by Javier Manjarres

Embarcation

We first met up with our Navy liaisons in Fort Lauderdale and then proceeded to the local McDonald’s for some breakfast chow. We then drove 3 hours to Port Canaveral to meet up with the USS Dallas. I am happy to report that no one got car sick on the drive up to Port Canaveral. During the wait for the boat to arrive in Port, we had lunch at the ‘Navy Club’ restaurant where I dined on some pounded Beaver tail tenders, aka chicken tenders.

We then took a Port Canaveral bus to meet the boat,but while getting off the bus, would you believe that I dropped my wallet? Good news to report, the Navy said they found it, and will be sending it Fed Ex today, I hope. (Picture-USS Dallas arriving in Port Canaveral, Florida)

Off to Sea

Once aboard the boat, we settled in and the Lieutenants who were assigned to our group gave us a tour of the  boat and gave us some “advice” on what we could and couldn’t do while on board.  It was really cool that we were allowed to climb up to the bridge while the boat was heading out to  sea- of course, El Sharko stayed up there twice as long as everyone else in search of my sea-faring cousins. 

The Dallas is considered one of the smallest submarines at only 360ft in length, and 33ft in width.

 Underwater

The boat finally reached a point in the ocean where it was deep enough for it to dive, and dove down to 600ft below sea level. Yes, 600ft below!  While underwater, the crew of the Dallas demonstrated some pretty cool evasive maneuvering, but it wasn’t enough for any of us to toss our cookies. Nice try guys, better luck next time!

The boat has two separate periscopes (see-Picture), both just a slightly different in their capabilities. They allowed me to take a peak- it was kinda like the submarine arcade games we all played as kids.

We toured the torpedo room, where the crew shot off a couple of ‘air’ blasts to simulate a torpedo launch. The torpedo latch (pictured) is electronically locked and unlocked, and just looks heavy. The crew dared me to climb into the 21ft long tube and sign my name at the end of it, but pulled back after I called their bluff .

Let me just say that the water on the sub was the best tasting water I have ever tasted. The sleeping quarters were pretty troubling, but manageable.  A couple of members of the media could not sleep in the close quarters, but for the most part we were all able to get some rest.  Seriously, each ‘rack’ is as large as a coffin- about 7 ft long x 3ft wide x 15-18inches in height. Obviously, I did not take a tape measure to be exact, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express the night before.

The crew were a class act (Pictured-Lt. Wendler, the Weapons Officer centered at the table is just a sweetheart of a guy).  Not only did they answer our every question, they even insisted on doing the smallest and menial favors for us like getting us our water during chow, cleaning up after us, bringing us an extra Pop-Tart or three, and even brewing a new pot of coffee for Bizpac Review’s primadonna reporter, Michelle Kirk.

For those of you who do not know, the USS Dallas was the submarine depicted in the move ‘The Hunt for Red October’ back in the 1990. While nothing in the ‘Control Room’ looks anything like it did in the movie, there is a autograph picture of Sean Connery on board the boat.  While in the control room, we were only allowed to position our cameras towards the boat steering and maneuvering area of the room (pictured) All of the sensitive top secret monitors were to our backs and to the right of us. Some of the officers even close some of the screens so they don’t accidentally get caught on film. The Sonar room was off limits, understandably.

To become a full-fledge Submariner, you must first know every aspect of the boat as well as how to fix it or replace it. You literally need to know the whole boat from top to bottom.  The process of learning everything about a boat like the Dallas is pretty daunting, and it means that it can take up to a year of preparations, studying and testing before you can earn the coveted ‘Dolphins’ Submariner pin. We were privileged to be a part of a Dolphin pinning ceremony in the chow room, for one of the Dallas’  newly minted Submariners.

Let me just add this, there is absolutely no communication on board the boat from the outside world other than what comes from official channels. Submariners are privileged to ‘Sailor Mail,’ but that is scarce and is only available when the boat surfaces- if it ever does. Some of the crew told me that it’s like a time warp when they get back home from a 6 month deployment.  That’s a lot of news to catch up on that transpires during their deployment- unlike the rest of the military that has access to Internet, Skype and telephone.  Perhaps that is why submariners are called the ‘Silent Service’, and it was an honor and a privilege to be able to witness what these service members do up close and personal.

Related post: Shark Tank Swims With the Fishes, Submerges with U.S. Navy Submarine

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