ussvi central texas base february 2020€¦ · calvin story joined us in november, and we were...
TRANSCRIPT
January 2020 Page 1
USSVI Creed
Section 1: To perpetuate the memory of our shipmates who gave their lives in the pursuit of their duties while serving their country. That their dedication, deeds, and supreme sacrifice be a constant source of moti-vation toward greater accomplishments. Pledge loyalty and patriotism to the United States of America and its Constitution.
Camaraderie
Section 2: In addition to perpetuating the memory of departed shipmates, USSVI provides a way for all Sub-mariners to gather for mutual benefit and enjoyment. The common heritage as Submariners is strengthened by camaraderie. USSVI supports a strong United States Submarine Force.
Perpetual Remembrance
Section 3: The organization engages in various projects and deeds that bring about the perpetual remem-brance of those shipmates who have given the supreme sacrifice. USSVI also endeavors to educate all third parties it comes in contact with about the services United States submariners performed and how the sacrific-es of lost shipmates made possible the freedom and lifestyle Americans enjoy today
THE DECK LOG
USSVI Central Texas Base
FEBRuary 2020
USS Pittsburgh SSN 720—Decommisioning 1/17/2020
January 2020 Page 2
Table of Contents
============================= Creed ---------------------------------------- 1
Table of Contents ------------------------- 2
Points of Contact -------------------------- 2
Publication, Web Site, Base Mtg ------ 2
Links------------------------------------------ 3
Silent Running ----------------------------- 4
27MC Base Announcements ---------- 5
Base Commander’s Report --------- 5
Meeting Minutes------------------------ 5
Chaplain’s Corner---------------------- 7
Storekeeper Corner ------------------- 7
Membership ----------------------------- 8
Base Treasurer’s Report ------------- 8
Binnacle List----------------------------- 8
Kap(SS)4Kid(SS) ---------------------- 8
Calendar of Events -------------------- 8
Underseas Warfare News -------------- 9
USSVI Official Business News ------ 14
History ------------------------------------- 17
Thoughts ---------------------------------- 19
Once Upon A Time --------------------- 20
Holy Humor ------------------------------- 21
Sea Stories ------------------------------- 16
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USSVI National Commander
Wayne Standerfer 972-298-8139 [email protected]
USSVI National Senior Vice-Commander
Jon Jacques 615-893-7800 [email protected]
USSVI Central Regional District Commander
Tom Williams 512-632-9439 [email protected]
USSVI Central District 4 Commander
Bill Scott 512-826-8876 [email protected]
Central Texas Base Officers
Commander Rick Mitchell 512-639-0035 [email protected] Vice-Commander Gene Hall 512-864-2860 [email protected] Yeoman Frank Abernathy 512-426-3427 [email protected] Chief of the Boat Bill Scott 512-826-8876 [email protected] Treasurer Joe Keller 512-626-3202 [email protected] Base Support Appointments
Chaplain - Bob Steinmann 512-255-5250 [email protected] Memorial - Ray Wilgeroth, Sr 512-218-4077 [email protected] Storekeeper - David Paulson 512-940-1112 [email protected] Membership - Chuck Malone 512-694-5294 [email protected] Newsletter Editor - Bill Scott 512-826-8876 [email protected] Webmaster - Chuck Malone 512-694-5294 [email protected] Parade Chairman - Tom Sprague 858-755-6071 [email protected] K4K Chairman - Shawn O’Shea 702-682-9170 [email protected] Social Events - Vacant Fundraising- Don Atkins 512-508-1997 [email protected]
Editor’s Desk
The Deck Log is a monthly publication of the Central Texas Base, United States Submarine Veterans, Inc. It is delivered via email in Mi-crosoft Publisher PDF format to the Base Mem-bership. A copy is printed and mailed via USPS to those shipmates not having email.
Deck Log Editor
Harold W (Bill) Scott, STSCS (SS) USN Ret. Holland Club, Life Member USSVI Central District 4 Commander SS-242, SSN-612, SSN-595, SSN-596
512-826-8876
Web Site: www.ussvi.org/base/centraltexas.asp
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ussvicentraltexas/
Base Meetings - Base meetings are held on the third Wednes-day of the month at Ben D Snowden VFW Post 8587, 1000 N Col-lege St, Georgetown, TX 78626. We hold a quarterly social in lieu of a Base Meeting in March, June, September and December.
January 2020 Page 3
National Information Sources
A listing of Internet information addresses of the various organizations as places to obtain information on national items of interest. Shipmates, you are invited to add to the list (just let me know via email of any you use), so over time it would become more comprehensive.
https://www.ussvi.org/home.asp http://www.ussvi.org/base/CentralTexas.asp http://www.csp.navy.mil/
http://www.navytimes.com/ http://www.navy.mil/swf/index.asp http://www.military.com/
http://www.med.navy.mil/pages/default.aspx http://www.fra.org/ http://defensetech.org/
http://www.subvetstore.com/index.php http://www.subforce.navy.mil/ http://www.vfw.org/
www.navyleagueaustin.org www.navyleague.org http://www.usni.org/
http://www.navy.mil/navydata/cno/n87/n77.html www.military.com/military-report/ www.moaa.org
www.shiftcolors.navy.mil http://www.va.gov/
http://www.submarinesailor.com http://www.public.navy.mil/BUPERS-NPC/Pages/default.aspx
http://isausa.org/ WWW.DESIGNED4SUBMARINERS.COM http://www.dfas.mil/
http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ http://www.ausn.org/ https://www.facebook.com/ussvicentraltexas/
January 2020 Page 4
TOLLING OF THE BOATS – FEBRUARY
“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.” Vice Admiral Charles A. Lockwood, USN
We Remember For those who gave their lives in the defense of our country We Remember
January 2020 Page 5
What a great turnout we had for our first meeting of 2020. We had over 30 in attendance which has to be the largest turnout at a Wednesday night meeting I can recall since at least when I joined. Thank You so much for coming out and supporting our base. We are slowly but steadily moving into our new home at the M/SGT Ben Snowden VFW Post 8587. We now have all our Ship’s Store items there and all our normal meeting materials. We have been given a section in the meeting room to hang various pictures, plaques, and other items. The canteen area is being renovated soon and after that we will be able to hang some of our USSVI material in there allowing more public exposure to our organization. Many folks showed up early to grab a few hotdogs and enjoy a drink and conversation. Many stayed late for the same reason.
The meeting went well, and we got through a lot of business and you can see the meeting minutes elsewhere in this newsletter. I would like to highlight a couple of items though. First one is we have been able to welcome a new member into the Hol-land Club. Calvin Story joined us in November, and we were privileged to induct him into the Holland Club this month. Calvin earned his Dolphins on board the USS Salm-on SSR/SS-573 in 1969. Well Done Calvin!
I was also fortunate to get to award three Certificates of Appreciation at the meet-ing. The first one went to Bill Strawser for his many years of service as our Kaps 4 Kids Chairman. Bill served for 9 years in the position and did an outstand job and is stepping away to allow him some time to travel a little more. We are still in good
hands though with Shawn O’Shea taking over the reins. Maybe you will join him at out next Kaps 4 Kids event on Feb 12
th at Dell Children’s Medical Center. Bill Brinkman
and Bob Steinman were also presented Certificates of appreciation. Bill received his for his many years of serving the base as our Vice Commander and Bob received his for his many years of service as our Base Yeoman. Great jobs guys! We are very for-tunate to have had you serve in these positions and greatly appreciate all you did for the base.
