This story
was submitted by Ken Loncar. It's a long story but a really good read
and I think it expresses how most of us felt about the ride in September of
2001.
USS
Kamehameha Decommissioning Cruise
I
was stationed aboard USS Kamehameha, on the Gold crew, circa 1969-1971 as a
Nuc Machinist Mate. Because of the printing work that I did for Kam's Pearl
Harbor Inactivation Ceremony I was, among others, fortunate enough to have
been invited, along with the original plank owners, to ride the Kam from San
Diego, CA to Alameda, CA over the Labor Day Weekend, 2001.The cruise lasted
from Saturday morning (9/01/01) to Monday late afternoon (9/03/01).
Those
three days will be etched in my memory until I die. Around the beginning of
August, 2001 my wife and I watched a submarine program on the Discovery
Channel. After the program was over I told my wife that I would "give
my left nut"" to just go out for one day on a Nuclear Submarine
and re-experience those memories that that surfaced during the program.
Because of the USS Greenville incident, I really thought that there was no
way that that would ever happen. Little did I know, about a week later, I
would get a email from Howard Grover asking me if I would be interested in
riding the Kam one more time. Of course I said yes.
I
cannot even begin to thank CDR Ed Seal, Kam CO, LCDR John Russ, former Kam
XO, LCDR Chap Godbey, former Kam PAO Officer, and Howard Grover for all
their hard work that went above and beyond the call of duty, in making the
cruise happen for all of us “Old Sea Dogs”.
Thank
You ComSubPac for allowing us to ride the Kam, one last time, for the cruise
of a lifetime!
Looking
at the Kam from a distance, tied up to Sub Pier, Ballast Point, San Diego,
on Saturday, in the early morning light, is one of the most memorable
impressions that I will ever have of her.
She looked like she did back in 1965 when I was in Nuc School at
MINSY. Sort of like seeing, from a distance, a good looking, middle aged,
feisty, former lady friend that you haven't seen in a long time, in the
early morning light. Still lean, mean, trim and racy, without the bulges,
wrinkles and slightly gray hair that comes with middle age.
Seeing
her again that morning really brought home to me what she and her sisters
represented to the USA, the US Submarine Force and me during the Cold War
and beyond. The last of the 41 For Freedom Polaris Missile Submarines! Her
silhouette still looked like a Boomer (with a couple of minor exceptions on
the Missile Deck). Think about all of the firepower that she had back in the
old days when she was a missile boat. Silent, Sleek & Deadly!!
Kamehameha was still an awesome sight. She and we did our job very well. Kam
and her sisters never launched their missiles in anger. She and her later
crews carried that tradition on into the present after Kam was converted
into a SSN, by delivering US Navy Seals, sometimes (?), into harms way. I
take care of my own. My own take care of me. Don't screw with my country, me
and my crew, cuz, your dead meat if you do!!!
Damn!! She was still a good-looking middle-aged 36-year-old broad!!
We
checked in with the Topside Watch. I was pleasantly surprised that the crew
was actually happy to have us "Old Dogs" aboard for this last
cruise. I could see it in their faces and hear it in their voices. I could
feel their enthusiasm to have us aboard. One of the crew told me later that
having us old dogs aboard during Kam’s last cruise is like life's circle,
“The past is part of the present and the present is part of the past.”
This feeling was to carry over throughout the cruise. The crew always had
time for us, made us feel at home, and answered our questions about the
present Kam and Navy. They asked us constantly about clarifying the legends
that abound about Kam's early days both before and after commissioning.
After
getting checked in, and getting about half way down the AMR 1 hatch I
smelled the "boat" smell. Remember that unique smell that is like
nothing else that we smelled before coming aboard the boats or since?
