The End of an Era – The Last Boat

250 Years of Service to Freedom – Happy Birthday US Navy

As the clock ticks down to the United States Navy 250th birthday, I wanted to take a few moments and reflect on what that really means. As a young boy, I was surrounded by navy relics and memorabilia. My family had served in the navy during both world wars, and I could see the navy […]

You know you have a problem when the Wall Street Journal features your problem – Submarine Repair Crisis

This morning, an article online caught my eye. It was about the situation we face today in our capacity to build and repair submarines and ships. https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/u-s-navy-ships-are-languishing-in-repair-yards/ar-AA1JOIYV?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=ae81c26819274e929a7c8de2a36283ba&ei=22 This was my response to the writer Alistair What a great article about the debacle that we face in relation to submarine and ship repairs. Our country has […]

July – August 1925 the US Navy Spends Time Down Under

I was visiting my favorite Library of Congress website today that features newspapers from the history of the US. One of the featured stories on the front page of the Washington Times for August 1, 1925, was about how many American sailors married Australian women after a recent port visit. The story brought a smile to […]

“Admiral, the Navy is on its way out. There’s no reason for having a Navy and a Marine Corps.” How Johnson and Truman almost lost the Cold War

A Navy Man at Heart I have to begin this story with a blunt acknowledgement: There has never been a day in my life that the Navy wasn’t the center of the universe when it came to a world that was free, and the Navy was an overpowering force for good. That’s kind of a […]

In the beginning… building a submarine despite the odds (1900)

In the beginning… building a submarine despite the odds (1900) The 125th Anniversary of the United States Submarine force will occur in April of 2025. This is one of a number of articles related to that celebration. I spend a lot of time researching history and my favorite source material comes from the National Archives. […]

Greetings from South Carolina (July 24, 2024) – (Revised July 2026

Revised version… See new Content at the end A good friend of mine sent me an email a few days ago checking in on me. It has been a few months since I put up any new content and for that, I apologize. It has been a while since I had the time or energy […]

April 11 2024 – Holland Club

I was honored to have my wife and my Submariner Brothers present last night at the USSVI Charleston Base to see my induction into the Holland Club. I actually wasn’t sure I would ever make it. A special thanks to RADM Mike Sharp and the men from the USS San Francisco SSN 711 that were […]

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 […]