We have a lot coming up this year but I want to bring your attention to the Armed Forc-es Day Weekend Event and ask you to set some time aside on your calendars for this weekend event in Corsicana, TX on May 15-17
th. We are gathering with Submariners
from around the state for what we hope will be the first of an annual event which ro-tates around the state bringing Submariners USSVI, SSMC and others together for a great time. Things are still being planned but we intend to have a catered dinner Friday Evening, participate in a parade with other bases on Saturday morning and then our main event is a Campfire Cookout being held at Navarro Mills Oak Campground on Saturday af-ternoon into the evening.
I look forward to seeing many of you again next month at our next monthly meeting on Wednesday Feb 19th. I want
to welcome our newest member, Frank Espinosa LT USN Ret. Frank served on the Simon Bolivar and the Guitarro be-fore receiving his commission. Please reach out to a shipmate you’ve not heard from in a while.
Rick Mitchell [email protected] 512-639-0035 2000 CR 100 Georgetown, TX 78626 USSVI Central Texas Base Facebook Page
From your editor and Central District 4 Commander:
I conducted the installation of Base officers, BC Rick Mitchell, Vice Commander Gene Hall, Yeoman Frank Abernathy, and Treasurer Joe Keller. Welcome as new officers for 2020.
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MEETING MINUTES
Location: M/SGT Ben D. Snowden VFW Post 8587, 1000 North College Street, Georgetown, TX
Social Hour: 1800-1900
Meeting: 1900-2045
Meeting opened by Rick Mitchell, Central Texas Base Commander.
Current and New E-Board were present.
Gene Hall was installed as new Vice CO Frank Abernathy was installed as new Yeoman
January 2020 Page 6
Joe Keller was installed as Base Treasurer Rick Mitchell – Base Commander Bill Scott – COB
Sailing List, 31 present, 30 members, one guest (Linda)
Binnacle List, Larry Walts, Hubert Jackson and Byron Sage.
Chaplain Bob Steinmann gave the opening prayer followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the Unit-ed States of America.
Tolling of the Boats read by Sam Amato.
Officer and Committee Reports
Treasurer’s Report
General Fund beginning balance: $10,025.97 General Fund ending balance: $14,828.17 Memorial Fund beginning balance: $ 1,808.86 Memorial Fund ending balance: $ 1,907.17 Total Balance $16735.34
Memorial Report- Ray Wilgeroth, Sr.
Working with the City to agree on a date to perform repairs to the torpedo.
Breaking ground on the park improvements in April 2020.
Kaps 4 Kids – Shawn O’Shea has relieved Bill Strawser as our Kaps 4 Kids Chairman.
Shawn’s contact info is 702-682-9170 and [email protected] if you are interested in helping with the next event on 12 Feb 2020 at the Dell Children’s Hospital in Austin, TX. Bill was provided with a ‘Certificate of Appreciation” for 9 Years of Kaps 4 Kids.
Parade – Tom Sprague. Last event was the Nov 2019 Austin Veterans Day Parade.
Next event will be the Red Poppy Festival Parade in Georgetown on 25 April 2020.
Membership – Chuck Malone. New Members Frank Espinosa. Welcome Aboard Frank and Calvin.
Social Events –The next Social will be in March 2020 with details to follow.
Unfinished, Ongoing and Old Business
Armed Forces Day Weekend – Will be in Corsicana, TX from 15-17 May 2020
Navarro Mills Lake (Oak) campground or hotels. Friday Night BBQ location and cost TBD Saturday Morning Parade, afternoon and evening campfire cookout
January POC’s
#2020-01 National Officer Positions #2020-02 January Veteran Service Organizations (VSO) #2020-03 2020 Convention Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ussvi2020nationalconvention/ New Business
Holland Club Induction
Calvin Story, 1969, USS Salmon (SSR/SS-573)
2020 National Convention in Tucson, AZ, 23-30 August 2020
For more Details please visit https://www.ussviconvention.org/2020 and https://www.facebook.com/ussvi2020nationalconvention/
Memorial Day Tolling
Guest Speaker suggestions? Location, since the park is scheduled to break ground for improvements in April. Suggestions for improving the Service.
Good of the Order
Certificates of Appreciation were presented to Bill Brinkman for service from 2004-2019 as our Vice Commander and Bob Steinman for service as our Base Yeoman. Thank you both!
50/50 $120 total. Frank Abernathy was winner of $60, donating $30 back to the base.
Meeting Adjourned by Rick Mitchell. Next Meeting 19 Feb 2020 at the VFW 8587 Post in Georgetown.
Minutes respectfully submitted by Frank Abernathy, Yeoman. 19 Jan 2020
January 2020 Page 7
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CHAPLAIN’S CORNER ===========================================
I Hate Buttermilk
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STOREKEEPER CORNER
The Central Texas Base (CTB) Supply Store is open for business. The Supply Store can obtain most of the items you need for memorabilia, your vest, gifts for others, etc. You can order them from the Storekeeper at a meeting or online at [email protected]. CTB can often get items at a lower than normal price, so you save money. The SK can search the net to find out-of-the-ordinary items, for all branches of the service. When requesting a ship’s patch, tell the SK which coast you served on board, as the patches are often different for each coast. The following items are now available in Ship’s Store:
Base Ball Caps $12.00
Buckles, Dolphin $18.00
Buckles, Plain $10.00
License Plate Holder (Chrome) $10.00
License Plate Holder (Blue Plastic) $4.00
Stars for Pins $1.85
24 oz Glass mugs $15.00
12 oz Glass mugs 12.00
Parking Sign $20.00
Decals (Outside window) (four styles) $3.00
Black Leather Vest, Sub Vet Embossed $65.00
USSVI 50th Anniversary Patch and Coin set. Patch and coin purchased separately are $22.
$20.00
2020 USSVI Calendars $10.00
Sub Vet Embossed T-Shirts (Limited qty & size) $18.00
Sub Vet Embossed Denim Jackets (Limited qty & size) $31.00
Various T-Shirts $18.00
Boomer Patrol Pin $7.00
Patches (many) $6.00
Golden Anchor Patches $3.00
Dolphins (large) $8.00
Dolphins (medium) $5.00
Vests w/patch $38.00
Vest Clips (shiny or oxidized) $30.00
Koozies $5.00
Web Belts $7.00
January 2020 Page 8
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BASE TREASURER’S REPORT 15 January 2020
Financial Report for Period Ending 12/31/2019
Beginning Balance $16,735.34
Total receipts (Money In) $1,301.65
Total Expenses (Money Out) $365.00
Ending Balance $17,671.99
Submitted: Joe Keller, Treasurer
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BINNACLE LIST Please keep us informed of any person who should be listed. These are the people that we know about, so please e-mail any E-Board member if you know of any member or his family that might be in crisis. Also please keep the Base Chap-lain, Shipmate Bob Steinmann informed as well.
Shipmate Hubert Jackson will be having surgery for Prostate Cancer. Keep him and his wife Linda in your prayers.
Shipmate Larry Walts says that recent tests have verified it is a B Cell Lymphoma. He is being told it is curable and he will likely need Chemo but no radiation. He states he and Sandra are staying positive and have support from family and friend in the area. Harry Boyer called Larry on Sunday the 19th and says:”He has had his first chemo treatment last Tuesday. He said the first night was rough. Second treatment is tomorrow, the 20th. He sounded positive and strong.
Shipmate Byron Sage continues to deal with an issue with his immune system and prayers go out to him and his family.
We ask Lord, in your Son’s Name, that you be with our Brother’s and Sister’s who are sick and ask that you hold them in your arms and heal them so that they might again join us around our table. In your Son’s name, We pray, Amen.
