The Ultimate Stealth Submarine

With shrinking budgets and caps on military spending, its important to remember that submarines represent one of the most survivable elements in modern sea warfare. The increasing flexibility to meet emerging threats as well as long established threats adds value to this resource. Make no mistake: the threats from external forces will not go away […]

War in the Pacific – February 1945

The war in the Pacific was raging at full force in February of 1945. The battles in the Philippines were brutal and costly for the warriors and the people who lived there. Iwo Jima was about to be invaded costing the lives of many brave American Marines and Japanese defenders. Back home, citizens were still […]

A Bob “Dex” Armstrong Christmas

In 2014, we said goodbye to Dex Armstrong. In his honor, I am reposting one of his most memorable Christmas Stories. Its hard to believe four years have already gone by. This picture comes from the web site: http://www.olgoat.com/substuff/abr.htm Mister Mac A “Heartfelt Merry Christmas” From Robert “Dex” Armstrong, and his loyal Sidekick Adrian Stuke.. […]

The First Dive – Looking Through a Prism

I have always been fascinated by prisms. As a kid, I loved looking through them at various objects to see what would happen. Without going into the science of it, what you saw as you looked through it was different depending on the angle you looked through it. Another sailor posted a picture on Facebook […]

Five Best Submarine Classes in the World – one author’s view

http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/the-five-best-submarines-all-time-9728 This is an interesting read about some of the best submarines of all time. Some would argue that the Ohio Class is actually on top of the list but all had their place in submarine history Mister Mac

The Submariner’s Lament; When you remember

The story called “When you understand” was posted originally on Facebook in April 2014. It has been shared over 9711 times in the time it has been on Facebook On May 22, 2018, the short story I composed in October of 2014 (originally titled “When you understand”) was formally registered with the United States Copyright Office with the […]

With all this new stuff, why is everybody so unhappy?

I’ve been reading a lot lately about the state of the Navy and the other seagoing forces. To be sure, there have been a lot of technological advances in the past twenty years since I hung up my sword (literally). Submarines have reached new levels of sophistication that make them more efficient than ever before. […]

Happy Anniversary – Three years

When I first started the blog, life was very different… The intent was to share some ideas on lean manufacturing while celebrating the heritage of the United States Navy submarine forces. A lot of water has gone under the bow since those days. Over 260,000 views later, I find that the submarine stories have continued to […]

Patches

If you look to the right side of my blog, you will see a number of patches that reflect my duty stations (boats and ships) along the way. My sub vets vest has a fair representation of them and it is a matter of some pride that I wear each one. They all stand for […]

Sub Pay

SUBMARINE PAY Teddy Roosevelt was the first American president to go aboard a submarine and participate in a dive. The USS Plunger dove beneath the surface of Long Island Sound on August 25th 1905 with the President on board. President Roosevelt not only achieved this historical first but was the man directly responsible for […]