USS Toledo. Photo by Bryan William Jones

by DAVID AXE

“For the first time ever, the U.S. Navy will take civilian bloggers out for a ride on a submarine,” NBC crowed on Thursday. “The trip, planned for Friday in San Diego, will take eight bloggers on an all-day embark aboard a fast attack submarine.”

Sounds great, but one small point: War Is Boring placed a blogger aboard the submarine USS Toledo in April last year. Read Bryan William Jones’ historic FIRST undersea blog series here.

Unseen and unheralded, the U.S. Navy’s roughly 50 nuclear attack submarines comprise the silent vanguard of our conventional naval power at sea. While speedy corvettes, shallow-water transports and aviation-capable amphibious ships are vital for exploiting the peace — that is, building new alliances and exporting security abroad — submarines are the most important ships for keeping the peace — that is, deterring major aggression. For no other naval weapon rivals the submarine’s potential for massive, surprise destruction. Last month, War Is Boring contributor Bryan William Jones embarked on the newly modernized USS Toledo to see for himself how the Navy’s submarines maintain our dominance of the seas.

by BRYAN WILLIAM JONES

Ascending and descending through the ocean is smooth as can be until surfacing — or descending at what are termed “angles and dangles.” Angles and dangles is practiced right after a submarine leaves port and enters deep water. It’s essentially steep dives and climbs at angles up to 25 degrees. The point is to ensure that there is nothing improperly stowed or unsecured that could come loose and fall down, making noise. Anything that can make noise at unexpected times is anathema to submariners.

Surfacing a submarine is a critical time, particularly around crowded ports. Activity on the command deck becomes intense as Sonar calls out contacts to Fire Control and those contacts are relayed to the commander or bridge officer for confirmation. Bringing a submarine to the surface occurs in stages: relying exclusively on sonar contacts first, making sure there is nobody around. When the submarine reaches periscope depth, all sonar contacts are confirmed by visual sighting through the periscope, day or night, as modern periscopes are equipped with night vision capability, not mention still and video camera recording capabilities, tele-photo and additional signals intel options.

I realized that the usual smell of the ocean is not part of life on a submarine, when submerged. It was only when the hatches were opened and we went topside that I could smell the sea again. This is absolutely not the case on other Navy ships, where the ever-present smell permeates everything.

Transitioning into port, Navy swimmers are positioned fore and aft to rescue any crew that might fall overboard. Tugs deploy to assist turning and positioning of the submarine. In civilian ports, harbor pilots come on board to help navigate. At this particular port, we were positioning Toledo next to the destroyer USS Forrest Sherman, to save the Navy (and the taxpayer) mooring costs, and to help increase security. Armed watches are always in place when the submarine is in port, but the extra buffer of having a guided missile destroyer moored between the dock and the sub was convenient.

(Photo: BW Jones)

Unseen and unheralded, the U.S. Navy’s roughly 50 nuclear attack submarines comprise the silent vanguard of our conventional naval power at sea. While speedy corvettes, shallow-water transports and aviation-capable amphibious ships are vital for exploiting the peace — that is, building new alliances and exporting security abroad — submarines are the most important ships for keeping the peace — that is, deterring major aggression. For no other naval weapon rivals the submarine’s potential for massive, surprise destruction. Last month, War Is Boring contributor Bryan William Jones embarked on the newly modernized USS Toledo to see for himself how the Navy’s submarines maintain our dominance of the seas.

by BRYAN WILLIAM JONES

Lieutenant Austin Boatwright is the officer in charge of the Supply Department, handling logistics and support functions for Toledo. This means inventory control, operations analysis and materials management, in addition to contracting and finances. Supply officers, or “chops” (short for pork chop, which the Navy Supply Corps insignia resembles) supervise a small staff on submarines, including food-service personnel.

The food on a submarine is some of the best in the military. There are four meals every day: breakfast, lunch, dinner and “mid-rats,” or mid-day rations. I had the opportunity to enjoy meals with the officers and enlisted crew in the ward room and crew mess, respectively. Meals might consist of prime rib, sauteed mushrooms and vegetables with baked potatoes and even fresh-baked bread — and don’t forget the pizza on Saturday nights. The ever-popular and oh-so-tasty gummy bears can be found in the crew mess.

