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 […]

The American Diver – CSS Hunley

One of my favorite books in my small collection about submarines is one that was written by Robert Hatfield Barnes in 1944. I did an extensive search about Mr. Barnes background and came up short. The copy I have has an inscription in the front that merely says “Dedicated to the officers and men of […]

Things to do in the Charleston SC Area

One of my new friends in Charleston fired a note off to me the other night to remind me that I am not a native there. In a very kind way, he reminded me that there is no “P” in Fort Sumter. (To be fair, when I told Debbie, she was kind of surprised as […]

USS Pittsburgh – An Honored Name for Ships that Have Defended their Nation

The Pittsburgh Name has an Honored Place in Naval History The City of Pittsburgh in western Pennsylvania is geographically located far from the open oceans. Despite the busy Three Rivers that offer pathways for shipping and recreation, no ocean going US Navy ships can easily navigate their way to the Point where the three rivers […]

21 Days

Happy Navy Birthday I had thought about doing nothing more than my traditional Navy birthday greeting but decided that the current countdown series related to the 2020 election is pertinent to the United States Navy. For the record, I am a volunteer with the Trump Victory team in Pennsylvania serving as the South West PA […]

The Battle of Bull Run and the First Official Submariner

The Battle of Bull Run and the First Official Submariner Since April is Submarine Month, I thought I would add to the history of our great institution. Warning: This is a long article… I struggled to cut it down to size and even thought about doing a two part story. But the more I found […]

2020 – An Epic New Year (In Retrospect, using the word epic might have been a mistake)

2020 – The year of the Fast Attack Coming Soon Well, that was the plan last December. I was thinking that a good follow-up to my 2019 year of highlighting the 41 for Freedom Boats would be a logical way to spend the year. To be honest, I spent a lot of time helping to […]

July 4th 2019 Post Number 776 – USS Ulysses S. Grant SSBN 631

July 4, 2019. This is the 776th Post on theleansubmariner blog. Sometime in the early morning hours of this day, the blog counter for number of “visits” went over 500,000. A half million visits to the site since its founding in 2011. The number of followers on the web site, Facebook and Twitter has really […]

Where is the line? Destroying History Has a Hidden Threat to the Future

As most avid history buffs know, this coming week will mark the 154th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. This major battle was fought from July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. The Southern Army had invaded the north in an […]

Rights come with Responsibilities – Or Do They?

Memorial Day has been a special event in my family’s life ever since Great Grandfather Mac donned his Grand Army of the Republic Uniform and marched in his first parade. The men who returned from the War Between the States felt it was their duty and honor to remember the sacrifices of so many men […]