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At the FReeper Canteen!
C'mon and take a break ! Walk on over to the water cooler and lets chat. Post your thoughts, opinions, news of the day, rantings, ravings, pontificates, hypothesis, hyperboles, your soap box cause, your mantra, your baggage, your garbage, your blogging, your secrets, whatever you feel would make talk around the water cooler real interesting!
Please remember that The Canteen is here to support
and entertain our troops and veterans and their families,
and is family friendly.
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Think Test. Give it a try...
Click on the link below & take the test. The normal rate is 7 out of 25 however....with FReepers taking the test I'm sure the results will be MUCH greater!:)
*Think Test*
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Finally, some honesty in big buck hunting stories...
Here's a picture of the new world record whitetail. It was taken by the cousin of a co-worker's sister's, uncle's, best friend's, son-in-law's, niece's hairdresser's, neighbor's ex-boyfriend's oldest nephew's son. Reportedly it will score 2603-1/8 by B&C standard and was shot in West Texas on a really windy day, 85 degrees downhill, around a curve at 900 yards with a 22 mag. Supposedly, this deer had killed a Brahma bull, two Land Rovers and six sabertooth tigers in the last two weeks alone. They said it was winning a fight with Bigfoot when it was shot. It had also been confirmed that the buck had been seen drinking discharge water from a nuclear power plant.
This has been checked on Snopes where it was confirmed. Honest!!!
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Happy Belated 110th Birthday US Navy Submarine Force
12 October 1900
At the dawn of the new century, prominent American naval leaders recognized the submarine as a real threat to international surface forces and persuaded the Navy to acquire its first submarine in 1900. Inventors John Holland and Simon Lake competed their designs. Holland won the design competition and sold his newest model, Holland VI, to the Navy for $150,000 on 11 April 1900. This 64-ton submarine, commissioned as USS Holland (later assigned the designation SS-1), was equipped with an Otto-type gasoline engine for surface running and electric motors for submerged operations. Due to the volatility of gasoline, American submersible designs soon followed the French practice and adopted the diesel engine in 1909.
Early submarine classes such as E, H, K, L, M, N, O, and R, known as "pig boats" or "boats" because of their unusual hull shape and foul living conditions, ranged in displacement from 287 to 510 tons. The fastest "boats" achieved top surface speeds of 14 knots under diesel power. During World War I, U.S. submarines were divided into two groups according to mission. Boats of the N and O classes, as well as some of the E type, patrolled American coasts and harbors in a defensive role. Other submarines patrolled hostile European waters after 1917. Some K, L, O, and E class boats conducted offensive, opensea operations from the Azores and Bantry Bay in Ireland. They supported the Allied effort to maintain open sea lanes along the European coast and in the approaches to the British Isles.
The Navy Department's plans for future submarines reflected the prevailing surface warfare thinking of the time. The submersible was viewed as a type of destroyer or torpedo boat that should operate with the battle fleet. Consequently, the first submarine designed by the Bureau of Construction and Repair and the Bureau of Steam Engineering produced the faster 15-knot, 800-ton, S class submarine in 1916, built by the Electric Boat Company and Lake Torpedo Boat Company. At virtually the same time, Electric Boat received a commission to design the three boats of the 20-knot T, or AA class, with a normal displacement of 1,107 tons. On paper these characteristics, adopted during World War I, brought the U.S. Navy one step closer to the "fleet submarine," a submersible that could keep pace with surface ships of the battle fleet.
- In the early years, American submarine pioneers developed new ships that improved markedly in size and capability. Diesel engines and many other improvements were incorporated and refined. In the 1930s, the U.S. Navy finally selected large, 1,500-ton "fleet boats" as the optimum submarine design, developing an operational doctrine based upon long range independent reconnaissance and attack that would pay dividends during the Pacific War.
