Brokenarrow,
Bill Lee (AKA VIEJO) was one of the last me to leave the SCORPION before her final and eternal patrol, he truly can say those men whom are enterred onboard her were HIS shipmates.. Over memorial day weekend here in Norfolk, Va we had a "tolling of the bells" ceremony and also a rememberance of the SCORPION and her crew. I went to one a couple of years ago and it truly was an awesome thing to witness and also one very hard thing to hear being a former submariner. Bill I toasted you and your shipmates on Memorial day and those friends whom I have lost over the years.
On a different note, teaching the "School of the Boat" was and still is a VERY special thing for me. I had been a volunteer on the USS Torsk (SS 423) for a few years and knew very little about Diesel boats (I served on a LA Class boat) and how they truly worked and were layed out. Granted the compartments were layed out roughly the same but EVERYTHING operated differently even my beloved torpedo tubes
It started because I was a newly divorced single dad whose son went to his mom's for the summer and then it turned into damn we need to do something to TEACH our volunteers whom are trying their damndest to restore their boats and learn about the systems and how they worked so they didn't make the mistake of opening valves that they had no clue as to where it went or what they really did. IF you go back to the very beginning of the school of the boat you will see a LOT of questions being asked and people LEARNING what their systems actually did.
For a Los Angeles Class submariner teach a BALAO class was unique and at times very interesting, I was LEARNING with them just as fast as they were. I was blessed to have very good support from not only Lance but John Thethino (sp? sorry John) and Chief Mike Eacho (USS Torsk) and also Tom Bowser (USS DRUM) and I would be wrong to forget Paul Farace (USS COD) for kicking me in the arse occassionaly. These guys would always helped when needed or prodded me in the right direction when I needed it and they were kind enough to also teach with me in various different areas. Those guys were the hero's to me whom made it worth it because they stepped up to the plate when I was stuck or didn't completely grasp the system at that time.
Lance can probably tell you when we started and when we finished the final true "School of the Boat", I learned so much from it and have I hope been able to help other boats (not just the Torsk) in their restoration projects and yes WEAPONS LOADING
Every week for nearly 2 years there was a new school of the boat.
In the last 2 years our Museum Submarines have come a LONG way due to people whom care and whom want to PRESERVE our heritage, to date there have been 3 boats whom have loaded weapons onboard again and in some instances the first time in 20+ years with crews whom never loaded weapons before let alone on that class of boat. On the Torsk their was a partial changing of the guard with the Torpedomen, my friend Frank Morgan whom has directed the loadout of EVERY weapon onboard the Torsk allowed me to load a Mk 45(nuklear... gotta love W) torpedo without his supervision and guidance. That was due to the School of the Boat and how much I had learned and changed over time. That weapon was brought onboard without incident (while ugly at times) and then was reassembeled in the After Torpedo Room. Frank and others did step in for me to reassemble it. 1 because I couldn't remember how the belly bands went on and 2. my diabetes had kicked in real bad and I had to go lay down before I fell down.
IF you look at the Batfish's deck progress it has had OVER 10,000 hits and is still counting, that tells me that a LOT of people are watching and they are interested in what we as volunteers are doing to restore our boats.
