Congratulations on being member of the month from 1 Vermonter to another, Don T was right very interesting bio and what an accomplished family.

Tornadoes ain't no fun. I've been in three. My advice: build your house below the military crest between two ridge lines. Lost a TV aerial, lost the tops of pine trees, but never lost a shingle.

Bruce
Birmingham Alabama

P.S. It really does sound like an express train passing overhead.

USS EAGLE NO. 2 PE-2 Officers Mail PPC Constantinople 1919

(Will send scans on request. Greg kindly posted it in the Naval Cover Museum http://www.navalcovermuseum.org/wiki/index.php?title=EAGLE_2_PE_2)

Will trade even-steven for a nice EAGLE NO. 1 PE-1 cover or postcard.

Bruce
bdliddell@yahoo.com

The same storm caused a 30 vehicle pileup on the Maine Turnpike near Scarboro. Cars and trucks stacked like logs. The most serious injury I heard of was broken ribs. Another Miracle!

Need not hurry as much - DECOMMISSIONING STATION USS AUSTIN LPD-4, 9/27/06 2600 ELTHAM AVE STE 109, NORFOLK VA, 23513-2501 (2501 is listed).

Need your new postal mailing address--THANKS for everything.

Ed Devlin,
Glad to hear the cover made it up the SE Expressway to you, and hope itsone you could use.

The Sea Shadow, an experimental stealth ship, and the Hughes Mining Barge, built for the CIA in a failed super-secret scheme to raise a sunken Soviet missile sub, could become a tourist attraction near you.

As part of its ship donation program, the Navy will hand over the once top-secret vessels to a state, local government or non-profit group willing to open a floating museum with the vessels.

Also got some more USS TEXAS FDCs from Galveston

September 22, 2006

Dear Mr. Miller:

I have received your request for the pictorial cancellation of the "Old Glory Station". Unfortunately the cancellation device came to me with an incorrect zip code. Apparently the sponsoring agency did not follow the proper authorization procedure and approval from the Postmaster Boston to confirm the validity of the address for the cancel. I cannot cancel your cover with a non-existent zip code.

I have contacted United States Postal Service's Stamp Division to find out how to handle this situation. I would expect that the correct zip code for the site of "Old Ironsides" which is 02129 will be substituted for 02101.

Please let me know if you have your covers cancelled with the proper zip code or if you want me to return them to you. You will find an addressed return envelope enclosed.

Because of the mix up we will extend the window of time to cancel these covers which we received within the normal time fram for requesting the cancellation.

Sincerely,

Carolyn T. Derby
Manager Retail
Boston District
25 Dorchester Avenue, Room 4009
Boston, MA 02205-9600

A House-Senate conference has approved an FY2007 Defense Appropriations bill that includes a total of $11.0 billion for Navy shipbuilding and conversion. This includes $1.8 billion to purchase one Virginia-class submarine, $1.1 billion for one LHA(R) amphibious assault ship, $455 million for one T-AKE ammunition ship, and $521 million for two Littoral Combat Ships (LCSs). The recommendation funds the purchase of two lead DDG-1000 Zumwalt class destroyers [ this used to be the DD(X)], including $2.6 billion for this purpose.

Ship Tour Schedule
Sept. 27-30
USS Jeremiah O’Brien (retired Liberty Ship at the San Diego Maritime Museum)

Sept. 30-Oct. 1
USS Tarawa (LHA – Amphibious Assault Ship)
USS Pinckney (DDG – Destroyer)

Oct. 7-8
USS Vandergrift (FFG – Frigate)
USS Pearl Harbor (LSD – Dock Landing Ship)
The Port Of San Diego Sea & Air Parade
Presented By The San Diego Union-Tribune

Participating Ships

Tall Ship California
S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien
USS Princeton
USS Jarrett
USNS Navajo
USS Pearl Harbor
USS Higgins
USCGC Active
USS Nimitz
Stiletto

Lauren DiGeronimo
Senior Account Executive
Nuffer, Smith, Tucker, Inc.
707 Broadway, 19th Floor
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 296-0605 ext. 247
(619) 296-8530 fax
http://www.nstpr.com
Partner, The WORLDCOM Public Relations Group
http://www.worldcomgroup.com

US Postal Service
Susan West
101 25th St.
Newport News, VA 23607-9998

MARINETTE, Wis. (NNS) -- Thousands looked on Sept. 24 as the Navy christened and launched the nation's first littoral combat ship, Freedom (LCS-1), at the Marinette Marine shipyard.

