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FRONT PAGE Issue/Date 20160606

Updated:Wednesday, June 08, 2016 08:15 PDT

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Flag Day Ceremony at Deterrent ParkMonday, June 13th

June Monthly MeetingScholarship Presentations

Tuesday, June 21st, 1900FRA #29, 521 National Ave, Bremerton

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Bremerton Base E-boardCommander

Steve Corcoran

Vice CommanderDoug McKay

SecretaryWayne Sieckowski

TreasurerDennis Nardone

Chief-of-the-BoatWayne Peterson

Past CommanderJim DeMott

Other Base Officials

Puget Soundings - Base Newsletter 2016>Apr-Jun Jan-Mar | 2015>Oct-Dec Jul-Sep Apr-Jun Jan-Mar

U. S. SUBMARINE VETERANS BREMERTON BASE(A Non-profit Organization for 35 Years)

P O Box 465, Silverdale, WA 98383-0465 MEMBERSHIP: 254^

Our purpose is: "Perpetuate the memory of our shipmates who gave their lives in the pursuit of their duties while serving their country...

Lest We Forget June

USS O-9(SS-70)

USS S-27 (SS-132)

USS R-12 (SS-89)

USS Herring (SS-233)

USS Golet(SS-361

USS Bonefish (SS-223)

Gertrude Check: A universal navy term for requesting an underwater telephone check with another boat or skimmer .

NSL PACNW Chapter Luncheon - USSVI Members Invited(Posted June 9, 2016) Luncheon Details We’ll be at Bangor Plaza on Wednesday, June 15th. We’ll stick to the normal routine: meetand greet at 1130, call to order at 1200, delicious chef’s choice buffet lunch, guest speakerpresentation. Our guest speaker is CAPT Dave Minton, USN (Ret.). There were two submarine special operations that were declassified for the submarinecentennial in 2000, and Dave conducted one of them. As you may have read in the NSL’s United States Submarines, he was CO of USS Guardfish(SSN 612) in 1972 and trailed an ECHO II submarine from the Sea of Japan to the SouthChina Sea following the collapse of the Paris Peace Talks and the mining of HaiphongHarbor. The twist in the story is that Rear Admiral Berzin, when he read about the patrol, realizedhe was the CO of the K-184 that was trailed, and contacted Dave. Dave will tell us about the operation and the relationship that he and Admiral Berzin nowhave. Luncheon cost is still $15.00, payable at the door. All Active Duty are welcome as alwaysand for those O-3 and below there will be NO COST. Please RSVP to Melissa Smithat MELISSA.C.SMITH@leidos.com or (360) 394-8854 by close of business on Monday, June13th. Enjoy the rest of your week! Thanks, Bob AronsonNSL PACNW Chapter President

Base Commander Sends - Flag Retirement Ceremony(Posted June1, 2016)

Steve,

I wanted again to invite you and the Submarine Veterans to Trident Training Facility's FlagDay Ceremony at Deterrent Park on Monday June 13th at 1300. We have plenty of flags toretire but would love to have as many guests as possible. Please let me know if you areinterested or have any questions.V/R,

ETC Parker

Code N31 InstructorFlag Day Ceremony POCTrident Training Facility Bangor360-315-2702

Memorial Day At Ivy Green Cemetery(Posted May 31, 2016) About a dozen Subvets (in colors) and their guests attended this annual affair. Introduction and remarks local and state officials were given.

L-R, 1st row: Dutch Kaiser and John Gardner; 2nd row: Steve Corcoran, Dene Rogers, Jerry Drum, & Don Bassler; 3rd row:Doug Harris, Doug McKay, Bob Paul, Joe Gavasso, Jim DeMott, Wayne Peterson & Ralph Harris (Photo provided by DeneRogers)

Speaker Captain Will Lent (USN Ret) gave a look back into the history of WWII which was thehighlight to me, as most of my mentors were WWII vets.

This was followed by the Laying of theWreaths at the Tomb of the UnknownSoldier by various organizations.Commander Steve Corcoran is shownpresenting the base wreath (Photos byBob Paul)

L-R: Steve Corcoran, Wayne Peterson, Sam Swenson, Dutch Kaiser, Dennis Nardone, Jim DeMott, Dave Pittman, DeneRogers, and Ralph Harris. (Photo provided by Dennis Nardone.)