- During World War II, our Submarine Force, comprising only 1.5 percent of the U.S. Navy, wreaked havoc on Japanese maritime power. U.S. submarines sank over 30 percent of the Japanese Navy, including eight aircraft carriers, a battleship, and 11 cruisers. More importantly, the Submarine Force sank 1,200 Japanese merchant ships totaling 4.8 million tons - fully 60 percent of the Empire's total merchant ship losses. Such losses gutted Japanese industrial power and decisively impacted the ability of the Japanese to sustain fighting forces forward and replace combat losses of ships and aircraft.
- From the 1950s on, the U.S. Submarine Force made impressive strides in capability, harnessing new technologies at a remarkable pace. Under the leadership of Admiral Hyman Rickover, submarine-borne nuclear power was conceived and engineered into USS Nautilus - creating the first true submarine. Aided by a "tear drop" hull design and advances in submarine quieting, the nuclear-powered SSN possessed the power, endurance and agility to become the premier ASW platform. Under the direction of Admiral William (Red) Raborn, the ballistic missile was married to the nuclear powered submarine to form the ultimate nuclear deterrent - the SSBN. In the 1970s, precision long-range conventional land attack from submarines became possible with the advent of the Tomahawk cruise missile. And in an important side role, submarines and the men that served on them also played a vital part in the expanding areas of Arctic exploration and undersea research.
- U.S. submarines played a key role in winning the Cold War, checking the Soviets in two ways. First, U.S. SSBNs deterred nuclear war by maintaining a survivable retaliatory strike capability against any nuclear attack on the United States. Second, U.S. attack submarines monitored the rapidly-expanding Soviet navy while conducting intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions. Moreover, worldwide operations by our SSNs underscored American determination to defend our nation and allies from attack.
- Submarine innovation continues in the post-Cold War security environment. U.S. submarines transitioned to battlegroup operations in the littorals, with substantially greater roles in land attack and Special Operations Forces delivery. The innovative Virginia-class submarine, designed to dominate the littorals, is under construction. The Submarine Force is embracing promising new technologies, such as unmanned undersea vehicles, that provide potential to significantly increase our reconnaissance and mine warfare capabilities.
The 21st Century promises new challenges and opportunities for U.S. submarines. New technologies such as unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs), being developed for reconnaissance and mine warfare missions, hold the potential to vastly improve a submarine’s mission capability. New communications capabilities mated with submarine-launched unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) could result in U.S. submarines independently detecting and destroying targets far inland. Stealthy mini-subs, like the Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS) will launch from SSNs and take Special Forces teams hundreds of miles to their landing sites.
Today, U.S. nuclear powered submarines are an integral part of any U.S. Navy, Joint or Combined Forces team. U.S. Submarines operate covertly, free of logistics support for extended periods. Using advanced technology, submarines operating "Forward....From the Sea", independently, or with other Naval Forces are an invaluable sensor and weapons system platform. The Navy's multi-mission submarines - Fast Attack (SSN) and Ballistic Missile (SSBN) - are key elements to a balanced naval force.
The U.S. Navy's Submarine Force has the world's most capable submarines, manned by the world's best trained and motivated submariners. During political or military confrontation, any potential adversary must assume that United States Navy Submarines are present and consider the consequences.
Submarine verse of the Navy Hymn
Two sets of lyrics for the Submarine verse of the Navy Hymn have been written. The Reverend Gale Williamson wrote, the following verse, which is generally associated with ballistic missile patrols:
Bless those who serve beneath the deep,
Through lonely hours their vigil keep.
May peace their mission ever be,
Protect each one we ask of thee.
Bless those at home who wait and pray,
For their return by night or day.
In 1965, David Miller composed the following lyrics, which are used for submariners and divers:
Lord God, our power evermore,
Whose arm doth reach the ocean floor,
Dive with our men beneath the sea;
Traverse the depths protectively.
O hear us when we pray, and keep
Them safe from peril in the deep.
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*This Day In History October 14th*
1066 - The Battle of Hastings occurred in England. The Norman forces of William the Conqueror defeated King Harold II of England.
1568 - Mary, Queen of Scots, went on trial in England. She was accused of conspiring against Queen Elizabeth I. Mary was beheaded the following February.
1644 - William Penn was born. Penn was the colonist that founded the Pennsylvania colony for Quakers.
