You can support USS Cod here: www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted... The images used were taken from the Navy History and Heritage Command website. www.history.navy.mil/our-coll...
Slept in bunk next to Bow plane tilting motor for a whole Westpac, never had ladder, used mk 14 torpedo for step and then pulled myself up using bunk side rails. Bunk quite spacious once in it!
Having visited USS NJ (BB-62) Museum and Memorial early this month I can say they are definitely more impressive in person. The videos do not really show the true scale of these ships and boats. However I agree that it is awesome to have these additional sources of information online that are accessible to people across the globe. In fact when I took the tour on NJ we walked quickly through a room next to CEC and didn't stop to observe. Ryan did a video of that same room and it was astonishing how much was missed even on the guided tour. There is so much to see and I am excited to head back as soon as possible. I also really want to visit Intrepid now and Slater soon.
@ USS COD As someone who has worked in sporting goods I will tell you that a simple sign on a ladder doesn't always do it, as we ended up putting sheets of plexiglass on the ladders of tree-stand displays to prevent people from climbing them. I would hope people visiting a museum would have more decorum than the average shopper so you might not need to go that far. Then again that does make a nice place to put pictures or info signs.
I have a great “submarine story”. It’s 100% true and I regret it but it is somewhat humorous and is right in line with your comment. When I was a small child (8 or 9 years old maybe) I once took a tour of the USS Silversides which is a floating museum ship (submarine) that is in western Michigan on Lake Michigan near Muskegon. This submarine is in the water and supposedly still functional. I think theoretically it is still capable of operating. Anyway I was left unsupervised while taking the tour of the boat and when I got into the engine compartment there was a “button” and it was covered by plexiglass. Of course… me being the little hoodlum that I was… I slipped my finger under the plexiglass and just had to “push it”. Because… it was a big looking important button or switch and… well it needed pushing! Big mistake. I have no idea what I actually did but from my memory… the whole port side diesel engine started cranking over. I have no idea what happened just that something incredibly loud and violent occurred. Scared the crap out of me. I remember I immediately knew I had done something very very bad and I ran out of the boat. Just as I was leaving the gangplank the museum staff had heard what happened and they were running onto the boat. I don’t think (I hope) I didn’t cause any real damage or problem but I never knew because I essentially ran away. The moral. When dealing with the public… just assume they are little hoodlum monsters like me and if they can screw it up… they will. You gotta “dummy proof” everything. 😀
Navy sleeping accommodations is a huge reason why I enlisted in the USAF! I am 6' 4" tall and was raised on a farm. I guess I am spoiled and just like my elbow room!
Paul, back in high school I built models of WWII planes and ships. I read quite a bit of the history back then. The farm was just big enough you could have parked all of the Navy carriers on the farm. An Air Force base is square miles big. That is elbow room!
6'4" here and served on SSN (606). When I tell people I served aboard submarines their first response is typically "aren't you too tall for subs" lol. I did hit my head many times on the watertight door going from Ops Upper Level through reactor compartment to Engineering upper level. Hard head!!
I worked with a former Submariner who told me about a guy on his boat who was 6'5". He was evidently a big guy, when he went through hatchways, people would call out, "hatch closing...hatch opening".
Can you do a video about crash diving? In the movies any time an enemy aircraft or destroyer is spotted they do a crash dive. How accurate are the films? What does a submarine crew do in the event of a sudden threat?
Diving is the safest action. Having radar or visual spotting as early as possible is key, and as soon as an enemy is on an attack vector, they crash dive, getting below and turning off the previous course as soon as possible to avoid depth bombs. Lockwood was firmly against upping the AA armament of subs for a long time as staying on the surface meant they were more likely to be hit by bombs. As a submariner he was intimately aware that the depths are protection. There is also the fact that staying undetected period was important, so they would often dive on radar warning of an enemy patrol, or any aircraft really, as even the US planes had a bad habit of bombing ANY submarine they saw, which cost us at least one sub.
