James R Webb – an American Submarine Hero

Everybody needs heroes. You know, a bigger than life person that stands out among other people. Someone who lives a life of adventure and leads others through periods of adversary and innovation. The kind they write books about. When I was a kid, it was Horatio Hornblower. Hornblower was the most memorable character in a series […]

Rear Admiral Robert Stocker – A visionary Constructor that Changed the Course of a War He Never Saw

Retiring from any long-standing position is always a memorable event. I retired the first time when I was forty years old. It was sooner than I had planned but circumstances made it a reality and I just went with the flow. It was a nice affair and even thirty years later, I remember how honored […]

Libraries … temples of learning, ambition, aspiration – USSV CF Library Fund

Being a baby boomer, I grew up in a world where books and periodicals were still central to most of our lives. From the time I was able to read, my world really revolved around printed information. We had one television which was black and white and it was very much subject to rules. Not […]

Lest We Forget. USSV CF Memorial and Museum Boat Fund

Lest We Forget. USSV CF Memorial and Museum Boat Fund The desire to memorialize the great sacrifices made for a nation or cause goes back to the earliest times. Cave drawings and crude monuments to great battles are found in all parts of the world. The Romans mastered the art with buildings and statues […]

125 Years ago – Does Tesla’s Telautomaton Predict the Future of Submarines?

This is the 125th year since the United States Navy adopted her first modern submarine. Of course, the country had seen other submarine warfare devices before (Turtle and Hunley among others), but the use of a machine with the ability to surface and dive as well as operate using motive powers was a great leap […]

How many flags do you need?

How many flags do you need? I have been a huge fan of flags ever since I was a young boy. My passion for flags is inherited I believe. One of five children, we all watched my dad proudly display his surplus navy signal flags underneath the American flag on special days. His initials were […]

Some “Very Cool navy traditions” as a civilian would view them

As the year 2024 comes to an end, we are finally settling down in our new home in South Carolina. One of the things that drew me to living here is the plethora of historical and veteran’s activities. We haven’t had much time to visit too many places yet, but a number of previous visits […]

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 […]

Periscopes Off Our Coasts

Seventy years ago, the Korean War was coming to a stalemate and the Cold War was heating up all around the globe. America was weary from back-to-back military conflicts and facing a new future in the shadow of the nuclear bombs that were possessed by both sides of the Iron Curtain. The ability to openly […]