1879 - Thomas Edison signed an agreement with Jose D. Husbands for the sale of Edison telephones in Chile.
1887 - Thomas Edison and George E. Gouraud reached an agreement for the international marketing rights for the phonograph.
1890 - Dwight David 'Ike' Eisenhower was born. He became the Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in World War II and eventually the 34th U.S. President.
1912 - Theodore Roosevelt was shot while campaigning in Milwaukee, WI. Roosevelt's wound in the chest was not serious and he continued with his planned speech. William Schrenk was captured at the scene of the shooting.
1922 - Lieutenant Lester James Maitland set a new airplane speed record when he reached a speed of 216.1 miles-per-hour.
1926 - The book "Winnie-the-Pooh," by A.A. Milne, made its debut.
1928 - The first televised wedding took place in Des Plains, IL. James Fowlkes and Cora Dennison were married in a radio studio.
1930 - Ethel Merman debuted on Broadway in "Girl Crazy."
1933 - Nazi Germany announced that it was withdrawing from the League of Nations.
1934 - "Lux Radio Theater" began airing on the NBC Blue radio network.
1936 - The first SSB (Social Security Board) office opened in Austin, TX. From this point, the Board's local office took over the assigning of Social Security Numbers.
1943 - The Radio Corporation of America finalized the sale of the NBC Blue radio network. Edward J. Noble paid $8 million for the network that was renamed American Broadcasting Company.
1944 - German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel committed suicide rather than face execution after being accused of conspiring against Adolf Hitler and the execution that would follow.
1944 - During World War II, the Second British Parachute Brigade liberated the city of Athens.
1947 - Over Rogers Dry Lake in Southern California, pilot Chuck Yeager flew the Bell X-1 rocket plane and became the first person to break the sound barrier.
1954 - C.B. DeMille's "The Ten Commandments", starring Charlton Heston, began filming in Egypt. The epic had a cast of 25,000 people.
1960 - U.S. presidential candidate John F. Kennedy first suggested the idea of a Peace Corps.
1961 - "How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying" opened on Broadway.
1962 - The Cuban Missile Crisis began when U.S. reconnaissance aircrafts photographed Soviet construction of intermediate-range missile sites in Cuba.
1964 - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent resistance to racial prejudice in America. He was the youngest person to receive the award.
1968 - The first live telecast to come from a manned U.S. spacecraft was transmitted from Apollo 7.
1970 - Anwar el-Sadat became president of Egypt following the death of President Nasser.
1979 - The first national homosexual rights march took place in Washington, DC, involving over 100,000 people.
1984 - George ‘Sparky’ Anderson became the first baseball manager to win 100 games and a World Series in both leagues. (MLB)
1986 - Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev charged that the U.S. wanted to "bleed the Soviet Union economically" with the arms race in space.
1987 - Jessica McClure, 18 months old, fell down an abandoned well in Midland, TX. The rescue took 58 hours.
1992 - In Russia, Andrei Chikatilo, was sentenced to death after being convicted of 52 serial killings.
1993 - In Haiti, Justice Minister Guy Malary was assassinated by gunmen who were supporters of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
1995 - An armed gunman seized control of bus of tourists in Moscow's Red Square. The next day commandos stormed the bus freeing the four remaining hostages and killing the gunman.
1998 - The FBI charged Eric Robert Rudolph with 6 bombings including the 1996 Olympic bombing in Atlanta. Rudolph was not in custody at the time the charges were filed.
1998 - Kendall Francois pled innocent on charges of killing eight women in New York.
2000 - A Saudi Arabian Airlines flight was hijacked just after takeoff from Jiddah, Saudi Arabia. The plane was taken to Baghdad, Iraq, where the two men surrendered peacefully after negotiations.
2001 - Toys "R" Us introduced the new version of Geoffrey the giraffe in a 60-second commercial before WABC-TV aired Disney's "The Emperor's New Groove." Disney movies, music and books
2002 - Britain stripped power from the Catholic and Protestant politicians of Northern Ireland. Britain resumed sole responsibility for running Northern Ireland
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