Fleet Plan of the Day
- Details
- Frank Allen
- AMOEBA RACES 21 - 680
In the true spirit of the Amoeba Races, we are once again off to the races! The Amoeba Races!
Now that most states are opening up for travel, we are moving ahead with the Amoeba Races 2021, also known as this year's USS WILLIAM H. BATES (SSN 680) reunion.
We are coordinating our reunion with the USSVI annual convention in Orlando, Florida. This allows us to take advantage of their hotel rates as well as their scheduled activities. Plans are still being developed but here is what we have now:
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- Details
- Brad Williamson
- POD - SSN 680
SSN-680.org is dead.
Well, the website is still up, and if you type www.ssn-680.org, you’ll still get to the familiar blue and orange Bates site. It’s still usable to a degree, and you can still register and log in. Maybe dead-locked is a better word.
Time marches on. We have reached the point I can’t continue to modify and improve the website because of the database that drives the site. I found out last week when I wasn’t able to incorporate tracking of RSVP ’s to the August get-together in Orlando. The data structure behind the web site literally reached its limit, and without a major overhaul we can’t do much with it. That’s all on me, based on decisions made over eight years ago during the sun-680.org website’s first overhaul.
- Details
- Brad Williamson
- AMOEBA RACES 21 - 680
There is a hint of reunion in the air. A good idea, long overdue, is coming together. Enough of you have expressed interest to motivate a few of you to push this forward.
We really haven't established anything more than the possibility at this point, but it's looking like Labor Day weekend of this year in Orlando, FL, with the USSVI Annual Convention might be a real possibility.
Check here for conversation as this evolves. Look for updates through the P.O.D., Facebook groups, and the occasional Familygram.
We'll keep you posted!
- Details
- Brad Williamson
- POD - SSN 680
I have a question for you. Most of us reading this have served on at least one submarine during Cold War, the Bates, and many have served on six, eight, and even more during their Navy careers. The question, which I’ll answer somewhere later in this post, is “How many submarines of the U.S. Navy were in service during the Cold War?”
For sake of argument, I’ll propose that the Cold War ran roughly between the end of WW II until the fall of the Soviet Union. Call it the beginning of 1946 through the end of 1991, and the boat must have been in commission at some point during that time.
Now hold on to your answer and your hats, because there is something I need to tell you.
- Details
- Brad Williamson
- POD - Fleet
Thanks for taking the time to check out the new Cold War Boats Association website. You’ve seen the Welcome Aboard message so you have an idea of what this is all about. You’ve seen the many “On The Ways” articles, so you know that this is as work in progress and we have a long, long, way to go. If you’ve had a chance to look at your boat’s pages, you’ve discovered that the only active site as of this date is the USS WILLIAM H. BATES (SSN 680).
We clearly have work to do, but I want to share a little about how we got here to put this all in context.
In 2008 I was contacted by a former SSN 680 shipmate, Bill Byers, who proposed the idea that us Bates sailors have an informal reunion, which quickly morphed into the formal reunion REGROUPEX 09. In order to support registration and help locate our sailing buddies, I volunteered to set up a website at www.ssn-680.org, and help connect everyone that might want to attend.
- Details
- Brad Williamson
- POD - SSN 680
Forty-eight years ago today, the USS WILLIAM H. BATES (SSN 680) hit the water for the first time.
At a ceremony in Pascagoula, Mississippi, both the wife and daughter of Congressman Bates were present to applaud the result of two years of work by Ingalls Nuclear Shipbuilding afloat the way she was meant to be. While it would be another year and a half before she was ready for commissioning and sea trials, the Bates would go on to a noble career that would span almost 28 years.
- Details
- Brad Williamson
- POD - SSN 680
As previously reported here, Chris Pipkin, ET2(SS), Nav ET - Operations Electronics, 79-83, passed away on 22 SEP 2019 from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident.
Linda Pipkin and her son Christopher Radke invite you to honor Chris and join with his family in a Celebration of Life on this coming Saturday, 16 NOV 2019, from 1330 to 1530 in Alpine, CA.
The Celebration will be held at the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Bert Fuller Post 9578, 844 Tavern Road, Alpine, CA 91901, located in the East San Diego County area. Street parking is available.
