USS Bowfin – The Pearl Harbor Avenger and Patrol Number Five

USS Bowfin – The Pearl Harbor Avenger and Patrol Number Five When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the great surface fleet that was the mainstay of America’s naval arm was badly battered. Laying in the mud and waters of Pearl Harbor, these great ships were suddenly ejected from the immediate battle plan and a new […]

USS Henry Clay SSBN 625 – The Great Compromiser

“I implore, as the best blessing which Heaven can bestow upon me upon earth, that if the direful and sad event of the dissolution of the Union shall happen, I may not survive to behold the sad and heart-rending spectacle. Quote from “On the Compromise Resolutions,” speech before the U.S. Senate, February 5 and 6, […]

USS Hunley AS 31 – “We Serve to Preserve Peace.”

USS Hunley AS 31 – “We Serve to Preserve Peace.” No story about the Cold War submarine efforts would be complete without the recognition of the work done by the Submarine Tenders (AS). The very first tender designed and built from the keel up to service the Polaris fleet was the USS Hunley. Hunley was […]

A faraway land that still calls me back – Holy Loch and Polaris

I remember the day that the announcement came that Holy Loch was closing. February 1991 was a typical cold Scottish month. I had already completed my initial qualifications as Docking Officer and would be certified in the next docking of a nuclear submarine on March 15th. But before I could even think about the achievement, […]

USS Patrick Henry SSBN 599 – Give Me Liberty or Give Me death!

USS Patrick Henry “I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death.” As a sailor who sailed on a number of submarines and ships, I can assure you there is no sweeter word that “Liberty”. I have to be honest with you and say that […]

USS Alexander Hamilton (SSBN 617) – Castles in the Air

This is the next story in the series about the 41 for Freedom boats. The name Alexander Hamilton has been widely resurrected in the past few years with the wild success of the Broadway show “Hamilton”. But for me, the name will always be synonymous with the second Lafayette Class submarine that bore his name. […]

Oh Flower of Scotland… Happy Saint Andrews Day 2018

November 30th is Saint Andrews day in Scotland. It has been over 27 years since we left Scotland to return to America but in so many ways it seems like yesterday. Our trip was cut way too short with the imminent closing of the American base at Holy Loch and so many things have filled […]

You’re a Nuclear Submariner? How did you get such a cool job? (1963)

By January 1963, the United States Navy submarine force was growing at an amazing pace. The Soviet launching of Sputnik had sparked a fire in the Defense Department and the government as a whole to find ways to counter the perceived threats of an unbridled Soviet Union. The answer of course was to capitalize on […]

It’s a Bonny Life in the Land of Kilts and Bagpipes – ALL HANDS September 1967

This article was written less than a decade after Site One was established in the Holy Loch. I did not arrive in Scotland until August of 1990 to serve on board the AFDB 7 Floating Drydock but many of the same conditions that existed back in the Sixties were very similar to what was written. The […]

USS George Washington SSBN 598 – First and Finest (December 30, 1959)

A short history of the first ballistic missile submarine. USS GEORGE WASHINGTON (SSBN 598) THIS SHIP has been given the most illustrious name in America. Rarely does history conﬁrm contemporary judgment in pronouncing a man “indispensable” to his country. But there is general agreement that on three occasions, when the fate of our Nation hung in […]