15 Things I Learned While Sleeping on a Submarine

In May my son and I joined his Cub Scout pack for an overnight on a World War II submarine, the decommissioned U.S.S. Cobia. I arrived excited and impatient. By the time it was lights out, I was less than excited, but still impatient…to get off the submarine. I definitely learned a few things.

1. The submarine’s diving alarm really does sound like “Ah-woooga! Ah-woooga!”

   

2. Upon boarding the submarine you will start singing Yellow Submarine to yourself...and never be able to get it out of your head.
3. It is fun to swing through the hatches of a submarine.
4. Listening to stories in a submarine’s “dining room” is even better than listening to ghost stories around a campfire (the amazing submarine overnight staff are skilled storytellers).
5. When they say ‘tight quarters’ they aren’t kidding. We could bring only sleeping bags, pillows and flashlights on the sub. There was zero storage, just bunks. I clutched my glasses in my sweaty hand all night long.
6. Sleeping with your face eight inches from the red interior light on the ceiling is not quite the same as sleeping with a nightlight.
7. You don’t need a sleeping bag. It can get H-O-T on the submarine.
8. Until the moment we walked into the bunk area at 11:15 p.m. I had no idea I’m a wee bit claustrophobic. I found myself wondering if it was too late to jump ship and check into the Best Western next door.
9. A triple-decker bunk-bed isn’t as much fun as I imagined it would be. It’s a little terrifying being that close to someone on all sides dimensions. 36 bunks in a room the size of your average living room.
10. It turns out bunk beds on a submarine are taller than I am. It makes getting in and out of the top bunk ” a challenge”.
11. The percentage of Cub Scout parents that snore is far higher than you might think.
12. I know now why they call it an ‘overnight’ and not a ‘sleepover‘. See points 5-11.
    
13. There’s no working bathroom on board.
14. It’s pretty damn cool to be on a submarine in the water after-hours. Panic attack and all, it was pretty amazing. How many civilians can claim to have stayed overnight in a submarine?
15. You don’t have to be a scout; anyone can sleepover overnight on the submarine. If you’d like to try the Manitowoc Maritime Museum overnight experience, you can.

Before I realized what the sleeping conditions would be.

Swinging through these hatches is hard to resist.

Another view of the triple-decker bunk-beds.

Heading in to bed.

Lucky kid got to steer a submarine.

“Sleeping” on the top bunk, I was closer to the innerworkings of the sub than I cared to be.

Clearly we deserved a hearty breakfast after making it thorugh the night. Warren’s was just the ticket.