Diamond Anniversary – The First Battle of Savo Island (Part 7 – The Marines on Shore and the Consequences)

The operation at Guadalcanal was named “Watchtower” but to the Marines involved, it would forever be known as Operation Shoestring. As history records, the entire operation was put together in a hurry with limited resources and even less intelligence. One misstep after another compounded their misery and the disastrous events of the First Battle of […]

Memorandum Number 68: FUTURE SUBMARINE WARFARE – 1923 (How America almost lost World War II before it even started)

In the final days of the Great War, Naval planners had seen first hand the devastation and destruction caused by the modern machines of war. The submarine was an example of one of the most destructive. As plans were being made for the peace, decisions about the methods for maintaining that peace would have to […]

Taffy 3 – Courage Beyond Measure

Originally posted on theleansubmariner:
? In the annals of US Naval history, there are a number of instances that demonstrate the courage and determination of a committed group of dedicated officers and men. The one that stands out most in many people’s opinions is the battle which occurred on October 25th 1994. On this day,…

Inflict Maximum Damage on Enemy Shipping

Victory At Sea ~ Full Fathom Five – HQ The threat of death at full fathom five is always in the backs of the minds of the submariners according to the steady voice of the narrator. Yet they still went on many patrols and exacted a toll on the enemy that brought him to a […]

Christmas 1943 – The Tide Has Turned in the West

In the disastrous aftermath of Pearl Harbor December 1941, the United States and the remaining countries that were considered free faced enormous odds in their struggle against the Axis Powers. The war plans that had been poured over with such intensity for so many decades now laid in ruins as the ships and planes that […]

Three Remarkable Days in Japan

Fast attack submarines play a key role in our nation’s defense and have done so for as long as I have been alive. For the record, that’s more than at least 59 years. I was a crew member on three different fast attacks although I only really deployed on one: The USS San Francisco SSN […]

The Price of Wishful Thinking … Sinking the American Fleet

When I see an internet news story like the recent one detailing the shrinking of the American fleet, I get a kick out of reading the comments in the remarks sections. If you ever want to determine the lack of knowledge of the average internet news story reader, spend a few minutes looking at […]

G’day Mate, mind the dingos

I can’t possibly imagine two places on earth that are more opposite then Diego Garcia and Perth Australia. Finishing up a quick run somewhere in the Indian Ocean and pulling up next to a destroyer tender was welcome after all the excitement, but you quickly come to realize that if there was an end to […]

Taffy 3 – Courage Beyond Measure

In the annals of US Naval history, there are a number of instances that demonstrate the courage and determination of a committed group of dedicated officers and men. The one that stands out most in many people’s opinions is the battle which occurred on October 25th 1944. On this day, a small group of […]

The Surprise

My family has had a tradition of volunteering for the service for about four generations (five counting my nephews on active duty now). Great Grandfather was underage but somehow convinced the Union Army recruiter to allow him to serve. Rumor has it that he had been sent home once before because of his age. He […]