“Just a little more than three years ago she was just an idea, now Freedom stands before us. And on this morning, we christen her, send her down the ways and get her ready to join the fleet next year,” said Adm. Mike Mullen, Chief of Naval Operations. “It comes none too soon, because there are tough challenges out there that only she can handle.”

The 377-foot Freedom is capable of speeds in excess of 40 knots and can operate in water less than 20 feet deep. The ship will act as a platform for launch and recovery of manned and unmanned vehicles. Its modular design will support interchangeable mission packages, allowing the ship to be reconfigured for antisubmarine warfare, mine warfare, or surface warfare missions on an as-needed basis.

“Until now, this vessel has been a part of the shipyard structure -- a mass of steel, cables and electronics. Today Freedom is a maritime vessel. She is on her way to joining our great Navy patrolling the vast oceans of our world,” said Delores Etter, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition.

Freedom acknowledges the enduring foundation of our nation and honors American communities which bear the name Freedom. States having towns named Freedom include California, Indiana, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

But, as Mullen made clear, Freedom also acknowledges new challenges faced by the Navy in the war on terror and will complement the vision of a global “1,000-ship navy” built upon ad hoc maritime partnerships.

“Freedom will know how to fight, but she can also be a friend,” said Mullen. “I am convinced that if we pool resources together, as partners and friends, we can best tackle many of the tough maritime problems we face. The Freedom class will fit perfectly into such partnerships. Her shallow draft and agility will allow her to go, when asked -- deep into green and brown water -- where we, our allies, and emerging partners face some of the most difficult challenges.”

The christening ceremony included the traditional smashing of a champagne bottle across the ship's bow, performed by ship's sponsor Birgit Smith. The ship then made a dramatic side-launch into the Menominee River.

Smith is the wife of U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul Ray Smith, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery and gallantry above and beyond the call of duty in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Mullen put Birgit Smith’s selection as sponsor into perspective for the assembled crowd by referring to a letter her husband wrote home from Iraq.

“When I think of his words ‘I am prepared to give all that I am’ and the way he did exactly that, it reminds me of the true high cost of living in America, the price of freedom,” he said. “Paul paid that debt for us. His valor reminds us that we must be ready to defend freedom whenever and wherever it is challenged.

“Ships also really do take on the spirit of their sponsor,” he continued. “And I for one will take great comfort that when Freedom’s crews sail into harm’s way your quiet strength will go with them.”

Freedom will be manned by one of two rotational crews, blue and gold, similar to the rotational crews assigned to Trident submarines. The crews will be augmented by one of three mission package crews during focused mission assignments.

The blue crew commanding officer is Cmdr. Donald Gabrielson, who was born in northern Minnesota and graduated from the U.S. Navy Academy in 1989. The gold crew commanding officer is Cmdr. Michael Doran, who was born in Harrisonville, Mo., and graduated from Villanova University in 1989.

Freedom will continue to undergo outfitting and testing at Marinette Marine. The ship will be commissioned in 2007 and eventually homeported in San Diego, Ca.

The second LCS, named Independence, is currently under construction at Bath Iron Work in Bath, Maine. General Dynamics Corporation is building Indepence to a different design than that of Freedom.

In the Navy we routinely relieve the COs after major casualties pending investigation. Rarely are they reinstated.

Others snapped panoramic photos and took walks during the two-hour break, stretching their legs after a month aboard the 420-foot icebreaker.

Lt. Jessica Hill and Boatswain's Mate Steven Duque seized the chance for a training dive and slipped into a patch of open water near the Healy's bow. A team held ropes attached to the divers, lest they become disoriented under the ice. Several research scientists watched from the deck.

But no one knows what happened on the other end of those ropes on that cold, brilliant summer day -- except that both divers died.

The Coast Guard has started two investigations, relieved the Healy's captain, pulled all diving equipment off the ship and suspended all polar diving. But nothing has been said about what might have killed Hill, 31, and Duque, 22, on August 17, or when the investigations will conclude.

"We can get no word whatsoever, and that's tough," Hill's father, William Hill Jr., said. "We can't even get the death certificates."

The Healy was on a research mission backed by the National Science Foundation. On board were three dozen scientists collecting data that would help them map the ocean floor and study the Earth's crust to better understand earthquakes, tsunamis and plate tectonics.

