Memorandum Number 68: FUTURE SUBMARINE WARFARE – 1923 (How America almost lost World War II before it even started)

In the final days of the Great War, Naval planners had seen first hand the devastation and destruction caused by the modern machines of war. The submarine was an example of one of the most destructive. As plans were being made for the peace, decisions about the methods for maintaining that peace would have to […]

The Old Submariner

The Old 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 […]

The Galloping Ghost

I’M THE GALLOPING GHOST OF THE JAPANESE COAST By Constantine Guiness, MOMM 1/C, USN I’m the galloping ghost of the Japanese coast. You don’t hear of me and my crew But just ask any man off the coast of Japan. If he knows of the Trigger Maru. I look sleek and slender alongside my tender. […]

Remembering the Fitzgerald Seven

Acting Secretary of the Navy Sean Stackley has ordered the National Ensign to be flown at half-staff from sunrise until sunset on June 27 in honor of the seven Sailors who perished onboard USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62). In ALNAV 045/17, Acting Secretary of the Navy Sean Stackley ordered the National Ensign to be flown […]

The Cost of Freedom – Letter to the Editor Pittsburgh Post Gazette

The Cost of Freedom To the Editor Pittsburgh has long been a source of the materials and equipment necessary for our national defense. The propulsion equipment for submarines and aircraft carriers comes from manufacturers in the Steel Valley as it has for generations. A strong fleet ensures freedom of the seas and guarantees the level […]

Maintain Silence About the Decks

It’s Sunday morning and the sun is shining on this muggy Pennsylvania day. Even though I am far from the oceans, my heart is heavy with the knowledge that the sea has claimed some of my shipmates. In the faraway seaport of Yokosuka, a damaged vessel is now being tended to and the inquiries will […]

Happy Birthday Bubblehead

One of the things you learn quickly about the military is the endless stream of nicknames attached to the people, equipment and all manner of things unique to the recipient of the toast. The Navy is not unique but it certainly has no shortages of slang and identifiers. These all help to separate the various […]

There are no routine days at sea on a submarine

It was just another day at sea. Routine in many ways but in others it became an eternal reminder of the dangers associated with operating a submarine. The sea i…s unforgiving and the impact of any small failure becomes magnified beyond control within moments. I have sat in a chair, strapped in holding the […]

90 Days to nowhere… Submarine Documentary 1977

Another great video from a bygone era. The 41 for Freedom Boats were still in their glory and the USS Ohio was going through its growing pains at the shipyard at Electric Boat. While the patrol cycle is sometimes given short shrift by non-boomer sailors, it had a unique purpose and involved a large number […]

How the US Navy almost missed “The Boat”

Prior to World War 1, the General Board of the United States Navy was the primary instrument used for directing the strategic future of the U. S. Navy. This General Board had been instituted in 1900 as a way to provide expert advice to the Secretary of the Navy and was made up of nine […]