USS Cavalla (SSN 684) 1979 to '80
by Steve VanSlyck
 SHIP TIED UP IN BREMERTON, WA |
 PORT VISIT TO ESQUIMALT, CANADA |
 DID LT. W EVER GET THE FLAG BACK? |
 CAVALLA ARRIVES PEARL HARBOR FROM BREMERTON, WA |
 |
 WHERE'D THAT GUY LEARN TO STAND AT ATTENTION? |
 |
 |
 |
 |
More to come!
Steve VanSlyck, from Canton, Ohio, joined the Navy in 1976 but didn't make it to submarines until 1979 when he got to Cavalla, then in the Bremerton yards. The ship left Bremerton with CDR Rohm in command and CDR Tzomes harassing the yeomen and the nukes. Steve was an then unqualified YN2 in the ship's office, with YN1 Bob Hickman.
On sea trails the ship "broke deep and took water" as Gordon Lightfoot would say, and everybody spent hours cleaning up the mess, but unbelievably there were no long-term problems and the ship continued with trials anyway. Cavalla did some good will travels up and down the coast on the way to Hawaii.
Later, when Chief Ed "CJ" Johnson couldn't get Steve a non-AFEES position in Cleveland, Steve returned home and went back to Kent State. He joined the reserves, making Chief 10 years to the month after first hitting boot camp, but left in 1991 due to career pressures. He tells everyone who'll listen that his service in Cavalla was the best job he ever had.
Steve is a lawyer concentrating in estate planning and probate law and currently lives in Columbus, Ohio.