National Office Manager Looking for a Member to Assist 2hr/Week(Posted May 18, 2016)

USSVI National Office Manager Fred Borgmann is in search of a volunteer to to spend 2hours a week at his office in Silverdale. Under his guidance, the job requires mailing outletters to members for various reasons.; i.e, new membership cards, thank you notes etc. It isrewarding, and keeps you up to date on current events. Freds's telephone # is 360-337-2978 and email: ussvi@telebyte.net /ed

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SilverdaleMay 27, 2016

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Stuff you won't see in the local fish wrapper

Cold War Strategic ASW - US NavyLife On A Submarine: ‘You Either Love It Or Hate It’Navy Urged To Ready For Future Featuring Nuclear SubmarinesFarragut's Press, the newsletter of the Mare Island Museum

Incredible Suit Enables Submarine EscapesThe Submarine Drones That Could Depower TridentThe Fourth Battle Of The AtlanticCapt. Joseph John Rochefort (May 12, 1900 – July 20, 1976)

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BACK PAGE Issue/Date 20160606

AMERICAN SUBMARINERSU. S. SUBMARINE VETERANS BREMERTON BASE

P O. Box 465, Silverdale, WA 98383-0465Stuff you won't see in the local fish wrapper

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Wednesday, June 08, 201609:14:26 AM PDT

Cold War Strategic ASW - US NavyLife On A Submarine: �You Either Love It Or Hate It�Navy Urged To Ready For Future Featuring Nuclear SubmarinesFarragut's Press, the newsletter of the Mare Island Museum

Incredible Suit Enables Submarine EscapesThe Submarine Drones That Could Depower TridentThe Fourth Battle Of The AtlanticCapt. Joseph John Rochefort (May 12, 1900 � July 20, 1976)

Cold War Strategic ASW - US Navywww.public.navy.mil/subfor/underseawarfaremagazine Only in 2000 would the U.S. Navy reveal some of the details of trailing Soviet SSBNs. In conjunction with an exhibit at the SmithsonianInstitution�s Museum of American History commemorating one hundred years of U.S. Navy submarines, heavily censored reports of two U.S.trailing operations were released: the trail of a Yankee SSBN in the Atlantic, and that of a Project 675/Echo II SSGN in the Pacific by SSNs.

This particular Yankee trailing operation � given the code name Evening Star � began on March 17, 1978 when USS Batfish (SSN-681)intercepted a Yankee SSBN in the Norwegian Sea. Batfish, towing a 1,100-foot sonar array, had been sent out from Norfolk specifically to interceptthe SSBN, U.S. intelligence having been alerted to her probable departure from the Kola Peninsula by the CIA-sponsored Norwegian intelligenceactivities and U.S. spy satellites. These sources, in turn, cued the Norway-based SOSUS array as the Soviet missile submarine sailed aroundNorway�s North Cape.

After trailing the Soviet submarine for 51 hours while she traveled 350 nautical miles, Batfish lost contact during a severe storm on March 19. A U.S.Navy P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft was dispatched from Reykjavik, Iceland, to seek out the evasive quarry. There was intermittent contact withthe submarine the next day and firm contact was reestablished late on March 21 in the Iceland-Faeroes gap.

The trail of the SSBN was then maintained by Batfish for 44 continuous days, the longest trail of a Yankee conducted to that time by a U.S.submarine.12 During that period the Yankeetraveled 8,870 nautical miles, including a 19-day �alert� phase, much of it some 1,600 nautical milesfrom the U.S. coast, little more than the range of the submarine�s 16 RSM-25/R-27U missiles. The Batfish report provides day-to-day details of theYankee�s patrol and the trailing procedures. Significantly, the SSBN frequently used her MGK-100 Kerch active sonar (NATO designation Blocksof Wood).13This sonar use and rigidly scheduled maneuvers by the Soviet submarine, for example, to clear the �baffles,� that is, the area behindthe submarine, and to operate at periscope depth twice a day continuously revealed her position to the trailing SSN.14Batfish ended her trailingoperation as the Yankee SSBN reentered the Norwegian Sea.

The routine repetitiveness of the �target� was used to considerableadvantage by Batfish. Certain maneuvers indicated a major track change orimpending periscope depth operations. But would such predictable maneuvershave been used in wartime? The repeated use of her sonar in the Batfishoperation was highly unusual for a Yankee SSBN on patrol. Would themissile submarine have employed countermeasures and counter-tactics toshake off the trailing submarine during a crisis or in wartime? �You bet theywould change their tactics and procedures,� said the commanding officer ofthe Batfish, Cmdr. Thomas Evans.

