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US Submarine Veterans, Inc – Cincinnati Base
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If veterans don't care, who will?
It is critical that veterans step up to the plate and take on the lead responsibilities of U.S. citizenship. It is the solemn duty of every American veteran to protect and improve the integrity of the federal, state and local veterans benefits programs, not only for ourselves and our families, but for future generations of veterans. In politics, strength lies in numbers. No candidate for elected office can afford to ignore the weight of public opinion. Vietnam veterans are the largest block within the U.S. veteran population -- if we don't do it, no one will...
The experts say that only about sixty percent of those eligible to vote are registered, and of those, only about half show up at the polls on Election Day. In a close race, the winner often is elected by only fifteen to twenty percent of eligible voters. Too often, those who don't vote are veterans. Capitol Hill insiders said that to many of our legislators, veterans "don't matter,'' because it was their perception that "veterans don't vote.'' We cannot allow that type of thinking to continue. We must undertake an aggressive and highly visible public effort to register voters and to encourage registered voters especially veterans and their families to vote.
As you have seen in the ads for Bush and Kerry, they are trying to get our vote. This is a choice you need to make, but most importantly…make it! |
Volume I - Issue 3
"These dolphins, once you pin them on your chest, leave deep marks, right over your heart, long after the uniforms have been put away."
Bud F. Turner ex-MT2(SS) U.S.S. Stonewall Jackson SSBN634 __________________
Base Commander Dick Young Vice Commander Tim Rich COB Scott Lucas Treasurer Dick Hauch Secretary Dave Wiesmann Chaplain Fr. Greg Lockwood
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Mr. Parrish meeting Cincinnati Base Commander Dick Young.
On 2 June 2004, several of our members attended the signing of The Submarine A History by author Thomas Parrish. Mr. Parrish is the author of a number of highly respected books on twentieth-century history. He currently lives in Berea, KY. He advised that most of the material gathered for the 562 pages of the book came from attending US Submarine Conventions and talking with sub veterans. Mr. Parrish was pleased to see the turn out of submarine veterans at the signing. We had many questions for him and he asked many of us questions. It was a very informative and interesting discussion.
Calling All Shipmates!
We are still seeking ways to locate other former submariners in our area who might like to join us. If you know of someone in the Cincinnati area who used to serve in submarines (or still does!) please tell them about this site, or leave us a message (through the "Talk To Us" link on our website to tell us who they are and how to get hold of them.
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Contents
If you would like to submit an article or would like to place an ad in The Fast Cruise please contact the editor. Cost for ads: $25/4 issues for a business card size ad. $25/issue for 1/2 page $50/issue for full page
EDITOR David Self 3261 Old Oxford Rd Hamilton, Ohio 45013 Email: bubblehead@dr-self.com
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Happy Birthday
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October
17 – Connie Moore 25 – Albert Ilgenfritz
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November
4 – Kenneth Lehmkuhl 6 – Terry Diehl 14 – Al Bliss 16 – Bill Ritter 29 – Mark Golias
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December
5 – Keith Littlepage 8 – Chris Opichka 29 – Wes Loerich 29 – Charles Rapp
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Commander Dick Young…
Shipmates,
As we are entering the fall season most of our get togethers are over with the exception of the Christmas luncheon and our September and October meetings. Our October meeting will once again be a joint meeting with the Indy base at the American Legion hall in New Alsace, Indiana.
One thing our base has to look at is do we want to continue marching in parades, we had minimal turnouts this year and on Memorial Day there were only two of us in the parade.
We are beginning to collect dues for 2005. The fees for the National organization have been raised to $20.00 and combined with our local fee that adds up to $30.00 per year, they are dues by December 31. If you want to be a National life member now is the time to do that, after December 31 the National Life memberships double and in some cases more than double.
Dick
SubVettes –
Ladies of US SubVets,
Inc
The Cincy SubVets Base has formed its SubVettes Chapter and will be formalizing it over the next three months. This organization is officially and Nationally recognized as the “Ladies Auxiliary of the United States Submarine Veterans, Incorporated”.
Regular Membership is open exclusively to the wives, daughters, sisters, and mothers of a Regular Member in good standing of the U.S. Submarine Veterans. Widows of any Regular member now on eternal patrol may also become a member.
