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 […]

Short, Jewish and From an Unspectacular background… Welcome to the Naval Academy Class of 1922

Overcoming being Overcome. Once upon a time, I began to write a story about the importance of overcoming being overcome. We had grand illusions that this would be the book of a lifetime. At that point I had so many examples and thought the time was right. Well, the moment passed but the idea never […]

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 […]

Nautilus to Columbia by James C. Goodall

Happy December. This is the time of year when we get presents in the mail and for me that includes the latest project by my friend James. C. Goodall. Jim is a former Air Force guy (Retired) who combines his photographic skills with his passion for submarines and other technical platforms to create valuable resources […]

Nuclear Power: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963-2023)

(NOTE: This post is a big longer than my usual post, but hopefully it will be worth your time to read.) Nuclear Power: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow I was reading about the two nuclear powered aircraft carriers and their battle groups gathering in the eastern Mediterranean this week and got to thinking about when I […]

The Submarine Recognition Manual NAVPERS 10011

A new era In 1959, the United States was about to fast forward its submarine program. The nuclear program was well under way and the ballistic missile submarine program called Polaris was in full swing. Congressional reports at the time talked about the mounting Soviet threat. The Soviets had also developed a number of shipyards […]

April 10, 1963 -“Experiencing minor difficulty. Have positive up angle. Attempting to blow.”

“Experiencing minor difficulty. Have positive up angle. Attempting to blow.” I wasn’t quite nine years old when the USS Thresher went down for its final dive on April 10, 1963. I am sure I remember the news but I am also sure the significance of the tragedy did not reach all the way inside of […]

March 1946 – The Navy Gains a Foothold in the Atomic Field

In March of 1946, the country was still struggling to come to terms with the realization that the atom had been partially mastered. When the atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were used to help end the war in the Pacific, the eyes of the world suddenly were opened to the fact that nothing was […]

Everything Old is New Again – Life in the Nuclear Shadow

Everything Old is New Again I’ve spent a great deal of time over the past few years studying about the development of nuclear power for use by the US Navy. One of the most informative documents was written in the early nineteen sixties titled Nuclear Navy 1946-1962 written principally by Richard G. Hewlett and Francis […]

A sign of the times… Got Shelters?

Sunday March 4, 1962 was a cool and cloudy day in Washington DC. The front page of the paper had several stories about Marine Colonel John Glenn, Jr., recent space traveler visiting his hometown in Ohio to happy throngs of people. Other front-page stories talked about government corruption, unrest overseas, and of course, across the […]