There are examples of tactics being employed by Soviet submarines to avoidU.S.-NATO detection. Among them have been transiting in the proximity oflarge merchant ships or warships in an attempt to hide their signatures fromWestern sensors, and reducing noise sources below their normal level whentransiting in areas of high probability of SOSUS detection.16

When the Russian cruise missile submarine Kursk was destroyed in August2000, a Russian SSBN, believed to be a Project 667BDRM/Delta IV, mayhave been using the fleet exercise as a cover for taking up a patrol stationwithout being detected by U.S. attack submarines in the area. (Another DeltaIV, the Kareliya [K-18], was participating in the exercise at the time.)

Not all U.S. trailing operations were successful. Periodically Soviet SSBNsentered the Atlantic and Pacific without being detected; sometimes the trail was lost. A noteworthy incident occurredin October 1986 when the U.S. attack submarine Augusta (SSN-710) wastrailing a Soviet SSN in the North Atlantic. Augusta is reported to havecollided with a Soviet Delta I SSBN that the U.S. submarine had failed todetect. Augusta was able to return to port, but she suffered $2.7 million indamage. The larger Soviet SSBN suffered only minor damage and continuedher patrol. U.S. and Soviet submarines occasionally collided during this phase of theCold War, many of the incidents undoubtedly taking place during trailoperations. Unofficial estimates place the number of such collisions involvingnuclear submarines at some 20 to 40. Read All ^

Life On A Submarine: �You Either Love It Or Hate It�Staff, Toronto Star, June 6 ONBOARD HMCS WINDSOR�On the surface, the submarine seems restless, out of its natural domain. It rolls in the waves, its black massseeming vulnerable. Eyes glued to the periscope, Lt.-Cmdr. Peter Chu gives a sweep of the view outside and then gives the order. �Diving now, diving now.�

Vents are opened, water floods ballast tanks and the sub settles below thewaves. A gauge ticks off the depth � 10, 20, 30, 50 metres. Down here, theride becomes silky smooth. A hush seems to take over the boat. �Normally we like to be dived � where we feel more comfortable in ournatural environment,� Chu said. The Toronto Star recently joined the crew of HMCS Windsor for 24 hours asit sailed submerged in the Atlantic Ocean off the Nova Scotia coast. It gave awindow into the life of Canada�s submariners and the work of the complexmachines they operate. The control room is the crowded hub where crew members navigate thediesel-electric sub, steer it through the water, work the sonar and operate theweapons stations. Overseeing it all is Chu, the 42-year-old commander.�It�s the reason I joined the military, to be a submarine captain,� he said.

But it�s not a life for everyone. There�s a reason submariners get paid more than sailors serving on surface ships, which they jokingly deride as�skimmers� and �hotels.�Subs are all utility. There�s no laundry, no email access, no Internet, no satellitetelevision and precious little space. The 48 crew members quickly get used to squeezing past each other in crampedwardrooms, narrow passageways and the small sleeping quarters, where bunks arestacked three high. Visitors sleep in the weapons bay, sharing space with thetorpedoes. �Life on a submarine . . . it�s definitely an acquired taste. Once we go deep,there�s very little contact with the outside world,� said navy Lt. Devin Matthews,the boat�s executive officer. �Me, I find that a bit of a blessing � Without that outside interference, it lets youfocus on the mission,� he said.

Thehardships are eased by the efforts of chief chef Tony Cooper and histwo assistants who serve up morale-boosting meals from a crampedgalley about the size of a small walk-in closet. �There�s no shortageof eating. That�s all you got down here,� Cooper says. Black-hulled submarines, the ocean�s silent stalkers, are menacing bytheir look, their history and their role, from the Nazi U-boats thathunted Allied convoys to the nuclear ballistic missile subs that todayremain hidden in the ocean depths. Canada�s current subs � purchased second-hand between 2000 and2004 from the British navy, which had mothballed the boats� suffereda tough first decade, raising questions whether Ottawa had been sold abill of goods. Concerns over the state of the fleet were driven home in October 2004,when HMCS Chicoutimi suffered a fire during its maiden voyage toCanada, killing navy Lt. Chris Saunders.

