Submarine
squareface
2012-12-18 02:38:34
A buddy of mine saw a very large, light colored sub today in Tenakee Inlet today. It was up for only a few minutes, he called the CG, they said they'd get back to him. Has anyone else seen this sub around?
SilverFox
2012-12-18 03:21:31
Could be NOAA doing some kind of fishery observation. How big was it? I almost ran into a submarine on the Canada/Washington border many years ago, it surfaced in American waters right in front of me. I called the Navy, etc, they said they had no vessel in the area, yeah right. Silver Fox
fvsedna
2012-12-18 05:47:07
Its a new NOAA/NMFS surveillance system to replace the botched "on board observer " program..........
Abundance
2012-12-18 06:51:44
I remember the issues in West Behm this last year, with the Coasties shooing people away from the sub test area, which happens to be the main way in an out of Neets Bay for hundreds of trollers. The feds were more polite and understanding than normal, and tried their best to make this as easy as was in their power, but it kept us on our toes. I may have mentioned this before, but I can remember one time that a medium sized Navy vessel, bristling with guns and sensors, planted itself in the middle of the drag off of Roller Bay. They didn't say a word, just planted themselves their for the rest of the day, then took off into the sunset. I'm just as glad to not know what they were doing there. It probably ruined fishing for a while, whatever it was.
spike christopher
2012-12-18 17:21:28
I had a friend that was assigned to a nuke sub, he was a instrumentation tec and spent one year on her. He said they seldom traveled in waters less than 100 fathoms and when they did it was on routes that they absolutely knew to be safe. The cost of a sub is so much that they can not and will not take any chances unless forced to. The site in Behm Canal was constructed there do to the safe approach. I am hard press to believe a one billion dollar sub would be tooling around in a small fjord. I am now curious as to what was seen, In my limited experiences I have never seen a large
united state sub that wasn't black. Just how big of a sub are we talking about.
Salty
2012-12-18 19:01:07
Spike,
We used to see them quite often in Sitka Sound as they changed some crew or for sick, injured relief. I actually had a conversation with one once that went something like this:
"Troller in Eastern Channel?"
"I Gotta back to the call."
"Be advised that you are approaching a trailing antenna from us, please alter course."
"Want to pick a working channel for a conversation, skipper?"
Long pause------"Channel 13, captain?"
"This is the I Gotta Back, who am I speaking to?"
"This is the USS ________________ Submarine. We request you change course now!"
Pause.......
" Aye, aye, sir, course changed, any further requests?"
"No, thank you, have a good day Captain."
My deckhand was laughing at the end of that. Back talking to a thresher class nuclear sub impressed him in a dark humor sort of way.
spike christopher
2012-12-18 21:42:56
Salty, did you actually see the sub
Salty
2012-12-19 00:44:26
Yes, saw him come up. I have seen three in the Sound over the years and one that was here for the fourth. Chet Binke and I were going sport fishing on his boat years ago and were between 6 mile rk. and Biorka when we saw an unusual breaker. "What the hell is that", we both said at about the same time. We kept our eye on it and watched the sail and then the sub come up.
Pacific R
2012-12-19 08:25:11
Back in the 80's I found a bronze marker attached to a boulder on the beach at Hidden Falls that was marked "U.S.N. Submarine Base Bangor,WA Torpedo Station". This was just a day prior to the first seine opener of the year for chums. I just had to chuckle at the comic vision if a sub were to show up during the mayhem that would ensue the next day.
Does anyone know the history of that area being used as a torpedo station? I guess it would have been some time before the hatchery being built there.
spike christopher
2012-12-19 16:52:44
It these subs are running around between all the rocks in the area I sure could stand to have them give me some of their electronic equipment, wouldn't that be great, I might be able to catch more than one eleven pound king a day. I sure would like to get a picture of one them surfacing with Mount Edgecube in the back ground.
Salty
2012-12-19 18:12:18
Right on Spike, one of my partners got a copy of the WW II sub maps of Sitka Sound years ago.
I think he tried to use it for longlining. Don't you have the Sound marked with your 3D? How did you fish the area you found those kings last April without it?
The three times I saw them on the surface, other than the fourth of July, it was low light around dawn.
Abundance
2012-12-19 18:25:14
I believe the Navy operated a sub station out of Forester Island during and possibly after WWII. I hear you can still find it if you know where to look. I remember as deckhand my Dad getting ordered out of Tongass Narrows as the Coast Guard escorted a big nuclear sub through. My Dad protested that we could not get out of the Narrows fast enough to keep out of their buffer zone. The cutter, the sub, and a fleet of orange speedboats came to a stop in the middle of the channel, waiting for our little troller to putter out and around the corner. It was almost comical, except for the unbearable tension. I think you should be glad you didn't hit that sonar array, Mr. Jordan. I'm pretty sure one of those things is worth more than half the troll fleet, on a year that everybody did their boat work.
Carol W
2012-12-19 18:48:44
I find this topic amusing and interesting as I have seen numerous subs running up and down Clarence Strait from a few of my secret fishing holes. What would be a cool thing to do is run our boats though the accoustic site and find all the noise in our boats then we could become deadly.