I was amazed at the old memories that surfaced going the rest of the
way down the hatch ladder. Memories of people and events that I haven't
thought of for 30 years. What a
rush! It’s amazing what the mind has stored up in old dusty files in its
farthest recesses. Then the least trigger, a smell, unleashes them bringing
those old memories to the fore. ! Going below decks for the first time and
being amazed at the room and habitability after coming from the USS Snook, a
585 Class Fast Attack Sub, (it was like coming from a 426 Hemi Dodge Dart to
a Cadillac El Dorado); loading stores; manhandling large parts that fit,
within fractions of inches to spare, down into the Engine Room through the
After Escape Trunk making sure that nothing was dinged while using chain
falls and a lot of muscle; working 12 - 18 hour shifts during upkeep in
preparation for getting underway to meet the patrol commitment on time; Shut
Down Roving Watch back aft at 2 AM during reactor shutdown and cool down;
that first breath of fresh air that stunk when we came up to ventilate
during patrol; going topside after the patrol and your eyes going buggy
trying to focus on something farther away than 20 feet for the first time in
60 something days; trying to keep the Lithium Bromide A/C plant from rocking
up during numerous depth changes; answering an Ahead Flank Bell in the
Engine Room and hearing and feeling the Main Engines and the whole Engine
Room singing, with the 2190 TEP lube oil in the Main Reduction Gear bearing
oil site glasses looking like milk; welding, machining and then lapping with
an Arkansas Stone, a steam cut out of the sealing surfaces between the Port
Main Turbine Casing and the Throttle Block and checking the bluing contact
area time after time until we had the right width continuous blue; replacing
the No. 2 MSW Pump mechanical seal underway; overhauling the HP Brine Pump
during every patrol; replacing all the mechanical seals in all of the
seawater pumps in the boat during upkeep because the Blue Crew, per the
direction of the Harbor Pilot, ran over a mud bar on their way into
Charleston coming in from patrol; setting a trash compacting record and
getting the Champion Trash
Compactor plaque, with attached garbage weight, for smashing trash (98 trash
cans in 3 hours); simonizing the Condensate Bay bilges in LLER until they
shined like the paint on my Dodge Charger; performing a Delayed Fast Scram
Recovery Drill or coming up to periscope depth to obtain a Type 11 Periscope
position fix, in the North Atlantic during the dead of winter, all time
rocking and rolling because of the waves, while trying to maintain ordered
depth without loosing the diesel or broaching; rigging in the trailing wire
antennae and all of a sudden
hearing a screech that could be heard back to Charleston; participating in a
Falling Leaf Dive to drive a new Diving Officer nuts on his first dive as he
tries to get to and maintain ordered depth and bubble; helping a green,
gullible, non-qual as he goes throughout the boat trying to find all of the
gear that he needs to snag the Mail Buoy on the first pass; hiding the
XO’s State Room door were no officer can find it until it miraculously
appears just before we get in from patrol; going through the Panama Canal
and the monsoon aborted Bar-B-Q on the missile deck during the change of
homeport from Pearl to Charleston in 1970; crew beach parties with officers,
nose coners and nucs all attending with every muscle car known to man parked
in the parking lot (those cars are probably worth at least 1/2 to 3/4
Million dollars today); and last, but not least, this is highly indicative
of the Kamehameha esprit de corps, the Gold and Blue Crew wives supporting,
helping and caring for my wife before, during, and after the birth of our
second child while I was out on my First patrol on the Kam. It’s amazing
what the mind has stored up in old dusty files in its farthest recesses.
Then the least trigger, a smell, unleashes them bringing those old memories
to the fore.
We
stowed our gear in our assigned racks, then we went back topside. After the
crew mustered on the pier and had morning quarters, the Maneuvering Watch
was stationed. Getting underway under Nuclear Power for the last time, for
me, was an event that once again brought back memories of getting underway
on Kam in Guam and Charleston SC. On the 4 boats I was stationed on, I
always tried to be the either forward or after capstan operator during
maneuvering watch. We witnessed singling up the lines, breasting out, the
blast of Kam's whistle as #1 line was cast loose, and the crew pulling in
the lines and stowing them. We
saw that first faint ripple aft as the screw began to turn as Kam started
leaving a wake forward of the bow and we felt her start to get underway
answering the back bell. Watching the upper rudder turn as she backed into
the stream. Then the rudder shifted amidships, and we saw a substantial
swirl in the water aft as the screw started to bite as Kam began to answer
the ahead bell. We felt her gather way ahead and see the wake build astern
as she left San Diego the last time. The memories surfacing again, about
other times and places.
Below
decks the Kam looked GREAT! She looked like she did when I was aboard her in
the late 1960's. There wasn't any heavy accumulation of paint on her hull
insulation, cable runs, piping, or equipment. She didn't look like she was
36 years old. She looked like she just came out of the yards. Everything was
painted, formica-ed, shined, lagged, clean and of course polished. She
showed very little signs of the accumulation of wear over the 36 years of
her life. She looked damned good. She looked every bit like the feisty
good-looking broad she was. You
could feel, talking to the crew, how proud they were of her, and how proud
they were to be part of the Kamehameha legend. Her material condition
reflected her present crews pride in her. As I went through the boat for the
first time on this cruise I could feel Kam's pride in herself, her
traditions, legends, and crews.
