Subject:
Submarine (R/C) Squadron Five – Sun ‘N
Fun 2004 Patrol - Report of.
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PROLOGUE TO
Following planning with members Gail Phillips,
Wayne Frey, Carl Dietz and self, notification
was distributed
squadron-wide to assemble all available boats for
second annual submerged exercises. Rendezvous
point designated:
San Gabriel Park, Georgetown, Texas. 1. Narrative:
August 27th: 1400 With my wife Julie, picked up
Jeff Porteous at Houston Intercontinental airport
following
his flight from Los Angeles. Embarked to Georgetown.
1600 Arrived at Holiday Inn Express
and proceeded to dinner at Applebee’s with Gail and Ginny Phillips,
Carl Dietz, Rich Allsmiller (noted Disney Nautilus expert
who flew in from Florida) and Wayne Frey.
During dinner met Ray Lout and his wife seated
at adjacent table. Ray spotted our shirts and
identified himself
as a Cold War submariner who served aboard
diesel boats. He related an episode where his boat USS Trumpetfish (SS-425) “got
caught where she wasn’t supposed to be” and was hounded and pounded
by Soviet ASW forces. The boat received considerable damage and, according to
Ray, upon her return several crew members turned in their dolphins and retired
on the spot (this incident is noted on page 50 of Sontag and Drew’s “Blind
Man’s Bluff”).
Ray continued in the service and later worked as a civilian developing
secure communications for Ohio class SSBNs. Ray was invited to attend
our upcoming
function and promised to show up on August 29th.
August 28th: 0800 Following continental breakfast
at the Holiday Inn, proceeded to San Gabriel
Park.
At the park, Gail Phillips unveiled the sharpest frequency board in
the fleet (see attachments). Gail is a true craftsman at everything
he touches. Gail's 1/72 Alfa is another fine example of his
abilities. Built from a Thor kit, everything
about the boat is first rate: from the spotless
finish,
expertly
wired and engineered WTC, down to perfectly carved flotation foam.
Gail's nearly completed 1/96 Seawolf (SSN-21) was on display as well
as his
highly modified
D&E WTC-3.5.
Comrade Wayne Frey set up a static display featuring his monster
1/72 Akula. He also unveiled some recently acquired salvage parts
removed
from an actual
Soviet Alfa. His sources are mysterious and impeccable. Wayne also
served as safety diver throughout the event.
0900 Entered the water with my 1/96 Los
Angeles class built
from a ThorDesign kit. While the boat had been running
for a while,
the trim
was never
satisfactory. Using the knowledge gained at last years' event,
I completely re-ballasted
and trimmed the boat two weeks prior to the patrol. With further
fine tuning, the
boat was dialed in and demonstrated a marked overall improvement
in performance.
At approximately 0930 Jeff Porteous launched his Small World
Model's Blueback. It ran well then suddenly lost power. Further
inspection
by Gail, master
of all things electrical, determined that the battery was faulty.
After a few terminal
modifications, a full charge was put on the pack and Jeff returned
to the water.
1000 Jim Humphries arrived from San Antonio with his young
friend Trevor Wasik. They brought three wooden, rubber band
powered
subs for display.
These boats
were extremely sharp looking stand-off scale models of a
WWII Balao class fleet boat, an Akula, and a Verne-style
Nautilus.
Designed
for pool running,
these
boats were reliable performers. Indeed, Jim's Nautilus has
been in service since the 1980's!
1100 Another newcomer arrived: Tom Kisler of Potter, Nebraska.
Tom and his wife fit the patrol into an extended vacation
and were a
wonderful addition
to our
operations. Tom brought his first boat, a newly completed
1/96 D&E
Skipjack class modeled after the USS Scorpion (SSN-589). Tom's modeling
skills were
on display in this handsome boat featuring a full mast set, beautiful wooden
display
stand with brass plaques and a terrific weathering job. An impressive first
project and fitting tribute to the brave souls lost in Scorpion in May,
1968.
1200 Commissary officer Carl Dietz produced another satisfying
lunch -- this time cooking up hot dogs on his new grill.
He also supplied
and gave out
several submarine related door prizes which were a big
hit. Carl and his wife Jenny took
great care of us.
