Fleet Plan of the Day
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- Brad Williamson
- POD - SSN 680
Today's School of the Boat lesson is on sharing. Not like the cookies and milk stuff you learned about in Kindergarten, more like the "hey, I found the best lumpia and shrimp fried rice in this little joint on Magsaysay Boulevard! You got to check it out!" kind of sharing. So listen up because everybody gets qualified on this one, no exceptions. This is some of the fundamental training, like phone-talking, or using an EAB. You just have to know it!
First, let's revisit the mission. On the boat, the mission changed routinely depending on the needs of the country as defined in the most current tasking orders. Here on the www.ssn-680.org website, the mission is defined by one constant theme: locate and connect with every sailor that has ever been assigned to the USS WILLIAM H. BATES (SSN 680). Pretty simple and straightforward...
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- Details
- Brad Williamson
- POD - SSN 680
This image is designed to be used as a cover photo in Facebook and it's size and layout make it fit Facebook and LinkedIn accounts with ease. In the spirit of true shipmates, feel free to upload to your account if you desire, and share with your friends through Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter and other social media.
- Details
- Brad Williamson
- POD - SSN 680
UPDATED 10 MAY 2014
I was browsing about the interwebs the other day, looking for submarine photos of interest for the SSN-680.org Pinterest page. (What? You didn't realize that ssn-680.org has been collecting tons of submarine related photos and pinning them on Pinterest? Well, click the "See On Pinterest" link in the right column of every page and head over to to the SSN-680.org Pinterset Account and check it out, shipmate!
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- Brad Williamson
- POD - SSN 680
It's been thirty years since Tom Clancy captured the essence of the submarine cold war with the thriller 'The Hunt For Red October", and almost that long since I last crossed the brow of the USS William H. Bates. Since then, I have not found a submarine novel that came close to gold standard of naval fiction that Clancy so deftly penned. For those of you that have been on a similar journey, I may have some good news for you.
I have recently come across a new submarine novel called the Trident Deception, written by Rick Campbell, a former boat sailor himself, who wrapped up his naval career as XO of the USS Maryland (SSBN-783). I found out about this book from a USS GRENADIER (SS-525) sailor, Reggie Thurlow, that has recently joined us here at SSN-680.org, and having heard the author's story, I decided it was worth letting you know about it as well.
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- Brad Williamson
- POD - SSN 680
We are invited! The USS GRENADIER (SS-525) is having a reunion in Jacksonville, Florida, this coming September! While we are always willing to help spread the word for our "brothers of the 'fin", this reunion is special in ways that set it apart from the others.
First, we've been invited! I know it's hard to believe, especially given our reputation in the 'Po, but I have it on the good word of their reunion organizer, Reggie Thurlow, that they'd actually like to see us in Jacksonville.
Of course, you might be wondering why. After all, the USS GRENADIER was a diesel boat launched in December of 1944 (but not actually commissioned until 1951). One of the first 'Guppy' submarines, with an actual snorkel even, this Tench-class boat was one of those blockading Cuba during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
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- Brad Williamson
- POD - SSN 680
The Crew Gallery returns! It's been a while, but the Crew Gallery is finally ready for prime time!
Found under Up Scope!, the Crew Gallery currently contains almost 1500 images posted by former crewmembers of the USS WILLIAM H. BATES (SSN 680) from Commissioning to recent reunions. Having been down for a lengthy transition to the new software, the Crew Gallery is for all shipmates to upload photos you'd like to share of those salad days of Med Runs and West Pacs.
- Details
- Brad Williamson
- POD - SSN 680
The site is officially back on line. It has been a difficult few months making the transition from the old Bates website to this new responsive format. Not everything has made the transition yet, and we still have a lot of work to do, but at least we are back in business. For all of you that have had trouble over the last few months logging in or registering, or receiving email updates from the site, I apologize. The scope of the upgrade was not anticpated, and problems occurred during the upgrade that set us back to square one multiple times.
