Steel Boats, Iron Men and their stories (plus a bit more)
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 […]
Read More PatchesRecently I was following a post on one of my submarine Facebook pages. The original guy had posted about a lack of recognition. To be fair, he had a lot of supporters and frankly I can’t give him a hard time since I have seen some of this through the years myself. “Okay I have […]
Read More A little respect… 42 years later, its still not that big of a dealThis is a story published in the Port of Pittsburgh, Official Publication of the Navy League of the United States, Pittsburgh Council Jan-March 2014 Volume 18 No.1 edited by Katherine Kersten, written by Bob MacPherson (aka theleansubmariner) “The most expensive thing in the world is a cheap Army and Navy,” Congressman Carl Vinson On March […]
Read More The “Georgia Swamp Fox” that Fathered the Two Ocean Navy – Carl VinsonMiscellaneous… The Bluejackets Manual has been the mainstay for educating sailors since 1902. Prior to that time, the sailors were considered to be too illiterate to merit having a manual with instructions on how to be an American Bluejacket. For a hundred and twelve years, the manual has undergone a number of revisions to reflect […]
Read More Miscellaneous… 1940Every time I see a member of the opposition party standing up and supporting policies that are ill thought out and ill prepared to serve the nation, I am reminded of the delusional attitude of the despicable Nazi Propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. His address to the German nation in December of 1943 on the eve […]
Read More Comrades, If you like your Reich, you can keep your ReichVictory At Sea ~ Full Fathom Five – HQ The threat of death at full fathom five is always in the backs of the minds of the submariners according to the steady voice of the narrator. Yet they still went on many patrols and exacted a toll on the enemy that brought him to a […]
Read More Inflict Maximum Damage on Enemy ShippingIn the disastrous aftermath of Pearl Harbor December 1941, the United States and the remaining countries that were considered free faced enormous odds in their struggle against the Axis Powers. The war plans that had been poured over with such intensity for so many decades now laid in ruins as the ships and planes that […]
Read More Christmas 1943 – The Tide Has Turned in the WestThe day after Pearl Harbor was still a chaotic day for most in the Hawaiian Islands. Rumors of an invading Japanese force were widespread and panic was probably just below the surface. The brilliant and gleaming fleet was awash in black residue and blood. Shipwrights and common sailors frantically were trying to rescue men […]
Read More The Day after Pearl HarborThere is an old truth known by military men that no military plan survives contact with the enemy. This was never more obvious than what happened at 6:30 a.m. on June 6, 1944, when the invasion at Omaha Beach began. Allied bombardments and a massive air campaign that went awry had failed to eliminate or […]
Read More The Bedford boys of Company A of the 29th Infantry Division’s 116th Infantry Regiment never had a chance.April 29th marks the anniversary of the sinking of the SS McKeesport by a German U-boat Like they have for many years, aging veterans and their families come to the shores of the Youghiogheny at a place called the Palisades to remember the proud little cargo ship that served its country well from 1919 to […]
Read More The Sinking of the SS McKeesport
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