Happy New year

A Happy, Healthy and incident free New Year to one and all.

Always found AF designations easy to follow, except who the maker was. B-Bomber, C-Cargo transport, P-Pursuit/fighter later F-Fighter at least in the old days.

BATH, Maine – Cruising through the darkness in rough seas, the USS Ross encountered a rogue wave that smashed into the destroyer's bow, sending a shudder along the entire ship that knocked sleeping crew out of their bunks and damaged the sonar housing.

As alarms sounded, sleepy sailors scrambled to shore up the leak.

"We cracked the hull and kept on going like it was nothing," retired sailor Jonathan Staeblein, of Hagerstown, Md., recalled. In fact, the 510-foot destroyer was never out of service for repairs during any deployment in the three years he served aboard as an electronic warfare technician.

Arleigh Burke-class destroyers such as the USS Ross and USS Cole, which survived a terrorist suicide bombing in Yemen, have proven to be durable workhorses in the U.S. Navy.

Over the 22 years since construction of the first one began at Bath Iron Works, the ship has steamed into the record book: The destroyer's production run has outlasted every other battleship, cruiser, destroyer and frigate in U.S. Navy history. The only warship in production for longer was the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, said Norman Polmar, a naval historian, author and analyst.

Thanks to a decision by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Arleigh Burke destroyer production will continue for at least a few more years. The defense budget signed by President Barack Obama in December includes money for the first of at least three more ships. There's talk of many more being built.

At Bath Iron Works, along the banks of the Kennebec River, there are three of the ships in various stages of production.

"They're fast and they move. And they're a lot of fun to drive," said Lt. Cmdr. Robert J. Brooks, executive officer of USS Wayne E. Meyer, a Bath-built destroyer commissioned in October.

Retired Rear Adm. Michael K. Mahon, the Navy's former deputy director of surface warfare, said the ships run no risk of being outdated any time soon.

"It's the envy of the world," said Mahon. "Every surface warship officer in every navy in the world would love to command an Arleigh Burke."

The original warship was conceived during the Cold War, when Bath Iron Works was abuzz with shipbuilders pounding, grinding, welding, plumbing and wiring ships at a furious pace to meet President Ronald Reagan's audacious goal of a 600-ship Navy. Shipbuilders toiled long hours working elbow-to-elbow in a haze created by welders inside steel hull segments that were sweltering in the summer and cold in the winter.

The number of Bath shipbuilders peaked at 12,000 by the time the USS Arleigh Burke was commissioned on July 4, 1991.

Some Bath shipbuilders have spent virtually their entire careers doing nothing by making Arleigh Burke destroyers.

Gil Rines, a welder, joined Bath Iron Works as construction was beginning on the first ship. Since then, he has raised two children and become a grandfather. The shipyard changed hands and is now owned by General Dynamics. The number of shipbuilders has dropped to 5,500.

But one thing remained a constant: The shipyard kept churning out Arleigh Burke destroyers, more than 30 of them. The same ships are also built at Northrop Grumman's shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss., which has churned out more than 20.

"It's a great ship. That's why the Navy stuck with it," said Rines, a third-generation shipbuilder.

The 9,500-ton ships can easily top 30 knots while simultaneously waging war with enemy ships, submarines, missiles and aircraft. Their combat system, called Aegis, uses powerful computers and a phased-array radar to track more than 100 targets — the exact number is classified.

They're also the only surface warships in the Navy's arsenal that can be sealed off to withstand a biological, chemical and nuclear attack.

The latest improvements are software upgrades and SM-3 missiles that allow the Aegis system to be used for ballistic missile defense. An Aegis-equipped cruiser built by Bath Iron Works shot down a failed satellite in 2008. Several Aegis destroyers and cruisers are now equipped with the upgraded system.

The Navy originally envisioned building 29 of the ships, but has since extended the line to 62 ships through 2011. With the continued production, there will be at least three more, keeping shipbuilders in Maine and Mississippi busy while the Navy decides whether to build more Burkes, or to build something else.

The Navy's decision is partly budget-driven. Burkes are less costly to build than the next-generation stealth destroyer, which the Navy and defense contractors spent 10 years designing.

Burkes currently cost about $1.2 billion apiece; the stealthy, and much larger, DDG-1000 Zumwalt will cost more than double that. In the end, the Navy decided to truncate production to just three Zumwalts.

Loren Thompson, a defense analyst at the Lexington Institute, gives credit to the Navy for scaling back the costly Zumwalts and focusing on the tried-and-true Burkes.

The DDG-51 Arleigh Burke, he said, is now in a rare class of military systems that's so durable and versatile that it continues for generations, like the C-130 Hercules cargo transport, an airplane that first went into production in 1957.

"The fact that the Navy can't come up with something better than the DDG-51 isn't necessarily bad news," he said. "It may be commentary on how good the DDG-51 is."

Sorry Sir I have to correct you, it was not R6Ds that flew off the Phillippine Sea, but rather R4Ds, the old DC3.

"The USS Philippine Sea (CV/CVS-47/AVT-11) — an Essex class aircraft carrier on its maiden operational voyage — was commanded by Captain Delbert S. Cornwell, USN. Admiral Byrd was onboard.

The mission of the Philippine Sea was to transport six Douglas R4Ds for use in Operation Highjump.

The Philippine Sea left Norfolk, Virginia, on January 2, 1947, and reached the Western Group, which was located near Scott Island, on January 25..

By January 30, 1947, all six R4Ds had flown to Little America IV, about six hours from the carrier. Its mission completed, the Philippine Sea headed north to the Panama Canal Zone with survivors of the George 1 crash onboard."

GO DUCKS!!!

Wonderful wrietup on "Bones" and the "Cover of the Month!"

1862 - USS Monitor founders in a storm off Cape Hatteras, NC.
1941 - Admiral Chester W. Nimitz assumes command of U.S. Pacific Fleet.
1942 - Commissioning of USS Essex (CV-9), first of new class of aircraft carriers, at Norfolk, VA
1948 - Last annual report by a Secretary of the Navy to Congress and the President filed by SECNAV John L. Sullivan. Thereafter the Secretary of Defense would report annually to Congress.

•1881-At 4 a.m. the patrolman from Station No. 34, Fourth District, New Jersey, discovered a vessel ashore on the south bar at Townsend’s Inlet, NJ about three miles south of the station and a mile offshore. He reported at the station at once and the vessel was boarded by the life-saving crew within an hour and a half. She proved to be the schooner Joseph F. Baker with a crew of eight persons. After endeavoring to work the vessel off with her sails, the keeper made preparations to run an anchor and heave her off. By this time a wrecking vessel came alongside, and her captain arranged with the master of Baker to take his vessel off. The life-saving crew, which had meantime been joined by the keepers of Station 33 and 35, finding they could be of no further service, left the vessel, taking ashore dispatches for the captain. A steamer towed the vessel off the bar.
•1891-Act of 1894 that created the office of Captain Commandant of the Revenue Cutter Service also had a provision that created the office of Engineer-in-Chief. Captain Russell John W. Collins, USRCS, was the first RCS Engineer-in-Chief, being appointed to that position on 31 December 1891.
•1952- Sinbad, the canine-mascot of the cutter Campbell during World War II, passed away at his last duty station, the Barnegat Lifeboat Station, at the ripe old age of 15. He served on board the cutter throughout World War II and earned his way into Coast Guard legend with his shipboard and liberty antics. To date he is the most decorated mascot to have ever served in the Coast Guard.
•1981- The 14 remaining LORAN-A stations closed down at midnight, ending Loran-A coverage, which began during World War II.
•1985-Vice President George Bush paid an official visit to the officers and crew of the CGC Steadfast while the cutter was in Nassau, Bahamas. Accompanied by RADM Richard P. Cueroni, commander, 7th District and various other U.S. and Bahamian officials, the vice president officiated at an awards and wreath-laying ceremony in honor of the National Narcotics Border Interdiction System and the joint U.S. Bahamian operations.

