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Administrator"The Turkish skipper of ex-USS Tang, when asked about the difference between the German designed and built replacement boats for their retiring ex-US boats, is reported to have said, "American submarines are built for war, German submarines are built for export."
Administrator"Diving Officer, I believe we are airborne" OOD, looking out the periscope after a broach.
Administrator"They also serve those who only stand and wait" - Eleanor Rickover, quoting Milton's "On His Blindness"
AdministratorThe USS NAUTILUS SSN 571 made history by cruising submerged from the pacific to the Atlantic Ocean, passing under the North Pole at 11:15 p.m. EDST on August 3, 1958.
AdministratorThe first diesel engines built by Electric Boat for submarines were installed (1913) in the USS NAUTILUS and SEAWOLF, namesakes of the first nuclear powered submarines, also built by Electric Boat.
AdministratorUSS SKATE and USS SEADRAGON, after affecting a historic rendezvous under the ice, surfaced together at the North Pole through an opening in the ice on August 1962.
AdministratorThe USS SKATE (SSN 578) was the first vessel ever to surface at the North Pole, when on March 17, 1959 she surfaced there to conduct memorial services for the renowned Arctic explorer Sir Hubert Wilkins.
AdministratorUnited States Submarines destroyed a total of 1,314 Japanese ships during World War II, including one battleship, eight aircraft carriers, fifteen cruisers, forty-two destroyers, and twenty-three submarines. Against this score, fifty-two U.S. Submarines were lost.
AdministratorCoronation ceremonies of Emperor Alexander II of Russia in 1855 were enlivened by a submarine concert. Wilhelm Bauer, a Bavarian inventor, took three musicians under the waters of Kronstadt Harbor in a submarine he had built, where they played appropriate music during the coronation. The music was distinctly heard on the surface.
AdministratorThe USS SKIPJACK was the first submarine designed from the keel up for top underwater performance using nuclear power. An earlier SKIPJACK was the first U.S. submarine to cross the Atlantic ocean under her own power (Newport, Rhode Island to Ponta Delgada, Azores, in 1917).
AdministratorWhen the nuclear powered submarine USS SEADRAGON surfaced at the North Pole while charting the Northwest passage in August 1960, the crew organized a baseball game. Because of Polar time differences, when a batter clouted a home run it would land in either the next day or in 'yesterday'.
AdministratorUSS TRITON, the only American made twin reactor submarine ever built, on May 10, 1960, completed the first totally submerged non-trivial circumnavigation of the world when she followed the route of Ferdinand Magellan for 36,000 miles during 84 days beneath the surface.
AdministratorOn August 17, 1958, the USS SKATE circumnavigated the globe in about fifty minutes. The SKATE was at a radius of about two miles from the North Pole at the time, and the distance traveled in the circumnavigation was about twelve miles.
AdministratorA submarine often navigates by sound when submerged. Sound can travel 3,000 nautical miles or more through water.
AdministratorThree wives of Presidents of the United States have sponsored submarines. Mrs. Dwight D. Eisenhower christened the USS NAUTILUS, Mrs. John F. Kennedy christened the USS LAFAYETTE and Mrs. Hillary Clinton christened the USS Columbia SSN771 in 1995.
AdministratorThe USS NAUTILUS SSN 571 steamed 60,000 miles on a lump of Uranium the size of a golf ball. A diesel powered submarine would have required 3,000,000 gallons or 300 railway tank cars of oil.
AdministratorProbably the most expensive ballast ever carried by a ship was two tons of gold and eighteen tons of silver coins carried by the U.S. submarine TROUT while on a trip from Corregidor to Pearl Harbor early in World War II. TROUT had removed her moveable ballast to allow for a larger cargo of ammunition to be transported for the defenders on the embattled island. Lcdr. Fenno, TROUT's CO, planned on replacing the ballast with sand bags, but found none were available. The gold and silver from the Bank of the Philippines was substituted as ballast, which also solved the problem of removing the treasure to a safe place prior to invasion by the enemy.
