SUBMARINE MEMOIRS-II> THE INTRO TO SUBMARINERS

After a grueling life at the NDA and on-board Training Ship Tir, 07 of us reached INS Shivaji at Lonavala. This was the best bliss that life could have got , albeit for Maths which decided to continue with me. After NDA, I had no inclination to study Maths but soon enough I realized to my horror that I had done well in the Electrical Stream on-board the Training Ship. My training Commander decided to put me into the Electrical Branch and despite all my protests, I landed at Shivaji which was not a sailing vessel!! Since, I was a commoner so I could not do much but to curse my luck and got on with the routine of the base. Now, Shivaji is a scenic base located between Mumbai-The Tinsel City and Pune- The Automobile City and of course the city where our Alma Mater NDA is situated. Since Shivaji could not sail, so the Under Trainee Officers (UT Officers) would sail on their bikes, scooters and on public transport to either of these cities at the drop of a hat.

 

The Mumbai riots had just taken place and that was the time we put on our first Naval stripe. The TV and News papers were a rare commodity those days and did not blow their own trumpets by declaring that so and so reported it first!! We were happy young Officers who would attend classes, sleep, play and drink hard. It was one of those days when my venerable Course-mate Pravin Rana/CSM Lima/81 came to my cabin and asked about a drive till US Club at Mumbai where our sea going Course-mates were having a party to celebrate the newly gained Officer-hood. Who was I to refuse and soon enough wearing our trademark Blue Jeans and Blue Jeans jackets, I took off for Mumbai with Rana as my pillion. The drive on my BAJAJ SUPER (A gift from my Dad on joining NDA and bearing registration number DAD-4495) was smooth and Rana was the safest pillion I ever rode. He never moved once he was seated and the driver would never realize his weight as he sat fagging away on Wills Navy Cuts. 

 

By the time the Western Sun went down, we were safely inside the Naval premises and soon enough the party began at US Club. The drinks were hard and good and the party continued till the Club shut down. We both had an option to sleep at the Command Mess but I decided against it and Rana agreed immediately for a return night drive to Lonavala. Saying good byes, we set off for the return leg. At Colaba causeway, I missed the turn and reached towards Mumbai VT Station 9CST of today). Rana was puffing away and I was looking for some clues with our gyros a bit turned out when a White Ambassador pulled aside us. 3 Policemen got downs and all my efforts including the ty-I card from Shivaji failed to prove our credentials. We were fortunate that there were no Breath Analyzers those days!! Soon enough, we were inside Colaba Police Station and were told to wait till someone from Navy came to our rescue and to certify that we were indeed Naval Officers.

 

In side the room, we saw 3 men. After a while, they struck conversation with us and one of them asked us if we were Submariners!! No , we said and then he said that they were Submariners and soon enough some Officer would come to rescue them. Their offense was that they had bashed up a Taxi Driver when he tried to over charge them that night. After an hour or so, a Lieutenant wearing the 8s Naval Uniform (Shorts and Shirt) with Blue Stocking walked in. Seeing him, the 3 sailors sprang into action. He drummed them hard in front of the Policemen and then offered to take over the case. The Police was more than willing to part away with these BODIES!! I also wished him and discussed our issue. The Lieutenant also took over our responsibility and soon enough we were out of the Police Station.

 

Once outside, he introduced himself as LT D SAHA, the Electrical Officer of a Kilo Submarine. He then turned towards the 3 sailors  and accoladed them for setting the Taxi Driver straight and tore away their detention slips. The sailors saluted him with great vigor and asked me and Rana also to join the Submarines and live a challenging life. Lt Saha said that these men were tireless sailors and were an asset to their Submarine. We were impressed and returned to Shivaji safely.

 

In 1997, I stepped on-board my first Kilo Submarine and to my joy found that those 3 Sailors were on-board that Submarine. They trained me and Lt Saha guided me well as he was my Sqn Electrical Officer.

 

My venerable mate Rana did not join Submarines. He continued to ride pillion on various escapades to nearby cities. We lost Rana at a road junction in Kochi where he and his driver were run over by a speeding truck whilst their bike had stopped at a Red Light. I stopped riding my scooter to nearby cities from that day onwards because I would never find a stable Pillion as Rana. RIP Rana. 

SUBMARINE MEMOIRS-I>MISTAKES CAN HAPPEN

Mistakes are an integral part of our lives- professional or personal. The end state can be - Well, mistakes just happen or we try to reduce them with our experience under various situations. The inevitability of mistakes and Murphy's endeavors can be cut down with deliberate actions and remembering the correct drill for the corresponding situation.

 

Circa Jan 1998, I was a young Lieutenant having entered my 5th year of Commissioned Service. Barely out of the Submarine School, I had the unique honor of carrying out the duties of the Electrical Officer (LO) of a Kilo Class Submarine without having received my Dived Watch Keeping Certificate. The CO (Ol' Man) was in his 2nd Command and we had worked hard to bring the boat out of a 09 year long lay off in a Refit. The  Ol' Man was a tough task master but also a jolly good fellow when ashore. He would drive us hard when on-board and would be all love and affection when we partied with him.

