“What our people are is what our country is” Admiral Rickover’s Reflection After Sea Trials on the SSN 711 Boat

I have been watching the news recently and it is sad how there is so much division in the world. I was going through some old files today and found a copy of the short speech Admiral Rickover gave after we finished sea trials on the USS San Francisco SSN 711 in 1981. It’s hard […]

What’s that hissing sound?

Looking at the launch and commissioning of the Nautilus the last few days, it seemed odd to me that the sea trials were somehow out of whack with what I was used to. The experience of building a submarine in the eighties was that you had the launch, fitting out, sea trials, then commissioning. Looking […]

The First Time You Dive

You never forget your first There are few moments in any submariner’s life that equal the first time you submerge below the surface of the sea. For each generation or type of boat, the lead up to that dive is different. It might come at the end of a lengthy transit on the surface in […]

A lot has changed in 70 years

Seventy years doesn’t seem like such a long time ago now. Looking back over my life, I would have to say that I am amazed at how quickly those years have come and gone. Well not quite. I don’t actually turn seventy until May 20th. But I am reminded often that there has never been […]

Short, Jewish and From an Unspectacular background… Welcome to the Naval Academy Class of 1922

Overcoming being Overcome. Once upon a time, I began to write a story about the importance of overcoming being overcome. We had grand illusions that this would be the book of a lifetime. At that point I had so many examples and thought the time was right. Well, the moment passed but the idea never […]

Nautilus to Columbia by James C. Goodall

Happy December. This is the time of year when we get presents in the mail and for me that includes the latest project by my friend James. C. Goodall. Jim is a former Air Force guy (Retired) who combines his photographic skills with his passion for submarines and other technical platforms to create valuable resources […]

Nuclear Power: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963-2023)

(NOTE: This post is a big longer than my usual post, but hopefully it will be worth your time to read.) Nuclear Power: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow I was reading about the two nuclear powered aircraft carriers and their battle groups gathering in the eastern Mediterranean this week and got to thinking about when I […]

1920 The Sugar Boats – “faulty, sooty, dangerous and repellent engineering”

1920 The newspapers of the day in 1920 were filled with a series of articles called “The Victory at Sea”. These articles went into great detail to outline the role the US Navy had played in the recently ended war. Rear Admiral Sims was one of the key players in providing the facts, figures, and […]

April 10, 1963 -“Experiencing minor difficulty. Have positive up angle. Attempting to blow.”

“Experiencing minor difficulty. Have positive up angle. Attempting to blow.” I wasn’t quite nine years old when the USS Thresher went down for its final dive on April 10, 1963. I am sure I remember the news but I am also sure the significance of the tragedy did not reach all the way inside of […]

March 1946 – The Navy Gains a Foothold in the Atomic Field

In March of 1946, the country was still struggling to come to terms with the realization that the atom had been partially mastered. When the atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were used to help end the war in the Pacific, the eyes of the world suddenly were opened to the fact that nothing was […]