You’re welcome to attend any or all meetings whether or not you become a member. Be as active as much or as little as you want. Your input is always welcome and greatly appreciated!
The first meeting of the SubVette’s (Women's Auxiliary) will coincide with the monthly meeting of the Cincinnati SubVets Base. Details are as follows:
Saturday, October 23, 2004
American Legion Hall
New Alsaca, Indiana
12:00 noon Indiana time, 1:00 PM Ohio time
Lunch provided.
(This will be a joint meeting with the Indy Base- Please bring a covered dish)
October Meeting Agenda:
I.) Discussion of By Laws
II.) Discussion of Constitution
III.) Discussion of Membership
IV.) Begin accepting of Volunteers or Nominations for SubVette Officiers
V.) Begin planning the Annual Base Dance
A.) Location
B.) Month
C.) Date
D.) Time
E.) What kind of dance (theme/ no theme)
VI.) Elect Committee Chairperson’s
VII.) Choose Committee
VIII.) Care Package
We will be planning many fun and exciting activities throughout the year. I would also like to make a care package to send to Iraqi for Christmas but first we need to make this official. During our November meeting we will be electing the following officers: President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. We will also be submitting the paperwork for approval to become nationally recognized as a chapter.
November Meeting Agenda:
I.) Final submission of Officer nominations
II.) Election of Officers
III.) Final Completion of Charter
IV.) Collect Membership registrations and dues
V.) Discussion of dance preparations / door prize letters mailed
VI.) Box up care package items and get it ready to be mailed
Please contact Dawn Wiesmann if you have any questions @ 812-637-6262 (home) 513-503-2193 (cell) or by email dwiesmann@gafri.com.
Tolling of the bells rekindles memories of lost heroes
By JO3 Corwin Colbert
COMSUBPAC Public Affairs
PEARL HARBOR, HI -- When Stan Nicholls struck the bell, the sound echoed throughout the Submarine Parche Memorial and those in attendance solemnly listened to each strike, remembered all 52 submarines lost World War II.
Nicholls was one of many submarine veterans, active duty and family members who honored their lost shipmates during a Memorial Day observance at Naval Station Pearl Harbor on May 31.
Paul Ferguson, president of the Hawaii chapter of U.S. Submarine Veterans of WWII and base commander of Bowfin Pearl Harbor U.S. Submarine Veterans Inc., welcomed the audience in attendance to honor the men who were lost at sea fighting for freedom and their country and are now on eternal patrol.
“We are here to honor the men who sacrificed their lives for freedom. We decorated not their graves, because some of them are unknown, but the plaques on the wall which honor the courage and sacrifice of our submariners lost in WWII,” said Ferguson, a submarine veteran who served on various submarines including USS Tang (SS 563) and the amphibious submarine USS Grayback (LPSS 574).
Rear Adm. Paul F. Sullivan, Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, was the guest speaker. “What our submariners do to remember our shipmates who have died is truly inspirational. The freedom that we enjoy is the product of their sacrifices,” said Sullivan. “Memorial Day is a unique day for our nation. It was established in 1868 to honor the men and women lost during the Civil War. As the years passed, so it seems, the real meaning of this day also has passed. Too often this has been just a day off marking the beginning of summer, the end of school or the opening of swimming pools,” he said. “This year has been different. With the opening of the WWII Memorial in Washington D.C., coupled with the fact that our nation is at war, there is a renewed desire to recognize Memorial Day,” said Sullivan.
There was also a dedication of the battle flag of USS Sculpin (SS 191) by retired Lt. Col. Richard Trimble, son of Howard Trimble, a crewmember of Sculpin. A duplicate will be made and displayed with the rest of the submarine flags memorializing submarines lost at sea on display at the Bowfin Museum.
Among the other participants who took part in the ceremony were members of the Pacific Fleet Submarine Memorial Association, VFW Post 1572 First Filipino Infantry, U.S. Submarine League Aloha Chapter, Submarine Officers’ Wives Club, Branch 46 Fleet Reserve Association, and Branch 46 Ladies Auxiliary of the Fleet Reserve Association.
