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Big Red: Three Months on Board a Trident Nuclear Submarine
The Trident nuclear submarine is the most complex war machine the United States Navy has ever produced, a $1.8 billion marvel crammed with more modern military technology than any other vessel in the world. It is an 18,750-ton steel monster, taller in length than the Washington Monument and wider than a three-lane highway at its center. Deep beneath the ocean, it can sail silently for months, practically impossible to detect by the enemy. And with the twenty-four ballistic missiles on board, just one of these subs have enough strategic nuclear warheads to unleash twice the explosive energy detonated by all the conventional weapons in World War II.
Now, for the first time, veteran Time magazine correspondent Douglas C. Waller takes you on a tension-packed, three-month patrol deep in the Atlantic Ocean and inside one of these Tridents, the U.S.S. Nebraska. Granted more access to these awesome submarines than any journalist before, Waller penetrates one of the most secretive worlds in the U.S. Military.
The Cold War may be over, but the U.S. Navy still has Tridents lurking the oceans, always ready at a moment's notice to unleash a nuclear holocaust. In chilling detail, "Big Red" reveals the top-secret procedures for starting World War II -- the secret codes, the elaborate fail-safe mechanisms, the highly classified battle tactics for nuclear combat.
This book takes you into this closed society as a witness to secret rituals and life experience where submarines, underwater for months, hope never to unleash the destructive power they command.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published March 6, 2014
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February 6, 2011
Big Red by Douglas Waller is one of the best books available on American nuclear submarines. There are a few others, all wonderful reading:
* Blind Man's Bluff by Sherry Sontag
* Red Star Rogue by Kenneth Sewell (creative nonfiction)
* HMS Unseen by Patrick Robinson (fiction)
* Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy (fiction)
* SSN by Tom Clancy
I'm sure there are more and would love if you'd add them to the comments section below. I've read all of the above because I'm including a nuclear sub in my next thriller, so I had to read everything possible about submarines, as well as chat with everyone I could find. I came away with admiration for the machine and the men who make it work.
Douglas Waller is well-credentialed to take on this job. He is a prior defense and foreign policy correspondent for Newsweek and served on the legislative staffs of Senator Proxmire and Congressman Markey. In Big Red, the Navy gave Waller the opportunity to sail with the Trident nuclear submarine USS Nebraska for three months. during that time, the Nebraska was on patrol protecting American shores. This meant it was invisible to both the enemy and friends, going wherever its captain deemed necessary to perform his duty. The Captain of a nuclear submarine is king with all the requisite powers during a sub's deployment.
Some of the topics covered are:
* how they leave port and disappear. Getting a submarine out to the ocean isn't as easy as turning on the engine and heading for the open water. Turns out, they're pretty unwieldy when surfaced, and they can't dive until they're out of the harbor. That takes a while.
* practice diving
* who serves on the boat (they aren't 'ships'--that nomenclature refers to surface vessels)
* practice avoiding the enemy
* practice attacking the enemy
* what about the nuclear weapons on board a sub
* details of the crew's food (they eat well, partial compensation for not seeing family and friends, not breathing fresh air and the very tight quarters they live in for months)
* what happens when someone gets sick
* what does 'cookies and cream' mean
* what does 'angles and dangles' mean (hint: it has to do with diving)
* what happens in an emergency
Some of my favorite parts will give you a good sense of Waller's writing style. It's easy to read, plain, and gets the message across even to lay people. See if you agree:
* This was the room where the giant ship was steered, where the captain peered at the world outside through the periscope, where buttons could be pushed to fire torpedoes or a key could be turned to launch, God forbid, the twenty-four long-range ballistic missiles
* Control (the sub's command and control center) is as large as a roomy bedroom. But with all the instrument panels and stools and chart stands and plotting tables arranged inside it, all the silver tubes and gray pipes and black wires and red phone boxes that hang overhead, not to mention all the crewmen who crowd in to operate its equipment, control becomes cramped. (It didn't sound roomy from the get-go. By the end of this section, it seemed as cramped as a telephone booth with thirty college kids stuffed inside during Hell Week)
* the capital and technological infrastructure that took fifty years and $trillions to build...