AdministratorThe USS SEAWOLF join the Electric Boat built USS NAUTILUS and SKATE in writing new chapters in the achievements of man when the nuclear powered submarine came to the surface at 11:45 a.m. on October 6, 1958 after being continuously submerged for 60 days.
AdministratorAmong the 'first' that Electric Boat Division has introduced into American submarines, have been the marine Diesel engine, the perfected use of the storage battery, the combination of battery and internal combustion engine, and the world's first adaptation of nuclear energy to propulsion in the USS NAUTILUS.
AdministratorIn their history, submarines were called by many names such as 'eel boats', 'plunging boats', 'devil divers', and 'pig boats'. Technically, and by size, the submarine is a ship, but it has been called a boat since its earliest days, and the term is steeped in tradition. Submariners almost invariably call their ships 'boats".
AdministratorDuring their wartime operations submarines have engaged in some unusual maritime actions. One undersea craft slugged it out with the infantry and field artillery while other submarines destroyed a zeppelin, a bus, and a railroad train.
AdministratorThe USS NAUTILUS SSN 571 was the first submarine with a satisfactory single plant that can be used for main propulsion both surfaced and submerged.
AdministratorThe United States submarine USS TRITON was fitted with twin reactors and was considered the longest submarine ever built until the advent of the OHIO class. The TRITON was designed for a surface displacement of 5,900 tons. Large submarines of other countries have been the Japanese I-400 (5,220 tons), and the French SURCOUF (2,880 tons).
AdministratorLong considered a versatile and deadly instrument of war, the submarine has broadened her capabilities with the adoption of nuclear power. Today the submarine serves as a ballistic missile platform, early warning station, killer of surface and underwater vessels, scout, coastal raider troop transport, supply ship, mine layer, and seaplane tender.
AdministratorNautilus has long been a popular name for a submarine. Some of the more famous of these are Robert Fulton's NAUTILUS (1800), Jules Verne's fictional Nautilus, and the NAUTILUS of Sir Hubert Wilkins in which he attempted a voyage to the North Pole under the ice (1931). There have also been three U.S. submarines of that name, including the world's first nuclear powered submarine built by the Electric Boat Division.
AdministratorUSS GEORGE WASHINGTON, the world's first ballistic missile nuclear powered submarine, constructed in record time, set a record of its own by remaining submerged 67 days on its initial Polaris missile deterrent patrol in the Atlantic.
AdministratorGeorge Washington Endorsed the use of the first American submarine, David Bushnell's TURTLE, during the Revolution. Following the vessel's attack on a British man-of-war, he discussed the potential use of submarines in a letter to Thomas Jefferson.
AdministratorA submarine, the TURTLE, was employed by the American revolutionary army to attack the British. It was built by David Bushnell at Saybrook, Connecticut, just a few miles from the present site of Electric Boat Division of the General Dynamics Corporation, and the U.S. Naval Submarine Base.
AdministratorBeeman Center at Sub Base Pearl Harbor was named for Arthur C Beeman, PhMC aboard the USS AMBERJACK (SS-219) on 4-Feb-43 - He was killed while the sub was engaged in a in gun action with a Japanese ammo ship..
AdministratorIn World War II the Germans lost 782 submarines, the Japanese lost 130, Great Britan and Commonwealth countries lost 88 subs, Russia lost 110 submarines and the United States lost only 52 submarines. Twenty-three of the Japanese subs lost were victims of the American Submarine Service.
AdministratorThe first periscope used by the United States Navy was not built for a submarine. The ironclad monitor OSAGE utilized a periscope to discover a Confederate cavalry unit taking cover behind the high banks of the Red River in Arkansas.
AdministratorA typical modern submarine may require as many as 2,000 working drawings for the more than 7,000,000 items used in its construction. Blueprints from these drawings if placed end to end would make a strip 250 miles long.
AdministratorHabitability is heavily stressed in the construction of modern submarines. Specially designed color schemes, mechanical conveniences, air conditioning, and the best chow in the Navy are supplied to make the vessels more livable. A full time staff is maintained by Electric Boat Division to work out 'human engineering' problems.
