Silent Pioneer

In the early days of the twentieth century, when the United States was just beginning to understand the promise and peril of undersea warfare, a small, steel-hulled boat slipped into the waters of the Puget Sound. She wasn’t flashy. There were no cheering crowds on the dock and no headlines outside the Navy towns. But when USS F-3, originally named Pickerel, was commissioned on August 5, 1912, she quietly joined the ranks of a fledgling force that would one day shape the future of naval combat.

Continue reading “Silent Pioneer” →
0

Gray Ghost, Red Dawn

Before dawn broke on August 3, 1942, the USS Gudgeon rode low in the Pacific, east of Truk, silent and alert. The day began in darkness, the kind submariners know too well. A world of sweat, tension, and stale air under pressure. At 0440 Kilo time, Gudgeon’s lookouts caught sight of a merchant-type vessel pushing smoke on the horizon, bearing 260 true. She wasn’t moving fast, maybe ten knots, slow enough to tempt a skipper hungry for a clean shot.

Continue reading “Gray Ghost, Red Dawn” →
0

One Final Run

The USS S-33 didn’t start out as a headline boat. She wasn’t sleek or fast, and by the time World War II exploded across the Pacific, she was already a grizzled old hull in a Navy that was rapidly modernizing. But like a lot of things built with care and kept in working order, she still had something left to give. And give she did. Not in flashy battles or dramatic duels at sea, but in hard miles, cold dives, and one final mission that helped pave the way for an American victory in the Aleutians.

Continue reading “One Final Run” →
0

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