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KAP(SS) 4 KID(SS) Bill Strawser has turned over the helm for the K4K program to Shipmate Shawn O’Shea.
From Shawn: USSVI Central Texas Base Kap(SS)4Kid(SS) is kicking off 2020 at the Dell’s Children’s Medical Center on February 12
th from 11am to 12pm bringing joy and excitement to the children there. Our base has added a submarine
coloring book as part of our visit for the kids. Not only receiving honorary submariner certificates and hats while enjoying the time with our bases volunteers. Dell’s Children’s Medical Center event policy limits our volunteers to 5 volunteers per visit which is why we are working to increase the number of visits this year to area children’s hospitals. If you are not able to make this one, I will put you as volunteer at the top of the list for the next exciting event 2020.
Shipmate Shawn O’Shea, Chair, Kap(SS)4Kid(SS)
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CALENDAR OF EVENTS 19 February 2020, Monthly meeting Central Texas Base, VFW Post #8587, 1000 N College St., Georgetown, TX 78626,
1800 for movie time, 1900 meeting.
21 March 2020, Quarterly Social, Time and location TBD.
MEMBERSHIP
Report presented to Base Commander w/copy to Yeoman.
Members listed in Central Texas Database 74 Regular Annual Members listed in Central Texas Database 26 Associate members w/paid Base and National dues 1 Central Texas Base Life Members 29 Central Texas Base National Life Members 37 Members in Holland Club 37 Dual Members 4 Prospective Members: 0 War Veterans 63 Members pending: 0
Submitted: Chuck Malone, Membership
January 2020 Page 9
15 April 2020, Monthly meeting Central Texas Base, VFW Post #8587, 1000 N College St., Georgetown, TX 78626,
1800 for movie time, 1900 meeting.
25 April 2020, Red Poppy Festival Parade, Georgetown, TX 78626, Time TBD.
15 - 17 May 2020, Monthly meeting Central Texas Base, VFW Post #8587, 1000 N College St., Georgetown, TX
78626, 1800 for movie time, 1900 meeting.
20 May 2020, Monthly meeting Central Texas Base, VFW Post #8587, 1000 N College St., Georgetown, TX 78626,
1800 for movie time, 1900 meeting.
20 June 2020, Quarterly Social, Time and location TBD.
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The following selected articles are part of Undersea Warfare News weekly news bulletin emails during the month of January 2020. “No content is created in the production of this Newsletter. These press clips and broadcast summaries are collected from multiple sources and are prepared by the command public affairs office to inform key personnel of news items of interest to them in their offi-cial capacities. It is not intended to be a substitute for newspapers, periodicals or public affairs programming as a means of keeping informed on news developments. Article selection or distribution does not imply endorsement and cannot be guaranteed for accura-cy. Further reproduction for private use or gain is subject to original copyright restrictions.”
http://www.subforce.navy.mil/
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The 2020s Will Change The World Submarine Balance
HI Sutton, Forbes, January 5
The new decade will see seismic shifts in the world of underwater warfare. I believe that several trends will converge to change the world submarine balance. Reflecting on the decade we've emerged from, we can see that the writing is al-ready on the wall.
Although many of the key submarines have already been designed or built, it is the next 10 years when things will shift. This is largely because there was a period of slow development following the Cold War. Successive defense cuts and a focus on low-intensity land conflicts meant that submarines were under-invested in. And many submarine building pro-grams were plagued by delays and small orders. Now finally it feels like we are on the cusp of something new.
Russia's massive effort to modernize its submarine fleet, for many years undernourished, will finally bear fruit. They are already operating more assertively in NATO areas. By 2030 most will be much more modern designs, such as the Borei and Yasen classes which are currently entering service. Some may even be the next-generation Laika design.
Weapons are where we will see the largest Russian shift. President Putin’s drive for super-weapons includes the Zircon hypersonic cruise missile and Poseidon mega torpedo. More formally described as an Intercontinental Nuclear-Powered Nuclear-Armed Autonomous Torpedo, Poseidon is an entirely new class of nuclear weapon. It may steer NATO submarine thinking in the coming years.
The submarine outlook for China is less clear. Although Chinese Navy submarines have been improving, the pace of change is less visible that in their massive warship building program. Possibly the greater influence of China will be in their exports. Increasingly China is exporting relatively large quantities of AIP (Air- Independent Power) submarines. Customers include Pakistan and Thailand.
For many years the main submarine exporters have been Germany, France, Russia and Sweden. But this is changing. As well as China, South Korea is becoming an exporter and Japan has made moves to join this elite club. Additionally more countries are developing indigenous submarines, including Turkey, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
This is perhaps part of the bigger shift in the submarine scene. More countries will be building them, and more will be operating them. For example Myanmar, not a country known for submarines, received its first late last year.
And the conventional submarines being built by some of these countries will be cutting edge. Starting with Japan and South Korea, new non-nuclear boats will benefit from innovations in battery technology. This will greatly improve stealth and endurance.
January 2020 Page 10
Of course the other trend we are expecting is automation. A.I. is already playing a part, allowing undersea drones. And the difference between a torpedo and a drone may blur as the former gains higher levels of autonomy.
Drones are getting bigger, with categories termed ‘large displacement unmanned underwater vehicle’ and XLUUVs - extra large. The U.S. Navy’s Orca program will probably be the first XLUUV, but expect and Britain and Japan to test things out in this decade. And China, South Korea (again) and Russia are trying out larger AUVs (autonomous underwa-ter vehicles).
Large AUVs will fulfill intelligence missions. More impactfully, they may also adopt offensive roles by the end of the dec-ade. These could include sowing minefields, launching cruise missiles or even torpedoing enemy ships.
In 10 years time when we can look back on the 2020s, I suspect we will have seen a bigger shift in submarine warfare than we have so far since the Cold War.
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Navy Strategy Fast-Tracks New Weapons For 'Offensive' Attack
Kris Osborn, Fox News, January 14
Arlington, Va.- Senior Navy leaders say the service is fast-tracking a handful of key emerging weapons systems such as new destroyers, Tomahawk missiles, lasers and hypersonics as part of a new “offensive attack” maritime combat strategy.
"Today we are moving to the offensive. We are already moving out on an increase in lethality," Vice. Adm. Rich Brown, Command, Naval Surfaces Forces, told an audience Jan. 14 at the Surface Navy Association Annual Symposium.
The concept is grounded upon a decided paradox ... be ready to fight and kill today and tomorrow... to keep the peace. Within this strategic framework, Brown cited a handful of specific weapons systems intended to bring this vision to frui-tion and essentially prevent major war. It is no surprise that this kind of deterrence focus would take center stage in the often discussed era of “great power competition,” a global environment now inspiring the U.S. to make its best effort to stay in front of major rivals such as Russia and China.
Brown said that the "Navy was now putting lasers on ships," and went on to mention the maritime strike Tomahawk, SM-6 missile, DDG Flight III Destroyers (new
high-tech heavily armed Navy destroyers) and the service’s new, far more sensitive SPY-6 radar.
The Tomahawk missile has been an effective attack weapon for decades, providing the technical basis for the Navy's current effort to fast-track the Maritime Strike Tomahawk. This new weapon takes the existing Block IV Tomahawk to a new level by adding new seeker and guidance technology - enabling the weapon to hit moving targets at sea. This is a substantial step forward in attack capability, as it will give sea commanders the option to hit enemy ships on the move from hundreds of miles away. The existing Tomahawk, while armed with GPS guidance, a 900-mile range, drone-like loitering ability and two-way targeting data link is used as a way to attack fixed targets such as enemy buildings, com-mand and control or other facilities.