1300 PCO cruises commenced. This was a program whereby
SubCommittee members without commands could gain stick
time by signing
up for a fifteen minute
slot with a
boat. To our surprise, the only one to take advantage
of the opportunity was Carl. Taking command of my 1/96
USS
Thresher, Carl performed
well at the helm
and will be a fine CO of his own boat.
Between 1400 - 1700 submerged operations continued
with Alfa, Blueback and Thresher. Tom's Scorpion entered the
water and
ran well with
only minor,
new-boat glitches.
With some fine tuning, his boat will run as sharply
as she looks. 1700 Returned to port for pizza break.
DARK-THIRTY Jeff and I commenced night ops. Blueback's
running lights were a big hit at last year's event
and performed
well again this
time -- a very
cool
effect with the sun below the horizon and the water
stilled.
Not having lights on Thresher, I experimented
with a tiny glow stick taped to my periscope. While
the extra
hardware
didn't
adversely affect her performance,
the light emitted was less than satisfactory.
The attempt did generate some discussion
regarding possible uses of larger light sticks
to reproduce the greenish-yellow
glow of a Disney Nautilus at collision speed.
2030 - 2200 Returned to HIX as rain began to
fall. Secured wives and then proceeded to Conference
Room B for a Disney
Nautilus seminar hosted
by
Rich Allsmiller.
Rich was friends with the late, great Tom Scherman,
modeler and imagineer extraordinaire, and Harper
Goff, creator
of the famous
Disney Nautilus design for the 1954
movie "20,000
Leagues Under the Sea."
Rich is in possession of an incredible collection
of artifacts related to the film, Goff, Scherman,
and
the Nautilus --
a great portion
of which he
shared
with our group. His tales of the film's production,
backed with books of still images and construction
blueprints,
were fascinating,
as
well as his
recollections
of Tom Scherman and their modeling adventures.
Rich then did an extensive Q&A centered around
my Custom Replicas 1/32 scale Nautilus project.
The result was an intense, and incredibly satisfying,
learning
experience.
August 29th: 0800 Returned to op area. Overnight
gusts and showers disappeared to leave
the river an absolutely
flat,
almost greasy,
calm. Other than
an occasional jogger, the only personnel
in attendance were the die-hard sub
skippers, their
wives, and Rich, Wayne, Carl and Don. 0830 – 1100 As is so often the case, with no one watching, all boats ran
well. Alfa, Blueback and Thresher patrolled effortlessly and without incident.
Approaches were made on a family paddling a canoe. Rich and others were able
to take turns in command as well. It was a pleasure to see the joy with which
Rich handled Blueback. We were shocked to learn that it was his first time to
drive an R/C sub. It won’t be the last.
To our great pleasure, Ray Lout and his
wife showed up as promised to check out
the action.
Again,
he regaled us with
several
stories from
his days
in the 1:1
scale boats, including an insightful explanation
of the
term “sanitary
tank.” Ray was very careful, however, not to divulge too many details of
his former operations and shared his shock at some of the descriptions of Cold
War submarine espionage he has read in recent years. “Why, that’s
classified material,” he said with a wistful smile. Before he left, Ray
concluded, “It feels like I’m with shipmates.” We couldn’t
have asked for a higher compliment.
1200 Secured the boats and policed the
area. Julie drew the winning raffle ticket
(see
item 9.), the
skippers lined up
in front of
their boats and
photos were
taken. Departed for Houston.
2. WEATHER:
Excellent weather was experienced throughout
the patrol. However, squalls did arrive
on Saturday
evening, just
as squadron members
returned to
the hotel.
3. NAVIGATIONAL AIDS:
None. A navigation course was fully
prepared and present at the event
but was not
utilized. This
was due to
the fact that
the
estimated set-up time
exceeded
the skipper’s willingness to
set down their transmitters.
4. ENEMY SHIPS SIGHTED:
Canoe detected and engaged. Duck convoy
tracked.
5. AIRCRAFT SIGHTINGS:
One vintage B-25 Mitchell bomber made
a low pass over the patrol area late
in the
day
on Saturday.
IFF was
exchanged
without
incident.
