Friday, May 21, 2010

Subs


From "Hunt for Red October" starring Sean Connery, to "Run Silent, Run Deep" starring Clark Gable, I must have seen every Sub movie ever made including the all-time classic – Das Boot. I have been fascinated with submarines ever since I was a kid in short pants but at the same time, they terrify me. I think it was the late Sir Winston Churchill who said, "Of all the branches of the armed forces in wartime, the submarine service is the most dangerous." If I were asked if would I serve my country by becoming a sub-mariner, I'd have to say, "I don't know!" I made a trip to Birkenhead, to view the HMS Onyx. I wanted to see how I could answer that question.


It was raining and overcast as I crossed the river Mersey from Liverpool to Birkenhead. During the crossing, I could see the Cammell Laird shipyards who built warships and submarines for the Royal Navy and I also saw the anti-submarine attack frigate HMS Plymouth moored right behind the submarine I had come to see. The hunter - right on the hunted's tail - so to speak. Both vessels had seen action in the Falklands war.

I was not able to simply walk over to the Onyx from where I disembarked from the ferry. I was routed through the downtown core and finding the Onyx again was not an easy task. I had no map at the time so I asked some school kids where was the Sub. A red-headed kid in a school uniform replied, "Do you mean the rusty sub-bucket, Sir?" Thinking that there was only going to be one Sub on display, I said, "Yes". He told me to turn left at the end of the street and I would see it.

"WOW!"....wrong Sub. I was looking at a gigantic U-Boat parked in an abandoned parking lot resting on supports constructed with scaffolding. It was a rust-bucket alright. Then, I remembered that it was U534. It was one of the last German U-Boat's constructed during the war. It had been sunk in shallow water by the RAF Coastal Command not far off the coast of Denmark. After the war ended, the U-Boat was raised in one piece and transported to Birkenhead to be restored and put on display as a museum piece. What surprised me most was the sheer size of it. It made passenger cars parked close-by look like matchbox toys.

I finally found the Onyx. I signed-up for the 2:00pm tour. I was surprised how cramped the submarine was. We learned to keep our heads down very quickly. Our guide explained how the emergency procedures worked. He gave us a tour of the torpedo room, the sleeping quarters and the kitchen. He gave us detailed and intricate descriptions of escape procedures in case the boat sank, and so on. Even though it got quite technical in parts, he explained how the communications worked. I could see how someone suffering from claustrophobia would have a real hard time in a Sub. The air gets stale. Our guide was a veteran of the Royal Navy, a former sub-mariner, who really knew his stuff. He was experienced and he was an expert. I came to the conclusion that even though I find Subs intriguing, I didn't think I would be able to handle the constraints of long term underwater living in sealed vessel. I guess my answer to the question would be "No Sir, but I would gladly serve on a Destroyer."

In response to a retired sailor's question about where the Onyx originated from, our guide said "Canada". That peeked my curiosity since I had always thought that Canada bought subs from the British and not the other way around. I was not convinced that he had answered the question correctly so I asked a follow-up question hoping that I would not offend him if he was wrong. I asked him, "Sir, when the Sub was in Canadian hands, what name did she have?" "The HMCS Ojibwa" was his immediate response . Instantly, I was convinced.


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