It so happened that the new design included Hodges’ own electronics, as well as other state-of-the-art electronics systems that he liked. His argument was accepted, over the mild objection of the Chief Engineer who didn’t understand much of the new technology. Hodges was able to get his preferred electronic conversion on the boat he wanted to command
The victory in this electronics battle set Hodges in good position for the next internal foray, which was getting command of the vessel. Hodges argued there was no better way to prove the reliability of the equipment than for Hodges, who best understood the equipment, to take command of the boat.
Command of this vessel had already been promised to another highly qualified commander. Hodges used his contacts at the Pentagon and Naval Intelligence, arguing that he was the best qualified to manage the new electronics. He finally won that battle and was assigned the role of captain of the Prowfish just before modifications were completed. The Prowfish was Hodges’ pride and joy, and he was determined to demonstrate that she was the best and most electronically advanced conventional submarine in the fleet.
Hodges was a stickler for detail, and precision was particularly important when it came to electronics and sonar gear. Under Hodges’ orders, his operators were constantly calibrating equipment and adjusting screen resolution and algorithm profiles. Every watch seem to be a training session until Hodges knew the operator had the skill level to meet his demands. During one of the shakedown cruises after leaving Norfolk, the boat came across a pod of whales. For training, Hodges had the boat follow the pod based on his operator’s signals from the whale pod. Hodges not only required the operators to pick up overall signals of the pod, but to identify individual members of the pod. He would surface the boat ahead of the pod and have his operators serve as lookouts, counting pod members and calves and comparing those to the sonar readings. He was testing the equipment as well as the crew, and he proudly confirmed he had some of the best electronics in the Navy.
Hodges was able to get his preferred executive officer, Lt. Commander Charles Benson, who also had an electronics background but was very good with navigation, propulsion, and weapons systems as well. Hodges and Benson were old friends and served together on many deployments Benson had been Hodges’ exec for the past twelve years. Hodges relied heavily on Benson to handle day-to-day running of the ship.
For electronics and sonar operators, Hodges hand picked men by interviewing them and reviewing their records. He preferred to take a young operator who was very good with the basics and teach him everything he wanted him to know about his way of doing things. Hodges was a very good teacher and was patient with his students. His operators admired his capabilities and gave him the highest ratings because they learned so much when serving under his command.
In some sense, Hodges’ strength was also his weakness. During his sixteen years of submarine duty, he came to understand all aspects of the submarine and weapons systems, but he left much of the non-electronic systems onboard to Benson and officers under him. Hodges believed that the greatest weapon on any submarine was its “ears,” which included all aspects of electronics. He believed the ability to know more about your opponent than they knew about you was the key to survival and success in the undersea theater.
Hodges was definitely on an electronic roll with his target advisory until he was thrown a curve when the crewmembers illness broke out. If his temporary replacement crew from New Orleans didn’t work out, he was committed to operating the equipment himself. At unexpected times during the mission he would have to do precisely that.
25
Hectic dock activity began to subside. The ambulances left with their patients, and the first trucks with stores going to and from the ship had left the pier. The second truck of Prowfish stores was just pulling out, destined for the naval laboratory testing facility.
Fuel lines were in final stages of topping off. The two intelligence officers meeting with Captain Hodges walked passed the New Orleans crew, each carrying large leather folders. Their driver in the unmarked black car waited for them on the upper deck with doors opened. Chief Wilks came over and introduced Ensign Chambers to the New Orleans crew. Chambers had a clip board and papers he was reading and said, “I have your berth assignments here.” Holding out his chart, “You can start loading your gear as soon as these electrical cables have been moved.”
He handed his clipboard to the one of the New Orleans crew, and they gathered around to see where their names appeared. As Chief Wilks had indicated, Wade and one other member of their crew were assigned to the forward torpedo room; the other crew members had been assigned throughout the boat. With the electrical cables now out of the way, the crew began filing to the gangplank, saluting the flag at the stern of the ship as they boarded. Wade went to the forward hatch with one crew member. The others separated to the aft hatch. In submarines, you stored everything except your ditty bag and the clothes on your body in compartments with numbers matching your bunk number.
Shore lines were soon cast off, and the boat slowly pulled away on the incoming tide toward the open Gulf. As the boat passed the concrete breakwater, the night sky was clearer due to the sub’s having passed the fog bank that had settled near shore. Wade’s duty schedule did not start until the next morning at 0600, and he settled into his assigned bunk on the starboard upper level atop one of the torpedoes. He could see the Chief’s bunk on the lower and more preferred level, just opposite and down from Wade’s bunk.
The Prowfish SS-438 was a boat originally built for World War II. It had been commissioned in 1943 and had a distinguished career in the North Atlantic, coming face-to-face with a number of German wolf pack U-boats and defeating them. The Prowfish had been refurbished many times, starting in the 1950s. Its last refurbishment took place just two years prior at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard where it received its streamlined conning tower, rounded front end to accommodate the latest more advanced electronics and sonar gear, new engines, and updated operating systems. The Prowfish is a Tench Class submarine which was build as part of 30 similar class boats making up the Naval conventional submarine fleet in that class.
Trench Class submarines are the refurbished predecessors of the current U.S. nuclear designated Hunter-Killer class submarines. The Prowfish did not carry missiles or a deck gun, and served as a submarine tracker, picket defense, surveillance and anti-submarine warfare vessel. It had a low draft, which meant it could get close to shore to support ground operations. For its type of submarine, it was considered fast and quiet, the qualities most desirable for this and any class of submarine. Its speed came from new and improved diesel electric engines, which produced much greater horsepower, consumed less fuel, and ran much quieter than its original engines. The advanced classes of converted diesel subs of the time could not generally compete with emerging classes of nuclear submarines, which had suffered from a number of operating problems in the early years.
The bunks in Wade’s compartment were only half filled. This was due to the missing men from the illness and the fact that the other men who occupied those bunks (called, “hot-bunking”) were on duty. Wade was tired from his trip from New Orleans and all the unloading duties on the pier. He lay back in his bunk with his eyes closed. He did not immediately fall asleep. His sensory memory kicked in to the smells and sounds of his new boat plowing through quiet waters, still on the surface. As the Prowfish pulled past the calm waters behind the concrete and stone breakwater, Wade could hear and feel the slight change in rhythm as heavier waves of the Gulf broke against the bow. The Gulf waters set a new tempo of sound and slow pitch as the bow found more resistance moving forward. Just as the Gulf pitch settled into its new rhythm, Wade heard the click in the boat’s intercom speaker.