Lomi - Lomi Salmon
Grilled Kona Mahi-Mahi
or
Roast Maui Prime Ribs of Beef au jus
Hawaiian Oven Browned Potatoes
Kailua String Beans
Kaui Fresh Pineapple au Kirch
Coffee
Music by Ray Zurfluh

Didn't mention a good cigar, but I'll betcha they were available.

You got the year right it was 1955

R6D, is the Douglas DC6, Air Force C-118

It has been a cold December. I don't need new sweaters but enjoyed my christmas gift today. Not as cold as yesterday but cold. I'm taking advantage of a small but annoying cold and aches and a lull at work.

Greg C and his cohorts do a wonderful job. The NCM is a great resource. We need to share our hobby with others. It is a modern way to present our hobby. Visit and add some covers. Greg is a cheerful helper.

You anywhere near Greensboro or W/S

And if you have a cover that is not in the museum, consider contacting Greg to see how it can be put in. Greg makes it easy.

"New Mexico performed superbly on sea trials," said Rear Adm. William Hilarides, program executive officer for submarines. "Her early delivery keeps us firmly on pace for a 60-month construction span by the end of the Block II contract."

Capt. Michael Jabaley, Virginia-class Program manager, commented, "With the delivery of the sixth submarine, the Virginia Program continues to provide needed capability to the fleet."

USS North Carolina (SSN 777) and USS New Hampshire (SSN 778), the two submarines delivered prior to New Mexico, were completed after 82 and 71 months, respectively. New Mexico completed construction in just 70 months.

"Raising the bar yet again, the Virginia shipbuilding team has completed the fastest delivery to date, with further improvement soon to follow. This improvement in performance positions the team to double the production rate to two submarines per year in 2011. Keeping the production rate at two per year is critical to maintaining the Navy's Attack Submarine inventory," Jabaley added.

New Mexico's delivery in 2009 wraps up a successful year for the Virginia-class program. Earlier accomplishments include beginning the construction of PCU North Dakota (SSN 784) March 2; the keel-laying ceremony of PCU California's (SSN 781) May 1; USS Texas (SSN 775) completion of the Virginia-class submarines' first Arctic Ocean testing in November; transfers of USS Hawaii (SSN 776) and Texas to their new homeport of Pearl Harbor in July and November respectively; and the christening ceremony of PCU Missouri's (SSN 780) Dec. 5.

1798 - First annual report by Secretary of the Navy, sent by Benjamin Stoddert.

1812 - USS Constitution (Captain William Bainbridge) captures HMS Java off Brazil after a three hour battle.

1943 - USS Silversides (SS-236) sinks three Japanese ships and damages a fourth off Palau.

The move will allow the city to begin spending $6.2 million that it set aside years ago to renovate the interior of the ship, which is moored next to Nauticus. Currently, it is partially open to the public.Visitors can tour limited portions of the Wisconsin's deck. But by next spring, Nauticus director Hank Lynch said he expects to begin offering tours of parts of the ship's interior.

Within three years, he said, most of the ship's entire interior will be open, including the combat information center, berthing areas, and the barber and doughnut shops."We want to show people everything it took to take care of the 2,000 human beings on that ship," he said.But that will all come with a price. Beginning Saturday, anyone who wants to tour the ship's deck will have to buy a ticket to enter Nauticus. Admission to the Wisconsin is now free.

On Saturday, it will cost an adult $10.95 to enter both attractions."This is the most powerful ship the Navy ever built," Lynch said. "It's not just an icon of the American Navy, it's an icon of the American spirit."These things cost a lot of money to maintain. I don't think anyone will balk at paying a modest admission."Since opening to tourists in 2001, the Wisconsin became a symbol for downtown, Mayor Paul Fraim said."This is a wonderful moment for the city," he said.

Fraim said the city had hoped to gain ownership of the battleship two years ago, but environmental reviews "dragged this out much longer than anyone expected."Nauticus draws about 200,000 paying customers a year, not including another 200,000 who tour the Wisconsin for free, Lynch said.Once the interior is open, Lynch said, he expects "attendance will grow very vigorously.

"Built in Philadelphia, the Wisconsin was commissioned in 1944, and saw action in the Pacific during World War II, where it earned five battle stars.It was deactivated in 1948 and activated again in 1951 for the Korean War. It was decommissioned again in 1958, recommissioned in 1988 and was homeported in Norfolk.It participated in the Persian Gulf War in 1991 before being decommissioned for the final time later that year.

The ship arrived at its current site Dec. 7, 2000, the 59th anniversary of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor.Lynch said the ship is in remarkably good condition. The city paid for an inspection, including divers who checked out the hull.But a lot needs to be done before it can open fully to the public, he said. It must be cleaned of any hazardous materials, including asbestos.

Then the heating and cooling systems must be overhauled."A warship is different from the typical facility you allow the public to go into," he said. "But we'll get it open to the public as quickly as we can.

Richard, enjoy your well deserved cruise in the upcoming days.

•1835-The "Dade Battle" occurred when Seminole Indians ambushed and killed Major Francis Langhorne Dade and his Army command while they were on the march on Fort King Road from Fort Brooke to reinforce the troops at Fort King (Ocala). This battle was the immediate cause of the Second Seminole War, a war in which the Revenue Cutter Service played an important role.
•1857-The light was first illuminated in the Cape Flattery Lighthouse, located on Tatoosh Island at the entrance to the Straits of Juan de Fuca, Washington. "Because of Indian trouble it was necessary to build a blockhouse on Tatoosh Island before even commencing the construction of the lighthouse. Twenty muskets were stored in the blockhouse, and then the lighthouse work began."
•1903-An Executive Order extended the jurisdiction of the Lighthouse Service to the non-contiguous territory of the Hawaiian Islands.

Happy New Year--early.

1867 - U.S. claims Midway Island, first territory annexed outside Continental limits.
1905 - Drydock Dewey left Solomon's Island, MD, enroute through the Suez Canal to the Philippines to serve as repair base. This, the longest towing job ever accomplished, was completed by Brutus, Caesar, and Glacier on 10 July 1906.
1941 - Chief of Bureau of Yards and Docks requests that construction battalions be recruited.
1982 - Recommissioning of USS New Jersey (BB-62), the first of four Iowa-class battleships that were returned to service in 1980s.
1990 - LCDR Darlene M. Iskra becomes commander of USS Opportune, a salvage vessel.
1990 - USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) and USS America (CV-66) Carrier Battle Groups deploy from Norfolk, VA, for Middle East to join Operation Desert Shield.

February's LOG is almost complete -- just pages 2,5 and 30 to finish when I get back from New Year's cruise

36601 was the ZIP on the Christening covers

USS ALGONQUIN CGC-4 Naval Cover 1912 ONE OF A KIND???

It is canceled 18 Jan 1912. The cancel is so light, I cannot tell if it was canceled aboard the ship. It looks like a type 3 cancel. If it was canceled aboard the ship, this may be the only known copy (per the USCS catalog). This envelope is in good condition, but it was roughly opened along the top edge. It was sent from W Georgie to Edw Harding, Torpedo Station, Newport, RI.

For those of you interested in old Coast Guard covers check it out on e-bay. It is item #390135645888

I promise I will not begin advertising my e-bay stuff in this chat room (except for this one!)

Just received ROCHE article. Quiet day here. Wife in Orlando seeing Rockettes Road Show. Daughter working and I'm trying to fit articles into February Log. Some are going back to March issue.

E-Log will be going out Monday night. Heading to Miami Tuesday for New Years cruise until the 4th.

Girl dolls. The big little guy (Brett) got some more "Yankee" stuff and Grandpa & Granny are enjoying seeing history repeat- oldest son's daughter Kerry is going for learner's permit on Tuesday, the others are interested in clothes while the youngest, Clare Bear just like openning
the gifts- whos ever in raech? Happy Day after Christmas.
Time to visit those Christmas covers from days
gone by- served by the mail clerks of 1930s, the
1940s and post war cachets by Farragut Chapter #3
(Alex Hesse) Must develope a check list!