* The Nebraska actually stayed under no more than eighty to ninety days at a time because it didn't have enough room for food to feed the crew much past that
* Every two weeks, like clockwork, an American ballistic missile sub still slips quietly away from its pier and sinks deep into the dark ocean to relieve one of the ten Tridents that remain on constant patrol in the Atlantic and Pacific. (This was written ten years ago. I assume nothing has changed, but they wouldn't tell me if it had)
* ...and the fanged propeller made of a precision-machined aluminum, nickel, copper and bronze alloy. The divers were making sure that saboteurs hadn't attached bombs.
* ...each (tug) prepared to nudge the long black vessel right or left if it sailed off the center track of the channel (as it left port)
* ...the small amount of time the Nebraska spent on the surface could be the most hazardous...
* The blade count is important. Merchant ships usually have three or four blades on each propeller. Warships and submarines have five or more. The class stack (I've lost track of what that is) can also tell if a propeller's revolutions per minute increase or decrease, a tip-off that a ship is speeding up or slowing down.
That should give you a flavor for the book. Fascinating, don't you agree?
* Blind Man's Bluff by Sherry Sontag
* Red Star Rogue by Kenneth Sewell (creative nonfiction)
* HMS Unseen by Patrick Robinson (fiction)
* Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy (fiction)
* SSN by Tom Clancy
I'm sure there are more and would love if you'd add them to the comments section below. I've read all of the above because I'm including a nuclear sub in my next thriller, so I had to read everything possible about submarines, as well as chat with everyone I could find. I came away with admiration for the machine and the men who make it work.
Douglas Waller is well-credentialed to take on this job. He is a prior defense and foreign policy correspondent for Newsweek and served on the legislative staffs of Senator Proxmire and Congressman Markey. In Big Red, the Navy gave Waller the opportunity to sail with the Trident nuclear submarine USS Nebraska for three months. during that time, the Nebraska was on patrol protecting American shores. This meant it was invisible to both the enemy and friends, going wherever its captain deemed necessary to perform his duty. The Captain of a nuclear submarine is king with all the requisite powers during a sub's deployment.
Some of the topics covered are:
* how they leave port and disappear. Getting a submarine out to the ocean isn't as easy as turning on the engine and heading for the open water. Turns out, they're pretty unwieldy when surfaced, and they can't dive until they're out of the harbor. That takes a while.
* practice diving
* who serves on the boat (they aren't 'ships'--that nomenclature refers to surface vessels)
* practice avoiding the enemy
* practice attacking the enemy
* what about the nuclear weapons on board a sub
* details of the crew's food (they eat well, partial compensation for not seeing family and friends, not breathing fresh air and the very tight quarters they live in for months)
* what happens when someone gets sick
* what does 'cookies and cream' mean
* what does 'angles and dangles' mean (hint: it has to do with diving)
* what happens in an emergency
Some of my favorite parts will give you a good sense of Waller's writing style. It's easy to read, plain, and gets the message across even to lay people. See if you agree:
* This was the room where the giant ship was steered, where the captain peered at the world outside through the periscope, where buttons could be pushed to fire torpedoes or a key could be turned to launch, God forbid, the twenty-four long-range ballistic missiles
* Control (the sub's command and control center) is as large as a roomy bedroom. But with all the instrument panels and stools and chart stands and plotting tables arranged inside it, all the silver tubes and gray pipes and black wires and red phone boxes that hang overhead, not to mention all the crewmen who crowd in to operate its equipment, control becomes cramped. (It didn't sound roomy from the get-go. By the end of this section, it seemed as cramped as a telephone booth with thirty college kids stuffed inside during Hell Week)
* the capital and technological infrastructure that took fifty years and $trillions to build...
* The Nebraska actually stayed under no more than eighty to ninety days at a time because it didn't have enough room for food to feed the crew much past that
* Every two weeks, like clockwork, an American ballistic missile sub still slips quietly away from its pier and sinks deep into the dark ocean to relieve one of the ten Tridents that remain on constant patrol in the Atlantic and Pacific. (This was written ten years ago. I assume nothing has changed, but they wouldn't tell me if it had)
* ...and the fanged propeller made of a precision-machined aluminum, nickel, copper and bronze alloy. The divers were making sure that saboteurs hadn't attached bombs.
* ...each (tug) prepared to nudge the long black vessel right or left if it sailed off the center track of the channel (as it left port)
* ...the small amount of time the Nebraska spent on the surface could be the most hazardous...
