You have to understand that these submarines in Squadron 12 were NOT nukes and we operated them with "sticks" in Maneuvering Room which had to be shifted with each "bell" to be answered. And then there were those engine men in the next two compartments forward always swearing about "overloading their damn diesels"...

Anyhow, the sub basin at Key West was a notoriously difficult body of water to get into... The current was swift through those keys (northerly, as I remember), the sub and tender basin was rather tight, with an enclosing breakwater (read, rocks), finger piers and a fat tender right at the turn to enter...

I remember at one time answering over 160 bells just to tie up, two full sheets of the bell log recorded by the IC man standing behind us (Senior and Junior Controllermen) wearing the sound powered phones... This amount of engine orders would equate to nearly an hour and a half (tired and very wet electricians in that humid part of the states)... Well, since the "mole" (basin) was so small and tight only one sub could enter at a time...

Now, picture some eight subs leaving in the morning on DAILY OPS (returning in the evening?)... We had, as I remember, some four-sea buoys leading out the channel to the deeper water... The buoys were numbered 4, 3, 2, and 1 going out, so the first boat to get to #1 sea buoy coming BACK was the first boat to enter the basin to tie up...

Getting the picture yet??? O.K., Seventeen hundred, daily exercises are over, everyone up on the surface... All of a sudden from all points of the compass come these smoking boats "full on four" trying to get to #1 buoy first (or at least "near" the front)... It could mean as much as a four-hour delay getting in... Bad for families, or in my case, the Gate Bar, The Brown Derby, Sloppy Joe's and a few other class places around town... The Gulf is (usually) calm and flat, and the sun sets in the west (I think). Most of Key West's population (it seemed) would gather at their choice spot on the western edge of the key (highest natural elevation = 12 feet) and watch for their "favorite" submarine... The order of entrance would help determine when to plan the evening's activities... Hell, I even had reps from the local bars pick me up at the pier so I didn't have to drive those 4 blocks all by myself... Sent my laundry out for me and everything.