When Cmdr. Roger Meyer led the attack submarine Miami on a successful five-month deployment in 2010, he couldn’t have known he’d be the last commanding officer to take the boat on patrol. But a May 2012 fire set by a worker at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, effectively ended the Miami’s service life. Despite a 10-hour effort to battle the blaze, led by Meyer, it would’ve cost $450 million to repair the sub — an expenditure that the Navy decided in August wasn’t worth it. Instead of 10 more years of service, five more deployments and a handful more…
Browsing: Submarines
Miss Virginia 2012 visited her state’s namesake sub Monday to recognize the crew members for their service to the country. Rosemary Willis spoke with the crew of the Virginia-class attack submarine Virginia in Groton, Conn., a Navy release said. “It is an honor to thank those who serve aboard USS Virginia,” she said in the release. “I believe every military member should be recognized for their sacrifice.” Former Miss Virginias have visited the sub since 2008, when Hannah Kiefer became the first to do so, a service release said. Willis is from Chesapeake, Va. Her pageant platform was “Get moving…
Lt. Cmdr. Benjamin Amdur got to see how much of a difference 50 years could make to nuclear submarines when he got to his new command. Amdur had previously served as the engineering officer of the Virginia-class submarine North Dakota, which will become the service’s newest sub when it is delivered in 2014, a Navy release said. On Tuesday, he became the officer-in-charge of the Nautilus, the world’s first nuclear-powered ship, during a ceremony in Groton, Conn. “I’m amazed every day at how far we have come in 50 years of nuclear power, and, as a credit to the original…
Today marks the 113th birthday of the U.S. Navy’s submarine force. The Navy bought its first submarine, the Holland VI, on April 11, 1900, for $150,000, a Navy release said.The sub, named after its creator John Holland, was commissioned in October of that year. By June 1900, Congress had given the Navy permission to buy five more subs, creating the first fleet of U.S. submarines. Birthday balls for submariners are happening around the country this weekend and next, including one at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., and one in Washington, where Adm. John Richardson, director of the Naval Nuclear…
Though the Navy isn’t known for its luxurious accommodations, the WWII submarine Silversides was just named one of the top five “boatels” by CNN Travel. A “boatel,” or boat and hotel, allows visitors to have the comforts of being on dry land and the adventure of spending the night at sea. Silversides, a Gato-class sub that earned 12 battle stars during WWII, is in Muskegon, Mich. It was slated for the scrapyard, but was saved when a group of former Navy personnel towed it to the Muskegon Channel in 1987, CNN reported. A night on the ship lets visitors “experience…
Tomorrow — Jan. 11 — will be “USS North Dakota Day” in North Dakota, of all places, as the state honors the attack sub that will bear its name come 2014. Cmdr. Doug Gordon, commander of the precommissioning unit North Dakota, is in the state to participate in a three-day-long series of events meant to tell North Dakotans what the ship named for their state can do. He’ll also brief state legislators on the construction process, according to a Navy news release. In addition … OK, just admit it — you’ve been staring at the crest this entire time. Navy…
Just because a few nuclear missiles get launched doesn’t mean everybody’s paying attention. The ABC-TV submarine-based drama “Last Resort” premiered Thursday to “OK” or “soft” ratings, depending on which Hollywood-industry website you’re reading, drawing a 2.2 rating and a 7 share in the coveted 18-49 demographic. That put the premiere third in its time slot, below CBS comedy “The Big Bang Theory” and FOX talent show “The X Factor,” according to final ratings released Friday. Finishing below a top-rated sitcom and a Simon Cowell-judged karaoke contest may not sound all that bad, but the “Last Resort” numbers are just slightly…
Frank Munger’s Atomic City Underground, a blog by our sister paper the Knoxville News Sentinel, uncovered some previously undiscovered photos of then-Capt. Hyman Rickover, before he became father of the nuclear Navy. The paper obtained the photo at left, likely taken in fall of 1946, from Tim Gawne, who found it in the archives of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Munger writes that most surviving photos of Rickover were taken after the launching of the first nuclear-powered submarine Nautilus in 1954. This rare photo, which escaped being destroyed with a batch of others, was taken while Rickover was the senior officer stationed…
It sounds too far-fetched to be true, and it is. Despite rumors reported by My Fox DC and The Hill on Monday, the Navy is not staffing Virginia-class submarine Illinois with the first-ever all female submarine crew. This rumor is impossible, since the Navy is just now beginning to place woman on ballistic and guided missile submarines. There are no current plans for enlisted women to serve on subs or for women to serve on Virginia class subs. Cmdr. Monica Rousselow, a public affairs officer for submarine forces Atlantic, posted a comment on The Hill’s article, correcting the error. “Hello,…
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkVoUlfPTSc[/youtube] April 11 marks the 112th anniversary of the date the Navy bought its first fully submersible vessel, Holland IV, and the web is lighting up with birthday greetings, official and unofficial. The official video above was released by Naval Submarine Forces and features sailors from across the force. Operation Homefront, a nonprofit that provides financial help to sailors and wounded warriors, hailed the 112th birthday in a Tweet that noted the sub force’s abiding virtues: “Ever silent. Ever vigilant.” Former submariners celebrated by wearing their dolphins — as the silver or gold pin, worn by qualified submariners, is known…