Hill, the ship's marine science officer and a native of St. Augustine, Florida, was an experienced civilian diver before she joined the Coast Guard about four years ago. Her shipmates described her as a fun-loving officer who, during a trip to the North Pole last year, posed on the ice in a bikini by a red and white striped pole.

Duque, whose responsibilities included keeping the Healy's decks in order, operating machinery and driving launch boats, was from Miami, Florida. Colleagues said he was exceedingly professional and inspired others to take their jobs seriously.

Both attended the Navy's dive school, which is required of all Coast Guard divers.

The pair had been underwater for about 10 minutes, estimated Harm Van Avendonk, a University of Texas geophysics researcher, and something appeared to be wrong.

"I saw people from the bow looking intently down on the ice, and I sensed immediately that they didn't look relaxed," he said. "It was taking a long time for the divers to reappear."

In a blur, the crew's training took over, several witnesses said.

The divers were pulled up by the ropes. Blankets and stretchers were rushed onto the ice, and EMTs immediately began performing CPR. The divers were carried to the ship's sick bay, where they were pronounced dead roughly two hours after the dive.

"What I can tell you is this: These people were very well trained. Every time we did something we had to have a safety briefing," said Steve Stevenoski, a high school teacher from Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, who was videotaping the frozen seascape when he heard shouts from the dive support team.

"There was an accident that was completely unforeseen," he said.

Captain relieved of duty
According to Coast Guard protocol, they would have created a "dive profile," detailing who was diving, how far down they were going and how long they would spend at various depths.

Typically such plans are drawn up by a ship's dive officer, though the captain is ultimately responsible for the safety of divers. That could explain why Capt. Douglas Russell was relieved of command less than two weeks later. Vice Adm. Charles D. Wurster, commander of the Coast Guard in the Pacific, said he had lost confidence in Russell.

The only signs of the tragedy during a recent tour of the ship were a grief counseling pamphlet on a table in the scientists' lounge and the locked and empty room where dive equipment was stored. The equipment was shipped to the Navy's dive school in Panama City, Florida, for examination.

One Coast Guard investigation is focusing on the root cause in hopes of preventing future accidents; the other is a broader administrative investigation that could result in findings of responsibility.

One investigator, a lieutenant, said Hill and Duque were the first Coast Guard divers to die underwater since the 1970s.

The Coast Guard described the dive as routine, but any dive in frigid waters beneath 4-feet-thick ice poses serious dangers. The cold can numb the extremities. Divers typically wear dry suits, which use air to help determine buoyancy. Such suits can balloon during ascents as pressure decreases -- if the diver doesn't release the air quickly enough, he or she can shoot toward the surface and crash into the ice.

They also must use equipment that can handle the cold, such as breathing regulators outfitted with rubberized covers filled with antifreeze.

The deaths were hard on the Healy's crew of 75, said Ensign Stephen Elliott, who was on the ice as part of the dive support team that day.

"These are people you watch movies with, eat with, joke around with," he said. "It's hard to explain to someone who doesn't live on a ship what it's like to be a shipmate. They were incredible shipmates."

601 25th St.
Galveston, TX 77550-9998

Is Groton still dead in the water for pictorial cancels?? I have still not recieved the following: USS Jacksonville, USS Dallas, USS Kentucky, USS Wyoming, and USS Alexandria. Surely they have some one up there who can process all of our requests by now??

I kick myself as I worked at NNSD when I first graduated from school but was not pursuing hobby at that time. Worked as Nuke MTE on TR CVN 71 from launch to builders trial, worked on Nimitz, Vinson, IKE, Washington, and Lincoln as member of the A4W RPPY. missed alot of opportunities to get covers etc..

Received covers from Vinson today nice cancellation which as usual USPS did best to mess up, but no cachet, probably because of RCOH period. working on a cover for that now.

Getting ready to watch ND and BC games go Irish!!!

Roger W.
Nice to see you back aboard, now just don't over do.

Have cover I made up using NNSD graphic (90,000 Tons of Diplomacy) and would really like to get it postmarked. I await sage guidance and hopefully no disdain.

I just got cover I sent to Dolphin in anticipation of decomm back with cachet and cancellation so will have to reload and try again for decomm.

After Decommissioning the USS TRENTON LPD-14 will be transfered to the Indian Navy in January.