AdministratorMore decorations for valor have been awarded, per man, to the submarine service than any other Navy Branch.
AdministratorIn 1921, a United States submarine, the R-14, having run out of fuel at sea while looking for the missing tug USS Conestoga, rigged sails from blankets and hammocks sewn together. Bunk frames were used for yardarms and booms. The torpedo loading king post for a fore mast, the torpedo loading boom for a mizzen mast and the telescoping radio mast, for the main mast. The R-14 sailed 100 miles in five days to the port of Hilo, T.H. at a speed of two knots. It has been reported in March 2016 that the Conestoga has been located 3 miles off Southeast Farallon Island, probably sinking with-in a day of leaving port. All hands lost.
AdministratorRecords for enemy shipping sunk by U.S. submarines during World War II are held by two boats built by Electric Boat. The USS FLASHER sank 100,231 tons of Japanese shipping, while the USS TAUTOG holds the record for the most ships - 26.
AdministratorTraditionally, United States submarines have been named after fish and other marine creatures. One exception was the Navy's first submarine HOLLAND which was named after its inventor, John Philip Holland. Today, ballistic missile submarines are named for famous American patriots, with the newest class, the OHIO class, named after states. The LOS ANGELES class of attack submarines are named for United States cities. The nations news class of submarine, the Virginia class, is also named for US States, making them the capital ships of the navy.
AdministratorThe first submarine which actually sank another enemy vessel under combat conditions was the CSS HUNLEY built during the Civil War. The Union frigate HOUSATONIC on blockade station off Charleston, S. C. was the victim. The incident occurred on February 17, 1864.
AdministratorInsignia of the Navy's submarine service is a submarine flanked by two dolphins. Dolphins, or porpoises, the traditional attendants to Poseidon, Greek God of the Sea and patron deity of sailors, are symbolic of a calm sea, and are sometimes called the 'sailors' friend. In addition to the Dolphins, those World War II submariners who participated in successful combat patrols may wear the coveted Submarine Combat Insignia.
AdministratorThe self-propelled torpedo, which gets its name from the eel TORPEDO ELECTRICUS, was invented by Robert Whitehead in 1868, a number of years before a practical submarine was developed.
AdministratorIn clear water, a submerged submarine can be spotted from the air at depths up to 100 feet.
AdministratorOne of the first women to submerge in a submarine is believed to have been Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross.
AdministratorThe submarine was not generally recognized as a legitimate instrument of warfare until the Civil War.
AdministratorRobert Fulton, inventor of the steamboat, was an avid submarine enthusiast. He built several submersible warships, one of which was known as the Nautilus.
AdministratorModern nuclear submarines can travel faster submerged than they can on the surface. They can fully submerge in less than a minute.
AdministratorA church in Kyoto, Japan calls its congregation to worship with a bell from a submarine. The bell, from the submarine USS RAY was purchased for the church, and was transported to Yokosuka, Japan by another submarine, the USS RONQUIL.
AdministratorLeonardo da Vinci, the Florentine Renaissance inventor and artist, developed plans for an underwater warship but kept them secret. He was afraid that it would make war even more frightful than it already was.
AdministratorDollar for dollar and man for man, the submarine is the country's most economical weapon. Comprising only 1.6 percent of the Navy's World War II personnel, the submarine service accounted for 55 percent of all enemy shipping destroyed.
AdministratorInterests in submarines extends to royalty and presidents. The King of England and the King and Queen of Spain are among those who have made submerged cruises in submarines. As a result of a trip in an early United States submarine, President "Teddy" Roosevelt ordered extra compensation for personnel serving in the "Silent Service." President Harry Truman made a 440 foot dive in a captured German submarine. The first President to cruise aboard a nuclear submarine was President Eisenhower who rode the USS SEAWOLF out of Newport, Rhode Island on September 26, 1957.
AdministratorAlexander the Great (356 to 323 B.C.) ruler of Macedonia and conqueror of the known world in his time, is the first person known to have descended into the sea in a vessel of any kind.
