Under the Ice Warfare: Kill or Be Killed

In my career I received the Order of the Ditch and was a Shellback. The first means that I transited the Panama Canal and of course the second means that I crossed the Equator. Going across the equator involves a lot of pomp and circumstances surrounded by a great deal of silliness. I will freely […]

Feeding Submariners – 1930 Style

The early American submarines were very small and lacked any significant ability to feed their crews for any length of time. Since they were not seen as critical independent operators ranging the blue waters of the world, habitability was not as critical. More often than not, they were nested alongside larger tenders where the ability […]

REPORT ON THE U.S. SUBMARINE PROGRAM – 1968

During the period from 1966 through 1968, the Cold War was producing a heightened level of activity on both sides of the global divide. The Soviets were building their submarine fleet with increased attention to both quantity and quality. The west was trying to make sure its qualitative edge would be enough to counter that […]

My Submarine Journey – Part 1

It’s all about the education

The Innovation of a Capitalist Society Still Matters

The Story of the Submarine Base at Pearl Harbor

The final watch.

The final watch. All of us who ever served on submarines experienced the first watch. The training we received mostly prepared us for that watch. Technical details, readings and normal operations were the expected results. But in the back of our minds, we were trained for the unexpected. What if a system failed. What if […]

THE TRIP TO THE SUBMARINE – Key West 1960

Field Trips are Fun I remember as a kid we used to go to businesses on field trips to get a glimpse into what our parents and others did for a living. One year it was a bakery with all of the delicious smells you might expect. Another trip brought us to Menzie Dairy where […]

“Every man seen was at his station” – The tragic loss of the S-51

Every man seen was at his station – The tragic lass of the S-51 Caution – The descriptions are pretty graphic. I have written about the sinking of the S-51 before but today is the hundredth anniversary of the beginning of her recovery and restoration. In their day, the U. S. submarines S-50 and S-51 were the latest and […]