Now, according to Brown, the Tomahawk will be able to hit an entirely new envelope of targets. Another weapons sys-tem mentioned by Brown was the SM-6 missile. This weapon, now being acquired in greater numbers by the Navy, has both offensive and defensive functions. The missile can track and intercept incoming enemy missile threats and also use airborne sensor platforms to target and attack moving enemy targets. The weapon functions as an integral part of a cut-ting edge Navy system now deployed at sea called Naval Integrated Fire Control Counter Air; this system uses ship-based radar and an aerial surveillance platform such as a Hawkeye surveillance plane or F-35 to find and destroy ap-proaching enemy targets beyond the horizon, threats not otherwise visible by line of sight radar or sensor systems.
Brown also cited the arrival of the F-35 to maritime warfare as a transformative attack possibility. Just last year, Brown explained, the USS America amphibious assault ship traveled the seas armed with 13 F-35s. This brings an unprece-dented measure of air attack and surveillance possibilities, to include the option to provide stealth air attack support to amphibious assaults. Amphibs could offer a smaller, more mobile type of aircraft carrier power projection capability, Brown explained.
"A big deck with that many F-35s is beginning to look like an aircraft carrier to me," Brown told the audience.
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday reinforced the idea of pursuing an increased offensive attack strategy as a way to "keep the peace" and protect the international waterways.
"We must have credible forces and demonstrate the will to use them ... so that we achieve deterrence and do not have to use them," Gilday told the audience.
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The Pentagon Must Replace Some Hackable Computer Chips
Paul Frazier, Defense One, January 14
Recent revelations about vulnerabilities in computer chips ubiquitous in U.S. government and military computers — and just how poorly their manufacturer responded to these revelations — show that business as usual leaves our military open to truly staggering attacks. We must act with the greatest urgency to ensure that all available security patches are applied to weapons, intelligence systems, and other critical infrastructure. And in some cases, we should replace the chips: an expensive, but necessary step.
January 2020 Page 11
As the former lead computer security engineer for the U.S. Transportation Command, or USTRANSCOM — the com-mand that runs the military’s global transportation system — I know first-hand the exposure that our nation’s IT systems face. In 2018, researchers discovered security vulnerabilities, known as Spectre and Meltdown, that took advantage of design flaws inside processors that date back to the mid-1990s. The flaws, which primarily (though not exclusively) af-fect chips manufactured by Intel, persisted through several design generations.
In May 2018, Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-New Hampshire, crystallized the situation at a congressional hearing: “It’s really troubling and concerning that many, if not all, computers used by the government contain a processor vulnerability that could allow hostile nations to steal key data sets and information.” Also troubling to Congressional overseers: Intel ap-pears to have warned Chinese companies about the vulnerabilities six months before telling the U.S. government.
It has been more than two years since these flaws were uncovered. Across the federal government, agencies have ex-pressed concerns. Last year, the National Security Agency issued guidance, including through an online hub, to help the Defense Department protect itself.
Intel eventually issued patches to stop the exploits. Last May, the company “implied that all the problems were solved. But that wasn’t entirely true,” as the New York Times put it in November after the company released a new set of patch-es.
But tech experts say these hardware vulnerabilities are not going away anytime soon, as shown by reports of exploits such as Foreshadow and Zombieload. Many tech companies, such as Google, have begun moving towards processors made by Intel competitors, reportedly at least partly because of these exploits, which not only raise security concerns but in some cases that patches for them can slow down computers and servers up to 40 percent.
The only true solution is to exchange each defective chip for a device containing a processor that is immune to these security and performance issues. (AMD is vulnerable to Spectre but not Meltdown, so in some cases a switch to an AMD-based computer is an option.) Expensive though it will be to replace vulnerable chips in sensitive systems, the cost pales in comparison to a cyber attack on our nation’s defenses.
For the longer term, the government and industry must work to ensure that Intel and other chipmakers can and do test for security flaws before they release new chips. This isn’t easy and could slow down the race to market the next gener-ation of technology. But isn’t it better to take a couple of months and build the security into the chip? It’s like baking a cake: better to add security ingredients to the cake mix than to apply them like icing you can scrape off.
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Entire Navy Tomahawk Missile Arsenal Will Upgrade To Block V
John Grady, U.S. Naval Institute News, January 22
ARLINGTON, Va. -- The Navy’s arsenal of Tomahawk cruise missiles will all become a Block V configuration, with older models to be retired and demilitarized, according to the program manager.
“All Block IVs will be converted” and become Block V Tomahawks, said Capt. John Red, speaking to reporters during the 2020 Surface Navy Association Symposium last week.
The upgraded Tomahawks will have a more extended range and modernized data-link radio and navigation systems. The upgrades are being done at Raytheon’s Tucson, Ariz., facility.
The existing Tomahawk Block III missiles will be retired and demilitarized.
The first five Tomahawk Block IVs being modernized will come out as test missiles with four heading back to the fleet “to demonstrate their capabilities” when used in an expected contested environment in the future, Red said.
When the Block IV cruise missiles were first manufactured, the expectation was they would have a 30- year life. Red added, “they were designed in 1999, the late 90s with early 2000s technology. That meant “the future is now” for their modernization.
“We’re still producing Block IVs,” which reached initial operating capability in 2004, said Chris Daly, director of program management at Raytheon.
Red said 90 missiles will go through the recertification process per cycle. There will be three variants in Block V, but “the determination of the split” between the versions has yet to be determined, Red said.
“The Block Va variants will be called Maritime Strike” with a new seeker capable of hitting a moving target. Red would not detail the seeker’s capability beyond saying it operated in various modes and has “the ability to discriminate targets” and can be updated in flight.
Block Vb will feature the Joint Multi-Effects Warhead System. The new warhead was first announced in 2010 and tested in 2014.
The administration requested $320 million for research and development in the Fiscal Year 2020 year budget to move ahead on these upgrades to Tomahawk. The Tomahawk Va and Vb variants were highlighted in the administration’s new Offensive Missile Strategy.
After the Tomahawks used by the U.S. military are upgraded, it is possible the United Kingdom, the only other nation with Tomahawk cruise missiles would begin modernizing its arsenals, Red said. U.S. law covering foreign military sales says systems and weapons must be fielded first in the United States.
“We’re still working through that” in Washington and London, Red said.
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January 2020 Page 12
Bathyscaphe Trieste Made History
Naval History and Heritage Command, January 21
On Jan. 23, 1960, the bathyscaphe Trieste descended on nine-hour journey seven miles to the deepest part of the world’s oceans—Challenger Deep—located at the southern end of the Mariana Trench. Navy Lt. Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard made the historic dive. Piccard’s father, Swiss physicist Auguste Piccard, was the inventor of the re-search bathyscaphe, which was the development of a concept first studied in 1937. World War II delayed Piccard’s work until 1945 when he worked with the French government on its development. In 1952, Piccard was invited to Trieste, Italy, to commence construction. In August 1953, the bathyscaphe was first placed in the water and, later that month, Piccard and his son dove to a depth of five fathoms. In 1958, the U.S. Navy acquired the vessel and transported it to San Diego, CA, where it was fitted with a stronger sphere. For more, check out the new Bathyscaphe Trieste page on NHHC’s web-site. On Jan. 23, the National Museum of the U.S. Navy is scheduled to host a 60th anniversary commemorative event at the Bathyscaphe Trieste exhibit, featuring Walsh as the guest of honor.