I have not heard yet about a San Diego Fleet Week pictorial cancel, but I will list the USS DOLPHIN. Most pictorial cancel events in San Diego go to this same address so it might/should be the same one for Fleet Week.

P.O. Box 85530
San Diego, CA 92186-5530

ALSO, what is the address for Fleet Week San Diego pictorials?

Going through a lot of covers I purchased from Capt. Rommel found a Boston Navy Yard cover from the USS John King DDG3

Yours if you want it.

Nimitz CVN68
Bonhomme Richard LHD6
John Paul Jones DDG53
Higgins DDG76
Chafee DDG90
Princeton CG59
USCGC Steadfast WMEC623
HMCS Edmonton MM703
HMCS Brandon MM710
HMCS Saskatoon MM709

The Chelyuskin became trapped in ice in December 1933
Russian divers say they have found the wreck of a Soviet ship which sank attempting a historic journey along the Arctic coast in 1934.

The Chelyuskin was trapped in ice as it tried to complete a voyage from Murmansk in north-western Russia to Vladivostok in the Pacific Ocean.

It was supposed to show that a normal vessel - rather than an icebreaker - could complete the journey.

More than 100 of the crew were rescued by pilots who were hailed as heroes.

'Triumph'

The Chelyuskin was supposed to make history. It did, but not for the reason that Soviet propagandists had had in mind.

Russia's north coast is free of ice for only a few months in the summer.

It makes delivering vital supplies to Arctic communities a huge challenge.

As the Chelyuskin neared the end of its journey in December 1933, it became trapped in ice.

It sank in February 1934. But a failure became a triumph after the rescue operation.

After an unsuccessful attempt to find the Chelyuskin two years ago, divers say they have now located it.

Artefacts from the wreck are to be sent to Denmark, where the ship was built, to confirm its identity.

101 25th St.
Newport News, VA 23607-9998

Can anyone confirm? Thanks

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - A 56-year-old ban on tattoo parlours has been lifted in this navy town.

City council approved an ordinance Tuesday allowing tattoo parlours in certain parts of the city, home to the world's largest naval base. The ordinance restricts parlours to a few industrial zones and downtown.

The move came after courts ruled that cities may no longer prohibit tattoo parlours.

Sixty years ago, Norfolk's East Main Street was world-famous for its tattoo parlours, taverns and burlesque palaces. In 1945, there were about a dozen parlours.

That ended in 1950 when city council banned all tattoo parlours. Tattoos were branded unsanitary, vulgar, even "cannibalistic."

Tattoos have become heavily regulated by the navy. It forbids tattoos in places not covered by the uniform and regulates the types of tattoos sailors may have.

The Chinese vessels next visit Canada then I believe the Phillipines.

"The fight for freedom has been and always will be continual," Marine Gen. Peter Pace said at the annual Keeper of the Flame dinner at Union Station. "What makes me feel so good about the future of our country is the five individuals standing behind me tonight, because they truly are the future of our country."

The five servicemembers -- one from each branch of the military -- were honored at the end of the dinner, which is hosted by the Center for Security Policy.

Honored were:

-- Army Sgt. Micheaux Sanders, of Goldsboro, N.C. On April 4, 2004, at 19, then-Spc. Sanders responded with his tank crew to aid a patrol caught in an ambush by insurgents in Iraq. Despite being low on ammunition, Sanders repeatedly exposed himself to danger, firing whatever he could find and eventually throwing rocks at the enemy, all the while ignoring a bullet wound in his arm. For his actions, Sanders was awarded the Silver Star.

-- Marine Capt. Brian Chontosh, of Rochester, N.Y. While serving as a platoon commander in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom on March 25, 2003, Chontosh and his platoon encountered a coordinated ambush in a blocked road. Chontosh single-handedly cleared more than 200 meters of an enemy trench, using his own weapons and discarded enemy weapons to kill more than 20 enemy soldiers and disable many more. For his actions, Chontosh was awarded the Navy Cross.

-- Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Luis Fonseca, of Fayetteville, N.C. During a March 23, 2003, battle in Nasiriyah, Iraq, Fonseca, a hospital corpsman, raced through mortar, rocket-propelled-grenade and small-arms fire, tending to wounded Marines, even carrying a 200-pound injured Marine on his back for more than 200 yards to safety. Fonseca flagged down a vehicle to evacuate his patients and then returned to the fight after briefing battalion aid station personnel. For his actions, Fonseca was awarded the Navy Cross.