Santa left a gas-powered leaf blower, chocolate covered cherries and a variety of computer gadgets.

Stewart. Thanks. Hope you and Dorothy enjoy the holiday season in the warmth of friends and the desert. Thanks for the great letter from Zumwalt. Best larry

Who did Christmas covers this year?

•1944- Allied forces liberated and occupied Palompon and Leyte in the Philippines.
•1999- Coast Guard helicopters from Air Station Barbers Point rescued balloonists Richard Branson, a British billionaire, American millionaire Steve Fossett, and Per Lindstrand when bad weather forced them to ditch their balloon off Hawaii during their attempt to be the first balloonists to circle the globe.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Heard on WBAL Baltimore

"All I want for Christmas is Crabs!"

Not heard this year

"Oh Little Town of Baltimore"

Merry Christmas, Hon

"Thanks to a large donation from Bangor authors Stephen and Tabitha King, Sgt. Fairservice and other members of Bravo Company of the 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry Unit, were able to return to Maine for a brief Christmas break. An overnight, 15-hour bus ride from Camp Atterbury, Ind., ended at the Brewer Armory late Wednesday morning. (Another bus carrying soldiers stopped in Portland earlier Wednesday morning.)"

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

1814 - The Treaty of Ghent ends the War of 1812.
1864 - Naval forces, under the command of Rear Adm. David Dixon Porter, begin an unsuccessful two-day attack against Fort Fisher, N.C.
1950 - Under the cover of Naval gunfire support, Task Force 90 completes a 14-day evacuation of 100,000 troops and equipment from Hungnam, North Korea. More than 91,000 refugees are also rescued.

For more information about naval history, go to the Naval Historical Center Web site at www.history.navy.mil.

Merry Christmas to you and your family, particularly the upgoing generation of athletes (and naval philatelists). Larry

Plenty of ANG pilots up here saluting, and shaking hands entering the local market in jump suits, or overalls. Many airborn personel around. They have that Eagle's head insignia on their shoulder. Gee I hope this does not sound like a spy report.

Merry Christmas, and Happy Channuka,and Happy New Year.

From the Navy News Service

1775 - Congress commissions the first Naval officers: Esek Hopkins, commander in chief of the fleet, Capts. Dudley Saltonstall, Abraham Whipple, Nicolas Biddle and John Hopkins. Lieutenants appointed included John Paul Jones.

1841 - USS Mississippi, the first U.S. ocean-going side-wheel steam warship, is commissioned in Philadelphia.

1942 - Pharmacist's Mate 1st Class Thomas A. Moore performs an appendectomy on Fireman 2nd Class George M. Platter aboard USS Silversides (SS 236).

1942 - Sue Dauser takes the oath of office as Superintendant of the Navy Nurse Corps, becoming the first woman with the relative rank of captain in U.S. Navy. She was promoted to the rank of captain on Feb. 26, 1944.

1944 - The first two African-American Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service officers, Harriet Ida Pickens and Frances F. Wills, are commissioned.

1960 - USS Valley Forge (CV 45) helicopters rescue 27 men from oiler SS Pine Ridge. Pine Ridge was breaking up in heavy seas off of Cape Hatteras.

For more information about Naval history, visit the Naval Historical Center Web site at www.history.navy.mil.

Paul

I'm beginning to feel I've read the Navy History before. (And I have.)

•1819-The Revenue cutter Dallas seized a vessel laden with lumber that had been unlawfully cut from public land in one of the first recorded instances of a revenue cutter enforcing an environmental law.
•1837-Congress authorized President "to cause any suitable number of public vessels, adapted to the purpose, to cruise upon the coast, in the severe portion of the season, and to afford aid to distressed navigators." This was the first statute authorizing activities in the field of maritime safety, thus interjecting the national government into the field of lifesaving for the first time. Although revenue cutters were specifically mentioned, the performance of this duty was imposed primarily upon the Revenue Marine Service and quickly became one of its major activities.

You still digging out??

1861 - Congress declares Naval personnel eligible for the Medal of Honor, the Nation's highest award.
1943 - USS Grayling (SS 208) sinks its fourth Japanese ship in three days.
1951 - The first helicopter landing aboard a hospital ship takes place aboard USS Consolation (AH 15).
1968 - Apollo 8 is launched with Capt. James A. Lovell Jr. as Command Module Pilot. During the mission, Lovell becomes one of the first three people to see the far side of the moon. The mission lasted 6 days and 3 hours, including 10 moon orbits. Helicopters from USS Yorktown (CVS 10) take care of the recovery.

For more information about Naval history, visit the Naval Historical Center Web site at www.history.navy.mil.

•1936-Ice breaking by the Coast Guard was authorized by Executive Order No. 7521.
•1960- The tanker Pine Ridge, with 37 crewmen on board, reported it was breaking in two about 120 miles off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Immediately, the Coast Guard dispatched aircraft and vessels to the scene and alerted nearby US Navy and merchant vessels. After the arrival of a Coast Guard UF-2G amphibian aircraft, the bow section of the Pine Ridge capsized, throwing some members of the crew overboard; the stern section, however, remained afloat and upright. Mountainous seas rebuffed every attempt of the tanker Artemis to rescue the seamen in the water. Life rafts and emergency equipment, meanwhile, were airdropped, and the helicopters from the aircraft carrier Valley Forge successfully removed the 28 survivors from the still floating stern section. Of the bow section and the 9 missing crewmen, only debris and lifejackets were found, despite a widespread air and surface search.

Austal Hosts Keel Laying Ceremony for Second Littoral Combat Ship;
Austal has hosted an abbreviated US Navy keel-laying ceremony for its second Littoral Combat Ship, USS Coronado (LCS 4) on 17 December 2009.
Fabrication has started on twelve of the twenty-eight modules that will make up this 127-metre trimaran design. Six of the twenty-eight modules are currently being outfitted with ships equipment such as gas turbines, generators, and propulsion equipment, and electrical, piping and ventilation systems. Three modules have been erected in their pre-launch position.
The object of the keel-laying ceremony is to mark the first significant event in the construction of the ship, second only to ship’s launch. The ceremony normally signifies the erection of the first module that will form part of the 127-metre (417ft) aluminium trimaran. When completed it will be capable of providing high speeds, multi-mission capability and superior aviation operations for up to two large helicopters. Austal, as the designer and builder of the LCS seaframe, is part of the General Dynamics / Bath Iron Works team offering the unique aluminium trimaran solution for the US Navy’s defence needs.

Mike sad news. That's a large crew. Long time since I've seen a merchant ship with more than 25. Sheep carriers often are converted tankers. Common in middle east since the meat is halal acceptable to devout Moslems. Never get downwind of a sheep ship. You can smell one before you pick it up on radar. Still this is a tragedy. Wonder if the city of Tarsus is the same as the home of St Paul (Saul).

On 17 December 2009, Danny F II capsized and sank in bad weather in the Mediterranean Sea, 11 nautical miles (20 km) from Tripoli, Lebanon, while sailing from Montevideo, Uruguay, to Tartus, Syria, carrying six passengers, 77 crew, 10,224 sheep and 17,932 cattle. At least 38 survivors were rescued, and so far nine bodies have been recovered including a man who died before reaching a hospital. The ship's British captain is reported to have remained onboard when the ship rolled over in the high seas. All the livestock are presumed perished.

After a distress call made at 15:55 local time (13:55 UTC), a rescue effort was launched comprising ships from the Lebanese Navy and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, the latter including two ships of the German Navy and one of the Italian Navy. A Bell Griffin HAR2 helicopter from 84 Squadron, Royal Air Force, based at RAF Akrotiri and Cyprus police helicopters (Bell 412) following a request from the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Larnaca were dispatched to assist in the rescue.

Rescue efforts were hampered by poor weather conditions, high waves and floating carcasses of the ship's livestock cargo.

Roger: This is a link to the USS Lincoln and to the CO, XO, and CMC.

