Did it matter? Undersea Patrols on Christmas Day

Did it matter? A few weeks ago on one of the Holy Loch themed Facebook pages, a few of us were reminiscing about the old days and all of the patrols that were made during the Cold War. Someone reflected how successful the system was but a member of the site (who self-identified as an […]

The World of Polaris

One of the best weekends of my life was our Perfect Scottish Weekend. We travelled the Highlands in August of 1991 and visited Newtonmore for a visit with Clan MacPherson. Then we went to Edinburgh for the world famous Tattoo. I hope you get a chance to visit it someday, it is breathtaking. Recommend that […]

The First Dive – Looking Through a Prism

I have always been fascinated by prisms. As a kid, I loved looking through them at various objects to see what would happen. Without going into the science of it, what you saw as you looked through it was different depending on the angle you looked through it. Another sailor posted a picture on Facebook […]

Something completely different for me

I recently did an interview on Bill Nowicki’s Blog (episode 29) Pretty interesting stuff… if you have a few minutes, check it out http://www.nowickimedia.com/ep29-the-lean-submariner-and-coach-bob-macpherson/ Thanks Bill Mister Mac

The Measure of a Man

I have been infatuated with the United States Navy since I was a small boy. Wearing my Dad’s old Navy uniforms while pretending to be part of McHale’s Navy was a routine part of growing up. I think I read every book in the school’s library that was even remotely related to the Navy and […]

I made that. (Okay. I might have had some help)

There was a change of command in San Diego California on January 24, 2014 onboard the Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS San Francisco (SSN 711). Cdr. Eric Severseike turned over command to Cdr. Jeff Juergens during the ceremony held at Naval Base Point Loma. Congratulations to Commander Severseike for a successful tour and best wishes […]

The First Thanksgiving (Updated from Original Post in 2013)

The First Thanksgiving If you are expecting a traditional story about Pilgrims and Indians, you might as well go back to your search engine and try again. This is a story about my real first Thanksgiving that occurred somewhere in the western Pacific Ocean about 150 feet below the ocean exactly forty years ago today […]

41 for Freedom; Answering a Threat

On October 4, 1957 the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite. This launch was a double blow to the fledgling American rocket program. It proved that the Soviets were able to accomplish something that the Americans had yet to do. It also proved that the Soviets had the ability to launch […]

From out of the Deep to Target

The message to the President of the United States from the USS George Washington upon the successful completion of the first Polaris missile launch came after the boat’s first shot was ” From out of the Deep to Target X Perfect” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh1sqhSUYFM&feature=player_embedded For all of my shipmates; I wonder how many got to shoot one […]

I’d like to be a submariner. How hard could that be?

Caution: Some salty language may be found in this post I belong to a number of very fine military organizations that all have special purposes. The Navy League for instance is a group that supports and promotes the sea services. I think this is important because of the dangers still present in the world at […]