Fenian Ram: The Green Submarine

Any submariner worth his salt has heard of a good Irishman named John Phillip Holland and his submarine design changed the way wars would be fought at sea forever. On March 17, 1898, St. Patrick’s Day, Irish-born engineer John Philip Holland demonstrated a submarine he designed, the Holland VI, for the U.S. Navy Department, off […]

Sticks and Stones

WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS LANGUAGE THAT MAY HAVE BEEN TYPICALLY HEARD BACK IN THE DAY WHEN WE WERE MUCH LESS SENSITIVE. IF YOU ARE EASILY OFFENDED OR ABOUT TO TESTIFY BEFORE ANY CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE ABOUT HOW UNFAIR LIFE IS, PLEASE STOP READING NOW AND GO ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS. THANK YOU. What’s in a name? This […]

No excuses.

For some who follow my blog, I need to apologize but its been a hard week. Thanks to my friend Joey Sagnis, I found out well after the fact that one of the best sailors the Navy ever had passed away. “Here is Silas’ phone number ***-***-****. He said he would appreciate a phone call. […]

It Happened in 1954

I really like cruising around the “store” in the front of my favorite southern cuisine restaurant. You can see the old fashioned toys and magic sets mixed in with collectables of one kind or another. One of my favorites though is the rotating card stand that holds the little books about what happened the year […]

So you want to be a Submariner? (circa 1943)

Every American Bluejacket from the early 1900’s to today receives a copy of the Bluejacket’s Manual. The books were written to help supplement the knowledge of men who were being brought into the Navy. Many times, they lacked even a high school education although over the last century that has been less and less. Newer […]

A new day

Today was a special day. My business web site went live today! I will still continue to add stories and commentary to the Lean Submariner but the website bobmacpherson-speaker.info is my way to satisfy my passion for business process improvement, training services, and speaking. Check it out if you get the chance. In the next […]

The Price of Wishful Thinking … Sinking the American Fleet

When I see an internet news story like the recent one detailing the shrinking of the American fleet, I get a kick out of reading the comments in the remarks sections. If you ever want to determine the lack of knowledge of the average internet news story reader, spend a few minutes looking at […]

Unrestricted Submarine Warfare

In August of 1914, events on land in Europe came to a head and the first global conflict began As hellish as the existence of the war on terra firma, a new type of warfare was changing the way tacticians and leaders would see the war at sea for generations to come. The small […]

Address to a Haggis

From 1961 – 1992, two cultures were given the opportunity to live side by side and learn from each other at a place called Holy Loch Scotland The locals taught the incoming Yanks how to eat Fish and Chips, the right way to drink Scotch, and a wee bit about the old ways. The Yanks […]

Pigboats

Pigboats “With his heart in his mouth, Tom glimpsed a dim bow as it came hurtling toward him out of the night. Firing had ceased; they were evidently too close to fire; evidently they meant to ram. Hadn’t he got his recognition signal right? He pressed a button; below him klaxons shrieked a warning through […]