A ship under water
Charles Starnes grew up in Canyon and now lives in Plainview. In high school he was active in drama and choir, was a varsity baseball player and member of the golf team. His classmates voted him “Most Talented.” At the library he read submarine adventure books. He was in the Boy Scouts and tries to live by the scout motto, doing his best to do his duty to God and his country. Soon after graduating from West Teas State University in 1969 he joined the Navy. Both his parents had been in the Navy during World War Two. Charles advanced through the ranks and was assigned to command a nuclear submarine.
“A nuclear sub uses a nuclear reactor to generate energy needed for electricity and propulsion,” he says. “It can stay submerged indefinitely. The only time a sub needs to come up for fresh air is when it runs out of food. The longest I was ever submerged continuously was 82 days. We went that long with no outside air.”
He served in the Pacific, Mediterranean, North Atlantic, off the coast of Viet Nam and other places.
Once, at 400 feet below the surface a typhoon caused the sub to pitch from side to side at a 50-degree angle off vertical. He had to hang on tight for 2 days while under that typhoon.
The sub has a sophisticated navigation system that is essential since there is no horizon under water.
“You don’t have any visual reference. We have seen some interesting cases of claustrophobia. We occasionally had a periscope liberty where we let people look out the periscope when we were near the surface. They got to see a seagull or something like that. You get used to the situation and the routine and accept the fact that there aren’t any windows and you’re going to be home soon.”
There is exercise equipment on board, but no ping-pong, pool or bowling. “We have an entertainment system built in, much like on an airplane. You’re able to listen to several channels of music with headphones and we have nightly movies.”
His ballistic missile submarine had 16 missile tubes. “I think the fear of what those weapons could do prevented a war.” Charles served 27 years in the navy, mostly in crowded quarters. “My submarine was 425 feet long. As Captain I had the largest quarters, about 8 feet square. That included my desk, which folded up to make my bed. For the 150 sailors on board, bunks could be stacked up to 4 high in the compartments. There was an 18-inch separation specified between the top of your mattress and the bottom of the bed above. That’s not a lot of room. For privacy, they had a little curtain the could close and they had reading lights.”
Charles was 48 when he retired from the Navy. He went back to school, earned a Masters and PHD in economics and now teaches economics and finance at Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, where he is serving his first term as mayor.
He is a recent past district governor of Rotary and CEO of a pack and send business.
“I’m still looking forward more than I’m looking backward.”