6. MAJOR DEFECTS:
Following a collision at approximately
1600 on the 28th, it was discovered
that the hull
of Jeff's
Blueback was
cracked and the
entire stern
cone was nearly
separated. After much adhesive
debate, CA was used to repair the damage and
he was
able to
continue
operations. (Note:
video
review
later revealed
Thresher was to blame. Proper apologies
were rendered.)
On the 28th a discovery was
made related to R/C operations.
In previous outings,
my LA experienced
wild swings
in trim: dead
level for a
run, then down by
the bow and heading deep the
next time out. During the afternoon
run the same
thing
occurred again, without any
apparent change in her perfect
morning setup.
The NiCad
battery pack
was
the only variable,
but was
discounted since
the two packs
used were identical in size
and position in the WTC. Inspired
by an observation
by Gail,
the NiCad
packs
were swapped
and normal trim was
restored as
a result. The slight difference
in weight between the two identical
packs,
which
were manufactured by different
companies, had
thrown
the boat significantly out
of trim.
7. HEALTH AND HABITABILITY:
The health of the crew for
this patrol can be classified
as good. While
no injuries occurred, there was
some fatigue and
at least
one case
of slight overexposure
to the sun. In addition, there was observed
additional gray
hair under the
caps
of several CO’s, less
hair overall on others.
Habitability was very good.
The staff at the Holiday
Inn Express was extremely
friendly
and the facility
was clean
and neat.
A large conference
room was
provided by the hotel
free of charge for the
Saturday evening Disney
Nautilus seminar. 8. ENDURANCE FACTORS:
Torpedoes - none. Other
factors - indefinite.
9. RAFFLE WINNER:
Julie drew Linda Waggoner's
ticket for the ThorDesign
1/96 Permit kit.
A resident
of
San Antonio, Linda
has contracted
with her
favorite SubRon5
member,
Shawn
Brandon, to construct
and command the boat.
10: PATROL ENDED:
By orders of wives,
employers and flight
schedules
after multiple sorties.
10. SAILING LIST:
Rich Allsmiller,
Don Baker, Shawn
Brandon,
Dr. Jim
Caldwell, Brandon
Cantu, Freddie
Cantu, Bruce
Coons,
Chris Corn,
Paul Crozier, Carl
Dietz, Wayne Frey,
Lee Giles,
Jim Humphries,
Tom Kisler, Gail Phillips,
George
Pierce, Richard
Polhemus, Jeff
Porteous, Scott
Vickers, Trevor
Wasik.
11. RECRUITING:
Every advantage
was taken to
promote the SubCommittee.
Fliers,
FAQ sheets,
SC Reports
and membership
applications
were on
display and
a log book
posted to
get names and
contact info of all attendees.
T-shirts
were created
in advance
for sale to increase
visibility. Raffling
the 1/96
ThorDesign Permit kit did much
to generate interest
and tickets
were purchased
aggressively.
Great effort was
taken
to be
as friendly
as possible
to all who showed
up.
While no new
members were
signed, renewed
enthusiasm
among current
members was
generated.
A local
high school
ROTC unit stopped
their morning
march to observe
operations.
They were extremely
impressed.
And placing
an easily built
kit in the
hands of a
motivated
member
via the
raffle
ensures another
new skipper
will
be at the event
next year.
12. REMARKS:
(a) Bravo Zulu
to Matt Thor
for his
donation
of the Permit kit. The
chance to win
it generated
great interest
in
the hobby
and needed
revenue to
cover event
costs. And
even though
Matt,
an integral
member of
SubRon5, was unable
to attend
he participated
in
the event
in a big way.
(b) Once
again, without
the
commitment,
planning,
sacrifice
and hard
work of Gail
Phillips,
Wayne Frey
and Carl
Dietz
(and
their
wives)
this event
would not
have taken
place.
(c) Lastly,
my wife Julie
is
the fightingest
naval
officer
I’ve
ever seen.
Her conduct
while signing
in attendees,
handling
the cash
on t-shirt,
meal, and
raffle ticket
sales,
and welcoming
people to
the event,
was superb.
She is truly
the best
wife/XO/helpmate
a guy
ever had.
Respectfully,
P. H. Crozier
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