* The blade count is important. Merchant ships usually have three or four blades on each propeller. Warships and submarines have five or more. The class stack (I've lost track of what that is) can also tell if a propeller's revolutions per minute increase or decrease, a tip-off that a ship is speeding up or slowing down.
That should give you a flavor for the book. Fascinating, don't you agree?
December 18, 2009
Waller describes the culture of the post-Tailhook navy, viewed by old-timers as obscenely PC, but accepted as more appropriate by more recent pilots, but everyone on red alert against any hint of sexual harassment. Clearly though, the Navy is better for having done away with the stupid inanities of Tailhook activity.
Submariners weren’t part of the sexual childishness that had become an aviator’s ritual, but discussions continue about the role of women on submarines. Several men Waller interviewed on the Nebraska, a Trident submarine, believe that with money and the will, the navy could easily make the adjustment, and that many of the arguments now used to keep them off just don’t make sense, but the money isn’t there, so for the foreseeable future it’s unlikely that submarines will ever see mixed crews.
Days are long on these subs, twelve to sixteen hour days being common. Study is constant and both officers and men are expected to learn as much as possible about their jobs and the workings of the sub. Drills are constant, all the way from simulating a crazed member of the crew holding another hostage, making an approach on an enemy submarine, simulating leaks, or even shutting down systems to see how the crew will react and fix the problem.
I just love the little technical details. For example, I was unaware that multiple factors affect the sub’s trim: the saltier the water, the lighter the sub; as it dives deeper the sub’s hull can compress as much as a foot, so the decks are hung on huge rubber washers both for silence and to accommodate the expansion and compression. Spare parts are moved around, food is consumed and expelled, all of these things affect the sub’s balance so “driving” one becomes a matter of experience and skill. Since they have no keel, they are incredibly rough on the surface and many get seasick. They all prefer being underwater where the sub’s motion is silky-smooth.
The depth to which the newer subs can dive is classified, but it’s well below 800 feet and because the hulls deform slightly while in harbor, a test dive to check for leaks is imperative at the beginning of each patrol that usually lasts about three months. Silence is imperative and all pipes and fittings are rubberized so that no noise might be transmitted to the outside where they could be heard by another sub or surface vessel, and there are signs all over the boat warning against slamming doors, dropping weights, or any loud noise; even slight noises like running water are prohibited during the really silent running. No Russian sub ever located a Trident.
The three month cruises are especially hard on the wives who are almost forced into cliques by the Navy. They are discouraged from building friendships outside the Navy family so as to lessen the chance of revealing secrets such as when a sub might be sailing or returning to port. Unlike surface ships’ crews there can be no communications between the men and their families. During periods of tension a medical emergency on the boat has to be dealt with by the ship’s pharmacy mate; no evacuations or communications with the shore are permitted. Each team of wives has an ombudswoman appointed by the captain and it’s her responsibility to help out with difficulties the wives might be having. It is a job taken seriously and can be quite demanding. It’s a rare day when they are not called upon to help out with problems that range from the mundane — paycheck problems or household repairs — to serious, e.g. the death of a child or severe illness.
Certainly one leaves this book in awe of those who make the grade and work at these very demanding job assignments.
Submariners weren’t part of the sexual childishness that had become an aviator’s ritual, but discussions continue about the role of women on submarines. Several men Waller interviewed on the Nebraska, a Trident submarine, believe that with money and the will, the navy could easily make the adjustment, and that many of the arguments now used to keep them off just don’t make sense, but the money isn’t there, so for the foreseeable future it’s unlikely that submarines will ever see mixed crews.
Days are long on these subs, twelve to sixteen hour days being common. Study is constant and both officers and men are expected to learn as much as possible about their jobs and the workings of the sub. Drills are constant, all the way from simulating a crazed member of the crew holding another hostage, making an approach on an enemy submarine, simulating leaks, or even shutting down systems to see how the crew will react and fix the problem.
I just love the little technical details. For example, I was unaware that multiple factors affect the sub’s trim: the saltier the water, the lighter the sub; as it dives deeper the sub’s hull can compress as much as a foot, so the decks are hung on huge rubber washers both for silence and to accommodate the expansion and compression. Spare parts are moved around, food is consumed and expelled, all of these things affect the sub’s balance so “driving” one becomes a matter of experience and skill. Since they have no keel, they are incredibly rough on the surface and many get seasick. They all prefer being underwater where the sub’s motion is silky-smooth.
