2024 hurricanes

'Boat' is ALWAYS a correct (if honorary) term for even a 560' 19,000 ton submarine.

Bubbleheads are infamously prone to sea-sickness - so wave-action versus depth is a well plowed field for us. Military submarines tend to be somewhat cigar-shaped - even the more modern oblated ones - which gives them a fast roll cycle - even with full trim and depth control tanks. My first 4 runs were well north of the autumnal storms that make life interesting down south, but the north Atlantic can get a little choppy too.
I've found that depths below 400' or so will just about dampen out 40-foot seas.
We actually spent a lot of our patrol much deeper than that back in the 80's, owing to the fact that we were in a busier and rougher neighborhood - so wave action was nearly non-existent.
My last 6 runs were in mostly the Sargasso Sea - and we were usually in the 0-400' depth range.
That part of the world is well known for its VERY tranquil seas - and it's the only place I've been where the big salt was mill-pond calm on the surface - even in the summer!!!

HOWEVER (comma!!!)
The south Atlantic can get a little bit bumpier in the late summer and fall.
We rode out grown-a$$ hurricanes quite comfortably at 400' - but then I grew up in survey ships and so I rarely noticed rolls under 10-20 degrees.
They just lull you to sleep.
Some of the young'uns grumbled a bit though.....
Anything under about 800' (presuming you can go that deep ) I've 'heard' is kitchen table smooth.

My mileage.
YOURS might vary.

In local news....
0500 update from Jim.
- YouTube

 

I'd forgotten about roll and am (sad to say) familiar with the vertigo effects. The conning tower would be a great source for roll forces.

Is it my imagination that conning towers have been getting shorter?

I understand that remote, cable connected video and other surface sensors have replaced legacy periscopes.

Back to topic:

IMHO, I suspect the storm will be passing on the South side of predicted paths. I would not want to be in the Florida Keys ... without two days worth of air tanks.

Bob Wilson

 

The sail is smaller but only proportionally.
Back in the day, the conning tower was just that.
In my boats, the control room was just below the sail, which was a little bit more than a fairing for the bridge access trunk (water-tight) and masts and antennae......and of course two periscopes.
On boomers it was also a place to hang the diving planes.

Modern submarines have replaced mirrors and lenses with fiber-optics and other sensors - in a 'photonics mast.'
This allows the control room to be in the middle of the boat (where the hull is wider) - instead of directly below optical periscope tubes which have to pass through the pressure hull.

 

Headed right over Orlando, should be interesting. Waiting to hear about park closings

 

Just out of curiosity - how do they determine if you are suitable for submarine duty?

I consider myself an adaptable guy of reasonably sound mind - but I am not ashamed to admit I might not be able to last an hour on a submerged submarine before I'd have to tap out.

 

What about the storms ahead of the hurricane?


Will those precursor storms drain a lot of water-heat energy that the hurricane would otherwise use?

Bob Wilson

 

Kinda like how the Draft Board chose your branch of service. They have a table laid out and see which one you pick up first:

• Sunglasses - Coast Guard
• Candy bar - Air Force
• Tool box - Navy
• Box of rocks - Army
• Rifle - Marines

Bob Wilson

 

Easy.
They ask for volunteers. (NAVY: Never Again Volunteer Yourself!)
If you have an 8th grade reading ability, you're not a convicted felon, and you're able to 'clear your ears' (been on an airplane) - you qualify!
The ability to adapt yourself to a 1980's era "Animal House" environment, and 'Covid nose' are also 'career enhancers.'

You've been in an airplane - right?
30-seconds after they haul the wheels in, it's really all the same thing - only submarines are bigger.
Besides.....once they dog the hatches and dive the boat - there IS NO 'tapping out."

You're either 'crew' or 'cargo.'

John Wayne said it best: (speaking about being a paratrooper...)
"Hell - getting them to do it the first time is easy! It's the SECOND time that they put up up a FUSS!!!"

 

Projection cat 4 for Bradenton, north edge over Orlando, theme parks planning staggered closings, Goldman suchs estimating 150-200m damage at Disney

 

My 0500 suggests that wind sheer and cooler temps may not go as far to cool Milton's ardor as I had hoped earlier.
My hoped-for nudge to the south appears to also be a bit smaller - according to recent modeling.

The scariest indicator bar-none to any hurricane veteran:
Waffle House, citing the Waffle House Index, closes Tampa locations ahead of Hurricane Milton - CBS News


(BOTH 'fake news' and real news sources confirm this story.)

 

I was expecting more I guess to select crew temperament.

Yes I've flown - the longest one was from Offutt AFB in Nebraska to Mildenhall AFB in England in a C5 non-stop (in air refueling) - I was okay with that.

Spending days or months submerged in the ocean not seeing day or night or walking on mother earth - not so much okay with that - which is why I wondered if some thought was put into selecting people with the proper temperament.

 

I'm unaware of any overt psyche screening - but the multiple interviews I underwent for my security clearance may have filled that role.
The only overt screenings that I am aware of is for wintering over in the Antarctic.
I had a skipper (weather guesser - aboard a survey ship) who used to tell a sea-story about interviewing a submariner who was asked whether or not he ever kissed another dude.
The interviewee allegedly smiled, waggled his eyebrows and asked......'where?'
I was told he made the cut.

Of course you KNOW the difference between a 'sea-story' and a fairy tale....

 

The version I heard was, "Have you ever thought about becoming a homosexual?" Answer, "Sit closer and we'll find out."

Bob Wilson

 

This is what I'd expected to see earlier today:


Kennedy Space Flight Center has winds from the East but so far, moderate. I expect it to get worse late tonight also with high tide.

BTW, more than launch schedules are at risk. There is a lot of rocket inventory that handles launch and space better than a salt water bath. A former data communications engineer, I got to see more of the property than the usual visitors. There is a vast network of tunnels through out the property ... perfect for sending salt water deep in the compound. They had an impressive, emergency communications trailer and a backup. Then there are the causeways to the mainland can the launch sites.

Bob Wilson

 

Windy: Wind map & weather forecast

Major Hurricane Milton LIVE Tracker, Updates & Forecast | Zoom Earth

Thank goodness the predictions of a gradual weakening in the last 24 hrs have borne out. Still a major hurricane with tremendous impact on Florida.

 

great links, thank you!

 

Based on wind field, radar, and the pressure center, looks like the eye is passing just South of Kennedy Space Flight Center (KSFC) and Cape Canaveral.


Not good for KSFC as they probably have another 12-18 hours of misery to deal with. Rocket inventory and infrastructure, very much at risk.

Bob Wilson

 

I don't have much experience in Cape Kennedy except that we used their classified material disposal services in the early 80's when I served on my first ship - which WAS a ship, rather than a proper submarine.

If they can't shrug off a Cat 3 storm in their neighborhood after being in the biz for >60 years then this would be (yet another) case for privatizing space launch, outright.
Sailors of my era still call that facility 'P-Can' for Port Canaveral - a tribute to those interestingly nostalgic days before Kennedy.

I'm still waiting for my 0500 WX brief, but my guess would be that P-Can will be OK post-Milton.

Or?
We need a 'leadership' change.

It's not like the 'Climate Industrial Complex' didn't warn them.......

 

Looks like Florida dodged a bullet