Sunday, December 31, 2006 by The Chief.

Excellent read from the Stupid Shall be Punished.

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Sunday, December 31, 2006 by The Chief.

According to the BBC, the dead crew members have been identified as Senior Chief Thomas Higgins, 45, of Paducah, Kentucky, and Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Holtz, 30, of Lakewood, Ohio.

ETCS(SS) Higgins was the USS Minneapolis St. Paul’s COB (Chief of the Boat).   He and STS2(SS) Holtz were part of the small-boat party that was assisting the Pilot to leave the Submarine.

Rest in Peace, Shipmates!

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Friday, December 29, 2006 by The Chief.

The nuclear-powered submarine is based at Norfolk, Virginia

Two crew members of an American submarine have died after falling overboard in Plymouth Sound.

They were among four crewmen who were working in poor weather on the outside casing of the USS Minneapolis-St Paul off the Devon coast.

A rescue helicopter from RNAS Culdrose, a tug boat and a lifeboat were sent to the men’s aid while they were tied on to the side of the 110m (362ft) vessel.

The sailors were brought back to shore and taken by ambulance to hospital.

. . .http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/6217471.stm

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Wednesday, December 27, 2006 by The Chief.

President Ford was one of four Commanders-in-Chief that I served under, and is the only one that I got to meet. He was an honorable man that sacrificed his political career for the good of the nation.

Rest in Peace!

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Monday, December 25, 2006 by The Chief.

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Wednesday, December 20, 2006 by The Chief.

Norway Threatened by WWII-Era Submarine
- By DOUG MELLGREN, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
(12-20) 12:30 PST OSLO, Norway (AP) –

More than 60 years after being torpedoed by the British navy, a Nazi submarine built to threaten allied ships continues to spread fear off the coast of Norway.

The rusting wreckage of the U-864, sunk in a desperate mission to supply Japan with advanced weapons technology, now poses a major environmental threat due to its poisonous cargo: 70 tons of mercury.

Residents on the tiny island of Fedje, located in the North Sea on roughly the same latitude as Scotland’s Shetland Islands, want the sub removed. But authorities fear a salvage operation could result in a catastrophic spill, and suggest entombing the wreck in the seabed with rocks, cement and sand.

“Local people are very concerned,” Fedje’s Mayor Erling Walderhaug told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “They wanted it taken away so the danger would be gone for good.”

The U-864 tried to skirt allied navy patrols on a last-ditch secret mission code-named “Caesar,” to bring jet engine parts, missile guidance systems and mercury for weapons production to Germany’s ally, Japan. British experts discovered the mission by breaking a German code.

In a rare underwater duel, the British submarine HMS Venturer stalked the U-864 for three hours before it finally sank it on Feb. 9, 1945, about 2 1/2 miles off Fedje. . . .

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/12/20/international/i123020S91.DTL

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Friday, December 1, 2006 by The Chief.

This is a Drill, This is a Drill!

All of the links went dead for some reason, but my host managed to get things working again.  So, we’re back in business.

Thanks for your patience.

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