Attack of the Seawolf

Position One (Pos One) — Furthest forward console of the firecontrol system. Usually set up with the captain’s and XO’s guess solution to the contact, or shows the geographic display for a God’s eye view of the sea.

Position Two (Pos Two) — Firecontrol console between Pos One and the Firing Panel. Usually set up to the Line-of-Sight mode so that the Pos Two officer can come up with his own independent firecontrol solution under the XO’s supervision.

Position Three (Pos Three) — Furthest aft console of the firecontrol system. Usually set up to program torpedo tubes and weapons.

Power Range — Nuclear power level above the intermediate range. In the power range, steam can be produced by the reactor for propulsion.

PRC — People’s Republic of China, the Communists.

Propulsor — Sophisticated screw that uses ducting and multistage water turbine blades for propulsion instead of a conventional screw. Similar to a water jet. Extremely quiet and nearly impossible to cavitate. Disadvantage includes slow response and acceleration due to relatively low thrust compared to conventional screws.

Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) — Weapons officer aboard a U.S. Navy fighter aircraft.

Range — Distance to a contact.

Reactor Compartment — Compartment housing the reactor, pressurizer, steam generators, and reactor main coolant pumps. Access fore and aft is through a shielded tunnel, since anyone inside the compartment when the reactor is critical would be dead within a minute from the intense radiation.

Reactor Main Coolant Pumps — Massive pumps, each consuming between 100 and 400 horsepower, that force main coolant water through the reactor and then to the steam generators. Three are in each main coolant loop. Special design allows zero leakage.

Reactor Plant Control Panel (RPCP) — Control panel in the maneuvering room where the Reactor Operator controls the reactor.

Reduction Gear — The mechanism that converts the high RPMs of the two main engines (propulsion turbines) to the slow RPM of the screw. Solves the problem of how to get two turbines to drive a single screw. Also solves the problem of how to let the main engines rotate at high RPM where they are efficient while letting the screw rotate at the low RPM where it is efficient. Unfortunately, the reduction gear is one of the noisiest pieces of equipment aboard.

REM — Roentgen Equivalent Man. A unit of radiation dosage that takes into account tissue damage due to neutron radiation. Convenient since it allows gamma, alpha, and neutron radiation to be measured with the same units. 1000 rem will kill. 500 rem may kill. Yearly dose for submarine personnel is restricted to less than 25 to 100 milli rem

Rig For Black — Submarine term meaning “turn off the lights in the control room.”

Rig For Dive — A detailed valve and switch lineup done in preparation to dive. Initially done by a dolphin-wearing enlisted man and checked by a dolphin-wearing officer.

Rig For Patrol Quiet — Ship systems lineup to ensure maximum quiet while allowing normal creature comforts such as cooking and movie watching. Maintenance on equipment is allowed, if it does not involve banging on the hull. Noisy operations are permitted only with the captain’s permission, such as reactor coolant discharge, steam generator blow downs etc.

Rig For Ultraquiet — Ship systems lineup done in a tactical situation such as a close trailing OP or in wartime. Only the quietest equipment is running. Offwatch personnel are required to be in bed. The galley, showers, laundry, movies, and maintenance of equipment are all prohibited to minimize noise. Hard-soled shoes are prohibited. Lights are shifted to red to remind the crew of the need for silence. The ship is eerily quiet, as if run by ghosts.

Rig For White — Submarine term meaning “turn on the lights in the control room.”

TO (Reactor Operator) — Nuclear-trained enlisted man who mans the Reactor Plant Control Panel and reports to the EOOW.

RPG — Rocket-propelled grenade.

Run-To-Enable — Initial torpedo run taking it away from own ship. During the run-to-enable, the warhead is not armed and the sonar is not operational. When the run-to-enable is complete, the weapon activates the active or passive sonar and swims the search pattern. The warhead is not armed until it has a detect on the target.

Sail — Conning tower. Named because, unlike the conning towers of World War II diesel boats, which were misshapen and asymmetrical, modern nuclear submarine conning towers are smooth fins with square profiles when viewed from the side. Someone in the distant past called it a sail and the term became official.

SCRAM — An emergency shutdown of a nuclear reactor, done by driving control rods to the bottom of the core using springs. A term left over from the 1940s when primitive lab reactors had a single control rod suspended by a rope. An emergency shutdown would be done by cutting the rope and letting the rod drop by gravity. The safety man was called the Safety Control Rod Ax Man-hence SCRAM.