-- Air Force Tech. Sgt. Stephen Achey, of Sumter, S.C. While serving as a terminal attack commander and control specialist with an Army infantry unit during Operation Anaconda in Afghanistan, Achey's team was ambushed by enemy fire. In the attack, Achey's radio was damaged by a mortar blast. To salvage this vital piece of equipment, Achey ran across the fully exposed battlefield and retrieved the gear amid a hail of enemy fire. Using the radio, Achey was able to coordinate a gunship and fighter attack that destroyed numerous enemy positions and facilitated the evacuation of his wounded comrades. For his actions, Achey was awarded the Silver Star.

-- Coast Guard Lt. j.g. Bradley Middleton, of Davidsonville, Md. In June 2005, Middleton assumed the duties of executive officer for the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Maui, deployed to the Arabian Gulf in support of operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. Over the course of his one-year tour, Middleton spent more than 5,000 hours under way in Iraqi waters and completed more than 100 vessel boardings to ensure the safety of coalition forces off the coast of Iraq. For his service, Middleton was awarded the Coast Guard Commendation Medal with Operational Distinguishing Device.

Speaking earlier at the dinner, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said America is fortunate to have servicemembers like those honored, who volunteer to go into harm's way and defend the country.

Postmaster
Old Town Philatelic Center
P O Box 85530
San Diego CA 92186-5530

Not sure who took over when Mr. Bongard left. Phone number is 619-758-7121.

Sea SLICE (HSV)
SEA JET (AESD)
SEA SHADOW IX-529
USAV SPEARHEAD (TSV-X1)
IX-532 JOINT VENTURE (HSV-X1)
USS SWIFT (HSV-2)
SEA FIGHTER (FSF-1)

I doubt that any of the above have FPO numbers assigned, but perhaps there are local commands that the vessels operate under and perhaps that is how to reach these vessels. Any help appreciated. Thanks.

WILHELMSHAVEN, Germany - Germany began its biggest naval operation since World War II on Thursday as eight warships set sail for the eastern Mediterranean to help the U.N. keep the peace in Lebanon. The first of the ships, the frigate Karlsruhe, pulled away from the dock at the North Sea port at Wilhelmshaven and moved smoothly across the calm harbor after a farewell ceremony. The German force of two frigates, two support vessels and four fast patrol boats, along with three ships from Denmark, are to arrive off the Lebanese coast in 10 to 14 days (Oct 1st -5th). ………. Germany is taking charge of a multinational naval task force with a mandate to prevent arms shipments from reaching Hezbollah — a key component of the cease-fire agreement. The naval detachment is led by the 459-foot frigate Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, equipped with a 76 mm cannon and space for two patrol helicopters. Parliament approved the deployment on Wednesday, although some lawmakers voted against it because of misgivings linked to Germany's Nazi past and the Holocaust. Chancellor Angela Merkel ruled out sending combat troops to Lebanon in an attempt to ensure that no German soldiers could get caught up in any confrontation with Israeli forces. Parliament approved a mandate allowing the deployment of up to 2,400 service personnel. Germany is also sending police and customs officers to advise and train Lebanese security forces on tightening border controls.

There have been plans for luxury high rises, a convention center, housing for the homeless and a new campus for NY Uiversity.

This summer there were free ferry rides to the island for tourism. The northwest section of the island along the sea wall has the best views of the famous lower Manhattan skyline.

Mike Empry, send me a SASE plus one 39 cent stamp to: Dan Goodwin, 134 Maple Street, North Berwick, ME 03906

I use to have the cell for work and when I changed jobs they took it away, I have not missed it at all. Still have a pager so people can get ahold of me in an emergency but only if I want to acknowledge them. Though I have noticed it is hard to find a pay phone sometimes, so usually I bum some other poor souls cell to make calls home if the wife pages me.

I am a democrat (with a small "d"). I would make every elected official use public transportation. As for non-elected foreign heads of state, it is our ballpark so you play by our rules.

Do you know are they still in Boston or did they ship out again.

Sorry to hear about you computer problems they can make life easy or annoying.

Are you member of Old Ironsides Chapter? I was for a very short while back in high school my Dad is friendly with Bill V.

Maybe Roger is having computer problems. When you do you are out of touch with the world.

