When you jump off an aircraft carrier into the open water you have to consider that you
are in a whole new food chain … and you ain’t at the top.
But these swimmers realise this, that’s why there’s a gunner on top of the ship,
constantly watching out for sharks.
And if anything, the idea is simple, aim at the person swimming the closest to the shark
– that should give enough time for everyone else to get out of the water.
But jokes aside, shooting at a shark in the water would be a completely ineffective tactic,
at neutralising the shark.
At best it can scare a unicorn and at worst the bullets may skip off the surface rather
than penetrate the water and injure nearby swimmers.
Afterall, sharks are cautious creatures, and before attacking, they tend to circle around
and inspect their prey for an extended period of time.
That’s why having a dedicated look out is actually a great idea, but shooting at the
shark is not.
Bullets shot into water either fragment within a few feet or come to a full stop in less
than 6 feet or so.
That’s why when you shoot bullets at the water, it looks more like a small explosion
as bullets disintegrate into pieces.
In order for the bullets to not rupture they would have to have a different shape, like
needles, and that's exactly how underwater bullets look like.
The hydrodynamics is very different from shooting bullets in the atmosphere.
Even mythbusters found that a 50 calibre bullet would travel only one foot into the water
before it loses its lethality.
According to the MythBusters, bullets shot from smaller handguns can actually travel
further, about 6 feet.
Therefore, even if you hit a shark, you would likely piss it off even more, which would
cause the shark to reflexively attack a swimmer.
To be fair to the shark, it doesn’t know that it was shot by a gunman from the surface
and not the nearby swimmer.
But swim calls are only one of the big ticket fun activities for navy sailors on warships,
with the others including steel beach parties and the occasional beer.
But the true celebration involves shooting guns … into the sky!
Swim calls serve as a great morale boosting activity for the sailors and they make for
amazing stories down the road.
But they look quite a bit different from the 1940s.
Back during the good old days, you know, before the invention of safety, sailors were allowed
to jump from anywhere, like the flight deck of an aircraft carrier which sits 60 feet
high above the water.
Or even sailors climbing the anchor chain, and then diving down.
Mind you, it looks like these divers knew what they were doing.
There's even a story about how one olympic swimmer was allowed to dive from the top of
the island!
But today the navy is much more risk averse than it was in the past.
Jumping from 60 feet above the water cannot kill you … but if you land wrongly, it definitely
can.
Get ready for sprains and potential drownings.
But don’t worry there’s always a rescue boat nearby.
Falling on water wrong can be worse than falling on concrete.
Yes, they both can break bones, but there is no risk of drowning in concrete!
Today sailors jump off a lowered elevator from the hangar bay, and that’s about 30
feet.
But it is still too high for many, and if you are not afraid of heights, then besides
sharks, there’s venomous jellyfish and sea snakes to worry about.
The safest way to swim, if you are stationed on a ship that has a well deck
is to fill up the well deck with water and have an Olympic-size swimming
pool for the crew.
It’s true that the culture of safety has taken some of the fun away from many navy
traditions, but you have to consider the upside too.
If something were to go terribly wrong during a swim call, the commanding officer would
be held liable, and swim calls could very well go the way of “shell back” and "tailhook”
parties – into the history books.
Swim calls happen more often on aircraft carriers than any other naval vessel.
Can you guess the vessel with the least frequent swim calls?
Hint: It’s not a ship.
It’s the submarines.
I must say, nothing beats using a multi-billion dollar submarine as a jump pad.
But submarine personnel don’t pack swimsuits when they go on deployment.
According to one submariner, he had 3 swim calls during his ten years of service.
So that’s once every 3 and a bit years.
But it used to be much more frequent back in the day, because submarines would spend
much more time on the surface, which meant more swim calls, but they were more like shower
breaks.
In fact as you can see, there’s the shower, and there are more sailors bathing than swimming.
But then yet again, as part of the Navy’s standard operating procedures, someone is
assigned to overwatch duty, who usually watches from the sail for any sharks in the area.
But sharks were not their biggest worry.
It was the dummies who thought they could swim, but found out that they couldn’t in
the open ocean.
Believe it or not, being able to swim is not a prerequisite for joining the US Navy.
Although basic survival is later taught during the boot camp which mainly consists of bobbing
around.
From time to time submariners from the Russian navy also enjoy a swim call, in the middle
of the arctic ocean, but it's more of a dip than anything else for obvious reasons.
And yes, there are sharks in the arctic waters as well, including the greenland shark which
can live over 500 years, and they spent most of that time looking for a mate.
