How "incommunicado" is an SSBN once it leaves port?

[Jalibar62]

Any current or former Boomer sailors out there? Have some general questions for a story. Mostly about how difficult (or not) for news of a loved one's emergency to reach the boat, and if serious enough (life-threatening), the likelihood of the crew member being flown off, mid-deployment. Thanks!

 

[joy_of_cooking]

Not a boomer myself but I know a little about this and I'll try to cite sources to back up my claims:

Most communication happens via email, which gets queued up and sent or received when the sub gets close enough to the surface for the right antenna to work. This email has to be plain text, no attachments, and gets reviewed (censored) both ways.

https://thesubmergedlife.com/2020/07/15/communication-underway-everything-to-know-about-emails/

For a family emergency, you'd go through the chain of command or send a message through the Red Cross:

https://www.redcross.org/get-help/military-families/emergency-communication.html

There are no guarantees about getting anyone on or off the ship mid-cruise but my understanding is they try really hard to make it happen because it's a serious, serious morale issue when people can't be there for their loved ones' last words or whatever. I have no citations for this, sorry.

Here's a plausible way for this to happen:

The sub will spend most of its time genuinely incommunicado. We used to operate ELF transmitters that could be used as a one-way channel to order a sub to establish two-way communication. We no longer do this.

Now subs have a schedule on which it will check in. They do miss these check-ins occasionally, for all kinds of reasons, and people don't immediately freak out about that.

But let's say this sub checks in via VLF. This is a one-way channel: the sub has a receiver but not a transmitter. So what it receives is probably a formulaic message ordering it to establish two-way communication.

This may involve going to another place with more or less urgency, where it is safe to surface. People on the sub may or may not know why at this point, but they'll know something's happening.

Then once they establish two-way communication they'll pass the actual message or arrange a rendezvous or whatever.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_with_submarines

 

[Voboy]

I was in the Army, not the Navy, but the express policy of the entire DoD at that time was that NOTHING would ever get done involving emergency leave for an expectant family member without a Red Cross message. The chain of command might sympathize with an SM who heard about a family problem in some other way, but their hands were tied until the Red Cross got involved.

I would think that, however your story eventually treats the sailor's evacuation from the sub, that kind of detail would be appreciated by readers who are also veterans. One way of getting your conflict started, "internal-turmoil-wise," could involve a message getting through from the family, who did not realize they needed to go through the Red Cross. That did occasionally happen IRL. Soldiers were constantly told to brief their family about how to reach the Red Cross in events such as these.

 

[Jalibar62]

Not a boomer myself but I know a little about this and I'll try to cite sources to back up my claims:

Most communication happens via email, which gets queued up and sent or received when the sub gets close enough to the surface for the right antenna to work. This email has to be plain text, no attachments, and gets reviewed (censored) both ways.

https://thesubmergedlife.com/2020/07/15/communication-underway-everything-to-know-about-emails/

For a family emergency, you'd go through the chain of command or send a message through the Red Cross:

https://www.redcross.org/get-help/military-families/emergency-communication.html

There are no guarantees about getting anyone on or off the ship mid-cruise but my understanding is they try really hard to make it happen because it's a serious, serious morale issue when people can't be there for their loved ones' last words or whatever. I have no citations for this, sorry.

Here's a plausible way for this to happen:

The sub will spend most of its time genuinely incommunicado. We used to operate ELF transmitters that could be used as a one-way channel to order a sub to establish two-way communication. We no longer do this.

Now subs have a schedule on which it will check in. They do miss these check-ins occasionally, for all kinds of reasons, and people don't immediately freak out about that.

But let's say this sub checks in via VLF. This is a one-way channel: the sub has a receiver but not a transmitter. So what it receives is probably a formulaic message ordering it to establish two-way communication.

This may involve going to another place with more or less urgency, where it is safe to surface. People on the sub may or may not know why at this point, but they'll know something's happening.

Then once they establish two-way communication they'll pass the actual message or arrange a rendezvous or whatever.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_with_submarines

Awesome explanation, much appreciated. My premise was going to be that the sailor was not notified, (or not notified in time) and his loved one died, which results in a lot of internal turmoil. So from your explanation, that situation is certainly plausible. Many thanks! (And thank you for liking one of my stories!)

 

[Jalibar62]

I was in the Army, not the Navy, but the express policy of the entire DoD at that time was that NOTHING would ever get done involving emergency leave for an expectant family member without a Red Cross message. The chain of command might sympathize with an SM who heard about a family problem in some other way, but their hands were tied until the Red Cross got involved.

I would think that, however your story eventually treats the sailor's evacuation from the sub, that kind of detail would be appreciated by readers who are also veterans. One way of getting your conflict started, "internal-turmoil-wise," could involve a message getting through from the family, who did not realize they needed to go through the Red Cross. That did occasionally happen IRL. Soldiers were constantly told to brief their family about how to reach the Red Cross in events such as these.

Thanks. I'm trying for realism, for sure.

 

[alohadave]

It depends on how much of the shore side you are going into, but the spouses of people on the boat will most likely have a support group and there will be an Ombudsman who acts as a liaison between the spouses and the ship. The spouses have no official status, but the Ombudsman is appointed by the Captain. The Ombudsman should have the training to know to initiate a Red Cross message, and at least some of the spouses will know to do it too.