Navy Bids Farewell to USNS San Jose, Combat Stores ShipsStory Number: NNS091218-14Release Date: 12/18/2009 2:56:00 PM0 Comments  Font Size:AAA00 From Military Sealift Command Public Affairs PEARL HARBOR (NNS) -- Military Sealift Command combat stores ship USNS San Jose (T-AFS 7) marked the close of 39 years of service to the Navy fleet in a shipboard ceremony Dec. 18 in Pearl Harbor. The event paid tribute to the ship and the hundreds of sailors and civil service mariners who have served as its crew over the past three decades, ensuring that San Jose played its part in keeping the U.S. Navy fleet at sea, on station and combat ready by delivering vital supplies to deployed warships worldwide. San Jose will be deactivated from the Navy in January 2010 and is the last of eight combat stores ships to deactivate from MSC's Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force. These ships delivered food, spare parts, mail, fuel and other supplies to U.S. Navy ships at sea. San Jose and five other combat stores ships were originally crewed by sailors until they were transferred to MSC in the 1990s and shifted to civil service mariner crewing. The others came directly to MSC from the British Royal Fleet Auxiliary in the early 1980s. San Jose transferred to MSC in October 1993. During its service with MSC, San Jose conducted countless underway replenishments with Navy combatant ships operating in support of missions, most recently in providing logistics support to Navy ships in the Arabian Gulf supporting both Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom. San Jose has also supported U.S. disaster response and humanitarian assistance missions. In 2005, San Jose provided logistics support to hospital ship USNS Mercy as it played a key role in international efforts to provide assistance to victims of the December 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia. "All of the crews who have served on board USNS San Jose have set and maintained the highest standard of excellence in underway logistics to our Navy," said Capt. Jerome Hamel, the commodore in charge of MSC's combat logistics force ships operating in the Eastern Pacific. The combat stores ships are being replaced by the newly built Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo/ammunition ships. To date, eight of an expected class of 14 dry cargo/ammunition ships have been delivered to the Navy. "Being here to recognize these ships and the professional merchant mariners who sail them is appropriate," said Hamel. "These mariners will now move into the future with the Lewis and Clark-class ships that will continue to support the fleet and take on new missions and roles as fresh challenges arrive."The nearly 600 foot-long San Jose completed its final mission Dec. 3, when it returned to port in Pearl Harbor with a crew of 120 civil service mariners and a 40-member military detachment. Today's ceremony marks the end of the ship's operations. The bulk of the crew will disembark the ship following the ceremony and the official deactivation will take place in mid- to late January 2010. Military Sealift Command operates approximately 110 noncombatant, merchant mariner-crewed ships that replenish U.S. Navy ships, conduct specialized missions, strategically preposition combat cargo at sea around the world and move military cargo and supplies used by deployed U.S. forces and coalition partners.For more news from Military Sealift Command, visit

Roger sorry I missed you earlier

What is wrong with the Asheville covers in the NCM? Did I miss something?

Got your USS ADAMS article today.

Thanks.

Yeup, Cold , Windy & Wet. They say White stuff for Sunday

Hope all is well with you

Note: The Navy Department Library is interested in accepting donations of US Navy and foreign navy ship postal covers to expand the collection.
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1 September 2009

This Day in Naval History - Dec. 16

From the Navy News Service

1821 - Lt. Robert F. Stockton and Dr. Eli Ayers, a Naval surgeon and member of the American Colonizing Society, induce a local African king to sell territory for a colony, which eventually became the Republic of Liberia.
1907 - The Great White Fleet departs Hampton Roads, Va., to circumnavigate the world.
1922 - USS Bainbridge (DD 246) rescues 482 people from the burning French transport Vinh-Long.
1941 - USS Swordfish (SS 193) sinks Japanese cargo ship Atsutasan Maru.
1942 - Pharmacist's Mate 1st Class Harry B. Roby performs an appendectomy on Torpedoman 1st Class W.R. Jones aboard USS Grayback (SS 208). It is the second appendectomy ever performed aboard a submarine.
1998 - In Operation Desert Fox, Navy cruise missiles attack Iraq.

OMAHA Neb. – Vice Admiral Van Mauney, Deputy Commander, US Strategic Command, accepts a historical submarine collection from Clinton Orr. Orr donated the one-of-a-kind collection of commemorative envelopes marking nearly every major event in nuclear submarine history since the launching and commissioning of the USS Nautilus (SSN 571) in 1954. Orr, a local World War II submarine veteran, built this extensive collection of five or six different envelopes per hull, as well as other historical documents – pictures, newspaper clippings, change of command booklets, and more – during a period of more than 50 years and donated the collection to preserve submarine history.

Spend the First Night of 2010 Aboard Our Nation's Most Decorated Battleship

Families can spend New Year's aboard the Battleship New Jersey's award-winning Overnight Encampment program, presented by Dietz & Watson. Overnight guests can enjoy dinner and breakfast from the crew's mess, tour the ship, ride the flight simulator and sleep in the bunks where the crew once slept. PLUS, experience the 6 pm and midnight fireworks from the decks of the Battleship and enjoy a midnight non-alcohol toast. $60.95 per person. Call 1-866-877-6262 ext. 203.

Rich. I have to write an article. Have the T2 T9 or 12/13. The pc primarily Used the fancy cancel you provided. Hope to get to it next week or so. Larry

•1835-The superintendent of the lighthouse system wrote to Winslow Lewis, "I perceive by a Mobile paper which I received this morning that the Mobile Point light has been fitted by you as a revolving light" similar to the nearby Pensacola lighthouse. "I am very sorry that you have don so." Lewis was a contractor who -- almost by himself -- virtually controlled the administration of the lighthouse system. The incident helped cause a Congressional investigation that ultimately created a modern lighthouse system in this country.

•1839-Near Gloucester, Massachusetts, a storm from the southeast caught and dragged ashore or drove to sea over fifty vessels. An eyewitness wrote: "From one of the beach to the other, nothing could be seen but pieces of broken wrecks; planks and spars...ropes and sails...flour, fish, lumber...soaked and broken..." The local fishermen manned two boats, the Custom House boat and the newly launched Revenue Cutter Van Buren and "fearlessly risked their lives for the safety of their fellow creatures" and brought many safely to shore.

•1943-Coast Guardsmen participated in the landings made on Arawe Peninsula, New Britain.

•1944-Coast Guardsmen participated in the landings made on Mindoro, Philippine Islands.

•1976: The Liberian-flagged 644-foot tanker Argo Merchant, with 7.5 million gallons of oil on board, grounded on a shoal 28 miles southeast of Nantucket. Coast Guard helicopters from AIRSTA Cape Cod rescued her 38-man crew. The cutters Sherman and Vigilant responded, along with other vessels, but heavy weather prevented the containment of the spill. The tanker broke in two on 21 December.

1943 - The Chief of Naval Operations issued the Bureau of Naval Personnel Circular Letter on non-discrimination in the Navy V-12 program.

1944 - Congress appoints the first three of four fleet admirals.

1965 - Gemini 6 is launched with Capt. Walter M. Schirra Jr. as Command Pilot. The mission included 16 orbits in 25 hours and 51 minutes. Recovery was by HS-11 helicopters from USS Wasp (CVS 18).

1988 - Earnest Will convoy operations to escort reflagged tankers in the Persian Gulf is ceased.

Before the official transfer, Nauticus and the affiliated Hampton Roads Naval Museum had to maintain the Wisconsin in a low level of readiness in case the Navy needed to reactivate the battleship for service. During that time, only the topside and a few decks in the superstructure were available for public tours. Now that the ship has been transferred, Nauticus will eventually be able to open more of the ship to the public, said Monica McCoy, a spokeswoman for Naval Sea Systems Command.

Navy and Norfolk city officials had hoped the transfer would have taken place earlier this year, but worries about hazardous materials aboard prompted the Environmental Protection Agency to slow the process until its standards were met.