Quality cuisine has long been considered an integral part of submarine life — and a reward for the hazards of under-sea service and the long deployments of 90 days or more. Because these are nuclear-powered submarines, the only practical limit to how long they can stay deployed or underwater is how much food they can carry for the crew.

In the ward room, or officers mess, food is served at the table from a pass-through, while in the crew mess, there are five tables, where the crew sits in rotations to eat food from a buffet. You can eat as much as you like and the food is plentiful, all prepared from the smallest of galleys adjacent to the mess. The galley is a full-service kitchen with two ovens, a walk-in freezer and refrigerator, a fryer, mixers, broiling ovens and microwaves, in addition to a range — all to prepare the approximately 15,000 pounds of food required on a given patrol.

I actually wish I had more time to talk with the kitchen crew, as culinary preparation in difficult environments is a bit of a fascination for me. Maybe next time.

(Photo: BW Jones)

Unseen and unheralded, the U.S. Navy’s roughly 50 nuclear attack submarines comprise the silent vanguard of our conventional naval power at sea. While speedy corvettes, shallow-water transports and aviation-capable amphibious ships are vital for exploiting the peace — that is, building new alliances and exporting security abroad — submarines are the most important ships for keeping the peace — that is, deterring major aggression. For no other naval weapon rivals the submarine’s potential for massive, surprise destruction. Last month, War Is Boring contributor Bryan William Jones embarked on the newly modernized USS Toledo to see for himself how the Navy’s submarines maintain our dominance of the seas.

by BRYAN WILLIAM JONES

Medical departments on most deploying submarines are manned by a hospital corpsman, equivalent to a physician’s assistant who has extensive training to operate independently from a medical officer or physician. This training allows the corpsman to treat headaches, minor injuries and anything short of major surgery. Space is at a premium on a submarine, but there are extensive medical facilities. I was surprised at the level of redundancy. When necessary, the wardroom table becomes the surgery table.

For this particular trip, we did have a full physician on board. Dr. Vanderweele, pictured, and I had a wonderful discussion about the environment of the submarine and the routine the sailors adopt. Most sailors live 18-hour days with six hours on watch and 12 hours for submarine maintenance, training and rest and recreation. There are three watch shifts, or sections, on the submarine.

Given that people have an intrinsic, 25-hour circadian rhythm that fits into a 24-hour day, there may be problems with that schedule. We also talked about lighting on board, about which some percentage of sailors complain bitterly. The new “broad spectrum,” low-level, fluorescent lighting used on many submarines gives some people headaches. Light issues aside, there are plenty of stimuli on board to preserve your circadian rhythm, but the question of illumination is a valid one.

Sailors’ diets are another thing the Office of Naval Research is concerned with, and those discussions were equally illuminating. More on that later.

The prospect of medical research on submarines is interesting. Would changes to the current schedule or lighting improve morale and performance?

(Photo: BW Jones)

Unseen and unheralded, the U.S. Navy’s roughly 50 nuclear attack submarines comprise the silent vanguard of our conventional naval power at sea. While speedy corvettes, shallow-water transports and aviation-capable amphibious ships are vital for exploiting the peace — that is, building new alliances and exporting security abroad — submarines are the most important ships for keeping the peace — that is, deterring major aggression. For no other naval weapon rivals the submarine’s potential for massive, surprise destruction. Last month, War Is Boring contributor Bryan William Jones embarked on the newly modernized USS Toledo to see for himself how the Navy’s submarines maintain our dominance of the seas.

by BRYAN WILLIAM JONES

The Navigation and Operations Department is concerned with navigation and radio operations. All operations related to moving the boat through coastal and restricted waters, or coming into or out of port, falls to this department. They have a number of tools they can use, including radar, navigation charts and the boat’s two periscopes. Additionally, they have access to the Ring Laser Gyro Navigation System (RLGN), which allows for highly accurate navigation — and provides firing solutions for the Tomahawk cruise missiles, 24 hours a day, from anywhere on the globe.

The current system, the IP-1747/WSN, uses an enhanced display that receives data from combined RLGN, embedded global positioning satellites and other conventional navigation sources, and distributes those data to combat control systems, sonar, radar and other appropriate users on the network.