AdministratorJohn Philip Holland built several submarines before the USS Holland, which became the first undersea craft commissioned by the U.S. Navy. The Holland was purchased on April 11, 1900 for a price of $150,000. It was commissioned into the US Navy on October 12, 1900.
AdministratorThe first boat known to have been navigated under water was built in 1620 by a Dutchman, Cornelius Van Drebbel. Van Drebbel is said to have developed a chemical which would purify the air and allow the crew to stay submerged for extended periods.
AdministratorENS Sam Hunter, the first submarine casualty of WWII on Dec. 8, 1941. He was attached to Sea Dragon moored next to Sealion. He was killed by shrapnel from the first bomb hit on Sealion penetrating the conning tower of Sea Dragon. The second hit killed 4 men in Sealions Engineroom.
AdministratorUSS Irex SS-482 was the first US submarine fitted with an operational snorkel at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in 1946.
Don Gentry"It's hard sometimes, but as long as we remember them around the campfire, they will live forever." -- Walt Specht
Don Gentry"Of all the branches of men in the forces there is none which shows more devotion and faces grimmer perils than the submariners." Sir Winston Churchill
Don Gentry"Without courage, you might as well not be in it. You’ve got to have courage--moral courage, physical courage--and honor. Honor means telling the truth even when it might not be to your advantage" Retired Capt. Charles W. Rush Jr. (85), Navy Cross recipient, when asked to give advice to Chiefs and Junior Officers in today's submarine service.
Don Gentry"I can assure you that they went down fighting and that their brothers who survived them took a grim toll of our savage enemy to avenge their deaths." Admiral Charles Lockwood
Don Gentry"We shall never forget that it was our submarines that held the lines against the enemy while our fleets replaced losses and repaired wounds." -- Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz
Don Gentry"Helm, bridge...what are you doing 60 degrees off course?" "Bridge, helm...coming back from 90 degrees, sir." -- Roger Forgit, USS Tigrone AGSS-419
Don Gentry"Again I ask, who really are our Hero’s? They are the men who have, since the first day of our great country, left their families and friends and gone to war asking for nothing and giving all." -- Gary Walker
Don Gentry"I can't say anything bad about Doc Barboza; he cut my hair before I went ashore... and he cured my 'cold' when I came back." -- David Stevens, MM2(SS), USS Archerfish AGSS-311)
Don Gentry"When you shoot at a destroyer and miss, it's like hit'in a wildcat in the ass with a banjo” -- Chief Officer Steward Dogan on the USS Gurnard during WWII
Don Gentry"Submariners are a bunch of intelligent misfits that somehow seem to get along, understand each other and work well together.” -- Red Hanley who overheard a skimmer officer say this while talking to a non-navy type
Don Gentry"He is the Submarine Sailor who served in silence, but in his silence, has heard the laughter of future generations.” -- Glenn Harris
Don Gentry"The Navy is not a job, it's not a career. It's a way of life.” -- MMCM (SS) "Grump" Barrie
Don Gentry"Will let them go by . . . they are only heavy cruisers!” -- USS Dace Captain Claggett after viewing what appeared to be a full task force, and cruisers, with an apparent battleship following behind the cruisers
Don Gentry"Another Running Gun battle.....Destroyer Gunning, Wahoo Running” -- Wahoo (SS-238) after hitting a convoy, now out of fish, and heading for the barn......
