Rule number one at sea: keep the sea outside of the boat

What is bravery? Through the years, I have often been told by people that they could never ride a submarine. Claustrophobia is probably a big thing, but the fear of being cooped up in a small metal cylinder operating in a vast ocean is also a factor. I saw a lot of brave actions in […]

Offenders to Be Enlightened-Equal Treatment to All : Japanese Propaganda in 1943

I’m a little behind this week since my younger brother passed away on Sunday. He had suffered from cardiovascular disease for quite some time and other complications. But 65 is still too young. His wife and kids will certainly feel his loss as do all of us who knew him. I started working on this […]

COMSUBPAC is Missing – The Last Flight of the Philippine Clipper January 21, 1943

We take flying for granted. Before I went into the navy, I had been on one flight. Pittsburgh to Cleveland. It was a prop driven plane and I remember the thrill of lifting off the ground and speeding through the air. I don’t remember how old I was but it was a pretty big deal […]

Hit Me on Head/ Patient in Undersea Ordeal Asks as Anesthesia Wears Off – The Silversides Appendectomy

This is a companion article to the Swashbuckling Submariner. A Swashbuckling Submariner – Creed Burlingame I did a number of assignments on board the submarines I served on. That isn’t unusual since we operate in a world of our own once we submerge. In addition to your primary duties as a watch stander, you serve […]

A Swashbuckling Submariner – Creed Burlingame

The Washington Star GRAVURE SECTION from February 14, 1943 featured pictures of the many faces of the war around the world. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/data/batches/dlc_1xul_ver01/data/sn83045462/00280603351/1943021401/0129.pdf From the Mediterranean to the Pacific, allied navies were aggressively pushing back against the forces of the Axis. This particular section of the paper showed images from many fronts but one small picture […]

A Day at the Races – Submarine Skulduggery in the Home Islands 1942-1943

Skulduggery has been described as underhanded or unscrupulous behavior. Using technology to sneak up on an enemy was once viewed by proper gentlemen as nothing more than skullduggery. In the nicest sort of way, that is what submarines are best at. I mean, how unfair is it that someone can sneak up on your homeland […]

The Story of the Nautilus and the Nuns – New Years 1943

The Story of the Nautilus and the Nuns – New Years 1943 Eighty years ago this week, the submarine Nautilus shifted from her incredible role as a hunter killer to perform a mission of mercy. This is the story about the rescue of twenty nine refugees including four American nuns who became stranded behind Japanese […]

Submarine Minelaying – More than one way to skin a cat

There is more than one way to skin a cat. That is one of those odd sayings form a long lost generation that typically means there is more than one way to successfully complete a task. My cats Moses and Oscar would be offended by the original usage which was about actually skinning cats. From […]

December 7 1942 – The first of many rememberences and concerrn for accountability

On the anniversary of Pearl Harbor, many reflections take place in towns across the United States. I was reading yesterday that one of the few remaining Pearl Harbor survivors turns 101 years old this year. It will also be the first year he is not able to travel to Honolulu since his doctor advised him […]

The Horrors of War – Navy Medicine at Pearl Harbor (1942 Reflection)

One of my earliest memories of Pearl Harbor was reading books about the attack. I grew up in a firefighter’s family so was aware of the dangers of fire in the civilian world. But reading the many books included in Samuel Eliott Morrison’s collection “The Rising Sun in the Pacific, 1931 – April 1942 […]