 

The boat was still coming to terms with her operational status. Her machinery and equipments were still trying to synchronize to achieve the sea going efficiency. I had the honor of being the youngest officiating HoD on-board and I had a talented but slightly wayward crew as they were also trying to sync together. For my Submarine hardened crew, I was a new kid just off from the Sub School about 06 months back and was officiating as the LO as their original LO had fallen sick and was a med cat. My sea legs were two sea experiences of 01 month on-board mighty Carrier Viraat and a 04 month Watch Keeping on-board a Leander Class Steam Frigate Krishna. I had the good fortune of running Krishna as a Deputy LO and so I was also not low on confidence. My responsibility as a LO spanned from the Ist to the 6th Compartment on-board the majestic Kilo.

 

The routine was tough for my section as virtually everything had the Electrical part in its operation. The torpedoes, FCS, pumps, diesels, batteries, generators, communication, navigation, sonars,converted supplies- name it and my boys were on job everywhere and every time. We had successfully completed our Sea Qualifying exam as a Crew and soon enough the Shore bosses wanted us to sail out for a longish duration with the Fleet and fire a torpedo. We came back from a short 2 days outing and were told that we were going back to sea next day at 1600 hrs. After the customary Ward Room de-brief (which included a swig of Beer too!), I set off to my boys and took a quick count of my problem issues. The synchronization of  a submarine's equipment after a long refit is tricky and can be a complicated phase. My team reported two dozen plus areas meriting urgent support from the Shipyard and Sqn Staff. The biggest activity between the short harbor stay and the sailing next day was the Battery Charging.

 

I laid out the plan for my Section-in-Charges and my Asst LO and we set the tasks into the motion. At 1300 hrs , the next day, my batteries were fully topped up and the Shipyard and Sqn Staff had put in their bit and buttoned my section up to the best that they could. I was left struggling with the Fire Control System, a low insulation all over the boat , 02 HF sets not tuning to their optimum efficiency and missing vital frequencies, some faults with the Diesel Auto Controls, tuning issues with the main sonar and a erratic accommodation space AC plant motor. The Section-in-Charges were on the job and I was moving from one compartment to the other to review and chip in with my bit.

 

The Ol' Man came on-board at 1400 hrs and sought my position. As I was going up the well to the Sub's casing to brief him, a young Artificer who was operating as my Nav Eqpt In  (NAVEA) reported that the Depth Gauges were not operating!! Murphy was it his best. As I climbed up the ladder , my mind was racing. I found the Sqn LO standing with my Ol' Man on the casing and both were in an animated discussion. "Yes, LO, what's your position now?", said the Ol' Man. I was racing my brain at the pace of a Ferrari and had calculated my hunches. At 1400 hrs, we were at least 08 hours away from the diving area. These 08 hours were crucial and I had my hunch that we cannot call this sailing off. I briefed the Ol' Man about my major issues and also gave him an alternate solution in case the equipments malfunctioned. "We can meet the commitment Sir. We have time till next day before we RV the Fleet ships and we would be able to rectify the issues," The Sqn LO and the Ol' Man looked at me with a big stare and then the Ol' Man gave me the thumbs up sign. " XO (2-I/c), we cast off on schedule.", said the Ol' Man.

 

I came down below and my Section continued with their trysts. By 1600 Hrs, the positivity started returning as Murphy decided to climb out the Control Room- he was left with no option by the crew. My major problem huddled around the faulty depth gauge system and the Fire Control Computer. The boat casted off sharp at 1600 hrs and I had ripped open the Fire Control Computer and NAVEA was trying to figure out the Depth Gauges.  I had asked the NAVEA about the electrical fuses of the Depth Gauge system when he had reported the fault. His reply was that he had checked the fuses personally. I kept the concentration on NAVEA through the hand held communication as we patiently sat buttoning up the tricky Fire Control Computer.

 

Soon enough, the Navigator came to me and reported that they would be diving in about 45 minutes time. I came up to the Control Room and summoned the NAVEA along with my Senior EA. We got down into the Control Room hold and laid open the system diagram in the congested space. The holds of a Submarine and especially the Soviet Submarines are a maze of pipelines, greases, oils and valves of various sizes. One visit to the hold and you can be rest assured that you are not going to smell good till you take 3 showers at home with the best of the soaps. I and the Senior EA inspected the valves of the Electro-Mechanical system. I personally operated the vales, the system did not budge. Control Room reported no movement of the gauges. They were still lying dead!!

 

I came up from the hold and again asked the NAVEA about the electrical supplies. He shook his head in affirmative. I opened up the fuse box. The system has five fuses. I opened the first fuse holder-it had a working fuse, the second fuse holder also had its fuse intact, the third reported same, the fourth fuse was also found to be working-my mind was racing again as the sailing was on my commitment. I opened up the fifth fuse holder and it was the Murphy's final hide out. The fuse was simply missing. I let out a whistle to let my patience return back to normal. NAVEA was shivering behind the Senior EA. "NAVEA, Fuse please.",I calmly ordered. A fuse was brought and I put the fuse into its holders and the depth gauge system fired up. I heard the Ol' Man's thundering voice," XO , prepare the boat to dive."

