Saying Goodbye Is Always Difficult
Recently, the longest-serving nuclear submarine USS Bremerton (SSN-698) went into reserve service after nearly 40 years of service. How times have changed since her launch in 1978 and commisioning in 1981, but we all deal with change.
In the early 80s, submarines did not have vertical launch tubes, used optical periscopes, utilized disk drives the size of dorm refrigerators, and the crew watched movies using a projector. The Los Angelos Class Submarine was state of the art, and the USS Bremerton was part of this breed of submarines.
In the early 80's, the Walkman cassette player was in everyday use; the first Mac came out, phone booths were used to place calls when you were on the road, and the speed limit through much of the United States was 55 miles per hour.
I want to wish the crew of the Bremerton the best of luck and based on crew size of approximately 130 sailors and crew turnover every three years, around 1,700 personnel were privileged to be part of the crew during the life of this vessel.
The Bremerton was approximately 360 feet in length and had a beam of around 32 feet. The majority of shipboard space was engineering, reactor, and weapons spaces with a small amount of space for living quarters. On most boats, junior sailors would share a rack with another sailor a process called hot racking.
So time passes us by, and much like the decommissioning of the Bremerton, many of us have joined WA to keep us from a similar fate of the Bremerton. Careers are generally not for life anymore.
Think about it, in the early 80s one of the first online services named Prodigy started, and it used dial-up connections for communication. We thought this was state of the art and it was for the blink of an eye.
A walk down memory lane perhaps but also a peek into the future and how things will change in the next forty years. How we adjust to change is key to whether or not we become the new dinosaur.
What are you doing to keep away from the technology bullwhip?
What was your favorite technology from the 1980s?
Being fifty plus going on fifteen can be interesting when you remember more about the 1980s than the 2010s.
Thanks for stopping by. Jay
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Recent Comments
26
Getting a desktop personal computer at work was a game changer. Up until that time, all correspondence was hand-written and sent to a typing pool.
Glen, Remember when we were told the world would be paperless because of PCs. I guess that prediction was wrong but the world has not been the same. J
That is amazing Jay, those submarines were definitely state of the art at the time. We remember because the 80's and 90's were such good times, I am sure that they will come again because we haven't reached our prime yet.
Alex, technology will continue to evolve at a quicker pace and we have not reached our prime. My question is can mankind keep up with technology? J
Mike, I am not going anywhere but I will miss the Bremerton since it marks the end of an era. J
I was at the Bangor Naval Base in 1984 in a civilian capacity. A lovely area I understand it has been merged with Bremerton NS to form Kitsap now!
Hi Jay,
That was a great walk down memory lane.
In my area of aviation, the old prop shaker the C-124 was being retired, the C-5 was just flying the skies and the C-141 was the main transport (now extinct).
Thanks for sharing.
Bill
Bill, Yes the first two classes of subs I worked on have been gone for many years much like AMC cars. Have a good one. J
Thanks for the moving tribute and for your service Hat.
8-Track, Sony BetaMax, Phillips vvideo disc, Polaroid instant camera, Blockbuste Videor, floppy disk, IBM.Selectric typewriter, word processor, for matrix printer, computer punch cards...
Blessings!
Love every one of them... I worked on the IBM Selectric typewriter on the sub since it was tied to our inertial navigation system that had a ferrite core memory and we programmed in binary using key switches. J
Thanks Jay, my brother in law was on a sub, I’ll have to get the name from him. A lot of interesting stories from life under water!
KyleAnn
KyleAnn, Please give my thanks to your brother in law. I rode the Guardfish, Billfish, and Newport News. J
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I love your posts, Jay and especially your line " Being 50 plus going on fifteen" I certainly empathize with you....being 70 and going on 17!! Great post and brought back a lot of memories.
Thank you for your service!!
Wayne
Wayne, Thanks, we are as old as we feel but just move a little slower. J
We sure are, Jay.
Wayne