I went to my first boat in the fall of ‘73 fresh out of prototype and without the benefit of sub-school). Not long after I experienced life under the waves for the first time. In addition to the fact that this was my first trip the following made it memorable.
A couple days into the trip I was awaken by a message over the MC … “THE SHIP WILL BE FIRING WATER SLUGS”. Half asleep I wondered “Water slug. What’s a water slug?”
The next thing I hear is “WOOSH, POP, BANG” before I sat straight up in my rack … at least I tried to sit up. I got the bunk light across the forehead. I didn’t even have to explain what happened when I went to the “nurse”. He just shook his head and told me to sleep on my side.
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Don't feel too bad about it. I actually asked one of the TM's on my first boat where the water slugs were stored.
The wording is a little different these day. Now it's "the ship will be shooting water slugs", which to a new guy, can seem a little strange.
Why are we shooting water slugs? Save the water slugs, and the whales! What did the water slugs do to us?
I always hated it when my ears popped back aft.
Cool, now I have a time period. I reported to my first, and as it turned out only boat in 1974. Like you, without benefit of sub school. I was an STS, and once we got out of sonar school, we went straight to a boat. As chance would have it, when I got out of 'C' school, I went right back to the same boat.
It's even more fun on surface ships - you shoot "air slugs" instead. So when you're shooting air slugs alongside the pier, you can send the new guy onto the pier in a catcher's mask and chest protector, with a big basket, and tell him he's got to be sure to catch the "$1M air slug" that's going to be coming out. When he "misses" the "air slug", you then get to abuse him, throw your hat on the deck, and complain loudly about the huge JAG investigation that's about to come down, and the negative affects on the new guy's career... while you're shipmates laugh quietly.
Not that I've ever abused a shipmate in this manner.
That would be wrong.
I am always surprised when the dang things work. TMs aren't exactly the best wrench monkeys on the boat.
The "best" water slug experience occurs as a fng crank, hot racking in the torpedo room.....next to a subroc.
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