Submarine trip report part 3, final page

[chrisinhouston]

On the final day we made our way into the Straits of Juan de Fuca and the sub finally surfaced within the small flotilla of escort ships. The weather was fantastic and we all took turns ascending to the the bridge up at the top of the ladders that go from the Com to the Sail. A dependent's cruise was planed where we were supposed to leave the sub as dependents came aboard, mostly wives, mother's and other family members of the crew. The captain decided to just save time with the transfer and just take on the dependents and let us all stay on as the sub made its way into Puget Sound and down to the Hood Canal and into the Navy base. It was well past 6pm when we finally made our way off of the sub after thanking the crew and the officers.

One of the things I did that was rather unexpected was to ask the Quarter Master as he plotted our course into the final stage of the voyage if I could have a chart and get signatures of the crew. We used to do this when I took Boy Scout crews to Philmont in New Mexico by having everyone sign off on a picture of Mt Baldy. Anyway the QM said he had some smaller low security charts and for about the last 2 hours I spent my time covering the submarine and getting signatures. Many of the sailors were rather surprised but liked the idea and many wrote me special notes as a memory of my voyage. The best one was from my son, Colin who said the nicest things. I can only say that I had a huge sense of paternal pride as I watched him as OOD giving out orders or interacting with the crew. I have a new appreciation for what he does and also for all of these men who make great sacrifices to be away from their families and live a most dangerous life under the sea and stay vigilant to protect us and our nation.

The motto and cheer of the ship is “Battle Ready! Battle Born!” and when they shout it they shout it loudly. My thanks goes out to all of them and to my son for inviting me to come along and see what he does. Please keep these fine men in your thoughts and prayers. Feel free to ask any questions or make comments on this note. I will also post photos later that were given to us of our cruise or that have been published about the Nevada.