SUBMARINES: Torpedoes in Use Today
September 2, 2004: August 27, 2004: For the submarine, the main weapon was, and still is, the torpedo. The torpedoes used through World War II were generally the types that ran in a straight line, and often were fired in spreads (several fired at once). They detonated, usually on contact with a ship’s hull. Primitive magnetic exploders were used by the Americans, but a poor testing program left them unreliable (fluctuations in the earth’s magnetic field led to premature detonations). Often, a submarine would have to fire a spread (usually two to six torpedoes) to hit something. Single hits would rarely sink a large ship.
Today, torpedoes are much deadlier. Perhaps the deadliest torpedoes against surface vessels are the 650mm (25.5-inch) torpedoes fired by Russian submarines. Two of these are in use: The 65-73, which has a 20-kiloton nuclear warhead, and the 65-76, which has a large conventional warhead. These torpedoes have one target: American aircraft carriers. Fortunately, the only country that uses submarines capable of firing these torpedoes (the Akula, Victor III, and Oscar-class submarines) is Russia. Russia has a wide variety of more common 533mm (21-inch) torpedoes, as well, not only wire-guided and active/passive homing, but also wake-homing (these torpedoes home in at the start point of a surface vessel’s wake, and thus are very difficult to spoof or jam).
France has two major torpedoes: The F17 Mod 2B, which has both wire-guidance and a back-up wake-homing system. This torpedo can reach out to 20 kilometers at a speed of 83 kilometers per hour, and is designed for use against surface vessels. The L7 is a shorter-ranged torpedo (7.2 kilometers) which is intended for use against submarines.
Italy uses the A.184 series of torpedoes. The latest version, the Black Shark, can go up to 92 kilometers per hour, and reach out to 20 kilometers. Like the F17 Mod 2B, it has both wire-guidance and wake-homing capabilities. Germany’s top-of-the-line torpedo is the DM2A4 Seehecht Mod 1, which relies on a wire-guidance system. Germany also exports the SUT series, which is used in the Type 209 submarines exported to a number of countries, including Argentina, India, South Korea, and Indonesia.
The best all-around torpedoes, though, come from the United States and the United Kingdom. The Royal Navy uses the Spearfish torpedo, which is fast (120 kilometers per hour) and has a range of 22 kilometers. This torpedo arms the Swiftsure and Trafalgar-class submarines. The British have used the Mk 24 Tigerfish in the past, which is slower (94 kilometers per hour) with shorter range (13 kilometers). The British did score first blood with a nuclear submarine (HMS Conqueror) using World War II-vintage Mk 8s (two hits on the Argentinean cruiser General Belgrano in May, 1982).
The United States uses the Mk 48, which has matured into the Mk 48 Mod 6 ADCAP. The Mk 48 Mod 6 is as fast as the Spearfish, but it doesn’t reach as far (20 kilometers). A new Mk 48 Mod 7 is in development, which will be much quieter. The development of torpedoes is leading to countermeasures.
Submariner’s claim is that there are two types of vessels: Submarines and targets. This is open to debate (see what happened to German submarines in both World Wars), but the submarines are getting deadlier weapons, while surface vessels are getting countermeasures to the more capable torpedoes, and the ability to detect and destroy submarines. Peacetime exercises indicate that submarines still have an edge, but in a war, the submarines would be vastly outnumbered by anti-submarine forces. This is what happened in World War II, and could happen again.– Harold C. Hutchison (hchutch@ix.netcom.com)
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Submarine News
3:46 p Search to begin for Navy's first submarine
(RALEIGH) - A search began in August off the North Carolina coast for remains of the USS Alligator, the U.S. Navy's first submarine. The 47-foot vessel was allowed to sink during a storm in April 1863 while being towed from Washington, DC, to Charleston, South Carolina, to battle the Confederate Navy. The Office of Naval Research and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says they'll hunt for the cylindrical ship in the Atlantic about 20 miles southeast of Ocracoke Island. Researchers will use side-scan sonar and powerful metal detectors to scan the area where the ship was believed to have drifted before going down. East Carolina University researchers will help operate the vessel. |
if you know the artist of this cartoon please contact the editor
Submarine History - 1580
The first published prescription for a submarine came from the pen of WILLIAM BOURNE, an English innkeeper and scientific dilettante. Bourne first offered a lucid description of why a ship floats – by displacing its weight of water -- and then described a mechanism by which:
"It is possible to make a Ship or Boat that may go under the water unto the bottom, and so to come up again at your pleasure. [If] Any magnitude of body that is in the water … having always but one weight, may be made bigger or lesser, then it Shall swim when you would, and sink when you list ..."
