The more I look, the less I see. I put out a post on FB SFB looking for any and all students and instructors from the 60ts, Nada So, I will post here and there of my exploits. Don't worry only a couple of posts to follow.
TBT: Tales of my Combat Divers Course Submarine Training
I have been told my class 8-69 was the last to train on the USS Sealion before it was decommissioned and sunk in the summer of 1970.
The Sealion, USS-315 had a long career starting in WWII. The 2nd pic is her battle flag. Her keel was laid down on 25 February 1943 by the Electric Boat Company of Groton, Connecticut. She was launched on 31 October 1943
She is sometimes referred to as Sealion II. Sealion I, USS-195 was sunk early in the war and her caption was the 1st to captain of Sealion II.
After WWI she was relegated to training and went through several physical changes. At one point she had what looks like a dive chamber on the aft deck behind the tower. If you look closely, you can see some of the changes. By the time we use her the deck guns were gone and steel plating was welded to the bridge as protection.
Oh,, If you watch the Cary Grant WWII movie "Operation Petticoat" ?? The sub used in the film, the Spearfish USS-190, was a sister of the first Sealion USS-195
Our classes consisted of multiple lockouts & lockins, all underway.. This filled up the daylight hours as a two-man team would take about 30 minutes to cycle in/out. The RIB we used on the surface was small so you had to turn around and go back after a short break. The "surface" part was actually with the sub at periscope depth, so the deck was at 20-30ft.
We used the chamber in the forward torpedo room, two at a time, if you OR your buddy were of bigger build it kinda sucked. You could not put your fins nor mask on until you were outside. Very cramped..
The lock in/out at the surface underway was tricky, With the sub was at periscope depth, you started from a tender RIB tied to the tower. You swam forward, around the tower then down a lie to the hatch. This is while the sub was at some 4-5 knts. When you get down to deck level you took off mask & fins and did a barrel roll backward into the chamber. Several of us whacked our heads on the chamber door frame. In my 2nd post, you can see the deck hatch we used to access the chamber hatch. Additionally, the chamber was flooded to enter,, so that BIG breath of air you took at the surface had to last until you were locked in and the chamber was drained.
Give me one breath Valisi, one breath only, please
The lock-in/out at depth was more fun. We locked out at 80ft. Then stretch a 100ft rope on a North-South bearing, with 1/2 the team at each end and tried to stay at the 80ft depth. At one end of the rope, a diver with a tuning-fork would tap on their tank. The sub's sonar operator could hear it and line the sub up on an East-West track, trying to split the "Goal Posts".
Found it a little unnerving,, seems sharks also are tuned into tuning forks. As we waited about 15 minutes for the sub, we attracted a BUNCH of fish, including a couple of sharks in the 8ft, 300lb+ range. We knew they were no bother, but it was a little worrisome.
BEST SCENE EVER: As the sub closed in on us it pinged so we knew it was coming. The view of that sub coming into sight, props turning was as good as any sub movie ever.
As the sub caught the rope we shimmied up and make our way to the protected area on the bridge. This was a strain. All of us were swimming against the ship's wake upstream. The last pic shows the bridge and tower as we used it. Swimming around the various structures was cumbersome, to say the least.
After we made the bridge, we used regulators attached to the deck, running off internal ships' air. You had to take off your mask, as the sub speed and the water turbulence would break the mask straps. The ride up was easy until you started to break the surface.
Then it was AWESOME. you got the E-ticket ride of the day.
Final bit. the forward torpedo room had been stripped of the racks and had bunks for us to sleep in. I think there was 18inch between each bunk. If you wanted to turn over, you had to get out, turn over, and then crawl back in 😍
End of todays tale.
at least until my G-kids are teenagers 
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