Our Scouts Spend the Night on the USS Blueback Submarine

Captain Ramius: Re-verify our range to target... one ping only.
Capt. Vasili Borodin: Captain, I - I - I just...
Captain Ramius: Give me a ping, Vasili. One ping only, please.
Capt. Vasili Borodin: Aye, Captain.

This and other flashbacks from "The Hunt for Red October" were flashing through my head as we took a tour of the USS Blueback.  The sub is on permanent display at OMSI and is available for tours and camp-ins.  Our cub scout group shared the sub with a few other cub scout and boy scout groups for a great outing.

Bunk intended for a full sized adult was just right for Patrick.

Our fist stop was to board the submarine to choose our bunks.  After getting our sleeping bags and overnight gear stored, we went back into OMSI where we watched a movie in the planetarium about the creation of stars called "Journey to the Stars".  This movie captivated the scouts as we were taken on a cosmic trip through the origions of the universe and watched stars from birth to death.  The movie on the planetarium's domed screen surrounded us as we looked up at it.   We really got the feeling of flying through space as celistical objects whipped by us and passed just to the edge of our vision before disappearing.

Looking for surface contacts

From the movie we went on to a class room where the program directors lead a discussion with the scouts on what makes a submarine surface and submerge in the water.  Using a large fish tank standing about 4' off the floor the scouts learned about the principles of bouancy, displacement, mass, and surface area.  Then it was their turn to create a boat of their own.  Each team of two boys were given a block of modeling clay to make a boat of their own.  The goal was to create a boat which could hold as many marbles as possible before sinking in the tank.  At first the boys had lots of interesting boat shapes but quickly figured out that a disc shape was the best for the exercise.  The best team in our pack held about 38 marbles, while the best boy scout was in the 70's.  Apparently they occasionally get boats which manage to hold over 100 marbles.  Then a quick snack for the kids and it was off to the submarine.  The tour started off at the submarines screw (propeller) which is mounted upright next to the museum.

30 degrees down, right full rudder

Moving onto the dock the Blueback is attached to, we got a review of the external features of the sub and some background information of the sub's dates of service and roles it played.  Our scouts were bubbling with questions.  In order for us to move on with the tour, our guide had to limit the questions at any one spot in the hope that we would cover the rest of the questions while we continued the tour.  We moved into the boat where the scouts crowded around the officers table.  On the table was a map of the submarine.  Our guide described the areas of the ship we were about to visit and took a few more questions. Then it was off to the control room.  The control room was lit in red lights which allowed people looking through the periscope to keep their night vision.  The scouts got to look through the periscopes (2 of them), take a turn at the helm, and hear a dive alarm.






 From there we went on to see the torpedo room, galley, the head (so small that most people didn't even know that they passed it), and engine room.  Up to this point the scouts were limited on what they were allowed to touch when it came to the sub controls.  This is where that changed.  There was a whole panel of switches and dials which they could flip and turn.  After the tour we had mostly free reign of the ship.  The boys had a list of items, for a scavenger hunt, to locate on board the sub.  This allowed us to explore more of the ship in detail apart from the group.  The one rule was that they could not go anywhere without an adult.

Captain to engine room, we need more power.

Following all of this excitement was lights out.  This was a bit of a nightmare.  Imagine trying to get a group of boy scouts and cub scouts ready for bed in bunks which are too short for the kids to sit up in and aisles that are too narrow for two adults to pass each other even turned sideways.  At one point when one of our parents needed to get by, I just rolled myself into a bunk which allowed him to pass.  Lights out was at 11pm.  The kids still had a little energy, but in such limited quarters, they settled down quickly.

Six am came early the next day.  The scouts were a little slow to get going but we were off the boat by 6:45am.  We had the breakfast provided and access to OMSI for the day.  After that weekend several of our scouts just knew that living on a sub was the perfect life for them.  Lets see if they still feel that way when they are fully grown.