Happy Birthday Bubblehead

One of the things you learn quickly about the military is the endless stream of nicknames attached to the people, equipment and all manner of things unique to the recipient of the toast. The Navy is not unique but it certainly has no shortages of slang and identifiers. These all help to separate the various […]

Ballistic Missile Submarine Documentary 2015

Scorpion Lives Mattered

On May 22, 1968, the USS Scorpion SSN 589 was lost at sea with all hands. http://www.oneternalpatrol.com/uss-scorpion-589.htm This is a constant reminder to all submariners that there truly are no routine days at sea. God rest their souls Mister Mac

There are no routine days at sea on a submarine

It was just another day at sea. Routine in many ways but in others it became an eternal reminder of the dangers associated with operating a submarine. The sea i…s unforgiving and the impact of any small failure becomes magnified beyond control within moments. I have sat in a chair, strapped in holding the […]

90 Days to nowhere… Submarine Documentary 1977

Another great video from a bygone era. The 41 for Freedom Boats were still in their glory and the USS Ohio was going through its growing pains at the shipyard at Electric Boat. While the patrol cycle is sometimes given short shrift by non-boomer sailors, it had a unique purpose and involved a large number […]

How the US Navy almost missed “The Boat”

Prior to World War 1, the General Board of the United States Navy was the primary instrument used for directing the strategic future of the U. S. Navy. This General Board had been instituted in 1900 as a way to provide expert advice to the Secretary of the Navy and was made up of nine […]

Gunfighters on the Java Sea – May 28 1945

I have been chronicling the actions of the US Forces in the Pacific fleet for a number of months and in doing so have found some really great stories with a lot of detail about how the war was progressing in mid 1945. One of those stories started with a small footnote about a wolf […]

Happy 115th Birthday to the United States Navy Submarine Force

Of the things I have done in my life, being privileged to be a Submariner is the one thing that stands out the most. Looking back in the mirror of over forty years, what made being a submariner so special was a combination of men, machines, methods and materials (as well as the environment we […]

Submarine Operations During World War 2 – Great Footage

Mister Mac Just a reminder: The USSVI Convention for 2015 is in Pittsburgh PA this year from September 7-12. Visit their web site at http://www.ussviconventionsteelcity2015.org/

How to fight a war… or conquer the enemy in your life

I read a lot. Maybe too much according to my wife. I have been chronicling the events of March 1945 on my Facebook page “World War 2 in the Pacific https://www.facebook.com/WarInThePacific19411946 Some of the reference materials are amazing in their accuracy for challenges we face today. I truly wish that the powers that be could read […]