I guess there’s plenty of fish, but not a lot of sharks!
There is also this guy, the polar bear, which is always hungry, but don’t worry, because
between 1960 and 2009, there were only 47 polar bear attacks on people.
Another common pastime activity on naval ships … was drinking.
Believe it or not, during the good old days, sailors in the Navies around the world would
drink daily.
For example, In the 17th century, Royal Navy’s sailors received a gallon of beer, each day!
Now, it may seem like a lot, but the alcohol content was less than 1% more often than not.
Beer was eventually replaced by what became known as a Rum Ration.
Every day between 11 am and noon, sailors would receive a tot, which was about 3 shots
of rum.
Pretty officers received their rum neat!
Sorry ... "Petty" officers received their rum neat … while
lower deck sailors had their rum diluted with two parts of water to make about half a pint.
But as you know, good things don’t last forever.
After 239 years, on July 31st, 1970 the Rum ration was abolished by the Royal Navy as
the leftovers were tossed over the side one last time.
The reason that the rum ran dry, was that it was deemed not appropriate to the demands
of a modern instant-response navy.
The sailors of course didn’t agree with Royal Navy’s decision.
The Navy compromised by allowing sailors to buy 3 small cans of beer per day, and petty
officers would be able to buy 1/8th of a pint of spirits per day, but not rum.
Similarly, the Royal Canadian navy abolished the rum nation in 1972, yet, they still allowed
the sale of beer on the warships from vending machines, with a daily limit of 2.
But you know how it only takes a few to ruin it for everybody?
Well, back in 2014, a few sailors got intoxicated and misbehaved while commissioned on HMCS
Whitehorse which forced the warship to be recalled from an international exercise.
As a result, the Royal Canadian Navy banned drinking at sea and removed the vending machines.
Now they can only have beer on special occasions or when the captain allows it … but that’s
still much better than what American sailors got!
The US Navy is arguably the strictest of all when it comes to alcohol consumption.
Back in 1794, US Navy sailors received half a pint of distilled spirits per day, with
ration being reduced to one gil in 1842, and then completely eliminated by 1862.
However sailors were allowed to keep their own stash of liquor until 1899 at the discretion
of their commander.
But in 1914, the US Navy banned alcohol for the enlisted men with some very few exceptions,
such as the wardroom and the captain’s wine mess.
Another exception was that ships could have a small stock of alcohol for the so called
“medicinal purposes” such as when a crewmember is shaken by an accident or a pilot suffering
from the pressures of a demanding mission.
Alcohol could only be issued by the medical officer or the captain of the ship.
During World War II, some submarine commanders would provide a beer to their crew if they
sank an enemy warship.
In 1980, the US Navy implemented a 45 continuous day rule that brought a beer day to the US
Navy.
When a ship is at sea for 45 continuous days and has more than 5 days left before coming
to port, the ship’s captain may authorise a beer day.
Once the beer day is held, the crew has to wait another 45 days without a port call until
the next beer day.
At times, the beer day coincides with the steel beach, which is basically a giant party
on the deck of any US Navy ship or even a submarine.
Steel beach events began with swim calls and over the years have evolved, from sunbathing
or playing sports on the flight deck of aircraft carriers to giant parties that involve BBQs,
kiddie pools, carnival games and live bands.
But more often than not, steel beach doesn’t happen on the same day as a beer day, and
when it does, you are supposed to get only two beers, but I’m not sure anyone is counting.
Steel beach parties and all other morale-boosting events that we discussed, are of course funded
by taxpayers’ dollars.
If you are one of those people who find these expenses unnecessary, here is a story that
everyone would be able to relate to.
It all started on April Fools’ Day 2020, with sailors aboard USS Nimitz starting a
27-day quarantine before leaving their home port of Bremerton.
This was the very first carrier strike group to be deployed during the COVID pandemic.
Fast forward 274 days, to the New Year's Eve of that same year, when the ship was ordered
to return home, but only four days later the decision was reversed and USS Nimitz was ordered
to stay in her area of operation.
On day 294 the crew had a beach day on the carrier’s flight deck.
To say those sailors deserved it, is an understatement.
On March 7th, 2021, the crew returned home and disembarked, 340 days after having set
foot aboard USS Nimitz.
This was the longest deployment of any aircraft carrier since the Vietnam War.
Serving in the Navy requires a lot of sacrifices from the crew and their families, and things
like swim calls, beer days and steel beach parties are the least of what could be done
to improve sailors morale.
And of course, nothing, and I mean NOTHING, is as morale boosting and as American as shooting
guns from a US carrier … on the fourth of July!