“Every man seen was at his station” – The tragic loss of the S-51

Every man seen was at his station – The tragic lass of the S-51 Caution – The descriptions are pretty graphic. I have written about the sinking of the S-51 before but today is the hundredth anniversary of the beginning of her recovery and restoration. In their day, the U. S. submarines S-50 and S-51 were the latest and […]

Guest Post: How Navy Veterans Can Boost Health and Thrive in Later Life

Note from Mister Mac: I get requests on a fairly regular basis to include articles that might be of interest to the readers of the blog. It’s pretty rare when I accept them. Because June Duncan provided the following article and was patient while I reviewed it, I decided to make one of those rare […]

The USS Ohio Museum – Why Not.

I read today that when the USS Ohio finally retires, it will do so as the oldest continuous operating submarine in US History. The first submarine of the class, the USS Ohio or SSBN-726, was commissioned in 1981, followed by 17 more vessels. Though Ohio-class submarines were built to have a 30-year service life, most […]

Cold War Stories – Periscopes off our Coasts: 1954

Did you ever get that feeling like someone is watching you? No, I’m not talking about that natural paranoia some people feel in this modern age of electronic snooping. Although we do have some reason for concern. After all, if you have a smart phone, how many times has something you have been discussing with […]

Cold War Stories – Torpedo in the water

From the beginning of the Cold War, the idea of using nuclear power for propulsion was something discussed on both sides of the conflict. But just as important was the idea that having weapons delivery systems tied to submarines would be a game changer in any future hot conflict. The devastating effect of unrestricted submarine […]

Cold War Stories – “perhaps we’ll have an aircraft carrier with the underwater body of a speedboat.”

I’ve written before about the rush of the nation to disarm after the second world war. The navy in particular was hard hit based on the emergence of the atomic bomb and the lack of a major sea going threat. The Soviets exited the war with a small blue water navy. That would not change […]

And so, you master self then, laugh at fear – The Story of a Sub Man and USS Grayback SS 208

And so, you master self then, laugh at fear – The Story of a Sub Man There was a total of fifty-two American submarines lost during World War 2. The damage that the submarine force had inflicted on the Japanese and naval forces was staggering. But losing that many submarines was also a very high […]

Cold War Stories – Truman Joins the Royal Order of Deep Dunkers

The Royal Order of Deep Dunkers Up until today, I had only known of a few US Presidents that had submerged on board a submarine. The first was Theodore Roosevelt who rode an early sub called the Plunger. August 21, 1905 – Plunger to Oyster Bay today A partial list of modern Presidents that would […]

Cold War Stories – The next war will be fought on our own soil

Cold War Stories – The next war will be fought on our own soil In 1984, there was a fictional movie called Red Dawn that portrayed an invasion of the United States. It was a very interesting look at what would happen in the country if an enemy was successfully able to bypass all of […]

Cold War Stories – Homecoming 1946

Homecoming 1946 Nearly eight million men and women served in the United States Armed Forces during the second world war. Many recent articles in various news outlets and television stories highlight the hundred plus years the few remaining survivors are celebrating this year. But the numbers are diminished greatly with the passing of time. They […]