Logroom Archives

The Piping Systems and Electrical Systems Training Aid Booklets were the unquestionably primary source of system knowledge for the non-nuclear systems on board all but the earliest US submarines. It might seem astonishing to believe that a barely 20-year old sailor could learn, let alone demonstrate competently, a working knowledge of every piping and electrical system contained in those two volumes. 

Yet we did. Often a year-long process or greater, our final exams and oral board were replete with diagrams of these systems drawn from memory, as impossible as that seems. But successful qualification and that highly-prized "Dolphins" insignia were only pale indications of the trust we earned from our shipmates during the long hours of studying, memorization, and preparation.

Such were the demands of being designated "Qualified in Submarines".

The TABs, as they were often called, could be found everywhere on the boat, in various bins and pukas, and were used near continuously as reference for safety tag-outs of high energy systems, as well training, qualification, argument resolution, and the mundane of system operation, along with the massive volumes of operating procedures. If you hadn't yet earned your 'phins, then you had one of each in the back pockets of your 'poopie suit' underway. 

Very little remains of the trial by fire we endured to be considered qualified besides sea stories and those silver or gold dolphins, but the Piping and Electrical Systems TABs give some insight into why they mean so much to us who "were examined by very hard men and not found wanting".

If you have a Piping or Electrical TAB, please contact the SSN 647 Site Lead.