Danger or not: The Navies Must Possess the Terror – Submarines in 1902

A little over two years into America’s experiment with the submarine, one of the early weaknesses was ending up becoming a newsworthy problem. Gasoline The use of gasoline engines for primary power on the surface was problematic to say the least. The fuel was very toxic and explosive and unfortunately unpredictable. Since the fumes were […]

The Little Devils of the Deep – American Submarines in June 1900

In June of 1900, the American seagoing world was still adapting to the idea that a practical submarine machine had been brought into the family. With the Spanish American War in the rear-view mirror, 1900 was exploding with changes of all kinds. The twentieth century would come to be known as the American Century since […]

“Cooped up in These Steel Cylinders, The Combatants Would Go to Their Graves beneath the waves, and the details of the Death Fight Never Be Known.” Submarines in 1898

1898 The Spanish Threat I grew up during the Cold War. The threat of nuclear destruction was drilled into us from the time we hit grade school until sometime in the early seventies when people just realized that there would be no place to really hide if the bombs started going off. That was particularly […]

“The men who go down into the waters in these boats must take their lives in their hands.” Holland’s Invention in 1898

Sunday, April 24, 1898, the San Francisco papers and papers across the country were filled with the latest news about the Spanish American War that was already underway. America woke up that morning to the realization that it had seacoasts that stretched from north to south in both the east and the west. There was […]

March 1946 – The Navy Gains a Foothold in the Atomic Field

In March of 1946, the country was still struggling to come to terms with the realization that the atom had been partially mastered. When the atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were used to help end the war in the Pacific, the eyes of the world suddenly were opened to the fact that nothing was […]

May you live long enough that you long for your past despite the hardships and difficulties.

The definition for nostalgia that comes from Webster’s Dictionary include these: a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period of irrecoverable condition the state of being homesick With apologies to Webster and company, this is my definition: May you live long enough that you long for your past despite […]

Everything Old is New Again – Life in the Nuclear Shadow

Everything Old is New Again I’ve spent a great deal of time over the past few years studying about the development of nuclear power for use by the US Navy. One of the most informative documents was written in the early nineteen sixties titled Nuclear Navy 1946-1962 written principally by Richard G. Hewlett and Francis […]

The Final Dive of the F-4 (March 1915)

F-4; THE FIRST SUBMARINE LOSS FOR THE US NAVY It was on the morning of March 25, 1915, that F-1, F-3, and F-4 left Honolulu for local operations. F-4 did not return, and the eventual detection and recovery was a classic of naval salvage. She was later “interned” at the bottom of Pearl Harbor after […]

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 […]

Gallant Leadership and Courageous Conduct Under Fire – The Story of the USS Duncan DD 485 in 1942

In February 1942, the Navy was desperate for fighting ships. From the attack at Pearl Harbor to the battles that stretched across the Pacific, years of neglect in building an adequate amount of combat vessels was being felt in every theater. Shipyards were being pushed to finish the ships that were authorized a year before […]