In other words, decrease the volume to make the boat heavier than the weight of the water it displaces, and it will sink. Make it lighter, by increasing the volume, and it will rise. He wrote of watertight joints of leather, and a screw mechanism to wind the volume-changing "thing" in and out. Bourne was describing a principle, not a plan for a submarine, and offered no |
While standing QMOW on the midwatch one night a LTJG just qualified OOD came to look at the chart. He saw a symbol along our track circled in red and labeled KEEP OUT.
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OOD: Is that a buoy? ME: Yes sir, a super buoy. OOD: What's the difference between a super buoy and a regular buoy? ME: Well sir, it wears a red cape and boots and flies around the ocean fighting crime. |
He walked away from the plot without a word.
- ET2/SS Adam Kingsley, USS Hyman G. Rickover SSS-709
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EARNING YOUR DOLPHINES
It takes a heap o learnin’ for a qualifyin' gob That’s the story I was told by one ol’ Navy COB He sez you gotta learn to put a boat together Then tear it down and fix it in most ever kinda weather.
There ain’t no rest or pleasure for a guy who’s NQP And a lowly DINK is good as dead, or so the COB tells me. You gotta get ten sigs a week, or maybe it is twenty, I cant recall just how it wuz but I know thet it wuz plenty.
You gotta learn bout pressure air and when you got that done, You answer questions by the score or is it by the ton? If you're late in gettin sigs, you muster with the Chief An he has DINKS for breakfast, he's tough beyond belief.
Next you study ships control, electrical, an scopes , Your situations critical, you’re almost outa hopes. An don’t forget hydraulics, radar and sonar, too, Propulsion next you gotta learn cause that’s whut turns the screw.
Emergency equipment, explain and demonstrate, If you’re in port, you stay aboard, no time to celebrate. Finally, there comes a day when you stand to take your test Before the board you prove to all that you’re the very best.
The Captain pins a badge on you, this is your crowning glory You’ve earned your Dolphins fair and square, the end of one proud story, Next mornin, bright an early, you’re awakened with this quip, Come on, sailor, rise and shine, its time to learn the ship!
Greenfield, Indiana Copyright October 18, 1997 |
No BCP or SCP?
Chief Electronics Technician Jerry Allan Bolte, co-pilot, and Senior Chief Machinist’s Mate Scott McIntire, pilot, operate the ship's control panel aboard the attack submarine PCU Virginia. U.S. Navy photo by Journalist 1st Class James Pinsk
Atlantic Ocean (Aug. 22, 2004) – Chief Electronics Technician Jerry Allan Bolte, co-pilot, and Senior Chief Machinist’s Mate Scott McIntire, pilot, operate the ship's control panel aboard the attack submarine PCU Virginia. Unlike submarines before it, Virginia eliminates the traditional helmsman, planesman, chief of the watch and diving officer of the watch stations by combining all of them into two watch stations manned by E-6 and above personnel. (Navy Newsstand) The periscopes do not penetrate the hull, and are controlled by a joy stick, and viewed on a video screen.(B&W, color, and IR) The ST's stand watch in the aft port corner of control. Also, control is in middle level and the Goat Locker is just aft of control. (ed note: I guess the video game generation has designed the ultimate video game to play) |
Advice to Teenagers from Bill Gates
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RULE 1 - Life is not fair; get used to it. RULE 2 - The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself. RULE 3 - You will NOT make 40 thousand dollars a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice president with a car phone, until you earn both. RULE 4 - If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure. RULE 5 - Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping, they called it opportunity. RULE 6 - If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from.
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RULE 7 - Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents' generation, try "delousing" the clothes in your own room.m them. RULE 8 - Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades; they will let you try as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life. RULE 9 - Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time. RULE 10 - Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs. RULE 11 - Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one. |
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Base Schedule
October 23rd Joint Cincy/Hoosier Base meeting New Alsace Indiana American Legion. Great meeting last year, fun time with the Indiana base members and families. Base cooks fried chicken and members provide covered dishes.
No November meeting
December
Luncheon date yet to be determined, looking for a Sunday afternoon 12/5 or 12/12 meeting at Jim and Jack's on River Road. Last year we had a great meal provided by the Tavern.
visit the base webpage at http://www.cincysubvets.com/ for location and directions to our monthly meetings
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What is a Veteran?
