90 Days to nowhere… Submarine Documentary 1977

Another great video from a bygone era. The 41 for Freedom Boats were still in their glory and the USS Ohio was going through its growing pains at the shipyard at Electric Boat. While the patrol cycle is sometimes given short shrift by non-boomer sailors, it had a unique purpose and involved a large number […]

Submarine Documentary 1971

My, how quickly the past 44 years have gone by. This documentary shows a bit about nuclear submarines during the middle of the Cold War. Description from the You Tube site: “This outstanding U.S. Navy film from 1971 — “The Submarine Part II: Backgrounds, Characteristics and Missions of Nuclear Powered Submarines” focuses on the nuclear […]

How the US Navy almost missed “The Boat”

Prior to World War 1, the General Board of the United States Navy was the primary instrument used for directing the strategic future of the U. S. Navy. This General Board had been instituted in 1900 as a way to provide expert advice to the Secretary of the Navy and was made up of nine […]

USS Threadfin SS 410 – War in the Pacific 1945

The war in the Pacific was spread over a vast ocean. The Japanese started the war with many advantages due to the surprise attacks at Pearl Harbor and their use of naval air in overcoming the allied naval forces. One of the strengths that the United States was able to use very early on was […]

Failure is not an option

The nature of submarine warfare has always been filled with an equal mix of adventure, bravery and precision. The adventure starts the minute the boat becomes free from the pier. Gliding along on the surface of any of the rivers and bodies of waters they sail from is only the first part of the journey. […]

Gunfighters on the Java Sea – May 28 1945

I have been chronicling the actions of the US Forces in the Pacific fleet for a number of months and in doing so have found some really great stories with a lot of detail about how the war was progressing in mid 1945. One of those stories started with a small footnote about a wolf […]

Silent Service: Submarine Warfare in WW2

As Memorial Day 2015 approaches, I am once again reminded that submarine sailors paid a heavy price during the second World War in a way that is vastly more expensive that nearly any other type of war fighting based on a per capita measurement. This video certainly captures many of the issues they faced.

225,000 Visits… Nicely done!

The leansubmariner just went over 225,000 visits today. That’s pretty cool. I can’t tel you how much I appreciate your visits and those that come back for a second and maybe even a third look. Live has been pretty interesting lately. The place where I have been working is in the process of mothballing due […]

Now Read This – “Empire Rising” by Rick Campbell

Years ago, I read my first Tom Clancy book, “Hunt for Red October”. I have always enjoyed reading and novels that held stories that could be plausible given the right circumstances have always intrigued me. Being a former submariner, I have had to suspend my disbelief in many cases in order to enjoy the […]

Happy 115th Birthday to the United States Navy Submarine Force

Of the things I have done in my life, being privileged to be a Submariner is the one thing that stands out the most. Looking back in the mirror of over forty years, what made being a submariner so special was a combination of men, machines, methods and materials (as well as the environment we […]