USS Sam Rayburn SSBN 635 – Mr. Sam

USS Sam Rayburn SSBN 635 This is the last of the 41 for Freedom Boats that was memorialized in Admiral Rickover’s book the Eminent Americans. It’s been a fascinating year learning more about each of the boats but more importantly, it’s been an enlightening year to learn much more about the men that the boats […]

USS George C. Marshall SSBN 654 – Patience not weakness

Sixty years ago today, America lost one of its greatest citizens. He would not live to see the submarine that would later bear his name. But the work that he did for the nation ensured that freedom and liberty for many people would be assured. From his day as a cadet at the Virginia […]

USS Will Rogers SSBN 659 – Protecting the big honest majority

Why name a submarine “Will Rogers”? I have been reading a lot of background material on Will Rogers in an attempt to understand why his name was included in the list of Eminent Americans (as Admiral Rickover famously named the men from the 41 for Freedom boats). Many of the men who were chosen for […]

USS Henry L. Stimson SSBN 655 “to keep peace you must be strong to resist aggression”

In a world where politics has become more toxic than a bucket full of radioactive waste mixed with every known chemical harmful to mankind, the example that Henry L. Stimson provided is the one shining light that still stands out like a beacon. Stimson was a war veteran, a statesman, a leader, and a man […]

October 4, 1957 – The event that pushed America to Polaris

Rather than being a sign of achievement, Sputnik created a universal atmosphere of fear in the Western nations. The fear was that if the Soviets could launch a satellite that high into the atmosphere and sustain an orbit, what would stop them from launching nuclear weapons. That fear most certainly helped to spark the drive […]

May 1960: You’ve got Polaris, why on earth do you need bigger carriers?

You’ve got Polaris, why on earth do you need bigger carriers? This was the first speech given to the Navy League by Secretary Franke. Franke served in the new Kennedy administration. The source document comes from amalgamated press releases recorded from 1959-1962. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.c2968167&view=1up&seq=571 In May of 1960, the secretary was giving a standard speech […]

USS Woodrow Wilson (SSBN-624) “The world must be made safe for democracy.”

I was assigned to the USS Halibut (SSN 587) in late 1975. The boat had just returned from her last mission and was about to undergo decommissioning. My previous assignment had been at Pearl Harbor on the USS George Washington but I did not want to extend to take the boat into the shipyard at […]

Deep Submergence

It has been a long month. We all revert to character in times of trial. As a young man on submarines, I often looked forward to the boat pulling away from the pier and seeing the land disappear in the fading horizon. I almost hated to go below after rigging topside for dive, but at […]

Saying goodbye to a friend

A couple of days ago, I had to take a trip that I knew was coming but I really didn’t want. Its only a few miles from our house to the Veterinarian’s place and its a trip we have taken many times. This time was different. My buddy of twelve and a half years had […]

Submarine Rule #1: Close the Hatch (The Story of the Fulton)

Imagine spending an entire night under the surface of the ocean. In 1901, this had to have been quite an electric story. The American experiment with submarines was not that old yet and the thought of men actually living under the water’s surface was something that still lived in science fiction. The Fulton was an […]