Book progress – Tell the Whole Story

One of my goals for the past few years was to tell the story of Cassin Young, Captain, US Navy. Cassin was a thirty-year man in the Navy that saw some of his most significant moments during two of the most pivotal battles of the Second World War. At Pearl Harbor, he was stationed on […]

The USS Albacore SS 218 and her Sponsor – February 1942

The story of World War 2 is always a combination of the stories of the ships that served and the men who were involved in their lives. This story is about the USS Albacore, but it is also a story about some of the men who were around when she was launched. The ship’s sponsor […]

Crossing the line February 8, 1974

Our fears are always more numerous than our dangers Seneca Forty-eight years ago, I was brought into one of the most ancient organizations called the Ancient Order of the Deep. The Crossing the Line Ceremony is as old as the sea. From the Official Navy Web Site: Although crossing the equator may seem like a […]

Sinking of the S-26 Boat January 1942

Subsafe Anyone who has ever sailed on a US Navy submarine probably had at least some idea about the reasons for all the training and emphasis on safety that was given to them. From the beginning of submarine operations in the early 1900’s, diving on a submersible ship in an unforgiving ocean has always […]

Women went to war; I wonder what they wore ? – February 3 1942

My Mom celebrated her tenth birthday on February 3, 1942. She and I talked a few times about the war that was going on around her at that time and she did not have many memories. She was born into a well to do family and was isolated from the events that were transpiring […]

How much the world has changed in fifty years. And how little.

How much the world has changed in fifty years. And how little. January 1972. Fifty years ago this month, I was just beginning to figure out where I was going to head after high school. To be honest, the choices were not very open. I had spent a lot of time pursuing anything but my […]

The Loss of the SS-233 USS Herring

With Pearl Harbor fresh in the minds of the American public, any good news was welcomed by the American people. In January 1942, the news was not encouraging. The Japanese war machine was continuing its relentless march down the Malay Peninsula, Manila had fallen, and Bataan was being threatened, and newspaper reports of catastrophe after […]

Losing the World’s Largest Submarine – The Unsolved Mystery of the Surcouf (1942)

Losing the World’s Largest Submarine – The Unsolved Mystery of the Surcouf The Washington Times had a picture of an odd-looking French submarine on page A-3 of the January 20, 1942 edition. The caption read: Free French Operate World’s Largest Sub. I had previously written a story about a French submarine that escaped Germany’s clutches […]

The Old Submariner

Submariner I sometimes don’t know where I’m going, but Oh, all the places I’ve been. Wrapped up in a hull made of steel, with a crew of fine sailors locked in. The missions are lonely and silent, the dangers untold with no yield, But we still climb down the steel ladders, the hatches above us […]

Submarine Base Pearl Harbor – Buried Secrets

Buried Secrets One of my favorite submarine reference books is called “United States Submarine Operations in World War II” written by Theodore Roscoe in conjunction with the Bureau of Naval Personnel and published by the United States Naval Institute. Reading through the book is like a looking through a periscope to the past. The people […]