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Crew, Commanders Bid Farewell to USS Pittsburgh at Sub’s Inactivation Ceremony
Not Attributed, Seapower Magazine, January 24
(See photo on the Deck Log cover. Ed.
As the last commanding officer of the USS Pittsburgh said Jan. 17, “the old must be replaced by the new.” And with that salutation, the crew of the Los Angeles fast-attack submarine, past commanding officers, Navy League members and supporters bid farewell to the boat during its inactivation ceremony at the U.S. Naval Undersea Museum in Keyport, Washington.
The USS Pittsburgh Relief Crew under the auspices of the Pittsburgh Council has provided significant support to the submarine over its 35 years of active service. Though the boat, named for the city in Pennsylvania, has been deactivat-ed, a scholarship sponsored by the council for current or past crew members and dependents of the sub will live indefi-nitely at the Pittsburgh Foundation, a Pittsburgh metropolitan area philanthropy organization.
The ceremony was the crew’s final event before their ship is decommissioned and stored at Puget Sound Naval Ship-yard in Bremerton, Washington.
“The backbone of any crew, of any service member, is the family that supports them at home,” said Jason Deichler, the 14th and final commanding officer of the USS Pittsburgh, who himself is a Pittsburgh native.
“To the families of current and crewmembers here today, thank you. The power of your faces, smiles, family grams, small tokens and love enable the strength required for the impossible tasks we ask the crew to perform. It is what sets us apart in many ways from the armed services of other nations. We know the faces of our family, and we work to truly hon-or them.”
Carol H. Sawyer, a professor of organizational leadership at University of La Verne, California, also spoke of what it’s meant for her to have been the submarine’s sponsor and a part of the Pittsburgh family since the ship’s commissioning in December 1984.
“It means that every day for 35 years, I have embodied the gratitude of the American people. In my very person, in who I am, I have literally lived our gratitude for the commitment, the service, the professionalism, the sacrifice and the patriot-ism that I have witnessed,” Sawyer said.
Rear Adm. Douglas Perry, commander of Submarine Group 9, and a prior crew member aboard Pittsburgh, served as the ceremony’s guest speaker. Pittsburgh completed its last deployment on Feb. 25, 2019. Then the boat and her crew made their first arctic transit for a final homeport change from Groton, Connecticut, to Bremerton, arriving on May 28 to begin the inactivation and decommissioning process. Pittsburgh is the fourth U.S. Navy vessel to be named for the city of Pittsburgh.
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U.S. Has Deployed New, Small Nukes on Submarine, According To Group
Geoff Brumfiel, NPR, January 29
The U.S. has begun deploying a new type of low-yield nuclear warhead aboard some ballistic missile submarines, ac-cording to a report by an independent monitor.
When the USS Tennessee, an Ohio-class submarine, went on patrol in the final weeks of 2019, it carried "one or two" of the new weapons, according to a post by the Federation of American Scientists.
"It is apparently still out there now and expected to come back sometime in February," says Hans Kristensen, director of the group's nuclear information project. He believes a second submarine carrying the weapon may also be patrolling in the Pacific.
Kristensen says the assessment is based on conversations with government officials, who have spoken to the group about the weapon's deployment.
The Pentagon officially declined to comment on the report: "It is U.S. policy to neither confirm nor deny the presence or absence of nuclear weapons at any general or specific location, as such, we cannot confirm or deny this reporting at this time," it said in a written statement to NPR.
January 2020 Page 13
The warheads were produced by the Department of Energy over the past year. An Energy Department spokesperson confirmed to NPR in November that they had been transferred to the U.S. Navy.
The weapon is known as the W76-2, and it appears superficially identical to the much more powerful W76-1 nuclear weapons carried by the same submarines. But unlike those thermonuclear whoppers, the W76-2 has a relatively "small" yield of perhaps, 5 kilotons — or about one-third the size of the Hiroshima bomb, according to Kristensen. It was devel-oped in response to the Trump Administration's Nuclear Posture Review, which outlined the need for smaller nukes.
Much of that need centers around Russia, which the administration says is preparing to use small nukes in a conflict. The idea is that Russia would use relatively low-yield nuclear weapon to get a superior adversary such as the U.S. or NATO to back down in a conflict, according to Katarzyna Zysk, who studies Russian military doctrine at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies in Oslo.
Zysk says that Russia has made a number of vague statements about nuclear use recently, while deploying several sys-tems that are capable of carrying smaller "tactical" nuclear weapons. Deploying a weapon such as the W76-2 under-mines any Russian strategy of using small nukes in a conflict, she says, because it gives the U.S. a way to respond with-out rolling out the big ones. "That's the simple logic," she says.
But critics warn that the strategy carries huge risks. For one thing, there is no way for a potential adversary to tell the difference between the launch of a ballistic missile tipped with a low-yield warhead and one carrying a "large" warhead. The Russians, monitoring U.S. launches, could easily confuse the two.
Perhaps the greater risk, Kristensen warns, is that a tit-for-tat exchange of small nuclear weapons could lead to a larger nuclear war. "Once you start popping nukes, the bets are off," he says.
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Navy Celebrates 60th Anniversary Of Trieste Dive
John Grady,USNI News, January 24
WASHINGTON NAVY YARD – The Navy officer who took a manned submersible to the deepest part of the ocean in 1960 said it would have been impossible without the steady financial support by the Office of Naval Research for ocean-ographic research.
“ONR was generous to a fault [and] is underappreciated for this whole thing,” with the command buying the bathyscaph Trieste from Swiss inventor and scientist Auguste Piccard in 1957 and staying with the project over the years, Capt. Don Walsh said at a ceremony at the Washington Navy Yard commemorating the 60th anniversary of the dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
Walsh was assigned to the project in January 1959 and remained there until 1962. “I was looking for interesting things to do” as a young lieutenant in 1959 and not “fly a steel desk” in an office in San Diego.
The record-setting dive of almost seven miles into the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench was “a demonstration of the human desire to explore,” said Capt. Matt Farr with ONR during the ceremony.
Details of the dive remained tightly held in the lead up to the attempt, Walsh said. Then-Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Arleigh Burke didn’t want any more bad publicity for the service after the failures of the Navy Vanguard rocket program in the late 1950s ahead of the Soviet Sputnik launch.
“The Cold War was on; who was better?” – the Soviet Union or the United States, Farr said. “There was a push to be first” in everything, but on this mission, everyone was to keep their mouths shut. There were 14 men – two officers, five sailors and seven civilian technicians or scientists – assigned to the project conducted by the Navy’s Electronic Labora-tory in San Diego.
Trieste’s dive and the events leading up to it were “very different” from the “massive publicity campaign for manned space” that followed the naming of the first seven Mercury astronauts, retired Rear Adm. Samuel Cox, the director of Naval History and Heritage Command, said on Thursday.
Walsh told the audience of several hundred that the Jan. 23, 1960, dive into the Mariana Trench, about 200 miles off Guam, was “be the ultimate test of this platform, not an adventure.”
Since the dive occurred in the shorter days of winter, Walsh said the dive was to last no more than nine hours. This would give the scientists and sailors working aboard the tug that towed the bathyscaph into place enough light to do their jobs safely. Seas were rough ahead of the attempt.
Trieste and the upside-down steel “balloon” it rode under was “not de-signed to survive wind and waves,” Farr added. The “balloon” was filled with aviation fuel to give it buoyancy.