Some veterans bear visible signs of their service: a missing limb, a jagged scar, a certain look in the eye. Others may carry the evidence inside them: a pin holding a bone together, a piece of shrapnel in the leg - or perhaps another sort of inner steel: the soul's ally forged in the refinery of adversity. Except in parades, however, the men and women who have kept America safe wear no badge or emblem. You can't tell a vet just by looking. He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi Arabia sweating two gallons a day making sure the armored personnel carriers didn't run out of fuel. He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber than five wooden planks, whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a hundred times in the cosmic scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the 38th parallel. She - or he - is the nurse who fought against futility and went to sleep sobbing every night for two solid years in Da Nang. He is the POW who went away one person and came back another - or didn't come back AT ALL. He is the Quantico drill instructor who has never seen combat - but has saved countless lives by turning slouchy, no-account rednecks and gang members into Marines, and teaching them to watch each other's backs. He is the parade - riding Legionnaire who pins on his ribbons and medals with a prosthetic hand. He is the career quartermaster who watches the ribbons and medals pass him by. He is any one of the anonymous heroes in The Tomb Of The Unknowns, whose presence at the Arlington National Cemetery must forever preserve the memory of all the anonymous heroes whose valor dies unrecognized with them on the battlefield or in the ocean's sunless deep. He is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket - palsied now and aggravatingly slow - who helped liberate a Nazi death camp and who wishes all day long that his wife were still alive to hold him when the nightmares come. He is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human being - a person who offered some of his life's most vital years in the service of his country, and who sacrificed his ambitions so others would not have to sacrifice theirs. He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the darkness, and he is nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the finest, greatest nation ever known. So remember, each time you see someone who has served our country, just lean over and say Thank You. That's all most people need, and in most cases it will mean more than any medals they could have been awarded or were awarded. ...two little words that mean a lot, "THANK YOU". |
THE TEN MOST DANGEROUS THINGS ON A SUBMARINE
10. AN A-GANGER THAT CAN ACTUALLY READ.
9. A MECHANIC WITH ANYTHING ELECTRICAL,
8. THE 3" LAUNCHER AND ANYTHING THAT GOES IN IT.
7. THE COB (NUFF SAID).
6. ANY TIME A LT SAYS " I WAS JUST THINKING..."
5. AN ENSIGN WHO SAYS " BASED ON MY EXPERIENCE....."
4. ANY OF THE UNENLIGHTENED GROUP KNOWN AS NONQUALS.
3. A SONAR SUP WHO SAYS " TRUST ME, IT'S BIOLOGICS"
2. A SKINNY MS
1. ANYBODY SAYING " HEY WATCH THIS S*** !"
Psalms 107:23-24
They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
these see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
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U.S. Submarine Veterans, Inc Cincinnati Base
David Self – Editor 3261 Old Oxford Rd Hamilton, Ohio 45013
www.cincysubvets.com
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October
USS Wahoo (SS-238) was lost on 11-Oct-1943 USS Dorado (SS-248) was lost on 12-Oct-1943 USS Escolar (SS-294) was about 17-Oct-1944 USS Shark (SS-314) was lost on 24-Oct-1944 USS Seawolf (SS-197) was lost on 3-Oct-1944 USS O-5 (SS-66) was lost on 11-Oct-1923 USS S-44 (SS-155) was lost on 7-Oct-1943 USS Tang (SS-306) was lost on 25-Oct-1944 USS Darter (SS-227) was lost on 24-Oct-1944 |
November
USS Corvina (SS-226) was lost on 16-Nov-1943 USS Growler (SS-215) was lost on 8-Nov-1944 USS Albacore (SS-218) was lost on 7-Nov-1944 USS Scamp (SS-277) was lost on 16-Nov-1944 USS Sculpin (SS-191) was lost on 19-Nov-1943
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December
USS S-4 (SS-109) was lost on 17-Dec-1927 USS Capelin (SS-289) was lost about1-Dec-1943 USS F-1 (SS-20) was lost on 17-Dec-1917 USS Sealion (SS-195) was lost on 25-Dec-1941
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Submarines on Eternal Patrol
Anyone reading this list is asked to spend a moment in silence for these departed shipmates.