"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 04 Apr 2009 09:43:16 -0500, Richard Casady
wrote:

Also traditionally, the crews of
US subs call their ships " boats ".The fact that the Electric Boat
Company built so many subs may have something to do with it, I don't
really know.

They were originally known as U-boats by just about everyone.


US subs were called "U" boats? Never new that.
I thought that name was related to the German submarines.

In my prior life in the ancient US Navy, they were always referred to simply
as "Boats".
I had a great experience spending a day on the post WWII sub "USS Pickerel"
while my ship was operating with it for a while testing some new gear.
Three of us transferred at sea from our ship (a Destroyer Escort) to the
Pickerel off the coast of GTMO and spent a day aboard doing several dives
and and an emergency accent. The transfer at sea wasn't exactly a piece of
cake. It was rough and the motor whaleboat (launch) that was trying to get
us onto the deck of the sub was bouncing around pretty good. I remember
having to time my jump from the launch perfectly and had to rely on the crew
members on the sub to grab me, otherwise I'd have been in the drink.

This "Pickerel" was of WWII design, built in 1949, diesel powered
obviously, and was the one featured in the opening scene of a TV series (the
name of which I have forgotten) in which it shoots out of the water, bow
high. I believe there was another USS Pickerel in the early years of WWII
that was sunk and lost.

This site has pictures of it doing an emergency accent similar to that in
the TV series introduction.

http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/s...sh-p/ss524.htm

Eisboch