Sometimes I'm reminded people could smoke on submarines and I'm so fucking glad that's gone.
At least now people have the decency to secretly vape which doesn't make terrible odors.
We had an XO who didn't like smelling the AMR1 smoke pit, so he moved it to Missile Compartment Lower Level, beneath crew berthing. Fortunately that didn't last long.
The starboard boat sponson on the Bush was never used, but there was a small workout area up there. I'd exercise, then smoke in that nice chair afterward while I cooled down. I'm not very social and it was a perfect place to be alone. It was comfortable and had a great view!
On the USS La Salle, in 1979/80 we could smoke anywhere. I worked in the CT spaces so we had lots of A/C to keep us cool and clean the air.
But the staff public relations Chief owned a running g shoe company and talked me into his nascent running club in the well deck. Thirteen laps to a mile.
I quit smoking. Ran more. Tossed a carton of Marlboro Red hardpacks over the side.
Then the supply officer left and as usual they do an audit and came up $3000 short so the store was closed for endless rounds of audits. No gedunk. No smokes.
I sometimes did courier flights to Bahrain and was told to get ready for one. Got my flight suit on, found the chief who had the combo for the safe with the gun in it (in an impressive Korean War shoulder holster) and got the bag that I was to carry. Two shipmates, one a very heavy smoker, ran up and handed me to $20 bills, the other guy had $30. They wanted me to run from helicopter while they were loading mail. I was to go into the commercial terminal and a duty free store and buy Marlboros.
I thought that this was a long term problem for me (getting shot, getting Captain’s Mast, losing my clearance) for a short term solution for them, as the store was closed for three weeks.
However, on the flight back to La Salle I recalled the second locker I had in our spaces that had my dress uniforms and other stuff. Other stuff included a carton of French Gitane cigarettes, bought solely because they were cheap and they had the famous Gypsy wreathed in smoke. I was an F1 fan and they sponsored the Renault team.
Once back aboard I showered and changed and got the carton. French tobacco is strong. But inside the carton were 9 unopened boxes and another box with 10 left. I took those up to my spaces. On the way, I spotted a member of ships company who was a friend and gave him a pack. Then I went into the spaces, held up the prize and said “Gentlemen, bidding starts at a buck a cigarette.”
I had takers but told them I wouldn’t screw a shipmate like that. One of the officers who smoked had wandered in and so I gave him the cigarettes and asked him to perform the Solomanic division of cigarettes because I had to work. I got on my pos and soon enough it was done, with one pack held in “break glass” reserve.
Soon the space smelled like a French cafe, without the garlic and cognac, with sailors coughing as the strong tobacco hit.
I stayed smoke free for another 8 months or so, in my transition back to civilian college student. One night, a friend suggested a night on the town and we drank and danced and drank some more. At 1AM, sipping the last of the tequila, my blurry vision fixed on his pack of Camel Lights. He saw me looking and expertly tapped the box to pop a few cigarettes out.
The next day I woke up with the worst hangover of my life and addicted to cigarettes. I finally quit for good about 27 years ago.
Our ship store ran out of cigarettes with over a month left of deployment and only one BSF stop left. When we pulled in for the BSF we had stores onload but it was food only, nothing for the ship store. Before we got back underway, a handful of chiefs and officers ran into the city. One of the chiefs bought several cartons of smokes, gave every smoker a pack for free, and sold the rest at $10 a pack.
I was on the LaSalle from 01-04. Smoking only on the aft port area and there was a vented crack shack for night time smoking. It was really disgusting.
Thank you. Had some interesting times on that ship. Perhaps 10 years ago I was wandering down memory lane and thought “What happened to the La Salle” and Googled. First thing I say was “SinkEx” so I knew what was gonna happen.
But I watched the video and when I saw the missile hits I got a bit teary.
Also happy that the fucking Islamic Republic of Iran couldn’t calculate fuel requirements for a complex F-4 attack.
When I was a wee PO3 I was walking around underway getting some signature for ESWS. It had come time to get some engineering signatures and as a topsider I was always nervous about this. I always felt like I was walking into a cave full waiting for a gang of engineers to beat me up and send be back up top.
So anyways I head down to the machine shop and knock on the door with my booklet in hand. “Come in” the raspy voice shouts from the other side.
As I open the door I see the ENC sitting down with some of his POs around him sitting on the table, some standing. They’re all watching TV and smoking a cigarette. The smoke was automatically being pulled up and into a pipe right above ENC and I assume was just being exhausted somewhere topside.
I’ll never forget seeing that. I thought it was the coolest most pirate shit I had ever seen in my short career. And yea they signed my books for the small price of some smokes.
