The Beginning of a New Era – September 30, 1954

In the beginning… I was born in 1954 in the Mon Valley area. That area is where the Monongahela River winds through the of western Pennsylvania. The area was famous for the many steel mills and coal mines and the air growing up was always smokey and had distinct odors depending on which way […]

Under the Ice Warfare: Kill or Be Killed

In my career I received the Order of the Ditch and was a Shellback. The first means that I transited the Panama Canal and of course the second means that I crossed the Equator. Going across the equator involves a lot of pomp and circumstances surrounded by a great deal of silliness. I will freely […]

REPORT ON THE U.S. SUBMARINE PROGRAM – 1968

During the period from 1966 through 1968, the Cold War was producing a heightened level of activity on both sides of the global divide. The Soviets were building their submarine fleet with increased attention to both quantity and quality. The west was trying to make sure its qualitative edge would be enough to counter that […]

Patriots Point Gardens of Stone – A Cold War Submarine Memorial

Since moving to the Low Country, I have spent a lot of time rediscovering many treasures of the Charleston area. One of the most significant is the Cold War Submarine Memorial at Patriot’s Point. Because most of my earlier life was living through the Cold War, the place has pretty significant memories for me. I […]

Voyage to the Bottom of the Seas – The Nuclear Navy of 1964

In 1964, I was ten years old. The movie, Voyage to the Bottom of the Seas had come out in 1961 but I only remember it from later showings on television when I was much older. The TV series that was born from that movie ran from 1964 to 1968 and I am pretty sure […]

Nautilus to Columbia by James C. Goodall

Happy December. This is the time of year when we get presents in the mail and for me that includes the latest project by my friend James. C. Goodall. Jim is a former Air Force guy (Retired) who combines his photographic skills with his passion for submarines and other technical platforms to create valuable resources […]

Watch Where You Are Going… The Ocean Is Big But Not as Big as You Think

Watch where you are going The world is filled with things in motion. Ever since the wheel was invented, one of the most cherished pieces of advice has had to have been to watch where you are going. We heard it as kids. It’s easy to become distracted along the way but those distractions can […]

How fast will that thing go? The USS Skipjack Story

How fast can you go on a submarine? Along with how deep, how fast is often one of the most asked questions once someone knows you were on board a submarine. The standard answer that was pounded into our heads in submarine school was in excess of 20 knots and deeper than 400 feet. Once […]

The Skipjack Class – Unleashing a New Kind of Sea Monster

There she blows!–there she blows! A hump like a snow-hill! It is Moby Dick! “Some of the subtlest secrets of the seas seemed divulged to us in this enchanted pond. We saw young Leviathan amours in the deep. And thus, though surrounded by circle upon circle of consternations and affrights, did these inscrutable creatures [mother […]

Building the next generation of boats – Nuclear power in 1955

Building the next generation of boats – Nuclear power in 1955 The power and possibility revealed in the USS Nautilus was enough to inspire the Navy’s leadership to want to move more quickly into this bold new age. The challenge was to find a way to build the new boats using existing resources blended with […]