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Tales of the USS Sabalo
Sneaking up on the "Enemy"

"He'd ( US sub capt.) maneuvered so close to a departing American aircraft carrier off Norfolk that her captain had lodged a complaint, not that it would go anywhere.  Submariners looked out for one another, and embarassing a carrier, a ship protected by the very best antisubmarine warfare technology in the world, was considered a badge, not a problem."
      from  "Hostile Waters", by Peter Huchthausen; Igor Kurdin; R. Alan White
         (This book is a true account of the sinking of Russian sub K-219 off Bermuda in 1986.)

Jeff Owens had an exchange with Ron Gorence QMC(SS) about using #1 periscope camera for taking submerged photos during the WesPac of '68-69:

Jeff- Speaking of mosaics from the scope, I remember one time we were doing asw/simulated attacks in the Tonkin Gulf, and you took a bunch of really beautiful shots of a carrier.  We sneaked in so close I think it took twelve shots to get from bow to stern.

At a later debriefing our captain took along your pasted together spread which was awesome.  I guess he figured the carrier adm/capt., or whatever, would think it was cool getting such a view.  Word was the picture was received with extreme coolness, almost like a kick in the nuts.  The meeting was brief or should I say curt.

I  think it was the best example of what an old diesel boat could still do that I ever heard of.

What do you remember about that one?

Ron- As I recall, the Skipper waited at the debriefing until each of the surface skimmers displayed evidence that the subs had been tracked from the outset, and were properly disposed of before they could approach and do damage to the task group.  I wasn't there, but I think he said something like, "Well..... almost."... and then showed the pictures.  (I hate to add to a sea-story, but wasn't there a shot of an airdale, with fully-recognizable face, smoking on some kind of elevator deck and standing under a large "No Smoking" sign?).

Jeff- I wish I could have been there.  I did remember some kind of little detail in the photo that was amazing, but can't remember if it was as you describe.  I seem to remember the range was 700 feet, or very close anyway.

I do remember now that the comment made by the brass, whoever it was, was on the order of a dress down because of the way the skipper almost made it some kind of scene where he was rubbing their nose in it, and hence was given some kind of comment about observing proper 'sea manners' when bringing up such material to superiors.  I think our skipper might have had a special laugh afterward in the wardroom.  

Whatever satisfaction our skipper got from that episode with your montage, he had you to thank for the excellent job in putting together that print, and a great crew for putting us in there, and, I guess, a little luck too.

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Update received 2 Feb 2009
I read with interest a "sea story" discussion you had with Ron Gorence QMC(SS) about a "photo shoot" with a carrier (I believe that it was the America, but I could be wrong, again) task force near the Zone.  I remember it because I was involved in a tiny, insignificant way.  I was summoned to the control room by the Navigation officer and drafted into the "photo team" (heck, I didn't even know we had one).  I had some experience in photo developing and they needed someone to help with this chore.  It was the middle of the night, but the Nikon was strapped to the periscope up in the Con, and they were snapping a photo, moving the scope to a "mark", and snapping again (damn wierd, 'scopes see in the dark-- film doesn't).  They wanted to develop the film ASAP, to see if the film was viable, I guess.  I went into the Officers Head (as light-tight as we had), and used a change bag to thread the film onto the developing can spool-- a ticklish operation outside a darkroom, even without the Navigator hanging outside the door, drumming his knuckles (no pressure).  He had this wild-assed recipe to soup Tri-X pan three stops to 1200 ASA, genuine see-in-the-dark range.  I seem to recall that it was Dektol (paper developer) at 5 minutes- you could fix with vinegar or photo-fixer-- I don't recall what we used.  With the film out of the soup, I was dismissed, I didn't get to see the film.  A few days later, in Hong Kong, I was summoned again and led to the wardroom where I was absolutely stunned to see this huge panorama of an aircraft carrier spread across the entire port wall of the wardroom.  The Captain was seated at the forward end of the table over coffee, looking like the cat that ate the canary.  The Nav. officer was downright grinning.  And yes, the photo was grainy as gravel (poor tortured Tri-X was never meant for this), but the detail was incredible--you could clearly see a seaman smoking on the elevator deck.  You could not have missed her with a spread of fish unless you used the after 'tubes..  I'm sure the presentation was impressive, but your exchange was the first real account that I had heard. I enjoyed renewing the memory.
Thanks,
Joe Lyons  EMFN(SS)

[From online references outlining the deployments of the USS America it is determined that the carrier involved was not the America.  My memory is that the carriers we may have shared time in the Tonkin Gulf with were the Constellation, Kitty Hawk and maybe Forrestal.  I think there was one other, but need help in recollecting. - Jeff Owens]

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