A Good Navy Man

The Bluejacket’s Manual of 1946 was a special edition The US Navy (along with its sister services) had just finished a victory of epic proportions and the BJM writers were writing about the needs the country would have from its sailors for years to come. In the introduction, the manual talks about the need for […]

Russian Submarine Base Pictures

In all of my years on submarines, I can never remember pulling into an underground submarine base. Probably because we didn’t have any! The Russians apparently did have a big underground submarine base and docks once in the USSR. After the Soviet Union collapsed and the Russian army left Ukraine it was partly abandoned and […]

Submarines; Scourge of the Seas or Sentinels of Liberty? (It depends on who is at the helm)

At the outset of the war between the states, the weight of sea power rested with the Northern states both in actual number of existing ships and the capacity to manufacture new ones. The industrial capacity of the north had matured because of many reasons up to that point. Availability of raw materials and capacity […]

USS San Francisco SSN 711 Reunion

1MC: Attention All Hands, this is the Big Mac. The Reunion is On for 2013 Location: Norfolk Marriott Waterside, Norfolk Virginia Date: September 6-8 2013 Venue: Reservations: To receive the guaranteed rate of $100 per night, you must contact Marriott at either 1-800-228-9290 or 757-627-4200 anytime after 1 PM on June 28 or before […]

Strategic Deterrence – 3500 patrols and counting

When most people look back at the fifties, it was a mixture of many different themes. On the one hand, we had the growth of the so called middle class into suburbia as returning GI’s and their counterparts in the other services came home as victors to a nation ready to grow. Home ownership became […]

December 12, 1942 Report of the Sinking of the SS President Coolidge

During the war, detailed records were kept that later were transcribed for review by historians. Today’s story comes from that report. Imagine how different Christmas of 1942 would have been for the families of over five thousand soldiers if the Captain of this ship had not taken the actions he did. http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/comms/1942-12.html S. S. PRESIDENT […]

FBM Blue and Gold – The Beginning

Thanks to shipmate Tim Lutes STS2(SS) USS George Washington SSBN 598 for finding this little gem and posting it on FB. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HGrDJSHmXZU#! I sailed on the GW when she was about twelve years old and had clear memories about how old she was (at least every time something broke). At different points in my four […]

Man Battle Stations

All day long today I have enjoyed seeing the pictures of men and women in uniform being saluted by so many people. Their service is precious and appreciated by so many. That’s probably why I was so angry when I saw this letter tonight in the McKeesport Daily News. No, angry might be too calm […]

Shared Sacrifices

On the eve of Thanksgiving, please take a moment to think of all the men and women who will not be able to sit around a table with their families this year. Some are sitting in ready rooms on aircraft carriers waiting for an order to launch in support of ongoing operations in far lands. […]

All or Nothing

Radical and Revolutionary Those were words used to describe one of the greatest Battleships ever to sail the seas in defense of freedom. The USS Nevada (BB-36) was the second IS Navy ship to be named after the 36th state and was the lead ship of the two Nevada-class battleships. Her sister ship was the […]