Other problems over the years � fires, floods, a seafloor collision and, more recently, faulty welds � have kept subs in dock and out of service.Today, only HMCS Windsor is at sea. The three other subs � Corner Brook, Chicoutimi and Victoria � are in various stages of maintenance work. HMCS Windsor packs a wallop with its load of up to 18 Mark 48 torpedoes � each with almost 300 kg of explosives � that can speed towards atarget at more than 50 km/h and break the back of a ship with their devastating blast. Yet those on Windsor insist that subs are a vital part of Canada�s maritime defense. Chu, for example, says the mere possibility that a sub might beoperating unseen in an area of ocean has a huge deterrent effect. And he said the subs excel at intelligence gathering, thanks in large part to theirstealth capabilities. George Smith, petty officer, 2nd class, leads the team of sonar operators who are the ears � and eyes � of the submarine, especially when it�scruising submerged. HMCS Windsor was the first of the fleet to be equipped with a sophisticated sonar of the same type used by the U.S. Virginia-class nuclearsubmarines. Ocean noise � ships, dolphins, whales and persistent crackling of shrimp � appear on the sonar displays. Still, as with the movie Hunt for RedOctober, it comes down to the ability of the operator to read the sensors and pick out the telltale noises that betray a ship�s location and identity. �You can hear whether or not they have serviced their equipment, whether their engines are bad, whether their engines have bad bearings � howmany propeller blades are on the shaft, how fast the shaft is turning,� Smith said.Smith has heard the cries of dolphins as they ride in the sub�s bow wave. �I could hear the joy in their voices,� he said. HMCS Windsor packs a wallop with its load of up to 18 Mark 48torpedoes � each with almost 300 kg of explosives � that can speedtowards a target at more than 50 km/h and break the back of a ship withtheir devastating blast. Chu was the combat officer onboard HMCS Victoria when it fired a livetorpedo at a decommissioned U.S. ship during a 2012 Pacific exercise.�The bang when it exploded was like nothing like I experienced.� Chusaid.So, too, were the tortured sounds as the crippled ship turned up on itsbow and sank. �It really brought home the significance of what wedo,� the commander said. The crew wear the coveted dolphins on the uniforms, the mark of asubmariner and a testament they have passed the training demanded ofthose who live below the waves, much of it devoted to emergency drills. �It�s a lot of stuff to remember � Once you get dolphins, there�s alot of respect,� said Leading Seaman Robert Boutette, of Windsor, Ont. The crew are relaxed in their duties. But reminders of the dangers are all around. Air masks connected to an emergency air supply hang ready to begrabbed in the event of fire. Hoses and firefighting gear are stowed along the passageways. Receptacles for oxygen-generating candles are foundthroughout the sub. �If you understand the boat, you don�t worry,� said Petty Officer Nick Dubasouf as he tended the machinery control console, the complexboard that oversees the sub�s propulsion. Back in the galley, Cooper is in the middle of the lunch rush, pushing out orders of pork stir fry and stuffed peppers. �They refer to us as a special breed to come down here and do it,� he said of submariners. �You either love it or hate it. And the guys here alllove it.� See Flick ^ Compare to:

CP Green Sends:See this flick to see what its like on a Nuke

Navy Urged To Ready For Future Featuring Nuclear SubmarinesBrendan Nicholson, The Australian, June 7 Australia has been urged to start preparing now for the possible introduction of nuclear-�powered submarines to the navy�s fleet �and that could include asking the US to start training Australian crews. Peter Jennings, a former senior Defence �official who was a key adviser on the Turnbull government�s white paper, writes for TheAustralian today that the huge distance nuclear sub�marines can cover makes them suitable for Australia�s needs. When the decision was made for the navy to have 12 diesel-electric submarines to replace its six Collins-class boats, buying nuclear-powered vessels was not an option. French company DCNS will provide Australia with a conventional version of its nuclear-�powered Barracuda submarine. �We would not have been in a position to operate a nuclear submarine this time around �because of the lack of training and safetyregimes,� said Mr Jennings, who heads the Australian Strategic Policy Institute think tank. To have nuclear submarines by the mid-2040s, decisions would have to be made now, he said. �It will take that long to make sure wehave all the dominoes in place.� The process would only be possible with bipartisan political and community support. The US, the French and the British were all potential partners, Mr Jennings said. �None of them is going to hand over �nuclear propulsion without Australia demonstrating that it is �serious about this and has the�capacity to handle it,� he said. The navy should develop a training program with the US, French or British navies to allow Australian submariners to operate nuclearpropulsion systems, he said, and Defence should discuss with the US the possibility of seconding significant numbers of RAN personnelinto the US Navy. �In 2016, Australia has no viable option other than conventional propulsion for our future submarines because the navy, the widerdefence establishment and Australia�s industry and infrastructure are simply not at the right level of capability to crew, operate andsupport �nuclear-propelled submarines,� Mr �Jennings said. ^

