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911: The Day the World Changed

A ballistic missile submarine has two crews, the blue crew and the gold crew. On the USS Michigan (SSBN 727) the blue crew was clearly the better crew. It should be easy to guess which crew I was serving on. The typical ship schedule was to go out to sea on patrol for a couple months, pull in and complete all required maintenance, then switch crews and do it again. This maximized the strategic deterrence threat, while maintaining an acceptable quality of life for the crew.

Part of the good natured rivalry between the two crews was to attempt to spread rumors about surprise inspections, patrol extensions, or rotten foodstuffs being loaded.