The creation of a disordered mind… Holland’s submarine boat

The creation of a disordered mind Centuries of dreams had surrounded the desire and even the need to conquer the underwater world. The industrial age brought with it many new inventions and ideas that were changing the world. The mastery of electricity and modern engines were just part of the growth that propelled man from […]

How fast will that thing go? The USS Skipjack Story

How fast can you go on a submarine? Along with how deep, how fast is often one of the most asked questions once someone knows you were on board a submarine. The standard answer that was pounded into our heads in submarine school was in excess of 20 knots and deeper than 400 feet. Once […]

“What nation will own the submarine monster is a question.” The Original Submarine Day Story

“What nation will own the submarine monster is a question.” I was watching the posts put up on social media about the “Original” submarine day recently (March 17th). My own tradition has always been to recognize April as the American Submarine month. I also have been pretty much centered on 1900 as the founding year […]

Building the next generation of boats – Nuclear power in 1955

Building the next generation of boats – Nuclear power in 1955 The power and possibility revealed in the USS Nautilus was enough to inspire the Navy’s leadership to want to move more quickly into this bold new age. The challenge was to find a way to build the new boats using existing resources blended with […]

Fast Attack Submarines in 1958 – Refining the Concept

In 1958, the race to build better and faster submarines had already been underway for a few years. Admiral Rickover had previously stated that the Nautilus design was only the beginning of the evolution. By 1958, the world of underwater warfare was rapidly taking shape IMPORTANCE OF NUCLEAR PROPULSION – 1958 ALL HANDS MAGAZINE Nuclear […]

What’s in a name? The story of how the most famous submarine in modern history was named

What’s in a name? All Navy ships have a designation. Through the years, technology and advances in design have created the need for new designations. The book Dictionary of American naval fighting ships. v.1. United States categorized all of the ship types used in the American Navy’s history as of 1959. As far as submarines, […]

2020 – An Epic New Year

2020 – The year of the Fast Attack Coming Soon

USS Woodrow Wilson (SSBN-624) “The world must be made safe for democracy.”

I was assigned to the USS Halibut (SSN 587) in late 1975. The boat had just returned from her last mission and was about to undergo decommissioning. My previous assignment had been at Pearl Harbor on the USS George Washington but I did not want to extend to take the boat into the shipyard at […]

Submarine Rule #1: Close the Hatch (The Story of the Fulton)

Imagine spending an entire night under the surface of the ocean. In 1901, this had to have been quite an electric story. The American experiment with submarines was not that old yet and the thought of men actually living under the water’s surface was something that still lived in science fiction. The Fulton was an […]

1954 – The year underwater warfare changed forever

1954 – The year underwater warfare changed forever. This post was originally posted in July of 2019. Since 2020 is the year of the Fast Attack on theleansubmariner, I thought it appropriate to repost it with some updates. After all, it was the Nautilus of Jules Verne’s imagination that started the whole process. And it […]