The Kluge Cable

[George Murray]

SSBN 617 left the shipyard in Feb 64 with a cable that we were probably not authorized to retain, but which proved very valuable in establishing whether a failure of a missile test was due to a missile problem or due to fire control equipment. We had a kluge cable that was probably about 15 feet long and about 2 inches in diameter. By unplugging the waterdam connector on one tube, hooking the unplugged end to the kluge, and then connecting the other end of the kluge cable to another missile tube, one could literally test a different missile with the fire control system "selecting" a different missile. On more than one occasion, that cable saved a lot of "Easter Egging" missile component parts when the failure could clearly be attributed to fire control equipment. (When not in use, the cable was tied to the piping on the MCUL starboard side.)