 

I came to the Control Room and reported the details to the Ol' Man. Does the NAVEA need to be punished-asked the Ol' Man. No Sir- was my reply. The NAVEA was a young man who went about his task mechanically and did not open the last fuse box. I had to avoid such complacency forever. A punishment at that stage would not have augured well for my stretched crew as we were working over time always to stitch various equipment's performances and the young NAVEA had a long way to go in the Service. The Ol' Man understood my point of view and from that sortie onwards we always carried out a deliberate check of critical equipments. The NAVEA never forgot to check his system's fuses from then on. The incident was raised as an acquaint for the Shore Team. The Submarine met the 10 day long sortie with aplomb and I fired my first Torpedo. Murphy came again and again but the boat dived and surfaced always on time. We had enough issues on our platter but the mistakes reduced drastically with the deliberate actions.
 

 

Take a pause, check and then carry out the action-even if it is a signature on a mundane document!!      

A Tribute

Life is like a quagmire many a times. The challenges have to be met head on and with cool and calm mind. It is easy to say these words but difficult to practice. John McEnroe was a great tennis player and many of us would have witnessed his antics on the Wimbledon Courts. John had unseated Bjorn Borg, the coolest Swede ever to walk this planet with a Tennis Racquet. John would swear, cringe, throw his racket and express anger. He succeeded in dethroning Bjorn from the Wimbledon's Champion's pedestal when Bjorn was all set to defend his title for a record 6th Year.  However, the big story behind John was that though he was seen in all sorts of expressions and anger- his heart rate continued to be a cool 78 bpm all through his antics!! John could control his environment and that was his style.

The lesson of John formed an ever-lasting impression on my mindset. Though I did not copy his visible antics, but to a large extent I tried to copy his internal antics. In the Course of my Service life, I came across a senior Naval Officer Vice Admiral (Retd) NN Kumar/D/43. Then Captain NN Kumar was my Trg Captain (TC) at INS Valsura in 1995 and I was the Senior Under-Trainee Officer (SUTO) for the Officer's Batch. A common factor between us was Squash and soon enough we were playing together each day. TC was fit as a fiddle with a lean frame and would give me an equal fight each day. I picked up many threads of leadership values from the TC and he was always cool and calm in his various dealings with the bubbling UT Officers.  

I had to miss an exam due to an urgent leave to Manipur. When I returned after a week, I realized that along with me 02 of my venerable Coursemates (01 of my Batch Mate and 01 Junior from parallel Course) were also in the same boat. Well, soon enough the Trg Programme came out and the re-exam was fixed. I reached on the day of the exam and found that the two venerable coursemates (CM) were not present. Those were good old days when Mobiles had not disturbed our ecological system and land phones were far too few. We waited for some more time, before the Trg Coord came and cancelled the exam. On interrogation the next day, both promptly showed a medical Slip.

The exam was re-set for the next date with a verbal intimation by Trg Coord and both the CMs did not turn up again. The Trg Coord lost his mind and marched us up to the TC. Before the march up, the two CMs came to me and said that they had  a plan up their sleeve. Their plan was simple and workable they said. They wanted me to join them in saying that the Trg Coord had not given any verbal instruction to the three of us. Phew! was it workable- I said??

All the course-spirit dialogues and rhetoric were drilled into me by my mates. With sweaty palms and pounding hearts, we entered the TC's chamber. TC was sitting on a big brown chair and rocked back when he saw us. The Trg Coord gave the description of both the failed attempts at test and that I had reported on both the dates for the test. My Batch Mate started the defense of his act and said," Sir, we were not aware of the date of the exam and you may confirm the same from Arun too. He did not recollect the date properly and erroneously reached for the exam." My mind was racing and my heart beat was trying to cross the cool 78 bpm mark. On one side there was the course spirit and on the other side there was the towering TC and his teachings. I prayed hard in my mind and wished this moment passes away.

The TC said, I know you two very well. I am not disturbing my BP on this issue and you both are granted 15 days negative seniority for this offense. All pleas from the mates for hearing my version fell flat and we were marched out.

In the evening at the Squash Court, the TC told me that he has been keeping a close tab on the activities of all the 150 odd UT Officers and the visit at the play fields in the evening gave him a clear picture off all the UT Officers and their traits. He knew that I would be under pressure to defend my mates and he had analyzed their grit much earlier. He taught me an important HR trait- Know the people who are in your environment. Take care when required and tick them at the correct time. Do not favor the wrong and remember to choose the harder right always.

Vice Admiral NN Kumar hung his uniform on 31 Mar 2014 as the Chief of the Materiel of the Indian Navy. I have kept him a notch higher than John McEnroe. Have always seem him with a cool 78 bpm and also a cool external demeanor. The lessons of HR learnt under his tutelage would continue to be with many of us who trained under him and subsequently saw him in the Service.