Sometime you'll have to find a monkey who can show us the safe way to get up into the penthouse. Glad you found those ladders, they are looking properly aged.
Family members don't want to keep the artifacts after the vets die. I've even seen families that don't even want to keep the flag after the funeral. :(
The 2 divisions I was in had racks stacked 3 high. The middle rack was the preferred as it was waist high. Very easy to roll in and out. The guy in the upper rack simply stepped on each of the lower racks. There were divisions that had racks stacked 4 high. I don't know if there were ladders. I presume there were. Working in red light conditions was an entirely different experience from anything most civilians would be familiar with. We did it all the time at sea, especially while UnRepping. The red light was exactly the same color as blood. Cut yourself and you wouldn't know you were bleeding. Don't ask how I know this. On the bridge, red light at night just seemed to be appropriate. The bridge was always quiet as you had to be able to hear and understand all orders. The red light just seemed right.
I was on the top of a three high on my first ship. It also had piping and wire runs over the top, so only smaller people like me could fit. I was 5'8", 125 pounds at the time. It was a very tight fit, I couldn't sleep on my side without some contortions. And yes, I used the other bunks as a set of steps. Crazy enough, these ranks look more spacious than what I had. Granted, I was on a WWII era ship (in the late 90's).
Look at all these people commenting so quickly after this posted.. that’s because you’re shakin the trees..all your hard and sincere work shows, and you’re being rewarded with lots of interest. Good show!!
I think that it's cool that every square inch on submarines, with in the past or present, it is accounted for. Space is very much at a "Premium". To a young kid it might look very chaotic, but it isn't. Anything has its place!
Paul and other USS Cod crew members, I have a recommendation, "Strike of the Sailfish" by Stephen L. Moore. It fills in a lot of blanks that many might have concerning a fleet submarine at war. Thanks, Paul!
You may have covered this before but I figured someone might know. When the sub was operating in extremely cold environments on the surface or in extremely cold waters… how did the crews stay warm? I assume the power plant puts off a lot of heat in operation and would warm that space somewhat. Were there heaters of any type in the other spaces to provide some warmth? How did they maintain a comfortable temp inside the boat when it came to cold?
Electric heaters of several types are located in various compartments. These subscwere surfaced most if rhe time so the generators cranked out sufficient power to run them. Not sure how quickly they drained the batteries submerged. But submerged you could run hot air from the engine rooms.
@@paulfarace9595 Thanks for the reply. Good info. I imagine it’s better when it’s colder seas as opposed to working and existing when your in tropical waters in the blistering heat.
Great find, and great demo. If you look at the paintings, they are hooking those ladders on the lower bar of the bunk rail, where you were hooking it on the top rail. I'm guessing that hooked to the bottom rail, the ladder will be at a bit more of an angle, and easier to climb. Just a guess.
steeper angle also makes the ladder more of a tripping hazard for those walking by, and sailors are used to vertical ladders. Also, since these are not reproductions made to spec but simply close approximations, they might be longer than the originals.
I've DRMO'd a LOT of equipment. Those ladders were NOT serialized, and therefore "consumable equipment". I can't speak for the Navy as an Army Veteran, but "thrown over the side" sounds EXTREMELY like "thrown in the dumpster" which was what we told everyone to see if they needed a desk or a chair. "Hey man, this is about to get thrown in the Dumpster/Sea" sounds to ME like "Its gone, it Made It There"
@@paulfarace9595 most of the sub scenes are really bad sets lol - including a really bad ladder that i referenced. I have spent time in the Becuna's tower so I can really laugh at how big those spaces are portrayed in movies. But another WW@ era sub movie is better than none at all!
Hot bunking on WWII-era subs was a matter for non-qualified crew. Once qualified you likely had your own bunk. A personal rack was one of the perks of those qualified.
The deck bunks would be turned up and the tray bunks would be folded under the upper trays when called to battle stations. The upper bunks often were not touched