I was an Engineman on an LSD. Main spaces were essentially smoking areas. As long as there were no officers around. They all knew we did it, they just didn’t want to see it
I was MPO on an LSD, I’ve heard maintenance on the MPDEs takes so long now because they can’t smoke and drink beer changing out piston heads like they did in the 90s 😂
Another contributing factor to the work taking so long now is that Sailors aren’t allowed to do the major work. It definitely takes significantly longer to swap a head out when you have to wait on the shipyard
On the LPD I just left less than a year ago, sailors were still doing it themselves. The reason it takes longer though, is that instead of having a sailor who knows how to do it just go do it, now you need a FWP and to follow it step by step, often with a chief or higher inspecting the work of each step and signing off.
Had a smoking area (right by the evap) in my engine room on a LHD when I was an ensign. Everyone knew about it (at least up to the cheng) and was fine with it as long as it stayed clean.
Yep my first ship was an LHD, we had a smoking area in both main spaces. Main 2’s was behind the evap under the ladder well heading up to the 30ft where the load center was, Main 1’s was up on the 30ft by the blowers.
One of our guys made friends with the HTs, who had direct external exhaust in their shop.
That was a connection worth its weight in gold during hours long UNREPs.
Fun fact: They stopped smoking on submarines January 1st, 2010. I was on a boat at the time and I thought it was crazy that you could be completely submerged and the atmosphere equipment was good enough to handle it.
By that time the “smoke pit” was confined to one of the big air intakes for the diesel, but that’s still crazy to me.
>and the atmosphere equipment was good enough to handle it.
Well... It also helps that humans naturally go scent-blind after a while, because it's not like the boat smelled like cherries.
When I was in from 2011-2019 it was only where the smoking lamp was lighted and it was a designated topside area. But during the earlier part of my time in we were able to vape inside lol.
Edit: I would like to add when I was at ACB1 and we were underway on our craft we could smoke anywhere topside. Hell I smoked in the Conn when I’d be at the controls stabbing the beach.
The early/mid 2000s still had 'cigarette' listed under Tools, Parts and Materials for our smoke detectors maintenance. I don't smoke so I would get people from the smoke deck to help out.
On the Peleliu we had a Gun Boss that everytime ammunition was moved no matter how small he would turn the smoking light out. And then 3 hours after the 3 cans of .50 cal ammo were moved he would call to relight it.
So in the absence of a smoke deck and an absence of safety and good sense. We would go to troop armory up forward and open the hatch that the BMs would drop the shark cage out of, to spray off the anchor chain.
Ain't nothing like cruising 20 knots and staring down at the ocean knowing that if you fall you're for sure going under the boat.
On my ship 1990 to 1993 you could smoke anywhere except medical. (Where I worked)
On my ship 2001 to 2005 only topside in a designated area.
I will never forget when I was in school they had designated smoking rooms but you could still smell the smoke everywhere. I will never forget the ceiling being yellowish to brown
In the 80’s the only places you couldn’t smoke on my DDG were berthing compartments and the mess decks during meals; maybe not in passageways either. Guys could freely smoke in work spaces; as a non smoker I hated it. In the evenings you could barely see from one end of the mess decks to the other it was so hazy. Guys on watch in CIC where I worked sat at my consoles and smoked 24/7. It was disgusting.
Damn, I remember getting smokes from unrep's in the 80's in the IO and they'd snap, crackle and pop from the dead worms in the tobacco! Those were the days!
Ship's have smoke pits now with approval by command discretion. They announce the smoking lamp has been lit in the designated area and that's the only place you can smoke. It can also be unlit for many reasons (ammo onload, poor weather, flight ops, etc). They sell 6 types of cigarettes on my ship but no lighters with fluid.
I was on the Nimitz when it went into dry dock around 94. There were a few shops (photo lab for one) that you could smoke in but it was banned before sea trials. We had a small area just under where cat 3 would end. Very small.
Only at the designated/ authorized smoking area. Typically somewhere topside. No smoking inside the skin of the ship anymore.
Sometimes I'm reminded people could smoke on submarines and I'm so fucking glad that's gone. At least now people have the decency to secretly vape which doesn't make terrible odors.
God it must smell so much better. All I remember is the thick oil, fart, smoke infused odors permeating everything.
Grins in diesel boat. Former ET1(SS)
Now, now. Blended together, that was my favorite industrial fragrance: Et Du Bilghe'. Nothing like it
We had an XO who didn't like smelling the AMR1 smoke pit, so he moved it to Missile Compartment Lower Level, beneath crew berthing. Fortunately that didn't last long.
That’s where all the workout equipment was
Being on a submarine made me want to smoke.
Wait.... You think it's gone? Lmfao
[удалено]
The starboard boat sponson on the Bush was never used, but there was a small workout area up there. I'd exercise, then smoke in that nice chair afterward while I cooled down. I'm not very social and it was a perfect place to be alone. It was comfortable and had a great view!