Did anyone get or know if it was possible to get a cancellation from the Sampson (DDG 102) Christening at Bath Saturday. I sent covers to the PCU unit via the SOS Bath. Got back the covers sealed with return address from PCU. When carefully opened with razor, found that the card stock liner I used had been autographed by the Ships Supply and Weapons officer with a Ships Seal Decal affixed and another included. They also placed a copy of Shipyard employee announcement about the Christening. Personally I am happy with that but was wondering if there was a cancellation available at the Christening.

I also got nice cover back from the RV Delaware II out of Woods Hole today autographed and stamped by the captain.

I read Blind Man's Bluff when I worked at Portsmouth on last of 637 class boats, and was describing a chapter on tapping the russian comm line. One of my bosses saysout loud kind of with out having a chance to sensor himself "Huh so that's what we were doing up there" had similiar experiences with other ex Sub sailors who worked at the yard apparently BMB's was pretty on the money.

Must be tough to see all those decommed boats, I remeber I visited Maine Yankee in the middle of decommisioning and it kind of made me sad to know they were ripping it down.

An undersea grave for WWII heroes

63 years after submarine with 80 aboard was sunk off Japan, friends recall Fair Haven crewman, his legendary commander
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 08/24/06
BY KIRK MOORE
TOMS RIVER BUREAU

They were heroes in their day, submariners who showed Americans they could take the fight deep into enemy waters. But for sailor William E. Davison, his first patrol with the Navy's great undersea ace of World War II was also the last.

This summer, a dive team visited the resting place of Davison; his skipper, Cmdr. Dudley W. "Mush" Morton; and 78 other men lost when their submarine, the USS Wahoo, was sunk in October 1943 in the Sea of Japan as Morton attempted to slip back into the deep Pacific Ocean.

For longtime residents of Fair Haven — then a tightknit community with half the population it has today — news of the discovery harked back to years when a small town of 2,500 lost seven men to war.

"It's hard. He was a very close friend of mine," said Richard Pettigrew, 81, who grew up with Davison and other children in their DeNormandie Avenue neighborhood near the Navesink River. "Billy was a good boy. They all thought the world of him.

"I remember when he came to my house for the last time. He told my mother "This will be my last trip on a submarine. I don't know if I'll be coming back, but if I do, it will be the last,' " Pettigrew recalled. "I don't know how exactly to say this . . . but the captain was a little on the risky side."

Under Morton's command, the Wahoo and its crew had earned a reputation as the most lethal submarine in the Navy's Pacific fleet.

"The Wahoo had a hell of a price on her head. A hell of a price," said Bob Zerr of Rumson, Pettigrew's nephew.

Since the late 1940s, history buffs, underwater explorers and relatives of the lost crewmen have looked for where the Wahoo sank under relentless attacks from Japanese aircraft.

Success finally came to the USS Wahoo Project Group, organized by Bryan MacKinnon, an expatriate American who lives in Tokyo and is Morton's grandnephew, and the Australia-based Ocean Wilderness Group divers.

The USS Wahoo was lost with 80 men, according to historians. Postwar analysis correlated Japanese accounts of an Oct. 11, 1943, attack on a submarine in the La Perouse Strait, also known as the Soya Strait, a shallow 25-mile long passage between the northern Japanese island of Hokkiado and the Russian island of Sakhalin.

Working in chilly waters where the international border is still a matter of contention 61 years after the war ended, the searchers won important cooperation from Russian and Japanese groups. Organizers say a big break came when the Sakhalin Energy Investment Co. Ltd. provided sea-floor surveys to confirm a side-scan sonar contact believed to be the remains of the Wahoo. A Russian dive expedition operating out of Vladivostok confirmed the wreck was there at the end of July.

The Wahoo will be respected as a war grave. No one will be permitted to disturb the site, authorities have said.

Boldness was his hallmark

Historians say Morton was an aggressive officer whose criticism of the Wahoo's first captain for passing up Japanese targets led Navy superiors to transfer that officer to surface ships. Before taking the submarine to sea himself in January 1943, Morton famously warned the crew they were "expendable" and offered to let go anyone who wanted to stay on shore. None did.

Like many of those submariners in the early stage of the war, Davison had joined the professional prewar Navy. His family was well known in town — father Raymond was a chief of the fire company in the mid-1920s, and his son grew up among a crowd of close friends, "mostly swimming at the old Fair Haven steamboat dock and raising hell down there," Bob Zerr said. "In the winter they'd ice skate on McCarter's Pond and sleigh ride on the hill. He was at my grandmother's house all the time."