The Engineering Department operates the S6G nuclear reactor on Toledo. This reactor is core-rated at 165 MW and consists of the reactor core, reactor coolant, steam generation and other support systems. These are entirely closed systems, with two portions that recycle and reuse water to transfer heat from the reactor core through steam generators that supply steam to the turbines and main engines. Operations here also provide oxygen generation as well as CO, hydrogen and CO2 scrubbing of the atmosphere — and produces distilled water.

Nuclear submarines are actually some of the greenest travelers on or under the ocean. They consume essentially no petroleum products while underway and use nuclear power to provide light, heat, cooling, circulation and air filtration, potable water and electricity to power the boat. Incidentally, there is a back-up diesel generator that can be brought on-line in case of emergency, but is never operated under typical operations for anything other than maintenance.

If you are concerned about radiation exposure, there are certain areas of the boat where you’re only allowed to spend so much time. But the reality is, because of all of the shielding and the water around you, radiation exposure is actually less than if you were standing on the beach watching the ocean. Just to be safe however, every crewman wears a radiation dosimeter, at all times, that is checked periodically for total radiation exposure.

(Photo: BW Jones)

Unseen and unheralded, the U.S. Navy’s roughly 50 nuclear attack submarines comprise the silent vanguard of our conventional naval power at sea. While speedy corvettes, shallow-water transports and aviation-capable amphibious ships are vital for exploiting the peace — that is, building new alliances and exporting security abroad — submarines are the most important ships for keeping the peace — that is, deterring major aggression. For no other naval weapon rivals the submarine’s potential for massive, surprise destruction. Last month, War Is Boring contributor Bryan William Jones embarked on the newly modernized USS Toledo to see for himself how the Navy’s submarines maintain our dominance of the seas.

by BRYAN WILLIAM JONES

The sonar room functions as the eyes and ears of the submarine. This division is absolutely critical to maintaining or preventing contact, gathering intelligence and ensuring that the submarine itself is operated in a quiet fashion.

Commercial Off-The-Shelf technology (COTS) is a driving force in the U.S. Navy. Since her recent retrofitting, Toledo now has a new sonar array with over 1,000 individual sensors embedded in the bow, thanks to the Acoustic Rapid COTS Insertion (A-RCI) program. This sonar was the major motivation behind the depot modernization program for the SSN-688 submarines. A-RCI gives the Los Angeles class an additional edge against new foreign diesel-electric submarines.

Sensor management is handled by the new AN/BLQ-10.

Toledo operates the latest Raytheon AN/BYG-1 combat system. The AN/BYG-1 handles tactical control, weapons control and networking. Sonar operations provide for acoustic detection, tracking and localization, recording and analysis — as well as some data handling and data classification for the flank sonar array, the cylindrical sonar, the passive ranging sonar, the TB-29A twin-line towed array. Internal noise monitoring through submarine-wide embedded accelerometers also operates through this system.

And that’s not all. AN/BYG-1 also handles ocean-floor mapping and mine avoidance.

Compared to the old TB-29, the new TB-29A towed arrays provide four- to fivefold increase in signal detection capability of other quiet, submerged platforms, minimizing some of the concern a few years ago about the new generations of diesel-electric submarines being fielded by competing navies.

All this said, I was actually surprised that more modern data-handling and multi-spectral data display functionality has not made it into the latest submarines. In a sense, modern submarines are still using the same paradigms for listening to, detecting and tracking sonar contacts that they have used for decades.

Regardless, the sonar chief and I talked extensively about ways of displaying and clustering frequency and time-space domain data. Hopefully, some of the new technologies being developed for data visualization will migrate into modern platforms before too long. Anything that can help the operators deal with complex data, or alert them to certain acoustic signatures, would be good.

That said, the capabilities of the sonar operators to interpret sonar information is impressive. Their ability to separate biologic signals (whales, fish, even shrimp feeding) from surface ships is pretty straight-forward. But to take other sonar data, such as aircraft or ship traffic, and classify that by type, speed, heading and the number of propellers, all while it is influenced by water temperature, salinity and even ocean-bottom geological activity, is impressive indeed.

