Posted on 04/20/2014 6:59:06 PM PDT by kingattax
GROTON, Conn. (AP) — With no sunlight to set day apart from night on a submarine, the U.S. Navy for decades has staggered sailors' working hours on schedules with little resemblance to life above the ocean's surface.
Research by a Navy laboratory in Groton is now leading to changes for the undersea fleet. Military scientists concluded submarine sailors, who traditionally begin a new workday every 18 hours, show less fatigue on a 24-hour schedule, and the Navy has endorsed the findings for any skippers who want to make the switch.
The first submarine to try the new schedule on a full deployment was the USS Scranton, led by Cmdr. Seth Burton, a cancer survivor. He said the illness he experienced as a junior officer helped convince him of the health benefits of keeping a sleep pattern in line with the body's natural rhythm.
"I know that there's lots of medical side effects to just not having a good, regular sleep pattern," said Burton, 41, of Huntsville, Ala.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Looks like he got over Sue Storm.
I wonder if he showed up at the wedding?
Apparently this will be at the command’s discretion...not a mandatory policy. I wonder how this will work for four section watches....8 on 24 off? I could go for that.
How many times did we watch the same detective movie over and over again. How crazy was it to look forward to Mid-Rats.
I agree that the whole 18 hour day was stupid and confusing. I thought they did it to make the whole patrol a blur that you wouldn’t remember anything when you got in. I hated it.
Patrick Henry SSBN 599G
Patrick O’Bryan fan?
I only have vol. 1 of the Marvel Masterworks reprint of the FF (Issues 1-10), so I don’t know. Back in the day I was a Spidey and Daredevil fan.
I think the 18 hour day was just a basic fact of 3 section watches. I can’t imagine an 8 hour watch with no head call...I wonder how they handle that.
The preferred shift, by far.
Still, after a couple of months of working EVERY DAY doing the same sh!t, mixed in with occasional drills, you get bored.
No lettuce and no beer wears on a man after a while.
Not to mention the absence of the comforts only women can provide.
Or Horse C)ck sandwiches with American cheese.
At least I was surface fleet and got an occasional fresh veggie with my steak and lobster on Friday night.
My daily shift is approx. 10 am to 10 pm these days.
Funny you should mention that. ONLY the US Navy could make a prime New York steak taste like a boot and lobster taste like diesel lol
And I do mean ONLY the Navy.
I had guard duty in the army in Germany and it was 2 on 4 off for 31 days straight.I didn’t know who I was at the end of that stint.Not good on morale.
Don’t know about others but at 73 my sleep cycle is Tri-Urinal.
18 hour days were tough. There was nothing worse on my 67 day runs under water than to go to bed and wake up on the same day.
6 hours on watch, 6 hours or so “down time” and 6 hours or so sleep. Wake up and go back on watch
This happened every 3 days and made time go by a LOT slower.
But it was better than the Port & Starboard watch which was 8 hours on and 8 hours off continuous.
Bancroft SSBN 643 Charleston/Rota
Grenadier SS 525 Key West
Bancroft SSBN 643 Charleston/Rota
Grenadier SS 525 Key West
Bancroft SSBN 643 Charleston/Rota
Grenadier SS 525 Key West
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