Memories Of My Past

USS Alabama SSBN 731

USS Alabama SSBN 731

         My third Submarine was the USS Alabama SSBN 731. Let's discuss what the SSBN part means. First, SS - it's a Submarine (Submarines are not ships, they are boats. A ship can carry small vessels, or boats. A Submarine does not carry them, so they are boats). B - Ballistic Missile. N - Nuclear Powered. The Alabama Reactor Core was designed to last FIFTEEN years! Imagine driving your car, and not having to fill it with gas for fifteen years. The fact that the core will last that long is amazing to me In comparison, my first Submarine, the USS Theodore Roosevelt SSBN 600 had a five year core, and I thought that was phenomenal when I reported aboard in 1974.

         I was a member of the initial manning crew. We manned the Alabama in August of 1983. The boat wasn't commissioned until 1985. What initial manning crew means is, I was part of the crew that was first to man the Submarine. 36 total people were in the initial manning crew. Most were Nuclear Trained Personnel with a few, very few Non-Nuclear Trained personnel. Ahhh, you just learned something new. Not every sailor on a Submarine is Nuclear Trained. Only a few, very few are. Why? It's pretty expensive to train Nuclear Trained Personnel, plus, you have to have an intelligence level well above average. The initial manning crew was comprised of maybe 36-40 people. Of course more personnel were added as the Submarine was built. Notice the Submarine next to it, still in pieces essentially. That's the USS Alaska SSBN 732 being assembled. I won't bore you with details about how the Submarines were built. Plus, there's a lot I don't know on this subject.

         My first trip to the Alabama was an eye-opener. The hull was intact as you can see, the Engineroom and Reactor Compartment had its equipment and machinery installed, but the rest of the boat was empty! There were no walls that separated places like Sonar, the Galley, the Chiefs Quarters, even crews berthing. Oh wait, the future berthing areas (called nine man bunkrooms) were not installed, except one. That one 9-man bunkroom was where the Engineering Duty Petty Officer (EDPO) would sleep at night, Every other crewman could sleep in the barracks, but the EDPO (people like me), or the Engineering Duty Officer (EDO) had to be on board at all times. So, guess who was always on board? Yep, that Enlisted man. The EDO's (Officers) slept in a trailer on the pier. Overtime, those bunkrooms would be completed.

         For the first few months of the boats life, the Reactor (Rx) Core was not installed. Initial testing and flushing needed to be done. The pipes that made up the Primary System were filthy and needed to be flushed. So we filled the Primary Plant, then drained it, over and over. This was done starting about September 1983. The flushing of the Primary System was done through a lint-free cloth (or wipes) made of synthetic materials such as polypropylene. I honestly do not know what type of cloth was used. I do know that we flushed that system for a little over a month. We were in Shift work while this was done, but we weren't standing duty since there was no Rx Core installed. Finally! We had a Grade A Flush, meaning we could move on to the next step, loading the core.

         A Nuclear Reactor Core is not very Radioactive until it is taken Critical. As a result, I was standing about 15-20 feet from it as it was lowered into the Submarine. Yes, the hull still had openings in it that were later sealed. It took a few hours to get the core installed,. Once it was installed, we filled it, and flushed it again. At least this time it didn't take a month to get a Grade A result!

         At some point, we started standing watches on the plant, probably around the time the core was installed. As EDPO's, we were required to remain on board at all times. We could only go to the pier for Head Calls (Bathroom breaks). But, the EDO had to be on board when we did. I had the honor of being the first man to spend a full night on board the Alabama. We only stood duty on weekends, because we were testing the plant throughout the week. As the saying goes, "Ahhh, the good old days!" NOT!

         Having duty on the weekend meant you spent 24 hours on board with no galley, no way to get food or drink. You brought it with you. The worst part? The Shipyard (Electric Boat in Groton Connecticut) was working through the night. Welding, grinding, etc. I remember waking in the morning with Grinding dust in my hair. I remember being woken for a couple of reasons. One was touring the Engineering Spaces. I was required to tour them every 6 hours, The EDO would also tour every six hours, staggered from my tours such that one of us would tour every 3 hours. While touring, we'd initial the logs on the 3 watchstanders. It was easy, but a pain in the 'you know what' at the same time. I was also woken by the shipyard so Radiography could be performed. Why? The shipyard was slowly welding the hull cuts shut. Every hull weld was required to be radiographed.

         The boat was Commissioned on May 25, 1985, and has been making deterrent patrols for almost 40 years now. After Commissioning Sea Trials started. That's another story.




Jim Dorrell