The Destroyer man that helped launch the 41 for Freedom Fleet – 31 Knot Burke

You can’t talk about the 41 for Freedom boats without talking about one of the most important men in their development: A former destroyer-man named Arleigh Burke A Sailor if there ever was one: Forty two years in the Navy is a long time by any measure. When that forty two years includes service in […]

USS George Washington Carver SSBN 656 Strength Through Knowledge

“Events of October 1962 indicated, as they had all through history, that control of the sea means security. Control of the seas can mean peace. Control of the seas can mean victory. The United States must control the seas if it is to protect your security…” President John F. Kennedy, 6 June 1963, on […]

USS Thomas A. Edison SSBN 610 “Potentia Tenebras Repellendi” (Power to Repel the Darkness)

USS Thomas A. Edison SSBN 610 When I was a young boy going through grade school, I was fascinated with the heroes of the day. There were very few superheroes (Superman and Batman) and I didn’t follow sports as closely as others did. Nope. My heroes were the men who were American Inventors. We […]

How to hunt a submarine – To Catch a Thief, Send a Thief

To catch a thief, send a thief Every once in a while, I think about submarine related questions. One of those questions is what is the greatest danger to submarines? I think the question could have many answers based on the circumstances. The sea itself is certainly a big challenge. Even in the calmest conditions, […]

Mariano G. Vallejo SSBN 658 – Seagoing Cadillac with a hell of a kick

There has been a long standing difference of opinion on the merits of serving on various types of submarines. Go to any Sub Vets meeting and you will find the purists that wear their DBF pin and scoff at anyone who never served on a diesel boat. For the record, despite serving on five boats, […]

The Typical Submariner Candidate in 1950 – Not Just Your Usual American Home Town Boy

The Typical Submariner Candidate in 1950 – Not Just Your Usual American Home Town Boy The average 20 year old American male in 1950 shared a number of things. They were between 9-10 years old when Pearl Harbor was bombed so they grew up while the world was at war. Their entertainment was radio and […]

“The submarines could lick us” … 1950 – The submarine missile threat emerges

THE SUBS COULD LICK US With the Second World War less than five years in the past, Naval Authorities were sounding the alarm that technology was about to let the Soviets take a leap forward in the ever expanding chess game called the Cold War. As this article relates, the Soviets were already beginning […]

You volunteered for submarines? Are you crazy?

You volunteered for submarines? Are you crazy? The sacrifices made by American submariners in the Second World War are well documented. 52 boats lost. The Submarine Service represented only 1.6% of all Navy personnel during the war but they accounted for over 55% of all Japanese ships sunk, including one-third of the Imperial Japanese Navy. […]

A Gathering of the Saints

This is the first post I have done in about a week. Summertime seems to be a tough time to write posts and looking back over the last eight years, July has always been the lowest response month for the blog. As someone who fills in for vacationing preachers in the summer, I am fully […]

Like a phoenix rising from the waves – the sail rises once more

The phoenix is a mythical bird that derives from Greek mythology. It was described as a feathered creature of enormous size with talons and wings. The plumage was radiant and beautiful. The story goes that the phoenix lived for many years before it built its own funeral pyre, burst into flame, and died, consumed in […]