As Walsh and Piccard made their final preparations for the descent, a message came through to the destroyer escort operating with Trieste to scuttle the mission. However, instead of passing the message along, it was pocketed. Walsh and others compared that move to Horatio Nelson holding a telescope to his blind eye and seeing nothing to contradict his original plan of attack at the Battle of Copenhagen.
The answer back was, “Trieste is at 10,000 feet.”
January 2020 Page 14
Likewise, when Walsh and Piccard heard a loud crack on an earlier dive coming from the rear viewport, Farr said, “if he had decided to turn around [then], they may not have had another chance” to set the record. “Sometimes, you just have to decide to keep going.”
The repairs to the bathyscaph were made from what was available, including necessary fixants and straps from an auto supply store. “It was all done out of view of Piccard and our masters at the laboratory,” Walsh said.
In a telephone interview with USNI News before the event, Walsh described the dive as “just another day at the office,” though longer than other dives in time and distance. The descent took about five hours. Walsh stressed this was not a scientific mission. As before, he and Piccard were to test the safety of the vessel and gauge its performance, although it was not very maneuverable. As it descended and on the floor, it was barely able to move feet. “There were certain things you had to do” before the descent and after. They had been working “to kind of eliminate all the variables” to “take the unknown out of it.”
Nonetheless, there “was an element of risk,” Cox said at the ceremony. He added it was the “shiver me timbers” risk of failure with water pressure reaching 15,000 per-square-inch on the outside of the vehicle at those depths.
By the time Trieste surfaced, wave heights had risen to 20 to 30 feet.
At the event marking the opening of a major exhibit on underwater exploration at the museum, Walsh said he’s most fre-quently asked about the risk. The second most common question asked is, “what did I see?”
While the Mediterranean is murky, Walsh said the viewport allowed them to see “the rich biology of the Pacific, [looking] like minestrone soup,” at relatively shallow depths, Walsh said. “We had lights,” but they weren’t turned on to better view what was outside.
“The bioluminescence [from the fish] was pretty entertaining, like a reverse snowfall. You’re moving and they’re not.”
As they neared the seafloor, Trieste’s bottom reflectors lit up the view. Piccard first saw what they believed to be a fish, about a foot long, but the vehicle was kicking up so much sediment that all they could then see was “like white paint.”
Instead of settling down, for the 20 minutes Trieste was at depth, the sediment kept rising. The 16 mm movie camera and Hasselblad still camera they brought aboard were useless under those conditions.
Since the dive, the vehicles and the technology to support these underwater missions have leapt far ahead technologi-cally. Walsh recommended checking out Victor Vescovo’s upcoming Discovery Channel documentaries on his recent dives into the Mariana Trench to see what life forms exist in the deep ocean.
Although Walsh accompanied Vescovo and James Cameron, the filmmaker whose credits include Titantic and Avatar, on their expeditions, he said he “didn’t want to be taking up a seat that should be taken by an oceanographer.”
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USSVI OFFICIAL BUSINESS
These USSVI news articles , now known as National Bulletins, are published to benefit those shipmates that receive their newsletter via USPS and are articles published during November 2019. Editor
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USSVI OFFICIAL BUSINESS: SubVet News - #2020-001
NEWS-01: Nominations for USSVI National Office
Submitted by: John E. Markiewicz, IPNC on 1/2/2020
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Shipmates,
2020 is an Election Year. The Following National Officer Positions and Requirements for Office Are Available:
National Commander: Nominees for National Commander must have completed at least two years as a voting member of the Board of Directors by the time they take office as National Commander.
National Senior Vice Commander: Nominees for Senior Vice-Commander must have completed at least two years as a Member of the Board of Directors and must certify that they have or will develop a working familiarity of the USSVI bookkeeping software (QuickBooks).
National Junior Vice Commander: Nominees for Junior Vice-Commander must have completed at least two years as a Member of the Board of Directors.
National Treasurer: Must be a Regular member in good standing and Nominees for National Treasurer must have some experience in bookkeeping, certify that they have, or will develop a working knowledge of the USSVI approved bookkeeping software (QuickBooks), use the USSVI approved software as part of his/her duties as National Treasurer, and cannot change to another software package without the Board of Director’s approval.
National Secretary: Must be a Regular member in good standing.
January 2020 Page 15
Regional Director: Must be a member in good standing of a Base within the Region. The Nominee must be currently serving or has served as a Regional Director, District Commander or Base Officer.
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USSVI OFFICIAL BUSINESS: SubVet News - #2020-002
NEWS-01: January VSO
Submitted by: John Dudas, USSVI VSO on 1/8/2020
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Shipmates,
USSVI VSO NEWS FOR JANUARY 2020
Use CTRL + click Enter to access all articles in BLUE
New Commissary Access for Vets and Caregivers
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/01/01/your-questions-answered-new-commissary-access-vets-and-caregivers.html
Don't Let Hearing Loss Sneak Up on You
https://www.myhealth.va.gov/mhv-portal-web/ss20190521-hearing-loss
USS Arizona and USS Oklahoma to Sail Again, Navy's Acting Secretary Says
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/12/24/uss-arizona-and-uss-oklahoma-sail-again.html?ESRC=navy-a_200101.nl
Enlisted Medal of Honor Recipients, POWs Can Now Have Full-Honor Burials at Arlington
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/12/27/enlisted-medal-honor-recipients-pows-can-now-have-full-honor-burials-arlington.html
Blue Water Navy Veterans’ disability claims to be decided beginning Jan.1, 2020
https://www.blogs.va.gov/VAntage/69370/blue-water-navy-veterans-disability-claims-now-decided/
Disabled Veterans eligible for free National Park Service Lifetime Access Pass
https://www.blogs.va.gov/VAntage/60590/disabled-veterans-eligible-free-national-park-service-lifetime-access-pass/
HAPPY NEW YEAR 2020
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USSVI OFFICIAL BUSINESS: SubVet News - #2020-003
NEWS-01: 2020 USSVI Convention
Submitted by: Dennis Ottley, Convention Chairman on 1/13/2020
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Shipmates,
The USSVI 2020 National Convention has launched it's Facebook page and we are in the process of posting items of interest to market our event in August of 2020.
Efforts to promote the USSVI 2020 National Convention are at flank speed. Please help us in these promotion efforts by doing these three things:
1. Like AND follow the convention Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ussvi2020nationalconvention/
2. Send an invite to your Facebook Submarine contacts and ask them to like & follow the convention page
3. At Base Meetings it is encouraged that Base Commanders promote the convention and keep the information flow concerning the convention in front of the members going forward.
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USSVI OFFICIAL BUSINESS: SubVet News - #2020-004
NEWS-01: ‘American Submariner Magazine 1st edition 2020 on line
Submitted by: Wayne Standerfer, National Commander on 1/20/2020
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Shipmates,
The American Submariner Magazine 2020 1st Edition is now posted on our National Website.
Open the USSVI website https://www.ussvi.org/home.asp
Log On with your Login Name and Password.
Click on the blue “USSVI Magazine” button about half-way down the left-side menu
Click on the top left button “Current Edition”.
January 2020 Page 16
All the Best, Wayne Standerfer National Commander
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USSVI OFFICIAL BUSINESS: SubVet News - #2020-005
NEWS-01: ‘USSVI Convention website Vendor and Magazine Ad forms
Submitted by: Dennis Ottley, 2020 Conv Chair on 1/23/2020
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Attention to all POC's
The website now has links for both Vendors and Souvenir Magazine Ad forms. The link for the ad form is:
https://ussviconvention.org/2020/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2020-Magazine-Ad-and-Web-Ad-Order-Form-FINAL.pdf
We also want to pass on to all USSVI Bases that we are discounting the pricing for USSVI bases and members on ads in the Convention Program.