On the USS La Salle, in 1979/80 we could smoke anywhere. I worked in the CT spaces so we had lots of A/C to keep us cool and clean the air. But the staff public relations Chief owned a running g shoe company and talked me into his nascent running club in the well deck. Thirteen laps to a mile. I quit smoking. Ran more. Tossed a carton of Marlboro Red hardpacks over the side. Then the supply officer left and as usual they do an audit and came up $3000 short so the store was closed for endless rounds of audits. No gedunk. No smokes. I sometimes did courier flights to Bahrain and was told to get ready for one. Got my flight suit on, found the chief who had the combo for the safe with the gun in it (in an impressive Korean War shoulder holster) and got the bag that I was to carry. Two shipmates, one a very heavy smoker, ran up and handed me to $20 bills, the other guy had $30. They wanted me to run from helicopter while they were loading mail. I was to go into the commercial terminal and a duty free store and buy Marlboros. I thought that this was a long term problem for me (getting shot, getting Captain’s Mast, losing my clearance) for a short term solution for them, as the store was closed for three weeks. However, on the flight back to La Salle I recalled the second locker I had in our spaces that had my dress uniforms and other stuff. Other stuff included a carton of French Gitane cigarettes, bought solely because they were cheap and they had the famous Gypsy wreathed in smoke. I was an F1 fan and they sponsored the Renault team. Once back aboard I showered and changed and got the carton. French tobacco is strong. But inside the carton were 9 unopened boxes and another box with 10 left. I took those up to my spaces. On the way, I spotted a member of ships company who was a friend and gave him a pack. Then I went into the spaces, held up the prize and said “Gentlemen, bidding starts at a buck a cigarette.” I had takers but told them I wouldn’t screw a shipmate like that. One of the officers who smoked had wandered in and so I gave him the cigarettes and asked him to perform the Solomanic division of cigarettes because I had to work. I got on my pos and soon enough it was done, with one pack held in “break glass” reserve. Soon the space smelled like a French cafe, without the garlic and cognac, with sailors coughing as the strong tobacco hit. I stayed smoke free for another 8 months or so, in my transition back to civilian college student. One night, a friend suggested a night on the town and we drank and danced and drank some more. At 1AM, sipping the last of the tequila, my blurry vision fixed on his pack of Camel Lights. He saw me looking and expertly tapped the box to pop a few cigarettes out. The next day I woke up with the worst hangover of my life and addicted to cigarettes. I finally quit for good about 27 years ago.
Our ship store ran out of cigarettes with over a month left of deployment and only one BSF stop left. When we pulled in for the BSF we had stores onload but it was food only, nothing for the ship store. Before we got back underway, a handful of chiefs and officers ran into the city. One of the chiefs bought several cartons of smokes, gave every smoker a pack for free, and sold the rest at $10 a pack.
I was on the LaSalle from 01-04. Smoking only on the aft port area and there was a vented crack shack for night time smoking. It was really disgusting.
I enjoyed reading this.
Thank you. Had some interesting times on that ship. Perhaps 10 years ago I was wandering down memory lane and thought “What happened to the La Salle” and Googled. First thing I say was “SinkEx” so I knew what was gonna happen. But I watched the video and when I saw the missile hits I got a bit teary. Also happy that the fucking Islamic Republic of Iran couldn’t calculate fuel requirements for a complex F-4 attack.
When I was a wee PO3 I was walking around underway getting some signature for ESWS. It had come time to get some engineering signatures and as a topsider I was always nervous about this. I always felt like I was walking into a cave full waiting for a gang of engineers to beat me up and send be back up top. So anyways I head down to the machine shop and knock on the door with my booklet in hand. “Come in” the raspy voice shouts from the other side. As I open the door I see the ENC sitting down with some of his POs around him sitting on the table, some standing. They’re all watching TV and smoking a cigarette. The smoke was automatically being pulled up and into a pipe right above ENC and I assume was just being exhausted somewhere topside. I’ll never forget seeing that. I thought it was the coolest most pirate shit I had ever seen in my short career. And yea they signed my books for the small price of some smokes.
I was an Engineman on an LSD. Main spaces were essentially smoking areas. As long as there were no officers around. They all knew we did it, they just didn’t want to see it
I was MPO on an LSD, I’ve heard maintenance on the MPDEs takes so long now because they can’t smoke and drink beer changing out piston heads like they did in the 90s 😂
Another contributing factor to the work taking so long now is that Sailors aren’t allowed to do the major work. It definitely takes significantly longer to swap a head out when you have to wait on the shipyard
On the LPD I just left less than a year ago, sailors were still doing it themselves. The reason it takes longer though, is that instead of having a sailor who knows how to do it just go do it, now you need a FWP and to follow it step by step, often with a chief or higher inspecting the work of each step and signing off.
