Fleet Plan of the Day
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If you were at the 680 reunion in Las Vegas last week, and likely even if you weren’t, you know I can’t resist the opportunity for story-telling. Nothing like a good sea-story to reconnect, share a few laughs, and remind us of how many years it’s been since we last set foot in Ops Middle Level.
Now, for the first time ever you will have the opportunity to join me nationwide via the magic of radio and the internet. I have been invited to join radio & TV personality, Steve Kates AKA Dr. Sky, as we discuss life on a submarine in contrast to life in outer space, our very own Cold War Boats Association, and probably everything in between.
Mark your calendars for this Saturday evening, the 17th of May, and join us at 2100 (9:00 pm) Pacific - midnight Eastern time, for two hours of interesting banter about submarine life and why that remains so important to us after all these years.
The Cold War Boats Association and website depends on our membership to help us grow. You spread the word by sharing on social media, chatting it up with your shipmates, and so forth.
But the very nature of the submarine community works against us. Social media is divided by boats/commands; they are exclusive, and rightfully so. We don’t have much tolerance for posers, wannabes, and preying advertisers. That also makes it hard for us to spread the word.
In the long run, that is a losing end game. There are fewer of us Cold War boat sailors every day - I know, just from our own Eternal Patrol list. The time is near when it will be more important to be part of the Cold War Boats community than it will to be part of a dwindling few members of a specific command.
Cold War Boats has recently assumed responsibility for the USS HADDO (SSN 604) website.
Ralph Stroede, the current USS HADDO webmaster, graciously allowed us to capture all of the content of the old usshaddo.com website, and import it into the SSN 604 site at coldwarboats.org, provided we allow him to retire as webmaster!
Until we get the usshaddo.com domain name transferred and redirected, the new USS HADDO site can be found here: either https://ssn-604.coldwarboats.org or https://ssn604.coldwarboats.org.
Read more: USS HADDO (SSN 604) Site Transferred to Cold War Boats!
HIGHLIGHTS!!
- Upload your photos to coldwarboats.org for sharing and preservation.
- Photos/Albums appear in HOMEPORT >> SHIPMATE GALLERIES. Locate by most recent, command, photo dates, or topics.
- Your photos are also visible on your user profile.
- Uploading photos can be done by any registered and logged in user.
Shipmate Galleries are a feature associated with your User Profile, which is accessible by clicking on your name under the Current Watchsection listing in the upper right-hand column of every page once you’ve logged in.
The USS GUITARRO (SSN 665) website at coldwarboats.org has been launched, and already has a few photos, a Commissioning Booklet from 1972, and a couple of interesting postal covers in the Ship’s Post Office.
The site is ready for fitting out - all it needs is your submissions of photos, stories, and artifacts. It can be found here: https://coldwarboats.org/the-boat-665/uss-guitarro-ssn-665/quarterdeck-665
Guitarro was a Sturgeon-class submarine, and boasted an impressive service career during the Cold War. She played a major role in developing tactics for prototype combat systems deployed to the Pacific submarine fleet, in particular the Submarine Towed Array Sensor System (STASS) along with its BQR-20 series digital sonar displays. In the mid-1970s, Guitarro also installed the first digital submarine combat system (BQQ-5 sonar and Mk-117 fire control system) and participated in the development of submarine-launched Harpoon and Tomahawk cruise missiles.
Despite her accolades, she is remembered for her pre-commissioning sinking at the pier during fitting out at Mare Island Naval Shipyard on 15 May 1969. Lack of oversight and communication between civilian construction testing groups resulted in a complete flooding of the boat, a rapid unrecoverable sinking, leaving her resting on the bottom showing nothing but sail.