The depth to which the newer subs can dive is classified, but it’s well below 800 feet and because the hulls deform slightly while in harbor, a test dive to check for leaks is imperative at the beginning of each patrol that usually lasts about three months. Silence is imperative and all pipes and fittings are rubberized so that no noise might be transmitted to the outside where they could be heard by another sub or surface vessel, and there are signs all over the boat warning against slamming doors, dropping weights, or any loud noise; even slight noises like running water are prohibited during the really silent running. No Russian sub ever located a Trident.
The three month cruises are especially hard on the wives who are almost forced into cliques by the Navy. They are discouraged from building friendships outside the Navy family so as to lessen the chance of revealing secrets such as when a sub might be sailing or returning to port. Unlike surface ships’ crews there can be no communications between the men and their families. During periods of tension a medical emergency on the boat has to be dealt with by the ship’s pharmacy mate; no evacuations or communications with the shore are permitted. Each team of wives has an ombudswoman appointed by the captain and it’s her responsibility to help out with difficulties the wives might be having. It is a job taken seriously and can be quite demanding. It’s a rare day when they are not called upon to help out with problems that range from the mundane — paycheck problems or household repairs — to serious, e.g. the death of a child or severe illness.
Certainly one leaves this book in awe of those who make the grade and work at these very demanding job assignments.
June 3, 2020
I really enjoyed this remarkable book. The author was allowed to spend three months in a Trident ballistic missile submarine during a full patrol and write about his experiences and observations of life in what is one of the deadliest weapons in existence.
The book is full of details of life on a US submarine; and I was able to get answers to many technical questions on Trident submarines and the mechanics of nuclear deterrence. Learning more about the stressful and demanding conditions of a strategic ballistic missile submarine helped me appreciate the sacrifices of these (mostly young) men to maintain the precarious balance of nuclear power between the West and Russia.
The author got to know many of the crew members closely and wrote about their lives, ambitions and dreams. In the era of ubiquitous social networking, I could not resist looking up some of the main characters to see how they fared after their lives in the Navy. It was truly interesting to find out that the ambitious immigrant engineering officer rose to one of the highest ranks of the US submarine force, the sub commander had an illustrious career in the Navy, and the talented young tactics officer of USS Nebraska probably uses his submarine warfare experience to fight complex intellectual property court cases these days.
Highly recommended to anyone interested in the modern US submarine force.
The book is full of details of life on a US submarine; and I was able to get answers to many technical questions on Trident submarines and the mechanics of nuclear deterrence. Learning more about the stressful and demanding conditions of a strategic ballistic missile submarine helped me appreciate the sacrifices of these (mostly young) men to maintain the precarious balance of nuclear power between the West and Russia.
The author got to know many of the crew members closely and wrote about their lives, ambitions and dreams. In the era of ubiquitous social networking, I could not resist looking up some of the main characters to see how they fared after their lives in the Navy. It was truly interesting to find out that the ambitious immigrant engineering officer rose to one of the highest ranks of the US submarine force, the sub commander had an illustrious career in the Navy, and the talented young tactics officer of USS Nebraska probably uses his submarine warfare experience to fight complex intellectual property court cases these days.
Highly recommended to anyone interested in the modern US submarine force.
November 4, 2012
The Ohio class ballistic missile submarine is one of the most complex mechanisms produced by humanity, manned and serviced by 140 enlisted men and 15 officers. It carries 24 Trident ballistic missiles with multiple half-megaton warheads, which are capable of transforming a large part of Russia into a radioactive wasteland. The author spent one patrol, a little under three months, on board one in 1999, and wrote a book about the submarine and the men on board. Should the launch order come, they must be ready to execute it; sailors who have their doubts are removed from the warship. The captain is a Roman Catholic; 75 American Catholic bishops have condemned the policy of nuclear deterrence as immoral, and Pope John Paul II decreed that it can only be an interim policy on the way to nuclear disarmament; yet the captain believes that should he turn the key, God will be on his side. The actual launch mechanism is very intricate, making sure that missiles don't get launched even in the case of a mutiny, but do when the order comes. Four keys need to be turned in four different places in the sub. The launch order must have a special authentication code that is generated and printed on two foil-wrapped plastic cards by a special NSA-built machine; one card is stored in a safe on board the submarine, and the other in the headquarters; no human being ever sees the code. In the movie "Crimson Tide" a submarine commander is given an order to launch the missiles, but the radio is damaged before he could receive the second message countermanding the order; a conflict between the commander and another officer makes for the drama until the radio is repaired. In real life there will be many spares; the fate of humanity won't hinge on a single radio. Should a hostage situation arise, the crew is trained to protect the missiles at all costs, even if the hostage dies. There is no brig; an arrested man is confined to his bunk (and, presumably, the mess hall and the latrine) for the rest of the patrol.