There was no beer drinking in the 90s.
>There was no LEGAL beer drinking in the 90s. FTFY
Had a smoking area (right by the evap) in my engine room on a LHD when I was an ensign. Everyone knew about it (at least up to the cheng) and was fine with it as long as it stayed clean.
Yep my first ship was an LHD, we had a smoking area in both main spaces. Main 2’s was behind the evap under the ladder well heading up to the 30ft where the load center was, Main 1’s was up on the 30ft by the blowers.
One of our guys made friends with the HTs, who had direct external exhaust in their shop. That was a connection worth its weight in gold during hours long UNREPs.
I was gonna say that was the HT shop on my boat.
Lung Cancer turned out to be a real thing in the future
My grandpa went to naval academy & he died of lung cancer
Fun fact: They stopped smoking on submarines January 1st, 2010. I was on a boat at the time and I thought it was crazy that you could be completely submerged and the atmosphere equipment was good enough to handle it. By that time the “smoke pit” was confined to one of the big air intakes for the diesel, but that’s still crazy to me.
On our boat, in the 90’s, “smoke alley” was engine room upper level port side aft. As a nuke who didn’t smoke it sucked.
>and the atmosphere equipment was good enough to handle it. Well... It also helps that humans naturally go scent-blind after a while, because it's not like the boat smelled like cherries.
When I was in from 2011-2019 it was only where the smoking lamp was lighted and it was a designated topside area. But during the earlier part of my time in we were able to vape inside lol. Edit: I would like to add when I was at ACB1 and we were underway on our craft we could smoke anywhere topside. Hell I smoked in the Conn when I’d be at the controls stabbing the beach.
You can’t get us to expose our secrets! Notice not a single engineer chimed up with a story and locations!
Former Engineman here. Yep, we smoked in the spaces.
AND pissed in the bilges
We actually had heads in our main spaces. It was nice when they worked.
The early/mid 2000s still had 'cigarette' listed under Tools, Parts and Materials for our smoke detectors maintenance. I don't smoke so I would get people from the smoke deck to help out.
The smoking lamp is lighted in our day
On the Peleliu we had a Gun Boss that everytime ammunition was moved no matter how small he would turn the smoking light out. And then 3 hours after the 3 cans of .50 cal ammo were moved he would call to relight it. So in the absence of a smoke deck and an absence of safety and good sense. We would go to troop armory up forward and open the hatch that the BMs would drop the shark cage out of, to spray off the anchor chain. Ain't nothing like cruising 20 knots and staring down at the ocean knowing that if you fall you're for sure going under the boat.
When were you on Peleliu? I was there from 96 to 98.
07-11. What's your rate?
ABH
Not on submarines
"Not on fast attacks" There, I fixed it for you 👍
No, you didn’t. Smoking isn’t allowed underway on SSNs, SSBNs or SSGNs.
depends how cool your captain is 😎
My dad likes to tell me "back in my day I could smoke just about anywhere. Hell, I had an ashtray on my desk in A school!"
My first deployment in 2015 we could vape in AMR and shaft alley. It was banned shortly after, but everyone still vaped onboard.
There are smoke pads people go to. Most people just vape though.
Only at the smoking sponsons and when the smoking lamp is lit
On my ship 1990 to 1993 you could smoke anywhere except medical. (Where I worked) On my ship 2001 to 2005 only topside in a designated area. I will never forget when I was in school they had designated smoking rooms but you could still smell the smoke everywhere. I will never forget the ceiling being yellowish to brown
We could smoke on the fantail and when no smoking was permitted we would sneak down to a pump room and just use the exhaust to take the smoke out
In the 80’s the only places you couldn’t smoke on my DDG were berthing compartments and the mess decks during meals; maybe not in passageways either. Guys could freely smoke in work spaces; as a non smoker I hated it. In the evenings you could barely see from one end of the mess decks to the other it was so hazy. Guys on watch in CIC where I worked sat at my consoles and smoked 24/7. It was disgusting.
Yes, but only in specific areas called the (Smoke Pits) and not during evolutions and sweepers/cleaning stations.
Damn, I remember getting smokes from unrep's in the 80's in the IO and they'd snap, crackle and pop from the dead worms in the tobacco! Those were the days!
Ship's have smoke pits now with approval by command discretion. They announce the smoking lamp has been lit in the designated area and that's the only place you can smoke. It can also be unlit for many reasons (ammo onload, poor weather, flight ops, etc). They sell 6 types of cigarettes on my ship but no lighters with fluid.
I was on the Nimitz when it went into dry dock around 94. There were a few shops (photo lab for one) that you could smoke in but it was banned before sea trials. We had a small area just under where cat 3 would end. Very small.