Don Gentry"Tenacity Dick, stay with the bastard till he's on the bottom.” -- Mush Morton to Dick O'Kane
Don Gentry"These dolphins, once you pin them on your chest, leave deep marks, right over your heart, long after the uniforms have been put away.” -- Bud F. Turner ex-MT2(SS)
Don Gentry"Submariners are a special brotherhood, either all come to the surface or no one does. On a submarine, the phrase all for one and one for all is not just a slogan, but reality.” -- VADM Rudolf Golosov of the Russian Navy
Don Gentry"I don't know why they call it 'eternal patrol', rather than 'eternal rest camp'? I was never afraid in rest camp.” -- Howard "Shorty" Evans - USS Queenfish SS 393
Don Gentry"I saw the submariners, the way they stood aloof and silent, watching their pigboat with loving eyes. They are alone in the Navy. I admired the PT boys. And I often wondered how the aviators had the courage to go out day after day and I forgave their boasting. But the submariners! In the entire fleet they stand apart!” -- James Michener
Don Gentry"Like the destroyer, the submarine has created its own type of officer and man with language and traditions apart from the rest of the service, and yet at the heart unchangingly of the Service” -- Rudyard Kipling, The Fringes of the Fleet, 1915
Don Gentry"I believe it is the duty of every man to act as though the fate of the world depends on them. Surely no one man can do it all. But, one man CAN make a difference.” -- Adm. Hymen Rickover
Don Gentry"Any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile... can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction,...' I served in the United States Navy'.” -- John F. Kennedy
Don Gentry"No one has done more to prevent conflict - no one has made a greater sacrifice for the cause for Peace - than you, America's proud missile submarine family. You stand tall among our heroes of the Cold War.” -- Gen. Colin Powell
Don GentryThe USS Schley / AA-1 / T-1 (SF-1) (SS-52) originally named for Winfield Scott Schley, Rear Admiral, United States Navy, renamed AA-1 on 23 August 1917 before being Launched on 25 July 1918; Commissioned, USS AA-1, 30 January 1920; Designated (SF-1), 20 July 1920; Renamed USS T-1 (SF-1), 20 September 1920
Don GentryThere are more airplanes at the bottom of the ocean than there are submarines in the sky; therefore I chose submarines over aviation.
Don Gentry"They weren't just hull numbers, they were our home addresses. Now the old neighborhood is torn down and gone and all that is left are memories." -- Dick Murphy, USS Tiru SS 416
Don Gentry"I don't know why we have to be down here on this hold down exercise(at the 60th hour). Hell, I went through this on the Thresher (SS 200) during WW ll with a Nip Sea Going Tug hooked onto our screw guards, trying to lift our butts out of the water. They didn't get us then, and these Tin Cans (ours) ain't going to get us now." -- "Hambone" Hamilton SD1 (SS). "Hambone" made 13 war patrols on USS Remora, SS-487, uttered these words in July 1957 during a hold down exercise off Kobe Japan.
Don Gentry"I propose to you a new arm of war, as formidable as it is economical. Submarine navigation, which has been sometimes attempted, but as all know without results, owing to want of suitable opportunities, is now a problematical thing no more." - Brutus de Villeroi in a letter to President Lincoln, 1862
Don Gentry“What wordy praise can one give such men as these; men who … follow unhesitatingly when in the vicinity of minefields so long as there is the possibility of targets … Men who flinch not with the fathometer ticking off two fathoms beneath the keel … Men who will fight to the last bullet and then start throwing the empty shell cases. These are submariners.” - Eugene Fluckey in his final war patrol report aboard USS Barb
Don Gentry"Submarines Forever, Forever a Submariner" - Mike Hemming
Don GentryThe first Japanese prisoner of war captured by the Americans was Kazuo Sakamaki, an ensign in the Imperial Japanese Navy. He was captured on the morning of December 7, 1941. Sakamaki had set an explosive charge to destroy his disabled submarine, which had been trapped on Waimanalo Beach. When the explosives failed to go off, he swam to the bottom of the submarine to investigate the cause of the failure and became unconscious due to a lack of oxygen. Sakamaki was found by a Hawaiian soldier, David Akui, and was taken into military custody. When he awoke, he found himself in a hospital under American armed guard. After the war he returned to Japan and found work with the Toyota Motor Corporation before retiring in 1987. Sakamaki died on November 29, 1999, aged 81.
RicThe Grampus and Pike were commissioned in ceremonies at Mare Island the same day, Thursday, the 28th of May 1903. A young naval officer, Lieutenant Arthur MacArthur III, older brother of General Douglas MacArthur, assumed command for both vessels at the same time.