(Photo: BW Jones)

Unseen and unheralded, the U.S. Navy’s roughly 50 nuclear attack submarines comprise the silent vanguard of our conventional naval power at sea. While speedy corvettes, shallow-water transports and aviation-capable amphibious ships are vital for exploiting the peace — that is, building new alliances and exporting security abroad — submarines are the most important ships for keeping the peace — that is, deterring major aggression. For no other naval weapon rivals the submarine’s potential for massive, surprise destruction. Last month, War Is Boring contributor Bryan William Jones embarked on the newly modernized USS Toledo to see for himself how the Navy’s submarines maintain our dominance of the seas.

by BRYAN WILLIAM JONES

Typically, the most junior crew members man the helm of a U.S. Navy submarine, giving a huge amount of responsibility to men as young as 19 or 20. In the Russian and Chinese navies, only the most senior members of the crew perform this task.

I was absolutely impressed with Toledo’s crew. PO3 Gumina and PO3 Dale struck me as two of the quietest, yet most intelligent, sailors I’ve ever met, with interests and talents in chemical engineering and languages, respectively. PO2 Powers, for his part, plans to go on to medical school.

Toledo’s “culture” is like that of most other DoD operations, run in a top-down fashion, and owes its feel to Commander Douglass Reckamp, captain of the boat. Reckamp and I had a wonderful discussion about emergent properties of command structures and how that relates to aggregation of information and group decision-making — and the value of letting everyone have a voice. I was pleased when our discussion turned to the history and philosophy of science, and the ramifications for modern naval practice.

Toledo’s crew is organized around six separate departments: Combat, Engineering, Executive, Navigation, Medical and Supply. All weapons systems are controlled by Combat. On Toledo, this department has four separate divisions, including Torpedo, Fire Control, Sonar and Deck. Torpedo Division is manned by a machinist’s mate on the lower deck in the torpedo room. Fire Control is concerned with approach and attack parameters, while Sonar Division, situated next to Fire Control and the control deck, works with all three divisions to detect and direct appropriate information about any sonar-based contacts.

Communication between Combat’s divisions is in a round robin fashion. Contacts and bearings are called out to Fire Control, which maintains targeting solutions on all contacts, and Command, which makes decisions concerning those contacts.

Armament is substantial. Toledo carries traditional MK48 ADCAP torpedoes fired through the four forward torpedo tubes. In addition, there are 12 vertical-launch tubes for Tomahawk cruise missiles, each with a range of 2,500 kilometers.

(Photo: BW Jones)

Unseen and unheralded, the U.S. Navy’s roughly 50 nuclear attack submarines comprise the silent vanguard of our conventional naval power at sea. While speedy corvettes, shallow-water transports and aviation-capable amphibious ships are vital for exploiting the peace — that is, building new alliances and exporting security abroad — submarines are the most important ships for keeping the peace — that is, deterring major aggression. For no other naval weapon rivals the submarine’s potential for massive, surprise destruction. Last month, War Is Boring contributor Bryan William Jones embarked on the newly modernized USS Toledo to see for himself how the Navy’s submarines maintain our dominance of the seas.

by BRYAN WILLIAM JONES

The origin of the Los Angeles-class submarines was at the height of the Cold War. The class was designed to function almost exclusively as carrier battle-group escorts. They were intended to maintain a new peak of weapons capabilities while remaining some of the quietest submarines in the world.

With the fall of the Soviet Union, many of the original purposes of the Los Angeles class were in doubt, yet today the mission scope of these submarines and their crews has significantly expanded. They are ideal platforms for quickly and discretely responding to global changes. These submarines can deploy with very little notice and stay on station for extended periods of time, carrying out diverse operations.

Submariners are actually double volunteers. First, they volunteer for military service, which means eight weeks of basic training and indoctrination into U.S. Navy life. Then individuals wanting to become submariners volunteer for undersea duty. Upon being selected for this duty, a submariner gets specific training for another eight weeks, learning about fire fighting, escape techniques, physics, and other aspects specific to living and working on a submarine.

