So there it was; the day of decision was at hand. Despite consultations with some former IJN officers, the test was going to be if we could actually raise steam and get the battleship underway. It was a great day when we did that, 11-14 April 1946. The crew of the Delta stood by her […]

Captain Whipple wisely decided not to try to remake his pirate crew all at once, but rather to develop the good qualities they already had along his own lines. He offered no illusory inducements nor did he apply abruptly the harsh break of punishment. The officers learned that though direct orders did not get results, […]

(‘Project B’ tests of aerial attacks against surface ships in 1921. Billy Mitchell had a point). The first proposal to test nuclear weapons against naval warships was made on August 16, 1945, the day after the announcement of Japan’s surrender. There was a lot going on, now that the need to continue the war for […]

(A colorized shot of IJN Nagato in her better days with a real crew and a war that was yet to be lost. Photo National Archives). Editor’s note: Early in my naval career I had the rare opportunity to serve in a World War Two warship. Commissioned in 1945 as a “CVB,” (aircraft carrier- armored) […]

My initial sight of the massive hill and pagoda of the ex-IJN Nagato had come after arriving at Yokosuka by sea-plane. My next sight of her came as an incident of a scheduled air-voyage to Hokkaido. We were weather bound a day in port, as nothing was flying to get us to the inspection sites […]

Editor’s Note: We resume the saga of the last cruise of the last battleship of the Imperial Navy this Thanksgiving morning. I am thankful for all things: for friends, for the gift of life, for healthy kids and grandkid, and my best wishes of this most American of holidays to you all! That said, I […]

(Russian SU-24 Fencer twin engine attack jet. Photo Wikipedia Commons). I was electrified when I heard the news yesterday morning: the Turks had dispatched two F-16 Fighting Falcon jets to bushwhack the Russian aircraft that have been conducting bombing missions over northwest Syria- and incidentally crossing Turkish Airspace. It is a tickling bit of business. […]

When I come over Town Hill just south of Breezewood, PA, the big wind farm doesn’t quite shout out “you have a friend in Pennsylvania.” It actually makes me uneasy, since the great ominous blades slicing ponderously through the air makes it appear that the aliens have landed, and they mean us no good. I […]

It will not come as a gigantic surprise that I am appalled by how our nation is responding to all this terror nonsense. Or not responding, as the case may be. Our President, according to reports by crusading journalist Sheryl Attkisson, will not even take briefings on organizations that are on our official list of […]

The driver-less Klown Kar of State, powered by some arcane Google algorithm, continues to hurtle down the road this morning, and needs no comment from me, though you know I will anyway on the way to something else. I mean, really. The Secretary of State of the United States of America actually stumbled through some […]