RicNAUTILUS has long been touted as the first Nuclear powered submarine. In fact, she was the first nuclear powered "anything". Nothing that moves was ever propelled by nuclear power before NAUTILUS.
Ric"... The Navy's best are found upon; The pigboats black and trim; For men must be of sturdy stuff; To sink and still to swim ..." part of a poem, author unknown
RicThe USS Blenny SS 324, on her last patrol of WW II sank 63 vessels. One by torpedo and 62 by deck gunfire, demolition charges set by boarding parties or by burning. On several occasions shotguns were fired through the boats bottoms. These were all vessels under the 500 ton JANAC limit for tonnage sunk and not counted in the "official" totals or ships sunk. This is also a record for the most vessels ever sunk by a submarine on one patrol.
RicThe USS Cusk was only one of four US submarines to ever receive the Republic of Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation - Gallantry for her service in Vietnam. Cusk, was awarded seven awards during 1965, 1967, 1968, and 1969,The other three boats were the USS Sculpin (SSN-590), the USS Razorback (SS-394), two awards during 1967 and 1969, and the USS Ronquil (SS-396), two awards during 1966-67 and 1968.
Don Gentry"Alright gentlemen up and at it...Rub-a-Dub Dub, let's scrub up the F***ing sub!" - Garnett Curtis, COB, USS Phoenix
Don Gentry"There is a touch of the pirate about every man who wears the dolphins badge" - Commander Jeff Tall, RN
RicThe late Capt. Don Ulmer, USN SS (Ret.), and noted submarine author, began his military career by enlisting in the U.S. Navy in 1947 and in 1949 while serving as an electrical technician E-4 aboard the submarine USS Clamagore, he was transferred to the Naval Academy. When he asked his commanding officer why he was being sent to Annapolis, the skipper replied, "I don't think you're smart enough to make E-5 and I need the bunk space." Ulmer graduated in 1954 and in 1967 returned to command Clamagore, possibly the only officer to command a U.S. warship having served on it as an enlisted man.
Ric"...anyone who knows a submariner, (as well as anyone can know a submariner), knows that even after he retires he never really leaves the boats." Submarine: Steel Boats: Iron Men
RicUSS SKATE and USS SEADRAGON, after affecting a historic rendezvous under the ice, surfaced together at the North Pole through an opening in the ice on August 1962. What really happened: We didn't surface together, Skate surfaced first. Then we (Seadragon) fired yellow flares forward and aft so Skate could tell us how we were lined up. Remember, under-ice was primitive in these days. Skate called back down rapidly that one flare surfaced on her starboard side and the other to port. She requested we reposition before vertical surfacing. We did. - Coyote (Owen Carlson)
RicUSS R-6 was fitted the first prototype US submarine snorkel at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in the closing months of the European part of WW II in April / May 1945 and successfully tested it off Fort Lauderdale, Fl. as the war against Japan ended in August 1945. The snorkel was removed from the USS R-6 and she was decommissioned and scrapped in September 1945.
Don GentryFleet Admiral Halsey in a book called "The Admirals" when asked "What is the ultimate strategic weapon that is bringing the enemy to its knees? Halsey's reply "If I had to give credit to the instruments and machines that won us the war in the Pacific, I would rank them in this order: SUBMARINES, FIRST; RADAR, SECOND; PLANES, THIRD AND BULLDOZERS FOURTH."
Don GentryIn a fraction of a second they are projected into eternity and will never possess a final resting home.They have graves without bodies, they are an exceptional breed of people....It is of utmost pride to me to have met these men, those lords that I salute, praise and admire. - Winston Churchill on Clearance Divers September 1944
Ric"THAT'S NICE THAT THE ELECTRICIAN AND A-GANGERS WORKED ALL NIGHT TO GET THE DIESEL GENERATOR READY, BUT WE'RE NOT GETTING UNDERWAY UNTIL EVERY TOASTER IN THE WARDROOM PANTRY IS WORKING" quoted during Tautog's DustPac '85-86 Deployment
RicHow long will it take the average sailor to become a submariner? The average sailor will never become a submariner.




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