USS James K. Polk SSBN 645 Special Edition

This post is a special edition post to accompany the 41 for Freedom Series Post of the USS James K Polk SSBN 645 published on June 2, 2019

USS James K. Polk SSBN 645 – From sea to shining sea

USS James K. Polk SSBN 645 – From sea to shining sea AT first glance, the selection of James K. Polk seems like one of the most unusual choices in the 41 for Freedom naming convention. A one term President that resided over some of the greatest controversies of the age, Polk was President during […]

USS Andrew Jackson SSBN 619 – One Man With Courage is a Majority

Andrew Jackson was one of my favorite characters from childhood. His story of a backwoods lawyer becoming President is an inspiration to many people since it was the first time in America’s history that a person who was not a member of the founding elite rose to power based on the will of the common […]

USS Simon Bolivar SSBN 641 – “those of us who have toiled for liberty in South America have but plowed the sea.”

In January of 1973, I attended submarine school in New London Connecticut. I had completed basic training and Machinist Mate “A” school and this was my next assignment in the pathway to my first submarine. It’s funny when I think back now how much I was anxious to leave home and get away from school. […]

Polaris A3 Deploys in Atlantic and Pacific (ALL HANDS 1965)

I have to be honest and admit that I never looked inside the missile tubes on either of my FBM submarines. I know there was something inside all of the tubes because of the great deal of work required to keep them ready for use if the President called on us. But as an A-Ganger, […]

“BE BRAVE, STAND FIRM, SHOOT STRAIGHT” USS TECUMSEH (SSBN 628)

“Be brave, stand ﬁrm, shoot straight” USS TECUMSEH (SSBN 628) The founding of America was not a straightforward journey. Many of the people who were already settled in the lands across the rivers were understandably not anxious for the arrival of the white man. One of the harshest of the critics was the Warrior Tecumseh. […]

Oil, cabbages and very little oxygen… Life aboard a WWI Unterseeboot

May 7th is the anniversary of one of the most significant seagoing tragedies in the annals of submarine history. The sinking of the Lusitania in 1915. (Note: The article is a good read for a day when you can have some quiet… at the end of the article is a link to a classic documentary […]

Freedom’s Defender – USS John Marshall SSBN 611 (SSN 611)

My history is a little rusty sometimes and I will readily admit that I was not as familiar with John Marshall as I should have been before I started this installment of the 41 for Freedom series. Yet, of all the men a boat of this class could have been named for, this one is […]

SEA TRIALS – TESTING THE BOAT AND THE CREW

SEA TRIALS – TESTING THE BOAT AND THE CREW Out of the vast cauldron of experiences related to being a Submariner, memories of one experience on submarines normally dominates above all the rest for someone who was a Plankowner of a sub. Sea Trials I have a lot of memories of the sea trials on […]

“Ocean in view! Oh Joy!” USS LEWIS AND CLARK (SSBN 644)

I can almost hear the conversation on that morning when President Thomas Jefferson called Merriweather Lewis into his office and explained to him what he needed done. “I need you to make your way from St. Louis to Oregon in the shortest possible time and distance.” “What’s an “Oregon”, Thomas?” “I’m not sure but I […]