1954 – The year underwater warfare changed forever

1954 – The year underwater warfare changed forever. This post was originally posted in July of 2019. Since 2020 is the year of the Fast Attack on theleansubmariner, I thought it appropriate to repost it with some updates. After all, it was the Nautilus of Jules Verne’s imagination that started the whole process. And it […]

The Other Nautilus and Simon Lake’s Dream of Under Ice Travel

Blue Nose In my time on board submarines, I traveled many places around the world. But traveling under the ice to the North Pole remains one of my most elusive goals. The sheer adventure of the trip appeals to me as a submariner and I am indeed envious of anyone who has safely navigated through […]

A Pocket-sized Nuclear Reactor on a Mini-Submarine? (almost) circa 1958

The world’s atomic agencies were watching America’s Naval Atomic program closely and with great interest in 1959 In late 1958, the focus on atomic submarines was still centered on what came to be known as the fast attack. In this report that highlighted all of the sea going efforts at harnessing nuclear power, the author […]

LOOKING BACK: NINETEEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY- EIGHT is gone. (How the submarine force pivoted in 1958 to win the Cold War)

Cold War 1 – How the American Navy Pivoted its Submarine Force to Win the Day I love this time of year. Perspectives on the achievements of the past year reign supreme in the press and on almost all manner of media. With the advances of social media, the avalanche of looking back articles will […]

The Birth of the Atomic Fleet – When Science Fiction was Dwarfed by Science Fact

The Birth of the Atomic Fleet In 1950, the same year the USS Pickerel conducted a remarkable journey from Hong Kong to Hawaii in just 21 days under snorkel, the President of the United States, President Harry S. Truman, authorized the building of an atomic submarine for the first (August 1950). Pundits and politicians had […]