Farragut's Press, the newsletter of the Mare Island MuseumNEWSTTER OF THE MARE ISLAND MUSEUM, 1100 Railroad Ave, Vallejo CA 94592 Mare Island Historic Park, a 501(c) (3) Charitable Organization June 2016

In this issue you will find out why it is called Mare Island, when Shop 31 entered the robotic age and all about the mice on Mare Island. Why is it Called Mare Island ? The most frequently asked question when people visit the museum is, �Why is it called Mare Island?� So here is the story as we tellit, from the book Memoirs of the Vallejos which was written by Platon Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, one of the 16 children of GeneralVallejo and the first California born physician. Mare Island was first discovered by a Spanish explorer, Don Juan Manuel de Ayala in 1775 and he named it �Isla Plana� or �Flat Island.� We are not sure why he called it that because the hills on the south end did not just suddenly appear,but it may have been because there was little vegetation on the island, just low lying grasses thus making it look quite flat. Spaindeclared this land in Northern California to be theirs, though there were no Spanish settlers. It remained so, without concern, until theRussians arrived, some as early as 1803, but the settlement at Fort Ross was started in 1813. The Russians laughed at the protests of Spain to her supposed right to claim the land. There were no Spanish living here, so how couldit belong to Spain. And so a number of years later Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, now a lieutenant in the Spanish army, was sent north with25 troopers to the mission in Sonoma. His purpose was to establish the Spanish right to discovery and serve as an advance agent forcolonization. He passed the areas where Richmond, Berkeley and San Pablo are now located, but his troops ran out of food except for �pinole� anourishing corn dish and they had to send for supplies. There is now a city of Pinole in that very same area. Once supplies arrived fromSan Jose the expedition headed north again. On the way they had several adventures. When Vallejo returned to Monterey, he met with the Commandante who had a large map and Vallejo began to tell about the�Paradise� he had visited and what happened to his troops while there. His first tale was about camping in a group of oak trees dueeast of Yulupa (we now call it the Golden Gate) and having his camp bothered by bears. By keeping fires lit at night nothing was lost,but the bears were an annoyance. The Commandante wrote �Las Encinas� on the map or �the oaks. � Today that place is called Oakland. Suppose the Commandante had written �Los Osos,� the bears,what would Oakland be called today? Read All ^

Incredible Suit Enables Submarine EscapesVideo by ScienceChannel

HC Member CP Green Sends

The SEIE suit is an ingenious pressurized suit designed to permit escape from stricken subs up to adepth of 183 meters. Rising at a speed of up to three meters per second, the number one rule ofsubmarine escape is �never ever hold your breath.�http://www.chonday.com/Videos/subsuitesca4

^

The Submarine Drones That Could Depower TridentJames O'Malley, Alphr, June 1 It has been constant political background noise for years, but soon the politicians are finally going to have to make a decision: shouldour Trident nuclear deterrent be renewed for another generation? The Trident system consists of four nuclear submarines � of which at least one is at sea at all times, hiding in the shadows under thewater. The idea is that they enable Britain to have an independent �second-strike� capability, so that if the worst happens andLondon is reduced to a smoldering ash-filled crater, Britain will still be able to unleash the same apocalyptic level of destruction onMoscow, Beijing or whichever villainous power fired first. The argument as to whether Britain needs nukes or not is contentious enough, but there is one other potential problem that Tridentcould face in the coming decades: a new generation of submersible drones that could soon render it useless. Improving drones Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) have been used to explore under the sea for decades, but these have always remained tethered tothe ship, and have been driven by remote control by someone sat at the surface. The challenge for scientists now is to buildautonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) that can operate truly independently. Such drones would obviously be a threat to Trident, because they could be deployed for long periods of time � and in large numbers� without requiring human operation, making global ocean surveillance a genuine possibility. AUVs face different challenges to aerial drones. For example, although weight is less of an issue under water, radio waves do not easilytravel beneath the surface. This means that any such drones can�t easily be guided by GPS and must instead rely on onboardsensors. It also makes transmitting collected information more difficult. In March, the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) won �2.9 million of government funding to continue work on its Autosub program.Based in Southampton, over the past several years the project has made some impressive leaps towards solving these marine-specificchallenges. The public face of the project is all about civilian-focused applications such as in scientific research, but it�s easy toimagine how the technologies could be deployed for military purposes. For example, the Autosub3 has been tested a number of times in 24-hour missions in which it has been sent to collect data from beneathpolar ice, and it has returned every time. The way it solves theGPS problem is rather clever: it uses a technique called deadreckoning, which was used by mariners long before we hadsatellites. The idea is that once you know one fixed position, youcan use your knowledge of the speed and direction that you�retravelling to calculate your position. The Autosub3 uses sonarwaves bounced off the ocean floor to figure out its speed bycomparing the Doppler effect. For direction, it uses a fiber-opticgyroscope, which apparently means it makes errors of only aboutone meter for each kilometer travelled. There is one problem AUVs have in common with UAVs: batterypower. According to NOC, the Autosub3 is powered by the same�D� batteries that you might find in a torch (the big, thickbatteries that are about twice the size of a AA battery). It�s prettypower-hungry, though: it required 5,000 of them to run. This means that the AUV has been able to explore undersea ice caves in the Antarctic that would otherwise be inaccessible to humans.And amazingly, this isn�t the cutting edge � this was achieved back in 2009. Read All ^

