The hazards topside are stressed every time you leave and arrive a port. The simplest slip can result in going overboard and utlimately your death. I never saw a man go over during my time but heard my share of stories. The danger increases tremendously when the seas are rough. which is apparently what happened here. A Submarine is round and the phrase “tin can” is more true than some people realize. In rough seas a sub gets tossed back and forth much more easily than a target (surface ship) does. A sea state 4 while not that rough to a surface ship can caue 15 degree rolls on a sub.
Submariners are a tight nit group of people that in time of need only have each other to save them. It is said that on a ship (submarine) if a fire burns for more than a 90 seconds the chances of survival are diminished greatly, I can tell you you have never seen panic in a man’s eyes like you have when “FIRE” is yelled on a submarine, the next closest state of panic I can envision is when you hear “Man Overboard”. Ugh, I feel saddened for the crew and the submariners families.
One of the most sobering things I learned while at sea is that depending on the mission if a crew member dies aboard, they don’t bury him at sea…they put him in the freezer right next to the frozen food. The life of a submariner is nothing like people can ever imagine. Movies rarely do it justice.
The crew is a family and there is nothing easy mentally or physically about being a submariner. I did the job that these 2 guys died doing, in fact there was very little I didn’t do aboard the St. Paul. You never think people can die doing the job you do, but it happens, it happened and it will happen again. Please take a minute with me to remember these two men, that died for their country…
God Speed.