I
was in the Control Room by the BCP & Diving Stand (along with
practically all the rest of the Old Sea Dogs) during the first dive after we
passed over the 100-fathom curve. Diving brought back memories of having to
initially qualify and then re-qualify on the planes for Submarine PracFacs
on each of the 4 boats that I was stationed on. As orders were given,
exactly repeated back, and then carried out, it brought home to me once
again what the US Submarine Force does and how the margin for error is zero,
zilch, nothing, nada. Everyone being aware of what was going on, knowing
what their responsibilities were, and professionally going about
implementing them. Remember Kam’s unique Diving Alarm; watching for the
straight or green board on the BCP; equalizing your ears when there is
pressure in the boat; hearing the air rush out of the ballast tanks; and
feeling the down angle coming on and compensating for it by leaning into the
deck angle unconsciously as the deck tilted to the ordered down bubble?
Things the brain and body doesn’t forget even after all these years. I’m
very thankful that I was able to experience them one last time.
I
was impressed at the number of Laptop and PC Desktop Computers that were in
the Control Room, especially the Laptops. Not only there but throughout the
boat. I seemed as though every member of the crew had his own laptop.
Remember the continuous (except for drills or alerts) card games down in the
crews lounge way back when? Well, the card games still exist, but not to the
stakes we played for nor the time spans. There were at least 1 or 2 laptops
being used for work or rate advancement related stuff at the same time the
card games were being played during our cruise. I never saw any of the crew
playing games on them. Our present submariners are very educated and
dedicated people just like the old days.
Speaking
of computers, throughout my life I always equated the bridge of the Star
Trek Starship Enterprise with Missile Control Center (MCC). MCC
doesn't exist anymore. It's a crew’s lecture/ study hall now. How
vividly I remember recording the Beatles, Rolling Stones, 3 Dog Night etc.
down there on the Teak reel to reel tape recorders, and watching the
blinking lights on the Missile Control Analog Computer panels seem to keep
time with the beat of the music. Benches and tables stand now where once
stood the most awesome computers (for their time) in the world capable of
FINISHING Armageddon.
I
didn’t know, until this cruise, that Kam now had a Jacuzzi installed in
the bottom of Missile Tube No. 15. This missile tube was converted for the
Seals when they came back aboard after cold water operations. All of us old
sea dogs, who still could, got to climb down into it and take pictures of
the mermaids and other denizens of the deep painted on the inside of the
missile tube. This was the first time that I was ever in a missile tube.
They were always loaded with war shots when I was aboard. Wow, what a
feeling to be standing where for MANY years nuclear tipped missiles waited,
hoping, never to be launched. That really brought home the awesome
responsibility that all of us shared during the Cold War. And now, during
the present, I realize what our Seal Teams go through doing what they do.
They need a Jacuzzi to warm back up after being in cold water. BURR!!
SMOKERS
BEWARE! The only place that smoking was permissible was in LLAMR 1. I think
that there were only 2 butt kits down there, and they were cans without a
top. Remember in the old days when 90% of the crew smoked, and there was a
butt kit almost everywhere you looked. You went through a quarter pack of
butts per watch? It ain't that way no more in the new Navy. I was told that
on a lot of boats smoking is not permitted at all. (Different times and a
different Navy). However, there were many smokers aboard Kam during our
cruise. Some of the best BS sessions during our cruise were around the butt
cans in LLAMR 1. Which, in the
old days, was the norm, anywhere aboard the boat.
I'm glad I'm still a “sometimes” smoker. I would have missed out
on a lot of great reminiscent BS "this is a real no shitter"
sessions in LLAMR 1 if I wasn't. Some things never change…
Sunday’s
dinner was one of the BEST meals that I have had since I left the boats. We
had all you can eat of prime rib and crab legs. These were BIG steaks and
BIG crab legs and they were cooked to perfection per each individuals order.
Remember in the old days we would always have really good chow (except for
the powdered milk, eggs & bug juice) and always give the cooks a blast
of _hit cuz it wasn’t quite up to our stringent standards, or just for the
hell of it? Well this meal exceeded all of us old sea dogs stringent
standards. Plus, we mess cranked the meal for the crew. It was really a
great experience and our way of saying thank you to the crew for having us
aboard. I had the scullery watch during the dinner. I forgot what dishpan
hands were until I had to rinse and stack all of the dishes, glasses, cups
and fighting gear prior to putting them into the dishwasher. It was a lot of
fun; especially trading back and forth the mess crank jokes (?).