The Fourth Battle Of The AtlanticVice Adm. James Foggo III, U.S. Navy, and Alarik Fritz, Proceedings Magazine, June 1

With �more activity from Russian submarines than we�ve seen since the days of the Cold War,� an improved European forceposture becomes vital for the U.S. Navy and NATO.

One hundred and one years ago, a great power released a new weapon on the world. They allowed it to sidestep its adversaries�military advantages and deal them a near-crippling blow. Those weapons, the U-boats of the German Empire, used new technologies toblockade the British Isles and sink millions of tons of Allied shipping. Eventually, the Royal Navy prevailed, but the outcome of that battlewas never a foregone conclusion. It took the development of an array of new antisubmarine technologies and tactics, as well as amassive mobilization of resources, that enabled the Allies to win this �First Battle of the Atlantic.�Seventy-six years ago, the Second Battle of the Atlantic began. Again, German U-boats threatened the Allies, this time with new tacticsand technologies based on experiences in the previous war. The Germans had learned how to overcome the antisubmarine warfare(ASW) advantages of the Allies, and only by again bringing new technologies, tactics, and resources to bear did the Allies prevail.

During the Cold War, our ASW forces engaged in a constant cat-and-mouse game with the Soviet Union�s submarines. Nuclearpower, ballistic and cruise missiles, and quieter systems empowered Soviet submarines in troubling ways. To respond, the UnitedStates and its allies were forced to build greater and more effective ASW forces and continually refine their own ASW technologies anddoctrine to counter the Soviets. In the shadow of nuclear deterrence, the stakes of this competition were as high as could be imagined.This was the Third Battle of the Atlantic, and, although it was not a shooting war, it showed once again that a responsive, adaptive, andforward-deployed ASW force is necessary to deter aggression against our nation and its allies.

In the early 1990s, the end of the Cold War, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and commentary such as Francis Fukuyama�s landmarkessay �The End of History?� led us to believe that our strategic rivalry with Russia and our need to stay one step ahead of Russiancapabilities had faded. It has not. Once again, an effective, skilled, and technologically advanced Russian submarine force ischallenging us. Russian submarines are prowling the Atlantic, testing our defenses, confronting our command of the seas, and preparingthe complex underwater battlespace to give them an edge in any future conflict. Vice Admiral Clive Johnstone, Royal Navy, the head ofNATO�s maritime forces, noted recently that his forces report �more activity from Russian submarines than we�ve seen since thedays of the Cold War.� Some analysts believe that even our underwater infrastructure�such as oil rigs and telecommunicationscables�may be under threat by these new and advanced forces. Russian focus, investment, and activity in the undersea domain arenow so unmistakable that even the head of the Russian Navy, Viktor Chirkov, has admitted that Russian submarine patrols have grown50 percent since 2013.

Despite the economic crisis in Russia, rubles continue to flow into the development of Russian submarine technology and the growth ofthat force. The father of the modern Russian submarine force, the brilliant and highly decorated design engineer Igor Spassky, admitsRussian submarine forces are expanding and advancing, and that they will be a key part of the country�s arsenal for the foreseeablefuture.

By 2020, the Russian Black Sea Fleet alone will receive the equivalent of $2.4 billion of investment. And these are not the submarineswe faced during the Cold War. There may be fewer of them, but they are much stealthier, carry more devastating weaponry, and go onmore frequent and longer deployments than before. The submarines of the Russian Federation are one of the most difficult threats theUnited States has faced. This threat is significant, and it is only growing in complexity and capacity.