Use the existing form on the convention website and just write in your payment. Placing an ad in the magazine is a great way to support your convention and promote your Base, District,or Region.
USSVI Base pricing will be:
Full Page $250 Half Page $125 Qtr Page $ 60
Please note this special pricing is good until 4/1/2020 then regular rates apply. So get your ad in early.
We have already sold out the Inside Front Cover, Inside Back Cover and Back Cover.
Dennis Ottley USSVI Tucson Base Commander USSVI 2020 National Convention Chair
Check Out Our Convention Facebook Page - Click Here
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USSVI OFFICIAL BUSINESS: SubVet News - #2020-006
NEWS-01: ‘Follow up to: NEWS-01: USSVI Convention website Vendor and Magazine Ad forms
Submitted by: Dennis Ottley on 1/23/2020
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Shipmates,
If the Convention Facebook Page link at the bottom of the last bulletin does not work, cut and paste the following in your browser:
https://www.facebook.com/ussvi2020nationalconvention/
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USSVI OFFICIAL BUSINESS: SubVet News - #2020-007
NEWS-01: ‘2020 Convention Boat Reunion participation info
Submitted by: Dennis Ottley, Convention Coordinator on 1/28/2020
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Shipmates,
Our 2020 USSVI National Convention will be Tucson, AZ on August 24-29, 2020 at the El Conquistador Tucson, A Hilton Resort, 10000 North Oracle Road, Tucson AZ 85704. The contracted room rate is $96/night + tax & free self parking. USSVI is promoting the participation of Boat Reunions to be held in conjunction with our National Conventions. This is advantageous to the Boat Reunions & the National. The Boat Reunion gets the negotiated room rates & food & bever-age prices that based on the overall convention numbers, not the smaller Boat Reunion numbers.. The National benefits because the Boat Reunions room nights & food & beverage expenses apply to the contracted numbers for our National Convention. I have copied & pasted the Boat Reunion Clause in our contract below.
AFFILIATE GROUPS (Boat Reunions)
Should UNITED STATES SUBMARINE VETERANS, INC. have affiliated groups requesting more than ten (10) gues-trooms per night during the meeting, the Affiliate Group will be notified directly of the Hotel's payment and cancellation procedures.
All affiliate groups will be handled directly by our Convention Services/Catering Department. Each affiliate organization will be required to enter into a "Convention Affiliate Agreement". This agreement will outline specific issues, which will assist the Hotel in providing the required services and facilities, as well as protect the UNITED STATES SUBMARINE VETERANS, INC. from any inappropriate affiliate activities.
January 2020 Page 17
Key issues in the Affiliate Agreement include, but are not limited to the following:
A non-refundable deposit will be required for the first and last night's stay on each guestroom in the sub-block except for medical reasons.
Deposit and cut-off date will be two (2) weeks prior to the main group cut-off.
All food and beverage events must be catered through the Hotel.
All guestrooms and catered functions booked at the Hotel from these affiliates will be applied to the Group’s gues-troom pick-up and Food and Beverage guarantee.
Dennis Ottley is our 2020 National Convention Coordinator. Currently, Dennis is forming his Team & doing the prelimi-nary planning for the convention. Here is Dennis’s contact info: 520 219-8007 520-237-7874 (cell) [email protected]
If you have any questions or comments, please email Richard (Ozzie) Osentoski at [email protected], to address your concerns & he will provide any assistance that you may need. Ozzie's cell number (734.658.9196). If you need as-sistance with your draft contract, Ozzie will review the contract before you sign it to make sure that it a good contract.
So far we have reunions for the following boats:
USS Sea Dragon USS Ronquil USS Raton USS Salmon USS Growler
Dennis Ottley USSVI Tucson Base Commander USSVI 2020 National Convention Chair
Check out our Facebook Page - Click link below or copy and paste if necessary:
https://www.facebook.com/ussvi2020nationalconvention/
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The following selected history articles are part of Undersea Warfare News weekly news bulletin emails during the month of December 2019. This day in Undersea Warfare History
http://www.subforce.navy.mil/
January 6, 1943 | PBY-5A (VP 83) sink German submarine U-164 off Brazil. Before being sunk, U-164 sank three Allied merchant vessels, none from the United States.
January 7, 1945 | USS Spot (SS 413) sinks the Japanese gunboat No. 2 Nichiei Maru in the Inland Sea.
January 8, 1945 | Cmdr. Charles E. Loughlin coordinates a submarine attack against a Japanese convoy off northwest coast of Formosa, sinking two freighters and a tanker and damaging three other ships.
January 9, 1942 | USS Pollack (SS 180) sinks the Japanese freighter Teian Maru (ex-Yugoslav Tomislav) 40 miles south-southwest of Inubo Saki, Japan.
January 10, 1944 | USS Seawolf (SS 197) and USS Steelhead (SS 280) attack a Japanese convoy about 70 miles north of Naha, Okinawa, sinking three ships, including one while in the middle of a typhoon.
January 13, 1945 | Destroyer escort USS Fleming (DE 32) sinks a Japanese submarine 320 miles north-northeast of Truk.
January 14, 1944 | 5 U.S. Navy submarines sink 5 different Japanese vessels in and around the Pacific Ocean. USS Albacore (SS 218) sinks Japanese destroyer Sazanami 300 miles off Yap; USS Scamp (SS 277) sinks the tanker Nip-pon Maru off Sorol Island; USS Guardfish (SS 217) sinks tanker Kenyo Maru southeast of Palau; USS Seawolf (SS 197) sinks tanker Yamazuru Maru off Okinawa, and USS Swordfish (SS 193) sinks transport Yamakuni Maru off Hachijo Ji-ma.
January 15, 1815 | The frigate President, commanded by Stephen Decatur, encounters HMS Endymion out of New York and attempts to board her, not realizing the War of 1812 ended with the Treaty of Ghent in Dec. 1814. After British rein-forcements arrive, Decatur is forced to surrender.
January 16, 1943 | USS Whale (SS 239) sinks the Japanese transport Heiyo Maru.
January 2020 Page 18
January 17, 1942 | USS Plunger (SS 179) sinks the Japanese freighter Eizan Maru (ex-Panamanian Aurora) off the mouth of Kii Strait, Honshu.
January 20, 1944 | USS Batfish (SS 310) and USS Gar (SS 206) attack Japanese convoys and sink transport Hidaka Maru south of Shiono Misaki and army cargo ship Koyo Maru about 50 miles south-southwest of Palau.
January 21, 1954 | The world's first nuclear submarine, USS Nautilus (SSN-571), is christened and launched at Groton, Conn.
January 22, 1800 | Capt. Thomas Tingey is ordered to duty as the first Superintendent of the Washington Navy Yard.
January 23, 1943 | USS Nautilus (SS 168) evacuated 29 civilians from Teop Island, Solomons. Also on this date, USS Porpoise (SS 172) attacked a Japanese convoy and sank the freighter Renzan Maru off northeastern coast of Honshu, Japan.
January 24, 1956 | USS Jallao (SS 368) becomes the first U.S. Navy submarine to transit the Suez Canal traveling from the Mediterranean to Massawa, Eritrea, Ethiopia.
January 27, 1942 | Submarine USS Gudgeon (SS-211) becomes the first US Navy submarine to sink an enemy Japa-nese submarine in action during World War II.
January 28, 1945 | Submarine USS Spadefish (SS 411) attacks Japanese convoy west of Chuja Kundo, Korea and sinks escort vessel Kume and transport Sanuki Maru.
