Larry Bond - Dangerous Ground

Berg then informed the sonar supervisor that they were slowing and coming to the right to check the baffles, the spherical array’s blind zone behind the sub’s propeller. After he had hung up the handset, Berg ordered, “Helm, ahead one-third.”

“Ahead one-third, helm aye.” Reaching over to the engine order telegraph, the helmsman twisted the dial to ahead 1/3. Almost immediately, a second dial beneath the first moved to the same position. “Sir, maneuvering answers ahead one-third.”

“Very well, helm,” responded Berg.

Berg waited for Memphis to slow down a little before starting the turn. Once the speed had dropped to ten knots, he ordered a slow turn to the right to give the sonar shack adequate time to check the baffles. With no signs of any contacts, the boat completed the circle and steadied up on its original course.

“Okay, Dive, check the boat’s trim. And please be quick. We need to get back on track,” said Lenny, with an unusual amount of sternness.

“Aye, aye, sir,” responded Jerry. During the turn, it became clear to him that the boat was heavy, but he couldn’t tell by how much or where. Since a submarine heels into a turn, the stern planes and the rudder interfere with each other and it’s really hard to judge just how much influence is being exerted by the stern planes to maintain depth. Once Memphis steadied up on her course, this would no longer a problem.

Looking at the positions of the stern and fairwater planes, Jerry deduced that the boat was heavy overall and heavy forward. “Chief of the Watch, when was the last time that a compensation for potable water was done?” asked Jerry.

“About an hour and a half ago, sir.”

“Very well. Chief of the Watch, please compensate for one and a half hours of potable water,” ordered Jerry.

“Compensate for one and a half hours of potable water, aye, sir,” replied MM1 Anderson. Jerry watched as Anderson positioned switches on the ballast control panel that remotely opened valves and created a clear path from the variable ballast tanks inside the submarine, through the trim pump, out to sea. “Pumping, from auxiliaries to sea,” reported Anderson. Jerry acknowledged the report.

It took a few minutes for Anderson to complete the compensation. As he was repositioning the valves, he said, “Diving Officer, thirty-eight hundred pounds from auxiliaries and twelve hundred pounds from forward trim have been pumped to sea.”

“Very well, Chief of the Watch,” responded Jerry. After another ten minutes and another four thousand pounds pumped overboard, Jerry was about to announce that he had a satisfactory one-third trim when he noticed something odd. The stern planesman was holding his planes steady at five degrees down. This indicated that the boat was heavy aft and that the planes were trying to hold the stern up. Glancing at the fairwater planes, he saw that they were in the rise position and that the boat was maintaining the ordered depth of two hundred feet. I must have screwed up somewhere, Jerry thought. I’ve made her too heavy aft.

“Chief of the Watch,” Jerry said. “Shift four thousand pounds from after trim to forward trim.”

“Shift four thousand pounds from after trim to forward trim, aye, sir.”

“Something wrong, Dive?” inquired Berg.

“Yes, sir, I think I messed up the fore and aft trim a little,” replied Jerry, somewhat embarrassed.

“Very well, fix it so we can get going again.”

“Aye, sir.” He glanced over at the COB, but Reynolds’ face was a mask.

After Anderson had moved the four thousand pounds of water from the aftermost part of the ship to the forward-most part, Jerry looked at the indications to see if he had corrected the problem. At first, it looked like it had indeed done the trick. But within minutes, the stern planes were now holding steady in the rise position and the fairwater planes in the dive position. All this told Jerry that he was now heavy forward, that he must have moved too much water. However, the plane positions were suggesting that he had to move almost as much water back aft as he had just shifted forward. “I don’t understand why this isn’t working,” muttered Jerry to himself as he scratched his head.

“Chief of the Watch, shift three thousand pounds from forward trim to after trim.”

“Shift three thousand pounds from forward trim to after trim, aye, sir.”

“Diiiive, would you please explain what the hell is going on?” Berg demanded, clearly annoyed.

“Uh, sir, I seemed to have overcompensated. I’m working on it now. Please bear with me.”

“Grrrr,” growled Berg.

Jerry felt more and more uncomfortable and stressed. He completely understood Lenny’s irritation, but what bugged Jerry more was his apparent inability to balance the boat. And why was the COB standing back there like a damn statue when he really needed the man’s help?

With Anderson’s report that the pumping was completed, Jerry stood up, leaned forward, and stared at the fairwater and stern planes indications. Standing there, he willed the indicators to zero out, but once again the stern planes went to a modest dive angle, while the fairwater planes drifted upward on the rise side.

“Son of a bitch!” hissed an exasperated Jerry. “What is wrong?” Turning around, Jerry was finally going to ask the COB for help, but he was gone! He was nowhere to be seen! On top of that, Berg was on the periscope stand, arms folded across his chest, glowering at him. Jerry felt helpless and was now uncertain as to what needed to be done to remedy the boat’s trim. He was thinking about being relieved when he heard the noise of people moving.

At first, it was rather subdued, similar to what one would expect at watch changeover, but it grew in volume. Then a long string of men emerged from the navigation equipment space behind him. One by one they walked past him on their way down the ladder to forward compartment middle level. Some of the men waved as they went by. Seaman Jobin said, “Hey, sir!” All were smiling. At that moment, Jerry knew he had been tricked. He had fallen victim to one of the oldest pranks in the submarine force: the Trim Party.

For operational and safety reasons, a submarine’s trim must be finely balanced. Moving a significant amount of weight from one end of the submarine to another will have noticeable affect on the boat’s fore and aft balance. In a trim party, a large number of men cram themselves into a space as far aft or forward as they can get; in this case, in the extreme after end of the engine room or the torpedo room. When the Diving Officer compensates for the extra weight by moving water to the other end, the men start moving to the other end as well. This causes the boat to “see-saw” back and forth, apparently without reason, much to the annoyance of the Diving Officer.

A seasoned Diving Officer would have recognized what was going on and simply used the planes to maintain an even keel and waited for the individuals involved to get bored and quit. But rookie Diving Officers are easier to deceive and so often became the prey of a merry band of mischievous submariners. As the long procession continued, Jerry felt his cheeks ablaze with embarrassment. Sitting down, he watched as the steady stream of men seemed to go on forever. Finally, as the last man walked past, Jerry heard the sound of clapping from behind him.

“Outstanding trim party, Jerry,” Lenny chortled, barely able to contain himself. “That has got to be one of the biggest, longest parties I’ve ever seen. What do you say, COB?”

“Yes, sir, Mr. Berg, easily in the top three,” replied Reynolds. The huge grin on his face made it clear to everyone present that he had thoroughly enjoyed Jerry’s initiation.