Some great traditions never change!
Kudos’ to Kam’s Commissary Department. They really know how to
put on a GREAT FEED!!
We
were bunked in the missile house upper level. I had a top rack. Wow!
Climbing in and out of the rack really brought home to me that this middle
aged body can't do, what it could do, 30 some years ago with no problem.
Especially trying to be quiet so you don't wake up you shipmates! Remember,
back then, how easy it was grabbing something, pulling your legs up over
your head and slithering into your rack.
Well believe me, grabbing a overhead handhold, planning exactly where
you are going to place your feet so you can "walk" up to the rack,
get your feet in, and then move the rest of you body in without grunting,
groaning and muttering a few "unmentionable expletives" is no
middle aged man's easy task. And I'm in fairly good shape!
While
aboard this cruise I never wanted to go to sleep. I was afraid of missing
something. I wanted to fully experience all of the time that I had aboard
Kam this last time. I knew that there would never be another chance to
experience what I was experiencing again. Why waste it with sleep? I think
that I slept for a total of about 6 hours during the cruise.
Well,
early Monday morning I had to hit the rack. I just couldn't keep my eyes
open any more. After I quietly got up into my rack, with much “muttering,
groaning and unmentionable expletive THOUGHTS,” I couldn't go to sleep!
I'm
not a mystic or very religious man. But, having worked in shipyards for
about 8 years after I got out of the Navy, I feel that each piece of major
machinery, especially a ship (or boat), has a unique personality or
"soul." Lying in my rack that early morning, I listened and felt
the Kam making way and a couple of times changing depth. The feeling of her
underway (remember that very faint vibration or sensation of motion in
excess of 7 or 8 knots), and doing what she was doing seemed as though she
was talking to me. Saying, "I’ve been there and done that! In my
younger days, I used to be the forefront of technology, and I still am, but
to a lesser degree now. I can still do what I am now designed to do, and do
it very well. But the Navy says that my time has come to lay down my sword
and shield. Thanks for coming to see and be with me during my final requiem
journey to the end.”
Captain
Seal and I met in the MLOPS passageway between the Crews Mess and the Fan
Room, on Saturday in the late night. We talked about Kam at length. I
related some of my memories of her when I was aboard, and he briefly told me
what would happen during Kam’s decommissioning at PSNS.
We
also talked about saving Kam as a “Cold War Memorial” for all of the
Cold War Warriors, similar to what France did preserving their first Boomer
the Redoutable. During our conversation I asked him if it would be possible
for me to come up to the bridge prior to entering the Golden Gate and tying
up at Alameda so I could take pictures and videos. He said, “Sure, it
would be no problem”.
Monday,
around Noon, I was very surprised that he passed the word “Former Petty
Officer Loncar to lay to the bridge to take pictures and videos for passing
under the Golden Gate Bridge.” Of course I hauled butt, got my cameras and
made my way to the bridge.
I
just don’t remember that the trunk from the Control Room to the Bridge as
being that long! It didn’t seem like it going down it during upkeep when I
was 20 something, fully _hit
faced, coming back from Andy’s Hut, at Polaris Point, on Guam.
Thank
You Captain Seal. It really meant a lot to me that you would remember an off
the cuff commitment that you made in the early morning a couple of days
before. Especially with everything that goes on at the bridge during the
entering of a high traffic, narrow transit area, which, required your utmost
attention. I stayed out of the way and took some great videos and pictures.
Once again, Thank You Captain. Well done!
As
some of the old dogs and I walked off the Pier at Alameda we turned around
and looked at Kam for one last time. We wanted one last memory of
Kamehameha, still alive, vibrant, proud of what she was, in the water, her
element and home for 36 years. We all took pictures of her next to the pier.
To me she seemed to be sad at seeing us leave. As I looked at her, for that
last time, she seemed to say good-bye and thanks for being part of her.
I thanked her for being a part of me and helping me to grow, mature
and become the person that I am today.
Throughout
the cruise I took many photos and videos to show my kids, grand kids, and
future grand kids. I hope that when they look at them and they read this
letter they can experience in some small measure, "This is what an
early Nuclear Submarine was like and why your dad or gramp's worked his _ss
off to qualify in submarines in order to wear the silver dolphins and
eventually qualify as a NUC EWS. As a result of that perseverance he was
privileged to be a part of the best branch of our Armed Forces preserving
the “Cold War Peace” in his younger days."