Davison and his best friend, Bill Pettigrew, Richard's older brother, joined the military soon after high school — Bill Pettigrew went to the Army, where he learned to fly assault gliders for airborne troops, Zerr said. Davison chose the Navy in 1939 and trained for submarines, becoming a motor machinist's mate, part of the engine room crew that operated diesel engines to propel the boats and charge their batteries on the surface, then used quiet electric motors when submerged.

Davison joined the Wahoo only for its last voyage, part of a crew that had replaced many of the longtime complement from the boat's first six combat patrols.

"There would be, by the third or fourth patrol, one-third of the crew as replacements," said Charles Hinman, director of education at the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii, chosen to be the Wahoo project's research custodians and curators.

Richard Pettigrew and another friend, Warren Chandler of Manchester, said Davison had served on submarines for years before he was tapped to sail with Morton on the Wahoo. During a visit home on leave in 1943, he told friends that this would be his last undersea patrol before he transferred.

Morton apparently had similar plans. Both captain and submarine had been lionized by the Navy and the news media for their rampages through Japanese sea lanes, and the Navy wanted to keep their sub ace alive to train other captains. But faulty torpedoes had frustrated Morton's attacks during his previous patrol, and he insisted on getting one more chance.

Rules go by the board

Morton and his officers were successful early because they decided to ignore the rules when they had to, historians say. Contrary to prewar Navy doctrine, on his first patrol in January 1943, Morton took the Wahoo on a high-speed surface run from Australia to the Palau islands near New Guinea, calculating the risk of enemy air attack was worth the additional days he would have to hunt Japanese ships.

In the weeks that followed, Morton and his crew disabled a Japanese destroyer in a harrowing head-on torpedo duel, and attacked a convoy carrying reinforcements for Japanese troops fighting Allied forces on New Guinea.

On its next patrol, the Wahoo sank nine enemy ships, an unprecedented number at the time. Morton and his crew sank three more on their next time out, to the frigid Kuril Islands in the northern Pacific. But for the Navy's notoriously unreliable torpedoes — with their dud warheads and erratic accuracy — the Wahoo would have destroyed even more shipping, Morton told superiors.

Large of frame and voice, Morton's "Mush" nickname came from "mushmouth," an epithet for a slurring Kentucky accent the commander frankly delighted in. He once had a banner made up for the Wahoo's mast with the motto "Shoot the Sunzabitches."

Upon returning from the Wahoo's sixth patrol, Morton's mouth got him into trouble when he unleashed his anger at superior officers. All nine of his attacks had failed when bad torpedoes went awry or failed to explode, he complained.

Morton's boss, Adm. Charles Lockwood, gave in to his plea for one more chance. The Wahoo was rearmed with new Mark 18 electric torpedoes and assigned a mission in the Sea of Japan — the enemy's heartland waters lying between the home islands and Japanese-occupied Korea and northeast China.

Davison had a chance to visit home in summer 1943.

"He was like an uncle to me," Zerr said, recalling Davison's dazzling white uniform with its dolphin insignia, the emblem of submariners. "The last time I saw him I was 9 or 10 years old. He was home on leave while the Wahoo was being refitted."

The final voyage

The Wahoo left Pearl Harbor Sept. 9, 1943, and was last seen at Midway Island after it had stopped to top off its tanks from the Navy fuel depot there. In the weeks that followed, the Wahoo sank four Japanese ships in the Sea of Japan, one with a reported loss of 544 lives. The Wahoo never returned.

"Everybody knew what happened to Billy Davison on the Wahoo," said John "Jack" Mulvihill, 60, who grew up among a postwar generation of children in Fair Haven, some of whom helped erect a recent addition to the war memorial at River and Fair Haven avenues: a plaque that lists Davison and others who never came home.

In northernmost Japan, another memorial stands on Cape Soya, not far from the old gun batteries where Japanese defenders first spotted the Wahoo. Part of the inscription in Japanese and English reads:

"When the Wahoo was lost it was the highest-scoring submarine in the US Navy. Eighty Americans sleep in the Soya Strait 12 miles northeast of here. Many Japanese sleep in the Sea of Japan from Wahoo attacks.

