pork chops, asparagus and bread rolls.

That being said, it really depends on the cook on duty in the galley. We had one cook that could not follow a recipe card and made decisions that ended with mixing 10 minute rice with 30 minute rice and trying to cook them both for 20 minutes, or trying to substitute spaghetti sauce with ketchup. That went over about as well as you'd think.

[–] Therascalking0000@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Did you ever hook up with Sue Storm?

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