All sailors also attend schools designed to give them skills related to their particular jobs on the submarine. These schools teach everything from the fundamentals of electronics or nuclear power-plant operations, to navigation, mechanics and more. The Naval Postgraduate School also offers courses to officers in engineering acoustics, physical oceanography, electrical engineering, operations research including tactical applications and even courses of study in applied mathematics and computer science. Classes are even offered on-board the submarine, through independent distance-learning programs.

The sailors on Toledo are highly independent, with redundant training to solve problems in an environment where there is no calling for help when things go wrong. There are two principal tasks on-board: the operation of the submarine and its nuclear power plant, and maintaining readiness of the combat systems. Because of this, training is a constant and daily occurrence.

More to come …

See part one.

(Photo: BW Jones)

Unseen and unheralded, the U.S. Navy’s roughly 50 nuclear attack submarines comprise the silent vanguard of our conventional naval power at sea. While speedy corvettes, shallow-water transports and aviation-capable amphibious ships are vital for exploiting the peace — that is, building new alliances and exporting security abroad — submarines are the most important ships for keeping the peace — that is, deterring major aggression. For no other naval weapon rivals the submarine’s potential for massive, surprise destruction. Last month, War Is Boring contributor Bryan William Jones embarked on the newly modernized USS Toledo to see for himself how the Navy’s submarines maintain our dominance of the seas.

by BRYAN WILLIAM JONES

USS Toledo, “Sword of Freedom,” arrived to pick up a small group of people at Cape Canaveral’s turning basin. After a quick orientation to safety issues including how to survive a fire on-board, introduction to the command structure and layout of the boat, we got underway transiting out of the turning basin and westward into the Atlantic.

The mission of USS Toledo is principally a deterrent to aggression, though other missions can and do involve intelligence gathering, anti-ship and anti-submarine operations, strike, mining, search-and-rescue and discrete insertion of Special Forces. The Los Angeles-class submarines currently form the backbone of the U.S. submarine fleet, with a total of 45 boats in the class currently active.

Toledo is one of the final 23 boats in the class that were designated “improved” boats that run quieter with more advanced combat and navigation systems. Additionally, they were designed for under-ice operations by moving the forward dive planes from the conning tower to retractable positions in the bow of the boat.

Much has been written about the statistics and capabilities of these boats, but the absolute limits of these submarines are classified. Nominally, they are capable of 25 knots and maximum operating depths of greater than 800 feet. The reality of course is that the boat’s operating envelope is significantly greater, with greater test and crush depth ratings and flank speed ratings underwater of 30 to 32 knots. For the record, we were cruising right around 650 feet at 20 knots for a good portion of our journey down the coast.

Toledo was originally commissioned back in 1995, but entered into a depot modernization period in 2007 in Newport News, Virginia, where extensive upgrades to the boat’s sonar, combat and weapons systems was undertaken, upgrading these systems to keep ahead of developments in other submarines operated by competing navies. This cruise is part of the redelivery from depot modernization on Feb. 21.

While Toledo is one of the smaller submarines that the U.S. Navy operates, they are still 360-foot-long machines with a 33-foot beam and a surface displacement of over 6,200 tons. The Los Angeles-class submarines are organized into two principal compartments including engine spaces housing the reactor and all of the engine and turbine components as well as the desalination plant. This compartment occupies approximately the rear half of the submarine. The forward spaces house all the living space, weapons systems, control centers, sonar and fire control on three main decks.

On the first deck below the sail, containing the bridge and all of the periscopes, radar masts and most communications arrays, is the control room, sonar and attack centers. The second deck down contains the mess decks, berthing and ward room, while the lower deck is occupied by the torpedo room, including all of the torpedo stores, Tomahawk cruise missiles and mines. This is also the location of the forward Tomahawk vertical-launch controls.

The boat’s compliment is typically 14 officers and 132 enlisted men. For this cruise, there were a few extra individuals on board including a Navy physician.

As we transited into the Atlantic, I had the opportunity to spend some time up on the bridge, enjoying the sunshine, watching dolphins play off the bow wake and I can honestly say it was one of the highlights of the trip. There were far more interesting things to come, but the simple pleasure of moving through the ocean with a view around you unencumbered by superstructure or other obstructions is unparalleled in the U.S. Navy.

(Photo: BW Jones)