"This monument was erected by the members of the Japanese Attack Group and relatives of Americans lying in the Wahoo. Old enemies met as brothers to dedicate that our countries will have lasting peace and war will never again destroy the friendship we now enjoy today."

Years later I met a guy who served in USN (worked for my Dad who is retired USN and that pretty much guaranteed he'd hire you) during the Vietnam era who told me something to the effect that being a Corpsman then was a ticket to a Navy Cross or MOH. I always found this kind of ironic given the general disdain I heard numerous other navy ratings express towards corpsman. I know growing up and always getting corpsman vice nurses at various naval clinics we were dragged into I thought they were all ex-Whale ship harpooners the way they handled a needle, but if people were shooting at me and I was hurt I sure would want one of them with me.

Sorry, I got carried away.

The USPS needs to close some of its post offices, make the people work and fix the attitude. They're a bureauracy in permanent decline only saved by the lack of competition. Look at price club, walmart and the like they prosper. I drive to the furthest of four nearby post offices because one has only employee and truck parking the others insfaquate customer parking and all four have varying degrees of unpleasant to psychotic clerks who delay opening for 15 minutes in the AM to argue. Like toll takers on highways they beg to be replaced by machines and that is sad.

Fire forces ship's evacuation
Sunday, May 21, 2006
By NATALIE CHANDLER
The Mississippi Press

PASCAGOULA -- A fire on board a ship under construction at Northrop Grumman Ship Systems forced the evacuation of workers and caused extensive damage to the vessel Saturday morning.

The fire began at 9:15 a.m. on the second level of Truxtun DDG-103, an Arleigh Burke class destroyer, said Northrop Grumman spokesman Bill Glenn.

The Northrop Grumman Ship Systems fire and rescue department responded immediately to the scene and called for an evacuation of all personnel on the ship, Glenn said.

Glenn, who was unsure how many workers were evacuated, said no one was injured.

The fire began in an area where electronics are stored, and was fully involved when the Pascagoula Fire Department arrived on the scene to help, said acting battalion chief Terry Eiland.

"At first, (Northrop Grumman) had only three firemen fighting it," said Eiland, who arrived with eight Pascagoula firemen. "I could see the smoke from Market Street."

Eiland said it took about 1 1/2 hours to control the fire, which engulfed two levels of the ship.

"Metal conducts heat really well, and that was the big problem we had getting it under control," Eiland said. "Every time we thought we had it out, it flared up somewhere else."

A Northrop Grumman firefighter was treated on the scene for heat exhaustion, Eiland said.

The ship appeared to be in the early stages of construction, Eiland added.

He estimated damage to be in the millions of dollars.

Eiland said his department has helped Northrop Grumman fight two other fires in the last ten years, on another ship and at a warehouse.

The cause of Saturday's fire was not immediately known and will be the subject of a thorough investigation, Glenn said.

My son and I were going to try and at least get the US cancellations on some stuff, it's a hassle to go to Can. We have been working on making up some covers for the various Lake Champlain ferries.

Most PO in VT are very helpful although it has been almost impossible to get the Samuel Champlain stamp lately always sold out.

He is the contact Phil S. uses when he submits cancels for Fleet Week each year.

The Navy proposes to cut a $3.7 billion assault ship from the Future Years Defense Plan, raising questions about the service's commitment to the amphibious force and to stability in its shipbuilding programs. The Navy had planned to order the ship in 2010, then order a similar, civilian-manned variant the following year for the Maritime Prepositioning Force (Future) Sea Base program.
But the Program Objective Memorandum for 2008 sent for approval to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in mid-August deleted the "gray-hull" Navy LHA(R), a replacement ship for current LHA amphibious assault ships from 2010. The POM08 also moved the MPFF variant of the 44,000-ton design, the Maritime Prepositioning Force Aviation Variant from 2011 to 2010.
The POM08 document shows no Navy-manned LHA(R) through 2013, 2011 is the first year the Navy plans to ask for a CG(X) cruiser, and the fifth DDG 1000 Zumwalt-class destroyer also is in the plan. Each ship could cost well over $3 billion, and removing the MPF AV, estimated to cost about $2.35 billion from 2011 gives the service a bit more breathing room and reduces the fiscal 2010 requirements by about $1.35 billion.
The $2.35 billion saved in FY11 by eliminating the LHA(R) is almost exactly equal to the [officially] estimated cost of the FY11 DDG 1000, said Ron O?Rourke, a naval budget analyst with the Co