First Patrol: A Cold War Chronicle at the dawn of Polaris missile submarine patrols

Lucid, detailed, very readable. A tell-all memoir of life in a ballistic missile nuclear submarine in the 1960s. Perspectives of every role in the Boat, filled with amazing incidents and insights. From the nuclear power plant operation to the selection of menu, from hoary traditions to storm damage: this is a whale of a book!

it was a xmas gift for husband.. enjoyed it immensely

Author Michael Pastore and Philip Munck do a superb job explaining obstacles facing one of the first crews manning a Boomer submarine's power plant and sub life in general. I served on Trident subs, 20-years after Mike Pastore was stationed on a new Fleet Ballistic Missile (FBM) sub. Many similarities exist between all nuclear-powered subs over the last 60-years. Each page of First Patrol brought back memories from long ago, when I was on a newer class boat. Admiral Rickover was the mastermind of submarine power plants and the main scheme he invented in the 1950s is being designed into our next class of Boomers, which will be operational beyond 2060. Mike Pastore gaining first-hand encounters with Admiral Rickover may have been stressful at the time, but few sailors are still around to share such experiences.The authors include 80 plus pages of notes/references, for those who may not be familiar with some of the topics discussed. I recommend reading this section, even if you are submarine qualified.Mike Pastore even touches on Navy politics of ridiculous regulations sailors are forced to tolerate and adhere, in his example, disposing of rotten eggs required CO/XO permission, so it was easier to keep worthless items like this in inventory. Twenty years later, the Navy played accounting games with lobster tails, which had to make three patrols, before they officially expired and became free to the command, so the crew were able to consume them, without going over budget. Storage space is at a premium on subs, so the Navy playing food rations accounting games like this should finally become history.Earlier nuclear-powered submarine crews paved the way for the USA maintaining the safest and most reliable submarine reactor designs in the world, through their experience and reliable documentation. The authors share many FBM first patrol experiences with future generations. First Patrol should be on the required reading list for Naval Academy Plebes, enlisted at nuke school and for NROTC students. I recommend First Patrol for any sailor even considering to volunteer to serve on a Fast Attack or Boomer, along with sub veterans who may enjoy FBM sea stories and those who want to obtain a general understanding of modern submarine life on a nuclear-powered submarine.

I was only able to get through the first chapter and it was bs. The first sentence is "zero level in the pressurizer" and this happens on his first day of patrol!This would be a major nuclear incident. You wouldn't restart the reactor and continue your patrol. I was waiting for him to say it was an instrumentation error but he never said it was anything else.If you let the pressure in the pressurizer go below a certain value it's a nuclear incident. Losing the level? Where did the radioactive water go? This requires going back to port, shutting down the reactor, opening the reactor compartment, and venting the main coolant pumps (and looking for the water).

I served on a Polaris (A-3's) Sub in the early 70's (A Div). It was very interesting to read about what life was like 10 years earlier. The author did a great job on this book - clearly a labor of love and pride in what was accomplished then. Life-long friendships developed, in part, since it was such a unique and surreal experience for all of us. I didn't appreciate it then but 50 years later I look back and understand how it was pivotal for me in many ways. Thank you for this significant effort. Great work.

Although I served at the latter end of the Polaris/Poseidon era, the stories and descriptions of this book are just as I remember them. It’s kind of technical, but it’s worth getting through for the stories of a junior officer learning what it is all about to run a nuclear submarine