Thread: Any Submariners??? Navy Peeps??

Hi everyone... Here's what I need.[-o<

One of the Protagonists in my WIP is a former US Submarine Petty Officer. What I need to know is about US naval protocol - basically while his Sub is on a mission, his father dies. OK Question 1: How would the news be related to him? Would there be a delay? Q2: Would he be allowed compassionate leave, and who on the sub would he have to inform to get leave?

Thanks in advance,
I'd be interested in any other 'sub' related factoids, while not crucial to the plot they might be useful in back-story etc..

I was hoping someone from the navy would answer this for you. I'm ex-military but not ex-navy. The way it is supposed to work, the family tells the Red Cross about the death, the Red Cross tells the military, and the sailor finds out about the death in his family from his military chain of command. I have seen cases where the family contacts the military member directly. I doubt that is possible on a submarine. As I understand submarine procedure, it is difficult for a sub to receive communications while submerged, but it is standard operating procedure for the sub to come up to periscope depth every few hours, stick the antenna out of the water, and receive any messages that are waiting. So the sailor could be notified in less than a day. It is possible that the sub might be involved in some kind of operation, even in peacetime, that required the sub to stay deep for extended periods, even several days, so this would delay notification. As far as giving your sailor compassionate leave, there is only one way off of a sub and that requires the sub to pull into port and dock. There would be great reluctance to divert the sub hundreds, perhaps thousands, of miles out of its way just for one sailor. It would depend on what the sub was doing and whether they could afford the diversion - probably not. It is rare that a navy ship is just sailing around in circles burning fuel. Even in peacetime, ships have important national defense missions to carry out. If they were willing to divert the sub for this sailor, the decision would have to be made by the captain, but he would make that decision before telling the sailor of the death in the family. The incoming message about the death in the family would probably go to the captain first and then down the chain of command to the sailor. Besides the mission diversion factor, there is also the question of whether the sailor could be spared. There are very few extra sailors on a sub, and the loss of even one can seriously weaken the crew's ability to do its job. Another factor - is your sub an attack sub or a ballistic missile boat? Ballistic missile subs take their peacetime missions much more seriously. If anyone can contradict me, speak up.

Thanks for the response,
I was thinking of him being crew in an attack sub, USS Los Angeles class. His back story revolves around him not getting the info about his fathers death for a few days and so missing the funeral, and then also missing the re-deployment of his sub, these two factors lead to his subsequent depression.
I had read elsewhere that modern subs can now receive e-mail, so I'm just trying to work out the logistics of how the delays would occur.
I was working along the lines that the sub could be returning to port after a lengthy sea trial, when he gets the news. He is granted leave while the sub is in dock, but then it gets called out again at short notice, leaving him to deal with the bereavement without his 'close' fellow crew members.

I've heard about e-mail on surface ships so I guess the only restriction for a sub is that they would only be connected to the e-mail server when the sub was near the surface and had its antenna up. So your sailor could get the word directly from his family. As far as what level of command would approve his leave request, I can't help you there. So long as the sub expected to stay in port, his leave request would be approved. If the sub suddenly got new orders they would try to recall the sailor or replace him with another sailor who had the same skill. That would depend on how urgently the sub had to sail. If the sailor could not get back from leave in time and another sailor was available, they would take the other sailor. Your story sounds pretty plausible to me.

Thinking about your story a little more... Whenever a warship goes out on a lengthy cruise, systems begin to breakdown and maintenance issues accumulate. The crew must take a bandaid and chewing gum approach to maintenance. It is all they can do to keep the ship operating. The longer the cruise, the more issues pile up. At the end of a long deployment, the ship is barely mission capable. When the vessel gets back to port it is generally understood that many weeks, if not months, will be required to get everything fixed again. At a typical sub base, there will be many subs in port at various stages in the maintenance cycle. Some are almost ready to go out on deployment again, others just got back, and some are in between. Your scenario of a sub coming back from a long deployment and then going right back out again might strike a few navy veterans as odd or even unrealistic. A better story would have the sub getting ready for a deployment and coming back from a short shake-down cruise when your sailor learns that his father has died. Since the sub was going to pass a couple of weeks in port between the shake-down cruise and the begining of its deployment, your sailor is authorized to take leave. But before the sailor can return, a crisis breaks out in the world and the sub must leave early, so he misses the sailing. As far as delaying your sailor from attending the funeral, he can get the word while the sub is still three or four days out of port on the shake-down cruise. By the time the sub makes port, the funeral is over. Good luck.

Thanks again, some good points and much to ponder. I want to make the whole scenario as realistic / true to life as posible, so your thoughts about maintenance breakdown are very useful.

I have a buddy that I went to basic with. He is ex-Navy and served on a sub for a few years. I will see if I can get in touch with him. It will probably be Monday before I can send him a message.

Originally Posted by Verum Scriptor

I have a buddy that I went to basic with. He is ex-Navy and served on a sub for a few years. I will see if I can get in touch with him. It will probably be Monday before I can send him a message.

Thanks..

Sent a message via Facebook... waiting on a response.