1987 – The Counterpunch for a growing Soviet threat

1987 – The Counterpunch for a growing Soviet threat When I became a Machinist Mate Chief Petty Officer in August of 1987, I celebrated having served on a fair representation of Cold War submarines and stations. The journey took me from New London to Charleston to Pearl Harbor to Mare Island. Then the trip continued […]

And the rocket’s “Red” glare – Soviet Submarines (Part 2)

(Part Two of the Soviet Union Submarine series) https://theleansubmariner.com/2020/03/27/we-had-rickover-they-had-gorshkov-the-whole-world-watched/ In April 1972, I raised my right hand swore allegiance to the United States of America as a brand new member of the United States Navy. It would be the first of many times I repeated the oath. During that time, the War in Vietnam had […]

“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 […]

Lost Boats – An occupational hazard in 1920

Lord, your sea is so great and my boat is so small A hundred years ago, the relatively young US Navy Submarine service was still experiencing a lot of growing pains. Technology had already evolved enough to provide a better means of propulsion (diesel engines) and recent upgrades in battery technology were certainly great […]

USS Pittsburgh SSN 720 Closing Remarks from Admiral Douglas Perry

As part of the chronicling of the activities related to the Inactivation of the USS Pittsburgh, I reached out to the major participants of the event. This is the last installment and contains remarks made by the guest speaker RDML Doug Perry, Commander Submarine Group Nine. The Admiral was kind to have the reception in […]

USS Pittsburgh SSN 720 Inactivation Program from January 17, 2020

It was an honor to help with the day. For those who were not able to make it, here is the Booklet that was distributed Mister Mac

The Heart of Steel will live Forever

A Time for Everything There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time […]

USS Pittsburgh SSN 720 Commanding Officer’s Remarks January 17, 2020

For those that follow the blog, you know that I have only had a few people contribute stories for publication. That is not intentional, its just rare that I have been moved to do so. On Friday, January 17th 2020, the USS Pittsburgh Captain and crew hosted an inactivation ceremony at the Keyport Washington U.S. […]

First call, first call to colors

Yesterday was a really good day. I was proud to have represented the Pittsburgh Council of the Navy League at the inactivation ceremony for the USS Pittsburgh. Tomorrow’s post will contain the speech Captain Jason Deichler made to commemorate the day. This morning, I woke up to my phone ringing. My First Mate was calling […]