Daily Archives: February 26, 2013

A Part III’s Deck of Cards

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BRITISH SUBMARINE DEPTH CHARGERS PLAYING CARDS

A diesel boat came back from patrol and the pipe was made “All Part III books to the Wardroom. So all the Part III’s mustered at the wardroom except for one junior rating who had a pack of cards. The First Lieutenant said to him “Where is your Part III book?

The boy replied “Sir, I lost my Part III book down Q Recess and so I use this Deck of Cards instead.”

The First Lieutenant replied “Because of this, I am putting you on Captain’s report.

The rating was taken in front of the Captain said to him, “If you do not have a good reason, I will punish you as no other rating has ever been punished.”

The rating began laying out the deck of cards.

When I see the Ace, it tells me that there is but one Main Line.

When I see the Two, it reminds me of the planes – Fwd and Aft.

When I see the Three, it reminds of the three watch system – Red, White & Blue.

When I see the Four, it reminds me of the four types of torpedo – Mk8, 20, 23 & 24.

When I see the Five, it reminds me of the five compartments – Forends,  Accom. Space,  Control Room, Engine Room & After ends.

..and when I see the Six, it reminds me of the Six Valve Chest.

Sir, when I see the Seven, it reminds me of the number of masts – Fwd Periscope, After Periscope, Radar, ECM, Snort Induction, WT and Snort Exhaust.

When I see the Eight, it reminds me of the eight torpedo tubes – 6 Fwd & 2 aft.

When I see the Nine, it reminds me of the punishment I will get for losing my Part III book.

When I see the Ten, it reminds me of the number of months we have run from Faslane when being an SM1 boat.

When I see the Jack, it reminds me of all the jacky bastards living in the Fwd Mess.

When I see the Queen it reminds of me of Polaris Submarines and all the queens that man them.

When I see the King, it reminds me of you sir – the Captain.

There are two Jokers in the pack – the number of times I have been home this year.

There are Four suits, one for each mess – Fwd, Aft, Senior Rates and that other one.

There are Twelve picture cards, one each for the number of killicks that seem to be on my back at any one time.

There are Thirteen tricks, one each for the number of killicks that are on my back at any one time.

There are Fifty Two cards, one for each of the sailors that the Jimmy thinks are onboard.

There are Three Hundred & Sixty Five Spots, the number of days we turn to in a year.

And so you see Sir, my deck of cards serves me as a Part III Book, SMP6, Watch & Station Bill and Leave Record.

You see folks, this story is true – I was that Part III.

N.B. I was awarded 10 days nines, 30 Days stoppage of leave, 30 days stoppage of Submarine Pay and picked up for a haicut on the way out.

Source – Diesel Boats UK on Facebook

US – Sequestration Could Jeopardize Two Contracts For EB, Second Submarine

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‘This is a very serious impasse that could really put a cloud over EB’s projected hiring,’ Congressman Joe Courtney says. But he adds that Congress still has time to fix the impasse.

Welding on the hull of the Mississippi in Building 260, Groton. Credit Electric Boat photography department

Welding on the hull of the Mississippi in Building 260, Groton. Credit Electric Boat photography department

U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney said the federal cuts slated to go into effect under sequestration would affect shipyards across the country, including Electric Boat in Groton.

Sequestration – or $1.2 trillion in cuts – are slated to go into effect March 1. Half the cuts would come from the defense industry.

Electric Boat has two contracts with the Navy – one a $94 million contract to repair the USS Miami, the Groton-built nuclear submarine that caught fire at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard May 23; and the second a $34.9 million contract to work on the USS Providence, which was scheduled to come into Groton later this year.

Both could be suspended if sequestration occurs.

“This is a very serious impasse that could really put a cloud over EB’s projected hiring,” Courney said, referring to the optimistic picture painted by the company during a legislative breakfast in January.

“But Congress still has time to fix the impasse and allow the great work that people do there to go forward. The leadership of the Navy, over and over again, repeated their desire to have this work move forward in Groton. But their hands are tired until Congress and the White House come to an agreement,” he said.

