Attack Well Shimmy

Attack Well a Magnet for Stuff

By Jim 'Lucky' Gordon

The attack well was a magnet for anything that fell off the chart table at sea. I was small and agile and able to quickly drop down into the well and then shimmy back up and out. So I often got the call. It was a bit dangerous due to a reluctance to put the peep stick on its’ pins to ensure it wouldn’t collapse back into the well if hydraulic pressure was lost. If a tot was issued for that particular task I would have been inebriated half the time.

Former Fleet Chief Petty Officer Jim Gordon

The Oberon Workbook has the following remarks
about the Attack Periscope:

The length of the attack periscope is 44 ft. 9 in. four feet longer than the search periscope. This enables the submarine to be slightly deeper when attacking, a tactical advantage in case of aircraft and enables the submarine to save previous seconds if forced to go deep by an escort.

It makes no mention of this unusual tasking! That's some Shimmy!