During the patrol nothing much happens. When the boat leaves the base, it nearly runs into a buoy, but stops just in time. A man has appendicitis, but the medic pumps him so full of antibiotics that the perforated appendix doesn't infect the rest of his body. Another man passes a kidney stone. So the crew spends a lot of time in drills, training for all sorts of emergencies: a fire, a leak, a man overboard, a crewman gone crazy, a Russian antisubmarine warfare ship. The submarine test-fires a few missiles with dummy warheads to let the Russians know that it can do it for real. Like in a high school, and probably in any closed all-male collective, there are cliques; sailors working on the nuclear power plant look down upon the rest of the crew. There is some hazing; a newbie can be told to save some bread for the propeller shaft seal, only to discover that the propeller shaft seal is not an animal. A lot of sailors enlisted in the Navy because they could not get a stable well-paying job in the civilian world, or could not afford an education that the Navy would give them for free. I wonder how much the enlistment level would fall if higher education in the United States became much cheaper.
During the patrol nothing much happens. When the boat leaves the base, it nearly runs into a buoy, but stops just in time. A man has appendicitis, but the medic pumps him so full of antibiotics that the perforated appendix doesn't infect the rest of his body. Another man passes a kidney stone. So the crew spends a lot of time in drills, training for all sorts of emergencies: a fire, a leak, a man overboard, a crewman gone crazy, a Russian antisubmarine warfare ship. The submarine test-fires a few missiles with dummy warheads to let the Russians know that it can do it for real. Like in a high school, and probably in any closed all-male collective, there are cliques; sailors working on the nuclear power plant look down upon the rest of the crew. There is some hazing; a newbie can be told to save some bread for the propeller shaft seal, only to discover that the propeller shaft seal is not an animal. A lot of sailors enlisted in the Navy because they could not get a stable well-paying job in the civilian world, or could not afford an education that the Navy would give them for free. I wonder how much the enlistment level would fall if higher education in the United States became much cheaper.
February 7, 2012
Interesting, but dry. A friend of mine was working on the sub at the time and is mentioned in the book, but not by name.
If you're expecting another Hunt for Red October, this isn't it. It's about life on board a submarine. It's about practicing your job until you can do it in your sleep, and then practicing some more. How fifty (?) men must get along with each other in a small area for 3 months at a time.
I give it only 2 stars because I did find it dry. I liked the subject matter, but I think it could have been written better.
If you're expecting another Hunt for Red October, this isn't it. It's about life on board a submarine. It's about practicing your job until you can do it in your sleep, and then practicing some more. How fifty (?) men must get along with each other in a small area for 3 months at a time.
I give it only 2 stars because I did find it dry. I liked the subject matter, but I think it could have been written better.
January 13, 2016
Fantastic Book about life aboard a Trident submarine in the US Navy. This topic is very interesting because of the long history of submarines and their still relevant role in the national defence to the USA and other nations. The author writes extremely well and its almost as if you're on the sub with all the crew.
January 4, 2016
I did not like this book at all it was all about the crew and very little about the actual submarine. You go through multiple chapters just until the submarine gets into the ocean. Every few pages, it's another tale about one of the crews wives, family life, school,or navy career.
June 4, 2021
Though it was published 20 years ago, the subject in "Big Red" is somewhat timeless. It's not hard to believe that Trident nuclear missile submarines operate much the way Waller describes. It sounds like a cramped, thankless existence, yet in his interviews all of the officers, and the majority of the crew, believe in their job, and find purpose and fulfillment in what they do. What I like best about this book is that while Waller explains enough of the technology in the USS Nebraska to help readers understand what he's writing, he focuses most of his attention on the people.