According to the Electric Boat website, repairs to the USS Miami would involve 300 EB employees.

Electric Boat has declined comment on the potential impacts.

“The Department of Defense has not informed us how it intends to implement sequestration, if it occurs. Consequently, any response on our part would be speculative,” Spokesman Dan Barrett said in an e-mail.

Courtney said that in addition to the repair contracts that could be placed on hold, Congress last year got a defense bill through that provided funding for a second submarine to be built in 2014. But he said Congress does not have a budget bill passed to go with that defense bill, The current spending bill ends March 27.

Admiral Jonathan Greenert, who testified last week before the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, said that if the Navy did not get a spending bill to match the defense bill, the second submarine would be at risk.

Electric Boat is meanwhile proceeding with the Ohio replacement program, which deals with a different class of submarines. As of Monday, the company was still hiring engineers and other positions.

“There’s still time to stop the madness here, and that’s true,” Courtney said. “It’s not like the law takes away the money irrevocably in one day.” He said sequestration was designed to be completely unacceptable but cutting indiscriminately across all areas, thereby forcing a compromise.

“And hopefully,” he said, “as in the past with sequestration, cooler heads will prevail.”

Source – Groton Patch

 

Falklands dispute: Argentina accuses UK of ‘defiance’ of anti-nuke treaty

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A sign at the Argentine-Brazilian border, translated into English, proclaims "The Malvinas are Argentine"

A sign at the Argentine-Brazilian border, translated into English, proclaims “The Malvinas are Argentine”

Argentina has lashed out at the UK for allegedly violating an international treaty and sending submarines with nuclear weapons capacity to the Falkland Islands- a nuclear-free zone.

“We currently are in an unstable stage of the implementation of the Tlatelolco treaty, which bans nuclear arms in Latin America and the Caribbean. [The Treaty] is being defied by the United Kingdom,” MercoPress quoted Eduardo Zuain, Argentina’s Foreign Relations secretary, as saying prior to the Disarming Conference at the UN.

Zuain also blamed London for a strong military presence in the Atlantic,“including submarines with the capacity to transport nuclear armory to a nuclear-free area,” alleging they were dispatched to the area 30 years ago during the conflict between Buenos Aeros and London.

“This is why Argentina in several opportunities has expressed its concern, before different international forums over the possibility that the UK could have introduced nuclear weapons to the South Atlantic,” Argentina’s representative said in Geneva.

Zuain pointed out that Falklands constitute one of the world’s most militarized territories with more than 1,500 British soldiers and 3,000 citizens.

The diplomat went onto argue that such a military presence also threatens other countries in the region.

“We deplore that the UK government so far has not provided requested clarifications on the incidents reported, nor has it given any information which could corroborate or deny recent displacements of nuclear submarines with the capacity to carry atomic weapons,” Zuain stated.

The 1969 Treaty of Tlatelolco banned nuclear arms in Latin America and the Caribbean and established a nuclear-free zone.

Conflict over the archipelago in the south-western Atlantic Ocean has been simmering since 1982 when the two countries fought a war that the British won. In 2010, a British company began oil exploration near the archipelago, which has led to an exacerbation of the conflict.

Recently, the President of Argentina Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner sent a letter to the British Prime Minister David Cameron calling to negotiate the return of the archipelago to Buenos Aires. The British prime minister replied that the population of the islands support the UK’s sovereignty, which he stipulates would be confirmed by a public referendum in March.

Source – RT Question More

San Diego submarine dives into Hollywood – Video clip

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San Diego Submarine

Click on picture above for video clip

SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) – This Friday the movie “Phantom” opens in theaters across the country (USA).

The Cold War-era movie was shot entirely in San Diego using a real-life Russian submarine.

In this News 8 video story, Jeff Zevely met the movie’s writer and director onboard the Soviet B-39 sub.

Source – CBS8