The Wisconsin will remain berthed on the waterfront at the Nauticus museum in downtown Norfolk, where it has been tied up in a reserve status since 2000. Decommissioned in 1991, the ship was stricken from the Naval Vessel Registry in 2006, and so technically is the “ex-Wisconsin.” From 2000 to 2009, the Navy paid Norfolk about $2.8 million to dock the Wisconsin on the waterfront.

Nice to see you here.Hope all is well with you, as for myself, still doing pretty good

Thanks for the info on the Forrestal & Saratoga

Miserable wet and gray day. Just at freezing.

Go Navy.

Beat Army

Army strong

Navy smart.

Stuff like that gets the old heart pumping.

Was on Med cruise when Ex had nervous breakdown, was on yellowstone for several months before discharge. Will never have better friends than my gun mount buddies. They are as close to me as family.
Brof

This Day in Naval History - Dec. 11

1941 - A contract establishes the Naval Salvage Service.
1941 - The Wake Island Garrison, under the command of Cmdr. Winfield Cunningham, turns away a Japanese invasion force.
1954 - The first supercarrier, USS Forrestal (CVA-59), launched at Newport News, Va., weighing more than 59,630 tons.

This Day in Naval History - Dec. 12

1862 - A Confederate torpedo (mine) sinks USS Cairo in the Yazoo River.
1937 - Japanese aircraft sink USS Panay (PR 5) in the Yangtze River near Nanking, China.
1941 - The Naval Air Transport Service is established.
1951 - The first flight of helicopter with a gas-turbine engine at Windsor Locks, Conn., demonstrates the adaptability of this engine to helicopters.
1972- Capt. Eugene A. Cernan, commander of Apollo 17, walks on the Moon. Cmdr. Ronald E. Evans was the command module pilot. The mission lasted 12 days, 13 hours and 52 minutes. HC-1 helicopters from USS Ticonderoga (CV 14) led the recovery.

This Day in Naval History - Dec. 13

1775 - The Continental Congress authorizes the building of 13 frigates.
1941 - Cmdr. William A. Sullivan designated the first supervisor of salvage, giving the supervisor an office in New York City.

For more information about Naval history, visit the Naval Historical Center Web site at www.history.navy.mil.

Medal of Honor recipient SM 1/c Douglas Munro (the only Coastie to earn an MOH), is seen with such a badge in a pre-WWII photo.

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — As South Vietnam crumbled under advancing North Vietnamese forces 34 years ago, 5-year-old Hung Ba Le and his family escaped and eventually found refuge on a U.S. Navy ship.
This week, he returns to the land of his birth for the first time. And it is a U.S. Navy ship — the guided-missile destroyer USS Lassen that he commands — that will take him there.
On April 30, 1975, Saigon’s fall was imminent. Le’s father, a South Vietnamese navy officer, had just assumed command of the Nha Be Naval Support Activity Base after learning the previous commander left the country without warning.
He led his sailors until the last possible moment. But finding himself unable to communicate with his headquarters and fearing the impending collapse of the government, he ordered his men to go home and be with their families.
In his online memoir, “The Journey of Destiny,” Le’s father wrote: “It was over. There was no one willing to fight because there was nothing for which to fight. The country was about to collapse under the Vietnamese Communist. I was so desperate, angry, and upset in my heart.”
Now the younger Le transits the same waters where he and his family sought refuge more than three decades ago.
“I feel blessed to be where I’m at today,” Le, the first Vietnamese-American to command a U.S. Navy ship, said during a phone interview from sea Tuesday. “It feels very neat to think that we left on a U.S. Navy ship, and to come back on one is pretty awesome.”
After the fall of Saigon, Le’s family escaped on a fishing trawler. Le’s father led the vessel and its 400 refugees out to sea on April 30, 1975. Numerous times, the younger Le said, the refugees were refused assistance from passing ships.
As Le’s father navigated the boat out to sea, he was leaving behind more than his native country: His four oldest children, living in the family’s hometown of Hue, were unable meet the rest of the family before the trawler departed.
After days at sea, sleep-deprived and hungry, Le, three other siblings, his parents and the other refugees were taken aboard the USS Barbour County, a ship participating in Operation Frequent Wind — the evacuation of foreigners and South Vietnamese from Saigon.
The Barbour County took the refugees to the Philippines.
“The cool ocean breeze could not comfort the wave of sorrow in the heart of this Vietnamese refugee,” the elder Le wrote in his memoir.
The Le family eventually made their way to Camp Pendleton, Calif., where they were kept in a refugee camp for several weeks.
They soon found sponsorship from an American family and made the trek to northern Virginia, where they would eventually settle.
With no money, Le’s father worked various jobs to support the family before settling into a job at Giant Food, a supermarket chain.
“We had some great help along the way from our sponsors,” the younger Le recalled.
Although the family’s journey to gain U.S. citizenship lasted eight years, Le describes his experience in America as one of little struggle.
“I always felt lucky to come to America when I did,” he said.
In 1983, the naturalization process concluded and the family’s four oldest children were permitted to join the family.
With a family deeply rooted in naval heritage, Le said that as a teenager getting accepted to the U.S. Naval Academy was his goal.
“I was never pressured over the years from my father to do so,” he said Tuesday as his ship steamed toward its scheduled Saturday port call to Da Nang with USS Blue Ridge. “But [I] enjoyed being able to follow in his footsteps.”
Le’s father recently told him that following his son’s career, and seeing him command a Navy warship, has added years to his life.
Graduating from the Naval Academy with merit in 1992, Le was designated as a surface warfare officer. Four ships and 17 years later, he finds himself leading one of the Navy’s premier warships back to a land of which he has few memories.
“It’s amazing to get an opportunity to get to go back, and one that I don’t know if I would have had otherwise,” said Le, who hopes to reconnect with relatives still in the country. “America gave my family a lot of opportunity, so I enjoy giving back by serving.”

SAN FRANCISCO — After more than three years of contention between California and the federal government over the condition of decaying vessels stored in Suisun Bay, work is under way at a San Francisco shipyard to clean a decaying World War II-era ship before towing it to Texas for disposal.

Chipping paint is being water-blasted from the hull and superstructure of the Earlham Victory as the 455-foot, 4,400-ton vessel rests in a dry dock. Marine growth, mostly seaweed and barnacles, has been removed.

A similar vessel, the Pan American Victory, has already been cleaned and was towed out of the Golden Gate last week for the 45-day journey through the Panama Canal to the Gulf Coast.

The work on the two ships marks a significant first in an ongoing battle to prevent decaying vessels from polluting the Bay: It's the first time paint has been removed from Suisun Bay ships before they are towed from Bay Area waters, and the first time any pre-disposal work is being done in a dry dock.

A 2007 environmental study of the fleet estimated that 18 tons of paint containing toxic metals had fallen from the ships into the Bay, prompting legislators and others to call for increased efforts to clean and dispose of the vessels.

Disposal of the two ships will cost the federal government $3.1 million — $2.1 million to scrap the ships and $1 million for hull cleaning. More than 50 ships remain in Suisun Bay awaiting disposal, many of
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them badly rusted with paint peeling from their hulls.

California clean-water regulators have insisted for years that any cleaning of the ships be done in a confined space where paint and metals can be contained and kept out of the Bay. The dispute caused the U.S. Maritime Administration, which balked over California's requests, to suspend its ship disposal program while it sought solutions.

The Obama administration in October announced new efforts to clean the ships in dry dock.

"What a difference an election makes. Just about everyone — with the exception of the Bush administration — realized that ignoring the corroding ships in the Bay was making a bad situation worse," Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, said in a statement issued Wednesday. "The Obama team has worked quickly to take steps to again start removing the ghost fleet from the Suisun Bay — an effort that I hope continues."

At the BAE Systems shipyard, workers on Wednesday blasted at the Earlham Victory's hull with high-pressure hoses, the dry-dock floor beneath them covered in paint chips.

Hugh Vanderspek, the shipyard's general manager, said the paint chips would fill 50, 55-gallon barrels.

"It's the right way to do it," he said of Maritime Administration officials' decision to dry-dock the vessel. "Once they said they were going to do it, they aren't screwing around."