Want to read
January 27, 2022
April 18, 2023
Probably many of us thought there would be some sort of action but it’s not The Hunt For Red October, nor should it be. It’s how you keep your game ready if something happens…and I hope it never has to go into battle or launch.
January 29, 2025
I found this book to be an interesting description of the day-to-day life on a submarine, and considering that I have been on a few submarine trips as a civilian working on Navy sonar, it complemented my experience.
May 14, 2023
Over 20 years old so things have probably changed. However does give an idea of what is involved with these subs
September 27, 2023
This is about as close as a civilian could ever get to experiencing life on a nuclear sub. Thank you to those who do it!
September 5, 2018
Review from 2010:
It was an interesting book, but sadly I think it fits the stereotype of non-fiction we develop as children: it is lacking in drama and in truth probably a bit tedious if one was not already inclined to appreciate it. I'm not sure it would be possible to salvage a book on this subject from being interesting only to a specific group of people. I mean, it's a book about a boomer... what kind of excitement can you really expect? (But any real excitement on a boomer would mean end of the world as we know it... so... lets keep it that way.)
But my hubby's currently living underwater so I was interested enough to rate this three stars.
-------------
Review from 2018:
I read this again, not knowing I had read it in 2010. I thought I had just read a little bit then put it down, but apparently I had read the whole thing. (This is why I love goodreads.) Reading it this time… only occasionally did I think something sounded familiar. So, clearly, the book didn’t mark me or cause much reflection the first time!
This time what I got out of it was a greater appreciation for the variety of people on a sub, and a greater understanding about the various jobs. Now, when wives say what their husband does I’ll actually have an idea of what that means instead of a vague notion.
Apart from the people part of it all, I didn’t enjoy this much. And I can see why it isn’t a book that people talk about much in this community. Time and again the author came back to a lens that colors the Trident mission as absurd, terrible even. Which, I can see that! But to not discuss the other side was very editorial for my taste. I know that the world was a very different place when this was published in the 1990s than it is today, but surely even then there were plenty of dovish people who recognized the value of strategic deterrence. Anyhow, just seemed rude for someone who was receiving big favors from a very secretive federal group to imply that their mission was wrong. And seemed out of touch with and insensitive to his audience, which is likely to be mostly people who like military things or have family bravely serving on submarines. 2 stars.
It was an interesting book, but sadly I think it fits the stereotype of non-fiction we develop as children: it is lacking in drama and in truth probably a bit tedious if one was not already inclined to appreciate it. I'm not sure it would be possible to salvage a book on this subject from being interesting only to a specific group of people. I mean, it's a book about a boomer... what kind of excitement can you really expect? (But any real excitement on a boomer would mean end of the world as we know it... so... lets keep it that way.)
But my hubby's currently living underwater so I was interested enough to rate this three stars.
-------------
Review from 2018:
I read this again, not knowing I had read it in 2010. I thought I had just read a little bit then put it down, but apparently I had read the whole thing. (This is why I love goodreads.) Reading it this time… only occasionally did I think something sounded familiar. So, clearly, the book didn’t mark me or cause much reflection the first time!
This time what I got out of it was a greater appreciation for the variety of people on a sub, and a greater understanding about the various jobs. Now, when wives say what their husband does I’ll actually have an idea of what that means instead of a vague notion.
Apart from the people part of it all, I didn’t enjoy this much. And I can see why it isn’t a book that people talk about much in this community. Time and again the author came back to a lens that colors the Trident mission as absurd, terrible even. Which, I can see that! But to not discuss the other side was very editorial for my taste. I know that the world was a very different place when this was published in the 1990s than it is today, but surely even then there were plenty of dovish people who recognized the value of strategic deterrence. Anyhow, just seemed rude for someone who was receiving big favors from a very secretive federal group to imply that their mission was wrong. And seemed out of touch with and insensitive to his audience, which is likely to be mostly people who like military things or have family bravely serving on submarines. 2 stars.
