Cold War Stories – “Look at that thing fly” – Submarine Design in the Modern Ages

Look at that thing fly – submarine design in the modern ages The sleek submarines of today are powerful examples of the evolution of naval ship design. What were once awkward frames surrounding the simplest of motive engines, are now the deadliest hunter killers that have ever ranged the oceans deep. The technology to create […]

Where Are They Now?

Where Are They Now? Social media has really had an impact on the world. While some might argue that it has been mostly negative, there are some positive impacts that most of us would have never thought of fifty years ago. In previous generations, you had to meet face to face in a common space […]

He Was a Good Man – Remembering Our Submariners

He Was a Good Man – Remembering Our Submariners Every once in a while, I am reminded that the one constant in life is change and tied to that is the passage of time. No, I am not channeling a former presidential candidate… time is really passing and despite the commercials on tv promising to […]

I hated the PRT… until I realized how bad things could get without it

I’ll be the first person to admit that of all the things I encountered in the navy, the PRT (Physical Readiness Test) was my least favorite thing. I can imagine there are a lot more like me out there. Let me explain. From the day you join any of our armed services, they start breaking […]

Part time sailors? There is no such thing

I’m still going through boxes of old paperwork and stuff I have saved over the years. Some of the items include pictures and mementoes from my years in the navy. One item that was in an old album was a faded copy of a Welcome Aboard letter from Charleston’s FBMSTC (Fleet Ballistic Missile Training Center). […]

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 […]

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 […]

Not for glory, but for victory – The need for Auxiliary Ships

Not for glory, but for victory Submarine tenders are near and dear to my heart. My seagoing career was launched and finished on the decks of two Cold War era tenders (USS Proteus and USS Hunley). Although Proteus was actually built as a World War 2 era tender, she was later converted to support the […]

Voyage to the Bottom of the Seas – The Nuclear Navy of 1964

In 1964, I was ten years old. The movie, Voyage to the Bottom of the Seas had come out in 1961 but I only remember it from later showings on television when I was much older. The TV series that was born from that movie ran from 1964 to 1968 and I am pretty sure […]

Sudden Impact… Forever Impacted

Sudden Impact… Forever Impacted It was a cold and freezing night. (I’ve always wanted to use that line ever since Snoopy used something similar in one of his attempts to be a novelist. Cartoonist Charles Schulz made Snoopy use this phrase because “it was a cliché and had been one for a very long time”. […]