The work on the Earlham Victory is expected to take several weeks.

The Maritime Administration announced a year ago it would also begin removing paint from the vessels while they sat at anchor in the Bay awaiting disposal. A spokeswoman said Wednesday that work on those ships has stalled because the state has yet to issue the necessary permits.

Marine growth below the ship's waterline most be removed under Coast Guard regulations designed to stop the spread of nonnative species to other waters. The state required that the ships be cleaned above their waterlines to keep flaking paint from falling into the water as the ships are being towed.

It is unclear when the next ships will be removed from the Suisun fleet. Vanderspek said BAE Systems would pursue additional contracts to clean vessels and that its dry docks are large enough to handle all of ships in Suisun Bay.

1938 - Prototype shipboard radar, designed and built by the Naval Research Laboratory, is installed on USS New York (BB 34).

1941 - USS Swordfish (SS 193) makes the initial U.S. submarine attack on Japanese ship.

1952 - A strike from Task Force 77 aircraft destroys a munitions factory and several rail facilities near Rashin, North Korea.

Brof: What service?

540-80-11

I still remember my Marine Corps serial number, my Navy File number.

Talking about the Japanese sub that it is speculated made it from Battleship Row into the West Loch. If it really happened, it was an amazing feat of navigation. Having made that journey many times, I can tell you that it is one that requires the nav team and conning officer to be on their toes. To do it submerged, with an occassional peek through a rudimentary periscope. WOW. That young Japanese ensign or lieutenant has my profound respect.

And that does not even address the hazard of an American airplane seeing the boat from the air. He could not gone very deep, and those waters are fairly clear.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/killersubs/

http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/wwii-pac/pearlhbr/ph-ok9.htm

Glenn, Good evening, Sir. Larry

Related
Map: Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor veterans recall infamous attack
Santa Anita racetrack played a role in WWII internment
By Thomas H. Maugh II

December 7, 2009
E-mail Print Share Text Size

The remains of a Japanese mini-submarine that participated in the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor have been discovered, researchers are to report today, offering strong evidence that the sub fired its torpedoes at Battleship Row.

That could settle a long-standing argument among historians.

Five mini-subs were to participate in the strike, but four were scuttled, destroyed or run aground without being a factor in the attack. The fate of the fifth has remained a mystery. But a variety of new evidence suggests that the fifth fired its two 800-pound torpedoes, most likely at the battleships West Virginia and Oklahoma, capsizing the latter. A day later, researchers think, the mini-sub's crew scuttled it in nearby West Loch.

The loch was also the site of a 1944 disaster in which six tank landing ships preparing for the secret invasion of Saipan were destroyed in an ammunition explosion that killed 200 sailors and wounded hundreds more.

When the Navy scooped up the remains of the so-called LSTs and dumped them outside the harbor to protect the secrecy of the invasion, it apparently also dumped the mini-sub's remains, which were mingled with the damaged U.S. ships.

"It's not often that a historian gets a chance to rewrite history," said marine historian and former Navy submariner Parks Stephenson, who pieced together the evidence for the television program "Nova." "The capsizing of the Oklahoma is the second most iconic event of the attack. If one submarine could get in in 1941 and hit a battleship, who knows what a midget sub could do today. Iran and North Korea are both building them. It's very worrying."

Stephenson and his colleagues have put together a convincing chain of circumstantial evidence, but it is just circumstantial, said Burl Burlingame, a journalist at the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and author of "Advance Force: Pearl Harbor."

"There is a good chance that this is the Pearl Harbor midget, but I don't think the case is closed on it," Burlingame said. "At this point, it is not hard evidence."

The two-man, 80-foot-long sub in question does not have a name of its own. Each of the five subs in the attack was carried by a conventional submarine and took its name from the mother boat. It is thus called the I-16-tou -- tou being Japanese for boat. Powered by a 600-horsepower electric motor, the sub could reach underwater speeds of 19 knots, twice as fast as many of the U.S. subs of the day.

The three pieces of the sub were found during routine test dives between 1994 and 2001 by Terry Kerby, chief pilot of the Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory's submersibles Pisces IV and Pisces V. But Kerby and others assumed they were a part of a war trophy that had been captured by allied forces at Guadalcanal or elsewhere, towed back to Hawaii and scuttled.

Stephenson got involved in 2007 because he was looking for the fifth Japanese mini-sub.

In 1941, a crewman on the I-16 had received a radio call from the I-16-tou at 10:41 p.m. on Dec. 8 reporting the success of its mission. That indicated to Stephenson that the mini-sub had found a calm place in the harbor and hidden until the next night before surfacing and sending the call.

The crew members would have then scuttled the craft because they could not get it out of the harbor. The West Loch would have been a good location to hide, but researchers could find no trace of the boat there.

A diver who had been looking for the mini-sub suggested that Stephenson talk to Kerby, who sent him pictures of his find.

"As soon as I saw the bow section with the distinctive net cutter, I knew that we had found the fifth midget sub," Stephenson said. The Japanese navy modified net cutters on the subs for specific missions, and the one on the wreck was identical to those on the other mini-subs.

No torpedoes were found on the wreck, and evidence suggests that they were not present when the boat was sunk. A newly declassified photograph taken by a Japanese plane during the attack appeared to show a mini-sub firing a torpedo into Battleship Row. A report to Congress in 1942 by Adm. Chester W. Nimitz describes an unexploded 800-pound torpedo recovered after the battle. That's twice the size carried by the torpedo bombers.

That torpedo was apparently a dud that missed the West Virginia.

But an examination of the remains of the Oklahoma shows that it apparently had underwater damage much larger than that associated with aerial torpedoes. An underwater blast would have caused it to capsize, Stephenson said. "Otherwise it would have settled to the bottom upright," like the other sunken ships.

The 1944 disaster at West Loch occurred on May 21 as the Navy was preparing to invade the Mariana Islands in Operation Forager. The Navy clamped a top-secret classification on the incident to keep it from the Japanese, and few records are now available. What is known is that it was crucial to clear out the debris because the loch was by then the site of an ammunition dump.

Records from the salvage ship Valve showed that it was brought into the loch during the cleanup and its 250-ton crane was used for an undisclosed reason. Stephenson thinks it lifted the I-16-tou, but there are no records to confirm that.

The remains of the mini-sub were then dumped three miles south of Pearl Harbor along with those of the LSTs, to be found by Kerby 50 years later.

Bulkheads on the wreck are sealed, so researchers don't know whether the mini-sub crew was trapped. But a map taken from one of the other mini-subs showed the location of a safe house in Pearl City, Hawaii, suggesting the crew might have scuttled the boat and escaped.

The "Nova" episode describing the search for the I-16-tou will air Jan. 5.

http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-fornv/japan/japtp-ss/mdg-a-2.htm

Dave, What paper was the article you read in?

1917 - Four U.S. battleships arrive at Scapa Flow taking on the role of the British Grand Fleet's Sixth Battle Squadron. Include USS Delaware (BB-28), USS Florida (BB-30), New York (BB-34), and USS Wyoming (BB-32).
1941 - Japanese carrier aircraft attack U.S. Pacific Fleet based in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
1944 - Seventh Fleet forces land Army troops on shore of Ormoc Bay. Kamikazes attack Task Force, damaging several U.S. Navy ships.

Thank-you for your service.

http://www.kitsapsun.com/pearl-harbor/

Baking soda does remove cigarette odor if you put it directly on the covers themselves, but it is very messy and time consuming to do.

Mildew (mold) odor is caused my storing things in damp places or places that don't have good air circulation, like attics, basements,or closed containers/boxes for long periods of time.

