25-05-2025
‘Torpedo man': Torpedoman's Mate Chief gives an inside look at USS Pasadena's torpedo tube
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Submarines are nuclear powerhouses due to the torpedoes onboard that can be shot deep into the ocean at enemies.
These vessels are extremely complicated, said Torpedoman's Mate Chief (TMC), Chief Petty Officer of Torpedo Division on the USS Pasadena, Craig Dunlap. 'Our job as torpedo men, we're responsible for all of the weapon's launchers, the countermeasure launchers, the heavy weapons, the heavy ordinance, the countermeasures, the small arms, everything on the boat that's supposed to go boom.'
Even with complicated equipment, a lot of the fixing is done the same way any handyman fixes something broken.
Submarine living: Close quarters & good food
'I like to say part of my job is hitting things with wrenches to make them go, so we do a lot of wrench turning, operating and maintaining mechanical equipment with hydraulics, high-pressure air, sea water, low-pressure air, and so on.'
With 1,640 buttons and switches on the Weapon Launch Console, Dunlap is never bored.
One of the craziest jobs he is expected to do is climb into the torpedo tube if something goes wrong.
'Sometimes it'll snag, and it won't leave the tube correctly, so when you go shut the mussel door, it's still inside the tube. And at that point, you have to drain the tube, quickly open the breach door before it fills back up again because it's not a perfect seal, and then one of the TMs has to crawl down to the end of the tube to cut that flexhose with a manual hydraulic cutter.'
These are practice torpedoes because it's been decades since an actual torpedo was launched in battle for the United States.
'The last time we fired a war shot in anger, in a time of war, was in World War II.'
Dunlap is living his dream and making a difference, which is important to him. 'I get to make a difference. I'm doing things with the people around me that make a difference, and what the mission that the submarine does, it moves nations.'
To see more from Shelby's naval journey, check out the News 2 special report .
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