March 5, 2012
I have always had an interest in how people shape a culture and live in extreme conditions, whether it be in nature or man-made conditions. I remember hearing stories of the Trident subs during my time in the military and after, but it was always folks talking about 'things they had heard'. Like, how long the sub crews are out on patrol and how long these crews go without ever seeing the sun. No one seemed to know much more than this and even that was hearsay. This book was eye-opening and fascinating for me. It provided a glimpse of how these crews live in a very cramped and possibly dangerous place, the duties they must perform and the culture of a part of the military that still has remnants of Cold War-era philosophies. I particularly enjoyed the profiles of the crew. The author made a point to be evenhanded and that showed in his reporting of these men. Some of the crew loved the submarine life and were making a career of the Navy. Others were frank in their dislike of this part of the service and the Navy's traditions. Their criticisms reminded me of my frustration in my years of Air Force service. I was most impressed by the commander of this particular Trident, Captain Volonino. He came across as a man who was very serious about performing his duties with honor and was very in tune with the awesome responsibility he had each time he went out on patrol. This book gave me an in-depth look into a part of the military I knew existed, but never knew much about.
March 23, 2016
This one didn't grab me. Granted, Waller was faced with a major challenge in writing about a modern submarine -- there's no active conflict to add drama, we're no longer in the tension of the Cold War, any details of the mission are completely classified, and we don't have the benefit of hindsight to place any of it in a larger context yet. That lack of drive comes across in the story itself, with several points reflecting on how necessary (or possibly not necessary?) a Trident submarine is in the current world. Instead, he focused on telling the individual personal histories of many of the men on board, which is mildly interesting, but did nothing to really draw me in. The most interesting part (and worth reading alone) was the detailed description of the launch sequence for the nuclear missiles -- he goes step by step, describing all the checks, confirmations, and safeguards, and how they have changed from the days of the Cold War. It's and odd blend of frightening and reassuring.
June 9, 2011
Interesting and informative read which gives a decent account of life aboard a Trident nuclear sub.
Moving from person to person across various rank and departments aboard ship, Waller gives you a glimpse into the duties, drills, responsibilities, training and mindset of the seamen who provide our nuclear deterrent. Individual personal stories bring you into the family of the crew and provide an opportunity to wonder why they do it even while they attempt to manage normal shore bound lives.
Makes you appreciate the sacrifice these guys make to get the job done.
Good amount of technical detail without getting too bogged down in military speak.
Moving from person to person across various rank and departments aboard ship, Waller gives you a glimpse into the duties, drills, responsibilities, training and mindset of the seamen who provide our nuclear deterrent. Individual personal stories bring you into the family of the crew and provide an opportunity to wonder why they do it even while they attempt to manage normal shore bound lives.
Makes you appreciate the sacrifice these guys make to get the job done.
Good amount of technical detail without getting too bogged down in military speak.
February 28, 2013
A thorough and welltold account of the ship, crew and an patrol during 1999 (pre-9-11 and post Cold War). The reader gets an unprecedented detailed insight into the selection, personalities and training of the crew. Furthermore the describtion of warfare drills including of course the procedures safeguards around the nuclear tpped Trident missiles is very interesting.. and provides a reminder that these subs and tehir counterparts contnue to be out there lurking in the oceans.
December 5, 2009
More submarine books for me, yes please! This book gives a great behind the scenes look at what happens on board a US Nuclear Submarine, the USS Nebraska. We get insights from everyone on board from the Captain of the Boat all the way down to the cooks. A good read if you are interested in submarines or the US Navy.
August 17, 2013
i was aboard Big Red during this time. this is the one book that pulls no punches. life as it really happens. the school is one of the hardest the navy has to offer.
life on the boats is not for everyone. long hard hours and nowhere to go to get away from anything. you know eveything about your shipmates and then some.
life on the boats is not for everyone. long hard hours and nowhere to go to get away from anything. you know eveything about your shipmates and then some.
March 5, 2014
A very comprehensive book about life on a nuclear sub. Very detailed about technical aspects, and about the attitudes, likes and dislikes of the crew. A tour on a nuclear sub would be hard -- definitely not something for everybody.
April 17, 2009
More interesting than you think. You also gain a respect for practice drills.
March 4, 2010
I read this while my husband was stationed aboard the USS Wyoming (also a boomer) and it was a very accurate portrayl. I enjoyed this book a lot.
November 4, 2012
Well written. Having a personal interest in Submariners and this boat it was exciting for me to read.
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