Russia�s New Approach

Not only have Russia�s actions and capabilities increased in alarming and confrontational ways, its national-security policy is aimed atchallenging the United States and its NATO allies and partners. For example, the new Russian national security-strategy depicts theUnited States and NATO as threats to Russian security and accuses us of applying �political, economic, military, and information-related pressure� on Russia. Thus, not only is Russia pursuing advanced military capabilities (especially in the underwater domain)that enable it to be a credible threat to us, it is now boldly saying that it intends to act as one.

An enduring objective of Russian foreign policy today is to challenge NATO and elevate Russia on the European stage once again.Building on the national strategy, the new Russian maritime doctrine reorients its naval forces in a calculated and determined way. Byconfronting NATO at will, Russia confirms its status as a great power in the 21st century. The new maritime doctrine tells us that Russiawill counter our existing ASW technologies; challenge U.S. and NATO�s maritime presence in the Atlantic as well as the Baltic, Black,and Mediterranean seas; and expand Russian permanent presence in the Arctic and Mediterranean. Read All ^

Capt. Joseph John Rochefort (May 12, 1900 � July 20, 1976) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (At the annual Memorial Day event at Ivy Green Cemetery n Bremerton, Monday, May 30, 2016, speaker, retired submarineCaptain Will Lent provided the attendees' a glimpse of a little known WWII person who was key to VJ Day.) Joseph John Rochefort was an American Naval officer and cryptanalyst. His contributions and those of histeam were pivotal to victory in the Pacific War. Rochefort was a major figure in the United States Navy's cryptographic and intelligence operations from 1925 to1946, particularly in the Battle of Midway. A review of Joe's career can be viewed at this link. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Rochefort ..................................................................................

HC Base Member Dutch Kaiser passed this along to complement the article above.

"Wilfred J. "Jasper" Holmes was a US Naval officer, one of the Station HYPO staff, who had the idea of faking a watersupply failure on Midway Island in 1942. He suggested using an unencrypted emergency warning, in the hope ofprovoking a Japanese response, thus establishing whether Midway was a target.

Wilfred Holmes graduated from the US Naval Academy, Annapolis, 1922, and had a master's degree in engineering from ColumbiaUniversity. He served as a line officer in the Navy, in submarines. He wrote submarine adventure stories for the Saturday EveningPost under the pen name Alec Hudson.[2] He retired from the Navy in 1936 because of arthritis of the spine, and joined the faculty of theUniversity of Hawaii."

Jasper was called back into the Navy in 1941 more info ^

Relic thieves desecrate Civil War battlefield in VirginiaFox NewsPublished May 28, 2016

Thieves apparently digging for buried relics have desecrated a Civil War battlefield in Virginia, causing damage to a field where more than 1,000Union and Confederate soldiers were killed.

The National Park Service is calling the looting at the Petersburg National Battlefield an affront to the memory of those who fought and died on thatfield during the Siege of Petersburg 151 years ago.

Park officials said the field had been excavated in a number of spots.

�This kind of aberrant behavior is always disgusting, but it is particularly egregious as Memorial Day weekend arrives, a time when we honor thememories of our friends and family,� NPS superintendent Lewis Rogers said in a press release Friday, according to WRIC-TV.

The looted area has been designated a crime scene, the station reported. It was closed to visitors but the rest of the 2,700-acre park was still open.

WRIC spoke to park visitors Friday who said they were appalled looters would disturb such a historic site.

�This is a place we should all commemorate and honor our history as a nation,� Tom Philabaum, of Charlottesville, Virginia, said.

The looting at Petersburg is a federal crime punishable by up to two years in prison. ^ China to send nuclear-armed submarines into Pacific amid tensions with USJulian Borger, The Guardian, May 26

Beijing risks stoking new arms race with move although military says expansion of the US missile defence has left it with no choice.

The Chinese military is poised to send submarines armed with nuclear missiles into the Pacific Ocean for the first time, arguing that new US weapons systems have so underminedBeijing�s existing deterrent force that it has been left with noalternative.

Chinese military officials are not commenting on the timing of amaiden patrol, but insist the move is inevitable.

They point to plans unveiled in March to station the US Thaadanti-ballistic system in South Korea, and the development ofhypersonic glide missiles potentially capable of hitting China lessthan an hour after launch, as huge threats to the effectiveness ofits land-based deterrent force.

