In the military, we give medals of honor to men and women who have thrown themselves in harm’s way to selflessly give their lives for the security of others,…and they most certainly deserve that honor. Yet, when someone who possesses the ethical and moral convictions to say that “enough is enough”, and tells the truth about the ills that plague our service, they are vilified for it and never recognized for the strength of their convictions and their selfless behavior. In fact, that are attacked for the path they have chosen.

This situation is not about a squadron, a ship, its crew, the skipper or a single individual. This is about the US nuclear submarine service, which has a rich and deep tradition that harkens back to the earliest days of a man that embodied the essence of integrity, morals, ethics and standards that were so difficult for others to understand. This is a man that the Navy did not promote him beyond the rank of Captain - Congress did. His name was Hyman Rickover, and he was the father of the modern nuclear Navy. Admiral Rickover’s personal qualities were so profound and so pure,…that the military-industrial structure that he interfaced with absolutely struggled with his requirements for perfection. It was not only his demand for perfection in the ships we sailed,…it was his demand that every sailor embody a higher conviction and commitment that could not be found anywhere else. He wanted to know that each individual would willingly give their lives to protect our nation - and there was no compromise,…no quarter.

For reasons that I will never be able to comprehend or discern,…the sub service has broken down and compromised itself. Officers and enlisted alike have conducted themselves in a way that has damaged the integrity of a branch of the US Navy that has been referred to as the “tip of the spear”. In the process, these same dedicated people have privately struggled with who they are,…and have questioned their own actions. While I am certainly not positive of my supposition, I believe that a single person (or a few persons) started the dominoes to fall. For too long, the submarine service has needed someone brave enough and strong enough to bring all of this to light,…and I think that someone threw himself on the grenade for those who still serve beneath the waves. I believe that someone’s actions and choices embodied the spirit of Hyman Rickover. He would have been proud to call this lone soul “shipmate”, and Rickover would have steadfastly stood side-by-side with him if he had to face the court,….because he knew he was fighting for everything that Rickover stood for,…and everything that defined the service. I believe this individual’s actions will positively impact the lives of countless sailors who serve our nation in the nuclear submarine force,…and I hope those responsible will help to return a once proud service to its roots.

Whomever you are, thank you for your dedication,…thank you for your service,….and thank you for taking a bullet,….you honor us all.

So having realistically eliminated most of the meltdown scenarios, this event just highlights what happens when ELT’s go unchecked. The temptation to cheat is always present. On my boat, the ELT’s were infamous for their ability to forge all the signatures of the wardroom. This sort of behavior went largely unchallenged until a few close calls with those guys in ties that make surprise visits.

This sort of attitude existed on other boats on the waterfront and sometimes got caught and sometimes didn’t until something embarassing was discovered.

Some people get fired. Everybody else is made to repent through seemingly endless training. The whole boat becomes honest as a Boy Scout for about a year. People forget. Things begin to go back to the way they were. The cycle repeats.

Wow. Good times. I’m getting all nostalgic now.

Rust prevention. More or less. Honest.

The absolute worst case scenario here - a pipe blows. The reactor compartment fills with superheated steam. There’s a SLIGHT chance that the steam may fill the engine room and a lot of good sailors get killed. The chance of it getting out of the boat is dang near impossible and would require MANY things to go wrong independently. The reactor will shut itself down (assuming safety systems haven’t been gundecked by the electrical guys) and may or may not sustain damage that will prevent it from ever being used again (in that case, the boat would probably be decommissioned - reactors aren’t easily popped out and replaced).

Any nuclear submariner who had to learn how the engine room works should be able to back me on this.

Just wondering : are submarines reactor using fast or slow neutrons ?

As far as i know all mordern submarine nuclear reactors use slow neutrons (i am 100% sure for France, would need to check for others). Some submarines using fast neutrons reactors have been produced such as the alfa soviet submarine class which could reach more than 40 knots.

It sucked because it took me forever to qualify EOOW on S8G but I think the end result is better.

Soapbox mode on:

Mostly this appears to be a lack of leadership. Not too surprising since I believe that today’s submarine force leadership and training styles have moved much closer to that of the respective surface force styles than in days of yore. One example would be that no longer do the junior officers have to go to a knowledgeable enlisted sailor to get their qualification card signed off on a specific engineering system — they can do it all in the wardroom. That single practice breeds less respect in each for the other.

OK, I’m off the soapbox now.

Back in the S1C and S5W days there was a procedure for shutting down the plant by poisoning it with boron. Obviously it was a last ditch effort kind of thing and pretty well screwed up the plant chemistry so bad that a restart was just about impossible without shipyard involvement. Can’t ever remember