Usaf reverses policy in a week

SACRAMENTO, CA - One week after the Air Force adopted a strict prohibition of tattoos on the "saluting arm," the new policy has been scrapped.A spokeswoman for the Air Force Recruiting Service in San Antonio, Christa D'Andrea, said the regulation that took effect Nov. 25 has been dropped and the entire tattoo policy will be reviewed."It's an effort to standardize the policy for all members of the Air Force," D'Andrea said.As many as 17,000 recruits who joined under the delayed entry program were potentially affected by the ban on right-arm body art.  The Air Force said it did not want tattoos to be seen when an airman salutes.  The updated policy also prohibited tattoos on either hand.This week some recruits were told they had been disqualified under the new rule even though their tattoos had been approved under previous, more lenient guidelines.The tattoo ban was first reported Monday by News10 and generated national attention and controversy.D'Andrea acknowledged media coverage played a role in the decision to reconsider the tattoo crackdown.  "It was unfortunate there were recruits caught in the middle," she said.Enlistees who were not able to begin basic training this week at Lackland Air Force base because of the new tattoo policy would be rescheduled for future dates, D'Andrea said.

Dan. Good news you can remember the day of your last cigarette. I was never a serious smoker but I haven't had a cigarette since Oct 81, when my mother had her first heart valve replacement. I haven't even had a cigar in 10+ years. Sound like John Young.

Cigarettes are bad but mold fatal to covers. Too bad fabareze would work.
Larry

I received some covers to sell and the fiurst thing that I noticed was the reek of cigarette smoke. How do you remove the smell from the covers?

Here is the complete text:

President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared December 7, 1941, a "date which will live in infamy." With over 3,500 Americans killed or wounded, the surprise attack by the Imperial Japanese on Pearl Harbor was an attempt to break the American will and
destroy our Pacific Fleet. They succeeded in doing neither.

On National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, we pay tribute to the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country, and we honor all those who selflessly served our nation at home and abroad during World War II.

On a tranquil Sunday morning, as war raged around the globe, the attack on Pearl Harbor effectively ended American isolation -- thrusting our nation into action. Japanese airplanes had launched an unprovoked assault on our military with immense firepower, and our servicemembers valiantly answered the call. They defended their positions, fought back against the attackers, and cared for the wounded. In that darkest hour, men and women who had considered themselves
ordinary found within themselves the ability to do something extraordinary. And in the months and years that followed, Americans all across the country would respond to Pearl Harbor with firm resolve, many joining our armed forces to defend our shores and our freedom.

This courage is not uncommon in the story of America -- a story of heroes whose sacrifice and valor speak to their love of comrades and country; and whose goodness guides our quest for lasting peace. Today, and every day, we draw strength from the
moment when the best among us defended an island and a nation from the onslaught of tyranny, and forever altered the course of our history.

The Congress, by Public Law 103-308, as amended, has designated December 7 of each year as "National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day."

Three intimate friends of Admiral Mahan, who met him frequently on his visit to Washington this Winter, expressed the belief tonight that the war in Europe had hastened his death. They said that Admiral Mahan was not only most keenly interested in the great struggle, its relation to sea power, and the naval and strategic problems and lessons being solved or taught by the war, but that the events of the war greatly excited his mind and heart.

Admiral Mahan came to Washington on Nov. 1 to take up his labors as a research associate in the Department of Historical Research in the Carnegie Institution, and was pursuing a special line of historical research with a view to writing a history of American expansion and its bearing on sea power. This was to be a monumental work, and he had given thought to it for many years. But he had hardly made a beginning when his heart gave way, overtaxed by his keen interest in the European war.

Hostilities Affected Him
Though he was in his seventy-fourth year, Admiral Mahan was in apparently good health until the war began. The first month of hostilities deeply affected him. There were great demands made upon him for comments as a naval expert, and during the early days of the war he gave many interviews and wrote a number of articles dealing with the contest. The demand on him from American and foreign publications was cut short by President Wilson's order prohibiting American military and naval officers from commenting on the conflict, but Admiral Mahan, while discontinuing his writings on the war, never lost interest in it one moment. Signs of organic heart disease developed in September, and recurred late in October, just before Admiral Mahan came to Washington with Mrs. Mahan and their daughters, Helen and Ellen.

Only last week Admiral Mahan visited Secretary Daniels at the Navy Department, and Mr. Daniels said tonight the Admiral was the best-informed man on the war and its lessons he had conversed with. On Saturday the Admiral's condition became such that he decided to enter the naval hospital here. He died in the presence of his wife and two daughters. His son, Lyle Mahan, a New York lawyer, came to Washington tonight.

Admiral Mahan was as familiar with Europe, her history, and armaments as he was with American history, and knew many of the men actively identified with the war in high places in England, Germany, and France. Some of his intimate friends among the military and naval men in Europe had lost their lives in the war and this shocked him. Some of these officers he met in his travels, and when he received honorary degrees at Oxford and Cambridge and many more when he went to The Hague in 1899 as American Naval delegate to the First Peace Conference.

There were distinct reasons why the American people congratulated themselves upon the presence of Admiral Mahan, then Capt. Mahan, in the First Hague Conference. He was not only a naval strategist and scholar, but was even then regarded as the most eminent living expert in naval strategy. Then he had always consistently advocated strong navies and preparedness for war with special reference to naval influence in making for peace. Added to his equipment as a diplomatist in the delicate and complex task before The Hague Conference was his experience as a public man who had been hailed as the first great exponent of the philosophy of sea power.

Book Made Him Famous
His great reputation had been developed in the nine years immediately preceding the First Hague Conference. It was in 1890 that his first book of international importance, "The Influence of Sea Power Upon History," was published in Boston and made the author known around the world. This book is really responsible for the German Navy as it exists today. When it was published it was immediately translated into German. Emperor William was so impressed with the book that he ordered a copy placed in the library of every German warship, and ordered all German naval officers to read and study it. Emperor William praised it as the greatest modern work on naval affairs, and the greatest work on sea power. This book taught the Germans the importance of gaining sea power.

Admiral Mahan himself had told how it was that he came into the greater work--how, when reading Mommsen in the English Club at Lima, he was struck with that historian's failure to recognize the all-important influence of sea power on Hannibal's history. He wrote out the whole outline of "The Influence of Sea Power," discussed it with Admiral Luce, and then set to work with painstaking method. He chose the term "sea power" with the deliberate purpose of challenging attention. He is the coiner of that term in its present significance.

"Purists, I said to myself," he remarked, "may criticize me for marrying a Teutonic word to one of Latin origin, but I deliberately discarded the adjective 'maritime' being too smooth to arrest men's attention. I do not know how far this is usually the case with phrases that obtain currency. My impression is that the originator is himself generally surprised at their taking hold. I was not surprised in that sense. The effect produced was that which I fully proposed, but I was surprised at the extent of my success. 'Sea Power,' in English at least, seems to have come to stay, in the sense I used it. The 'sea powers' were often spoken of before, but in an entirely different manner--not to express, as I meant to, at once an abstract conception and a concrete fact."

Retired After Forty Years' Service
Admiral Mahan was born at West Point, N. Y., Sept. 27, 1840. His father was D. H. Mahan, an eminent Professor of Engineering at the United States Military Academy. On Nov. 17, 1896, Admiral Mahan was retired on his own application, after forty years' naval service, in order to be able to devote himself to his writings on sea power. Once since then he has been called to active duty--in May, 1898, when he was appointed a member of the Naval War Board, commonly known as the Strategy Board, during the war with Spain.

Admiral Mahan was a man of most interesting and admirable personal traits. Slender and erect, he was about 6 feet 2 inches tall, with finely chiseled features, very blue eyes, and a closely-cropped Vandyke beard. He was soft and gentle in voice and had a pleasant but reserved manner, perhaps a little cold to those who did not know him well. He was a man of high religious ideals. Sunday week, while attending service at St. Thomas's Church, he sang all the hymns and chants in the Episcopal service.

A naval officer said that the chapters of Admiral Mahan's great work on "The Influence of Sea Power Upon History" were first read as lectures to officers at the Naval War College at Newport and were then published. Two years later appeared his "Influence of Sea Power on the French Revolution and Empire," in the Spring of 1897 his "Life of Nelson, the Embodiment of the Sea Power of Great Britain," and in the following Winter his "Interest of America in Sea Power, Past and Future." Just after his life of Nelson appeared Harold Frederic cabled to The New York Times from London that the reviewers of the London dailies sat up all night with the advance copies to rush long reviews into print the next morning.

