7 APRIL 1966 LOST H-BOMB Considering the pace of Cold War activities in the 1960s, accidents were bound to happen. Such was the case on 17 January 1966 when an Air Force B-52 collided with a KC-135 tanker during an aerial Read More
2 APRIL 1944 FATAL ACCIDENT The Caroline Island lagoon of Chuuk (formerly Truk), ringed by a 40-mile-wide coral reef, was a key forward naval base for the Japanese in WWII. With the Allied advance across the Pacific, Truk became the target Read More
100th ANNIVERSARY 5 NOVEMBER 1923 AIRPLANE ON A SUBMARINE Several 20th century navies experimented with the deployment of aircraft from a submarine, but the Japanese are perhaps the best remembered. They successfully operated combat aircraft from their I-class submarines–famously launching Read More
100th ANNIVERSARY 28 OCTOBER 1923 FIRST SUBMARINE RESCUE When the four O-class US Navy submarines O-3 (SS-135), O-5 (SS-137), O-6 (SS-138) and O-8 (SS-140) were vectored to the Atlantic end of the Panama Canal for a routine transit on the Read More
3 OCTOBER 1944 THE TRAGEDY OF SEAWOLF The Sargo-class fleet submarine SEAWOLF (SS-197) was a veteran of the Pacific war by this date, having served nearly continuously since the Pearl Harbor raid. The 71,608 tons of enemy shipping she had sent Read More
20 MARCH 1945 LAST TRANSMISSION FROM KETE The fleet submarine KETE (SS-369) was launched 9 April 1944, one of the prolific Balao-class submarines that proved so successful in WWII. Like most, she was named for a fish, in this case a Read More
12 FEBRUARY 1947 THE KGW-1 “LOON” German technology of WWII was envied by the Allies. In the final months of the war, captured German systems began making their way to the US. One such innovation was the V-1 “buzz bomb,” a Read More
2 DECEMBER 1943 THE LOSS OF CAPELIN LCDR Elliott E. “Steam” Marshall reported to the Portsmouth Navy Yard in the Spring 1943 as ordered. He had delivered his old command, USS CUTTLEFISH (SS-171), to New London at the end of 1942 Read More
17-18 AUGUST 1942 MAKIN RAID As a diversion to the 10-day-old invasion of Guadalcanal, 222 men of the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion embarked on two submarines, USS NAUTILUS (SS-168) and USS ARGONAUT (SM-1), for a raid behind enemy lines. Commanding the Read More