I
tried above to express the gratitude, experiences, old memories, and
emotions which I felt riding the Kamehameha during part of her requiem
cruise on her way to PSNS for decommissioning. The words seem inadequate to
me in some places and maybe I went overboard in others, now that I have
re-read this letter. Granted, the emotions and feelings that I felt on the
cruise are very sentimental, however they were and still are very real to
me. But what the hell! I gave it my best shot! Maybe this letter will
trigger someone else's Kam memories and they can email them to Greg
Pancerev’s great web site @ www.kamfish.com to share with us all and
further preserve USS Kamehameha for our future generations.
The
great thing about going on this cruise: I did not have to “give up my left
nut” to do it!!!!
Imua,
Ken
Loncar ex - MM1(SS)
USS Kamehameha Gold Crew 1969 - 1971
Back
to the DV Cruise Page
After
getting checked in, and getting about half way down the AMR 1 hatch I
smelled the "boat" smell. Remember that unique smell that is like
nothing else that we smelled before coming aboard the boats or since?
I was amazed at the old memories that surfaced going the rest of the
way down the hatch ladder. Memories of people and events that I haven't
thought of for 30 years. What a
rush! It’s amazing what the mind has stored up in old dusty files in its
farthest recesses. Then the least trigger, a smell, unleashes them bringing
those old memories to the fore. ! Going below decks for the first time and
being amazed at the room and habitability after coming from the USS Snook, a
585 Class Fast Attack Sub, (it was like coming from a 426 Hemi Dodge Dart to
a Cadillac El Dorado); loading stores; manhandling large parts that fit,
within fractions of inches to spare, down into the Engine Room through the
After Escape Trunk making sure that nothing was dinged while using chain
falls and a lot of muscle; working 12 - 18 hour shifts during upkeep in
preparation for getting underway to meet the patrol commitment on time; Shut
Down Roving Watch back aft at 2 AM during reactor shutdown and cool down;
that first breath of fresh air that stunk when we came up to ventilate
during patrol; going topside after the patrol and your eyes going buggy
trying to focus on something farther away than 20 feet for the first time in
60 something days; trying to keep the Lithium Bromide A/C plant from rocking
up during numerous depth changes; answering an Ahead Flank Bell in the
Engine Room and hearing and feeling the Main Engines and the whole Engine
Room singing, with the 2190 TEP lube oil in the Main Reduction Gear bearing
oil site glasses looking like milk; welding, machining and then lapping with
an Arkansas Stone, a steam cut out of the sealing surfaces between the Port
Main Turbine Casing and the Throttle Block and checking the bluing contact
area time after time until we had the right width continuous blue; replacing
the No. 2 MSW Pump mechanical seal underway; overhauling the HP Brine Pump
during every patrol; replacing all the mechanical seals in all of the
seawater pumps in the boat during upkeep because the Blue Crew, per the
direction of the Harbor Pilot, ran over a mud bar on their way into
Charleston coming in from patrol; setting a trash compacting record and
getting the Champion Trash
Compactor plaque, with attached garbage weight, for smashing trash (98 trash
cans in 3 hours); simonizing the Condensate Bay bilges in LLER until they
shined like the paint on my Dodge Charger; performing a Delayed Fast Scram
Recovery Drill or coming up to periscope depth to obtain a Type 11 Periscope
position fix, in the North Atlantic during the dead of winter, all time
rocking and rolling because of the waves, while trying to maintain ordered
depth without loosing the diesel or broaching; rigging in the trailing wire
antennae and all of a sudden
hearing a screech that could be heard back to Charleston; participating in a
Falling Leaf Dive to drive a new Diving Officer nuts on his first dive as he
tries to get to and maintain ordered depth and bubble; helping a green,
gullible, non-qual as he goes throughout the boat trying to find all of the
gear that he needs to snag the Mail Buoy on the first pass; hiding the
XO’s State Room door were no officer can find it until it miraculously
appears just before we get in from patrol; going through the Panama Canal
and the monsoon aborted Bar-B-Q on the missile deck during the change of
homeport from Pearl to Charleston in 1970; crew beach parties with officers,
nose coners and nucs all attending with every muscle car known to man parked
in the parking lot (those cars are probably worth at least 1/2 to 3/4
Million dollars today); and last, but not least, this is highly indicative
of the Kamehameha esprit de corps, the Gold and Blue Crew wives supporting,
helping and caring for my wife before, during, and after the birth of our
second child while I was out on my First patrol on the Kam. It’s amazing
what the mind has stored up in old dusty files in its farthest recesses.
Then the least trigger, a smell, unleashes them bringing those old memories
to the fore.