Navy Department's Tribute
The Navy Department tonight issued this tribute to Admiral Mahan:

"Admiral Mahan became famous as an author and historian in the early nineties, when his books on 'The Influence of Sea Power Upon History' and 'The Influence of Sea Power Upon the French Revolution' were published. These were followed by a 'Life of Nelson.' These books were classics in their line, and were widely read throughout the world. In England and Germany in particular they received the highest commendation, and in every country possessing a navy they became veritable text books in naval strategy. In England the leading naval men of the day confessed that it had remained for him to elucidate the work of the British navy in a way that they themselves had never understood or even dreamed of.

"Since his first books he has written many of lesser importance, and these and his essays have kept him before the world as the greatest modern writer on naval strategy. He was a close student of world politics, and his writings on the trend of the politics of the leading nations of the world were accepted as an authority. It may be safely said that no writer of modern times evinced a keener insight in the affairs of the world or expressed himself concerning them more clearly and convincingly than did the late Admiral Mahan.

"His death will cause international regret not only because of the high esteem in which he is held in every country of the world interested in naval affairs, but also because of the fact that his death leaves a void among naval and political authorities of the world that no author and writer can fill."

At the express request of Admiral Mahan there will be no naval funeral. Simple services will be held at 9 o'clock tomorrow night at St. Thomas's Church. The body will be then taken to the Mahan home at Quogue, L. I., for private interment.

Also received the following email from PAO aboard USS John Paul Jones regarding my Navy Day covers:

Mr. Wilson,

Unfortunately, due to operational commitments taking us outside of the
range of mail receipt for some time, we did not receive your envelopes
requesting us to mail on Navy Day 2009 until mid-November. We just
pulled into port about a week ago, and I apologize for the late
response. I can still send the envelopes back with the ship's cachet,
but I won't be able to postmark it for Navy Day. If there's anything
else you would like, please let me know.

Very Respectfully,
PAO JPJ

Very nice of him to let me know what was going on. It had obviously been a long time since they had received any mail as I mailed my covers back in September. I responded with a "Thanks" for the info and "don't worry about the Navy Day date.

Mates: My mistake on Patton stamp- Luxembourg, not France issued a set of four stamps in 1947
to honor General Patton. On Armistice Day, 1953
the United States issued a stamp to honor Patton
and the Armed Forces of the U.S. Army

No fair asking stamp questions with Dave "Mr. Stamps" in here. :)

I've got a Tuscalosa cover postmarked this date 1940 commemorating FDR's little trip, cachet by Combs.

Even with the delays, the submarine’s building schedule remains well ahead of its contract schedule, which calls for delivery by April 30, 2010.

1775 - Lt. John Paul Jones raises the Grand Union flag on the Continental Navy ship Alfred. It is the first American flag raised over an American Naval vessel.

1940 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt embarks on USS Tuscaloosa (CA 37) to inspect bases acquired from Great Britain under the Destroyer-for-Bases agreement.

1983 - Two F-14s flying over Lebanon were fired upon by Syrian antiaircraft artillery.

http://dtl.lib.umt.edu/cdm4/results.php?CISOOP1=any&CISOFIELD1=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOROOT=/collarticle&CISOBOX1=Squadron

From Commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet Public Affairs

PEARL HARBOR (NNS) -- Commander Submarine Force U.S. Pacific Fleet Rear Adm. Douglas McAneny announced Dec. 1 that the submarine tender USS Emory S. Land (AS 39) and the fast-attack submarines USS City of Corpus Christi (SSN 705) and USS Oklahoma City (SSN 723) will be changing homeports during 2010 and 2011.

USS Emory S. Land, currently completing depot-level maintenance in Bremerton, Wash., will be forward-deployed to Diego Garcia upon completion of maintenance, in accordance with defense agreements between the U.S. and British governments. USS Emory S. Land is expected to depart Bremerton next spring, arriving in Diego Garcia next summer.

The submarine tender will provide an expeditionary maintenance capability to the fast-attack submarines (SSNs) and guided missile submarines (SSGNs), particularly those operating in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility.

"Forward-deploying USS Emory S. Land to Diego Garcia will dramatically reduce transit time for our submarines operating in 5th Fleet that require intermediate level maintenance, emergent repair, or logistics support," said McAneny.

Assigning USS Emory S. Land to Diego Garcia demonstrates the Navy's continuing commitment to peace and regional security through maintaining strong capabilities.

USS City of Corpus Christi, currently homeported in Guam, will be replaced in Guam by the Norfolk-based USS Oklahoma City, and the former will be assigned to Naval Station Pearl Harbor. While specific dates are unavailable, the homeport shifts are projected to take place between the fall of 2010 and the spring of 2011.

"Shifting homeports for USS Oklahoma City and USS City of Corpus Christi ensure that our most technologically advanced submarines are forward, so we maintain our ability to dominate the sea base and shape potential adversaries," said Rear Adm. McAneny

VF = fighter squadron
VB = bombing squadron
VT = torpedo squadron, now training squadron
VS = scouting squadron recently asw squadron
VX = experimental squadron
VA = attack squadron (modern)
VFA = strike fighter squadron
VFP = photo reconn squadron
RVAH = heavy reconn squadron
VAH = heavy attack squadron

NC Pirates' guess (Greg C) concerning the 1928 stamped cachet by Roessler documents the Good Will cruise aboard USS MARYLAND by Herb Hoover
are close,

Esinks' guess on Harry Ioor's printed envelopes
commemorates most holidays in 1932

The event covers produced by Clyde Morris, San
Francisco documents with two 3LK cachets made w/
a stamp kit:
U.S.S. ZEILIN/ Decommissioned/ January 22, 1930

U.S.S. CLAXTON/ Recommissioned/ Januery 22, 1930

Henrich, oldest living Yankee, passes awayOutfielder played on seven World Series-winning clubsAnthony DiComo / MLB.com12/01/2009 4:10 PM ETNEW YORK -- The oldest living Yankee, outfielder Tommy Henrich, died early Tuesday morning in Dayton, Ohio. He was 96. Henrich, a five-time All-Star and seven-time World Series champion, hit .282 with 183 home runs over an 11-year career with the Yankees. If not for the parts of four years he spent serving for the U.S. Coast Guard in World War II, Henrich, known as "Old Reliable," may have won even more than his seven titles. "Tommy was a darn good ballplayer and teammate," Hall of Famer Yogi Berra, Henrich's teammate for five seasons, said in a statement. "He always took being a Yankee to heart. He won a lot of championships and did whatever he could to help us win. When I came up in 1947, he taught me little nuances about playing the outfield. "Being around Tommy made you feel good, whether playing cards or listening to him sing with that great voice. He was a proud man, and if you knew him, he made you proud too." Henrich, as Berra alluded, was best known for his exploits in October. In 1949, Henrich hit the first walk-off home run in World Series history off Brooklyn's Don Newcombe, accounting for the only run in a 1-0 victory over the Dodgers. "Tommy was a terrific player," Bobby Brown, also Henrich's teammate for five seasons, said in a statement. "What made him so special was that he always played well in big games. You get him in a close or important game and he would always show up ready to play. It seemed like he never made any mistakes in the outfield. He was a true professional and an ultimate Yankee." Henrich twice led the American League in triples, four times scored more than 100 runs and twice finished in the top six in MVP voting. "I am saddened by the loss of Tommy Henrich, who was truly one of my personal favorites," Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement.

1842 - Three crew members of USS Somers, Midshipman Philip Spencer, Boatswain Samuel Cromwell and Seaman Elisha Smallare, executed for mutiny.
1921 - In the first flight of an airship filled with helium, Blimp C-7, piloted by Lt. Cmdr. Ralph F. Wood, left Norfolk, Va., for Washington, D.C.
1959 - The Bureau of Ordnance merges with the Bureau of Aeronautics to form the Bureau of Naval Weapons.