Piloting Party On The USS Springfield (SSN 761)

This is a picture of me, QM1/SS Ewing, as Secondary Plotter: the Primary Plot does visual fixes, and the Secondary does radar, as well as a rotation of Loran, GPS, and inertial EPs (comparing information frequently with Primary). The year is about 1993.

From the left: ETC/SS Mooney, me, ET2/SS Mike Harrsch (partially hidden behind me), and the Navigator, LT Jeffrey Long, holding the 27MC mike; he stands between the primary and secondary plots so that if we lose visuals, all he has to do is turn around.

You can see the Primary Plot's MK-19 plotting table in front of the Nav, and I am on my own Mk-19. This is a 688-class sub, the USS Springfield (SSN 761). Tight quarters! This is why I'm glad they prohibited smoking. The LORAN-C (a radionavigation unit) is the white box seen next to the Nav's head.

The reason I am Secondary plot, normally a more-junior position, is in order to give our QM2 time on the Primary: I don't need the experience, and the QMC won't give up the chance to look outside (he is shooting visual navaids using the periscope), so there I am. I enjoyed it: better than doing coffee runs (new construction: fully manned). That picture, for the record, is about 40 pounds ago.