A recent Pentagon report to Congress predicted that �China willprobably conduct its first nuclear deterrence patrol sometime in2016�, though top US officers have made such predictionsbefore. Read all ! ^

Deaths of two sailors swept from sub first such incident in six years (Remember!)By Sandra JontzStars and StripesPublished: January 6, 2007

Complements of Bremerton HC Member Don "Mac" Smith The deaths of two sailors who were swept overboard a submarine on which they served are the first such fatalities in six

years, according to one Navy official.

During that same time period, four other sailors who had fallen overboard were plucked successfully from the waters.

�Aside from the deaths on the Minneapolis-St. Paul, there have been no fatalities since [fiscal] 2000 involving submarine sailors fallingoverboard,� said April Phillips, a spokeswoman with the Naval Safety Center in Virginia.

On Dec. 29, Senior Chief Petty Officer Thomas Higgins, 45, and Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Holtz, 30, were killed after they werewashed from the deck of the USS Minneapolis-St. Paul during a fierce winter storm in Plymouth Harbor, England.

The incident still is under investigation, said Lt. Chris Servello, a spokesman with the Navy�s 6th Fleet/Naval Forces Europe.

British officials, who had been helping in the investigation, relinquished their involvement to U.S. officials, according to The AssociatedPress. �It has been decided, within the framework of the Visiting Forces Act, that the case will be handed to the U.S. authorities for theconduct of all further investigations,� the AP reported, quoting a statement from the Crown Prosecution Service.

The sailors� bodies will be sent this weekend to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany for an autopsy, and eventuallyreturned to the States and to their families, Servello said.

Two other sailors, whom the Navy has declined to name because of privacy laws, suffered minor injuries after also being swept from thedeck of the nuclear-powered submarine. They are rejoining the crew in Naval Station Rota, Spain, he said.

A memorial service was held Wednesday at Rota for the sailors.

The submarine, homeported in Virginia, entered 6th Fleet waters in October andcurrent plans are to keep it in the Mediterranean for its deployment, Servellosaid. Generally, U.S. ships deploy for six-month tours.

A British police official has said that Higgins and Holtz were tethered close to thesubmarine, while the two surviving sailors either were not connected by safetyropes or had lines long enough that allowed them to float away from the vessel.

There have been three incidents in the last six years in which sailors have fallenoverboard from submarines, Phillips said. In fiscal 2000, two line handlers wereswept overboard. That same year, a sailor walking off a submarine while it wasmoored, slipped and fell into the water. In fiscal 2003, a sailor fell overboardwhile the submarine was executing small-boat operations.

No further details on the incidents were available.

It is standard practice to have topside sailors tethered to the submarine as well as wearing safety vests, said Lt. Cmdr. ChrisLoundermon, a spokesman for Commander, Submarine Force, in Norfolk, Va.

As an added precaution, when sailors are topside on a submarine, Navy divers are fully suited up and ready to jump into the water ifnecessary, Loundermon said. ^

Top Archives Front PagePublished for American Submariners by USSVI Bremerton Base -Webmaster Don "Red" Bassler

NSL PACNW Chapter June Luncheon We�ll be at Bangor Plaza on Wednesday, June 15th. We�ll have our usual plan of the daywith a meet and greet at 1130 and call to order at 1200 followed by a delicious chef�s choicebuffet lunch. Our guest speaker is CAPT Dave Minton, USN (Ret.). There were two submarinespecial operations that were declassified for the submarine centennial in 2000, and Daveconducted one of them. As you may have read in the NSL�s United States Submarines, hewas CO of USS Guardfish (SSN 612) in 1972 and trailed an ECHO II submarine from the Sea ofJapan to the South China Sea following the collapse of the Paris Peace Talks and the mining ofHaiphong Harbor. The twist in the story is that Rear Admiral Berzin, when he read about thepatrol, realized he was the CO of the K-184 that was trailed, and contacted Dave. Dave will tellus about the operation and the relationship that he and Admiral Berzin now have.

Luncheon cost is still $15.00, payable at the door. All Active Duty are welcome as alwaysand for those O-3 and below there will be NO COST. Please RSVP to Melissa Smithat MELISSA.C.SMITH@leidos.com or (360) 394-8854 by close of business on Monday, June13th.

A Chinese navy submarine. China has been working on ballistic missilesubmarine technology for more than three decades.

A USS Minneapolis-St. Paul crewmember bows his head in prayer at amemorial service Wednesday for Senior Chief Petty Officer Thomas E.Higgins and Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael J. Holtz at Naval Station Rota,Spain.

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