January 29, 1943| USS Gato (SS 212) sank the cargo ship Nichiun Maru.
January 30, 1862 | The first U.S. Navy ironclad warship, USS Monitor, is launched. Commissioned a month later, she soon engages in battle against CSS Virginia, the first battle between ironclad warships.
January 31, 1956 | USS Jallao (SS 368) becomes the first U.S. Navy submarine to transit the Suez Canal traveling from the Mediterranean to Massawa, Eritrea, Ethiopia.
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History of USS NAUTILUS (SSN 571)
http://ussnautilus.org/nautilus/index.shtml
Construction of NAUTILUS was made possible by the successful development of a nucle-ar propulsion plant by a group of scientists and engineers at the Naval Reactors Branch of the Atomic Energy Commission, under the leadership of Captain Hyman G. Rickover, USN.
In July of 1951, Congress authorized construction of the world's first nuclear powered sub-marine. On December 12th of that year, the Navy Department announced that she would be the sixth ship of the fleet to bear the name NAUTILUS. Her keel was laid by President Harry S. Truman at the Electric Boat Shipyard in Groton, Connecticut on June 14, 1952.
After nearly 18 months of construction, NAUTILUS was launched on January 21, 1954 with First Lady Mamie Eisenhower breaking the traditional bottle of champagne across NAUTILUS' bow as she slid down the ways into the Thames River. Eight months later, on September 30, 1954, NAUTILUS became the first commissioned nuclear powered ship in the United States Navy.
On the morning of January 17, 1955, at 11 am EST, NAUTILUS' first Commanding Officer, Commander Eugene P. Wilkinson, ordered all lines cast off and signaled the memorable
and historic message, "Underway On Nuclear Power." Over the next several years, NAUTILUS shattered all submerged speed and distance records.
On July 23, 1958, NAUTILUS departed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii under top secret orders to conduct "Operation Sunshine", the first crossing of the North Pole by a ship. At 11:15 pm on August 3, 1958, NAUTILUS' second Commanding Of-ficer, Commander William R. Anderson, announced to his crew, "For the world, our country, and the Navy - the North Pole." With 116 men aboard, NAUTILUS had accomplished the "impossible", reaching the geographic North Pole - 90 degrees North.
In May 1959, NAUTILUS entered Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine for her first complete overhaul - the first of any nuclear powered ship - and the replacement of her second fuel core. Upon completion of her overhaul in Au-gust 1960, NAUTILUS departed for a period of refresher training, then de-ployed to the Mediterranean Sea to become the first nuclear powered subma-rine assigned to the U.S. Sixth Fleet.
Over the next six years, NAUTILUS participated in several fleet exercises while steaming over 200,000 miles. In the spring of 1966, she again entered the record books when she logged her 300,000th mile underway. During the following 12 years, NAUTILUS was involved in a variety of developmental testing programs while continuing to serve alongside many of the more modern nuclear powered submarines she had preceded.
In the spring of 1979, NAUTILUS set out from Groton, Connecticut on her final voyage. She reached Mare Island Naval
January 2020 Page 19
Shipyard, Vallejo, California on May 26, 1979 - her last day underway. She was decommissioned on March 3, 1980 after a career spanning 25 years and over half a million miles steamed.
In recognition of her pioneering role in the practical use of nuclear power, NAUTILUS was designated a National Historic Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior on May 20, 1982. Following an extensive historic ship conversion at Mare Is-land Naval Shipyard, NAUTILUS was towed to Groton, Connecticut arriving on July 6, 1985.
On April 11, 1986, eighty-six years to the day after the birth of the Submarine Force, Historic Ship NAUTILUS, joined by the Submarine Force Museum, opened to the public as the first and finest exhibit of its kind in the world, providing an exciting, visible link between yesterday's Submarine Force and the Submarine Force of tomorrow.
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So God Made a Farmer
This 'So God Made a Farmer' Super Bowl Commercial Brought America to a Silence
BY COURTNEY GIARDINA12 MONTHS
From a Facebook post on 1/21/2020
It was Feb. 3, 2013. The year that "The Harbaugh Bowl" took center stage. The year that a power outage suspended play for over 30 minutes. The year the Ravens beat the 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII. That was also the year that Dodge debuted their powerful So God Made a Farmer to an estimated 108 million viewers.
For two minutes, we sat and listened to a poignant speech about hard-working American farmers across the genera-tions.
The commercial features a powerful narration by legendary broadcaster Paul Harvey. "So God Made a Farmer" was the name of a speech Harvey gave at a 1978 Future Farmers of America Convention. The speech was originally published in Harvey's syndicated column in 1986; however, it contained some phrases Harvey first wrote in an article for the Gadsden Times in 1975.
The message of the speech still rings true still today. It's one that captivated the nation with passion, value and truth. Football, for those two minutes sat quietly on the sidelines.
See this link for the commercial: https://youtu.be/AMpZ0TGjbWE
Here is the full text of the speech:
And on the 8th day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, "I need a caretaker." So God made a farmer.
God said, "I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, milk cows, work all day in the fields, milk cows again, eat supper and then go to town and stay past midnight at a meeting of the school board." So God made a farmer.
"I need somebody with arms strong enough to rustle a calf and yet gentle enough to deliver his own grandchild. Somebody to call hogs, tame cantankerous machinery, come home hungry, have to wait lunch until his wife's done feeding visiting ladies and tell the ladies to be sure and come back real soon -- and mean it." So God made a farmer.
God said, "I need somebody willing to sit up all night with a newborn colt. And watch it die. Then dry his eyes and say, 'Maybe next year.' I need somebody who can shape an ax handle from a persimmon sprout, shoe a horse with a hunk of car tire, who can make harness out of haywire, feed sacks and shoe scraps. And who, planting time and har-vest season, will finish his forty-hour week by Tuesday noon, then, pain'n from 'tractor back,' put in another seventy-two hours." So God made a farmer.
God had to have somebody willing to ride the ruts at double speed to get the hay in ahead of the rain clouds and yet stop in mid-field and race to help when he sees the first smoke from a neighbor's place. So God made a farmer.
God said, "I need somebody strong enough to clear trees and heave bails, yet gentle enough to tame lambs and wean pigs and tend the pink-combed pullets, who will stop his mower for an hour to splint the broken leg of a mead-ow lark. It had to be somebody who'd plow deep and straight and not cut corners. Somebody to seed, weed, feed, breed and rake and disc and plow and plant and tie the fleece and strain the milk and replenish the self-feeder and finish a hard week's work with a five-mile drive to church.
"Somebody who'd bale a family together with the soft strong bonds of sharing, who would laugh and then sigh, and then reply, with smiling eyes, when his son says he wants to spend his life 'doing what dad does.'" So God made a farmer.
This post was originally published on February 3, 2017.
https://www.wideopencountry.com/so-god-made-a-farmer/?fbclid=IwAR3A2r0LTkyNY72m7UBH1SBK2tt5VCaPZTKOvMaz4q8J8HeqogSo2o83x9U
January 2020 Page 20
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Do you have a short story, food for thought, or funny story to share? Let me know at [email protected]
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The Fireman
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January 2020 Page 21
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Holy Humor
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Sea Stories
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Do you have sea stories to share? Please send them to me for future Deck Logs. Your Editor, [email protected]
When trying to upload another sea story from the www.olgoat.com (After Battery) website, It no longer is available and
explanation was provided. Henceforth I’ll be reaching out to fellow Base Shipmates to send me sea stories, and I know
you all have them stored away in that locker we call a brain. LOL
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