*Blink*

By lex, on October 7th, 2010

Naval news trackers will learn from Live Science that the Spanish Armada is once again deployed:*

A Ship that is Tired

 

By lex, on September 28th, 2010

From occasional reader Phil, a photo essay of USS Constellation‘s 1980 visit to Singapore, with the signs of the sea showing plain.

Seven years later, I’d make my first deployment aboard that ship. Twenty-three years later I’d put her to bed after one more fight. She was if anything, more tired than photographed here, but the captain found a way to get the starboard side painted in Oz so that she could come home proud. On the pier side, anyway.

A’ was a good ship.

Back To The Index

Home is the Sailor

By lex, on November 1st, 2008

Home to the sea: **

When the submarine USS Ohio surfaced at sea and Machinist Mate 1st Class Jason Witty emerged from the hatch to look around, he saw calm, blue water under a peaceful sky — perfect for the solemn task he was about to perform.

On the map, the Ohio was afloat in just another indistinguishable expanse of the Pacific Ocean. As Witty stood on deck holding a silver pitcher, the vessel was alone.

Just like the ill-fated USS Indianapolis, 63 years earlier.

The pitcher contained the ashes of Witty’s grandfather, Boatswain Mate 2nd Class Eugene Morgan, who had survived the sinking of the Indianapolis — one of the worst tragedies for the U.S. Navy in World War II.

Morgan had died of a heart attack in June at age 87, just before Witty went to sea, and among his last wishes was the desire to be rejoined with his shipmates at roughly the same spot in the Pacific where the Indianapolis went down.

Brass

By lex, on March 28th, 2008

To go along with the “Green Water” vid

To go along with the “Green Water” vid below, SJ Bill sends along this pic from the past:

Here’s one of my old boat, the Essex, back in ’60. Note the brand spanking new C1A spotted aft for a deck run off the angle. I think the pilot was Horst Petrich, who pulled off this launch any number of times. During my day, LCDR Petrick was my asst CATCC officer.

During the next year or so, Essex snapped off her mast in a worse storm.

Something old, something new

By lex, on September 21st, 2007

Got an email from occasional reader Steve, who was apparently in town for the graduation of the last OCS class in Pensacola. Sent along a neat pic from the Aviation Museum of 50 prospective ensigns.

An angel winging towards Valhalla

By lex, on April 22nd, 2007

You’ll hear a lot in the next couple of weeks or so about how and why Blue Angel #6 went down yesterday at Beaufort. Most of it will be raw conjecture, not worth the pixels used to frame the text. Somebody has a good idea what happened, but he – or they – won’t be talking to the press. They’ll have an investigation to do, and they’ll do it the right way – out of the glare of the public view – in order to find out how the next mishap might be prevented. A board will be convened, gather evidence, weigh and sift conclusions and publish their results – privately.

Decom

 

By lex, on March 26th, 2007

If ever there was a ship that was ready for decommissioning, it was the “Big John” – a great warship that had been rode hard for maybe a bit longer than she ought to have been in a more nearly perfect world. With 18 deployments in her 30 years I think the country got their money’s worth, although it’s worth pointing out that Kitty Hawk – still operating on the tip of the spear – is entering her 46th year of service.