Every Moment Mattered – The Life and Death of Cassin Young, Captain, USN MOH Recipient (Introduction and Prologue)

Did you ever get interested enough in a particular subject that you would gladly spend hundreds if not thousands of hours researching that subject? That pretty much describes my passion for the story of Cassin Young. I can’t remember when I started researching and writing a proposed book about Cassin Young. It seems like it’s […]

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 […]

Military Reunions… Why bother?

Why indeed. I have planned and executed three reunions for my third submarine (USS San Francisco SSN 711) to date. I am in the process of putting together the fourth. My beautiful bride of forty-three plus years has told me that this will be the last one I put together. I had forgotten how much […]

1926 – There when you needed them (until now)

I was blessed to serve on five submarines during my time in the Navy. The boomers and fast attacks that sailed the open seas in defense of freedom played a key role in winning the Cold War. But from the very beginning of my sea tours, I was able to see the strength of the […]

1925 – Cold Shivers Run Down The Spines From the Undersea Monsters

1925 Cold Shivers Run Down The Spines From the Undersea Monsters The year did not start out well for the United States submarine services. Two incidents in January were reminders that the role of submariner remained a dangerous job. January 13. The S-19 boat grounded during a storm. In the early hours of 13 January […]

“Every Moment Mattered” Book Update

Very fast update on my upcoming book. I got an update from my editor and the first big round of edits will be back to me by Monday. Kind of interesting since that is fifty years to the day after I joined the Navy and started my journey as a submariner. The note was really […]

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 […]

1919 – Setting a new standard for submarine training

1919 – Setting a new standard for submarine training The post for today is an excerpt from my upcoming book about Captain Cassin Young. The book captures his journey based on historical records and research into how the US Navy grew and developed its submarine force during the early years. This excerpt comes from Chapter […]

Book progress – Tell the Whole Story

One of my goals for the past few years was to tell the story of Cassin Young, Captain, US Navy. Cassin was a thirty-year man in the Navy that saw some of his most significant moments during two of the most pivotal battles of the Second World War. At Pearl Harbor, he was stationed on […]

The USS Albacore SS 218 and her Sponsor – February 1942

The story of World War 2 is always a combination of the stories of the ships that served and the men who were involved in their lives. This story is about the USS Albacore, but it is also a story about some of the men who were around when she was launched. The ship’s sponsor […]