Fleet Plan of the Day
Date: 14APR22
From: Brad Williamson, Lead Administrator
RE: Current activity on the coldwarboats.org website.
- Seven fully functional sites, including the USS WILLIAM H. BATES (SSN 680). (Located by menu items shaded light orange):
- USS GRENADIER (SS 525)
- USS NAUTILUS (SSN 571)
- USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (SSBN 600)
- USS STURGEON (SSN 637)
- USS ASPRO (SSN 648)
- USSVI - USS HADDO Base (Cleveland, TN)
Written by USS WILLIAM H. BATES (SSN 680) submariners Dean Macris (73-75) and Tim Mazza (73-76), Moral Revenge is a work of fiction about family, honor, devotion, and revenge set in the world of fast-attack submarines. When global events, egos, and naval careers drive the United States Navy to use Vice Admiral Alexis Kochenko as a scapegoat it shakes him and his family to its core.
Finding himself inadvertently complicit in a corrupt consortium jeopardizing the safety of the elite submarine service that he and his son have committed their lives to, the Admiral is consumed protecting the family name and the legacy his Lithuanian immigrant parents had so hoped to create.
Torn by revenge, patriotism and honor, the Admiral’s son, John Kochenko, the commanding officer of one of the Navy’s newest nuclear fast attack submarines, the USS REDFISH (SSN 68X), risks everything as he leads a select group of crew members to do the unthinkable. In apparent disregard for his family tenets, John sets out to right the wrong done to his father, simultaneously exposing the consortium in hopes to save his family, the United States Submarine Service, and the country from an unimaginable fate.
Moral Revenge triggers every human emotion, leading you to ask the crucial question: “Was this final act justified?”
What readers have to say…
(Originally posted on www.ssn-680.org for Veterans day 2017, and revised for www.coldwarboats.org)
Veterans Day has come and slowly fades into tomorrow.
The “thank you for your service” handshakes, prompted by an SSN-680 dolphin-ed ball cap, are ebbing, like the tide, and the offers of free meals at local restaurants will soon be yesterday's news.
Shortly, on the sidewalk and in the grocery store, I’ll be a non-distinct gray-bearded old guy in a Navy blue baseball cap, not that I really ever anticipated anything else.
Don’t get me wrong. I really do appreciate a heart-felt thank you, and I suppose the free meals are in the same class, though they seem to lack the sincerity of thanks and a hand shake and I admit I’ve never taken advantage of one. I never felt I was owed anything, even a thank you, let alone a meal, but I have taught my kids that accepting the gift honors the giver, so maybe one day I’ll let someone treat me to a nice dinner.
But here and now, as the afternoon fades into twilight, Armistice Day, 1919, and the singular honor of soldiering seem far, far, away.
Why do I feel so bemused this rainy autumn day? After all, they are celebrating me generically, if not specifically. Shouldn’t I find satisfaction in that?
The USS HADDO Base out of Cleveland, TN, leads the way as the very first USSVI Base to move their base website to coldwarboats.org.
Tom Harriman, their Cold War Boats Site Lead and Base Webmaster, and I started talking about the possibilities about a month ago, and after much discussion, a few sea stories, and careful consideration we decided that hosting base websites would be a good thing for both the USSVI and the Cold War Boats Association.
Among the advantages:
The burden of site design, security, privacy, redundancy, and back up is lifted from the shoulders of the Base Webmaster, and incorporated under the umbrella of the existing Cold War Boats website, allowing total focus on content, rather than design and functionality.
Each Base hosting will enjoy modern site design, with state of the art appearance, customizable with base-related photographs, that is responsive to the device on which it is viewed (mobile devices to be included soon), with robust security and privacy management not previously experienced.
Circumstances of the past six months have made it easy to neglect my routine updates regarding the progress that has been made on the coldwarboats.org website.
Work on the site has continued, with most of the effort directed toward completing the sites for 218 smoke boats and installing their basic menus. Currently, all the Gato class are done, as well as all the newer diesel classes: Albacore, Mackerel, Sailfish, Grayback, Darter, Barbel, and Dolphin. That leaves Balao, Tench, Barracuda, and Tang classes, which are about half the diesels left.
But at least all the nukes are done, both attack and missile, which should cover the bulk of all of you, and that is definitely good news.
The only site that has already fully absorbed it's standalone version, is the USS WILLIAM H. BATES (SSN 680)(SSN 680), it being my qual boat and all, and, as the builder of the original Bates site, made it easy to port into Cold War Boats.
Nothing like going to your favorite submarine website and finding, well, nothing!
"I looked, and there it was, gone!"
I feel your pain, and even more so.
If you happened to visit the Cold War Boats site since yesterday afternoon, you found that the site wouldn't even load, which is a big deal for you, and a major headache for me. I was busy adding more smoke boat menus to the site when the menus started going wonky and nothing I could do made it better. I restricted access to the site, and worked unsuccessfully to get it turned around. Finally, the whole menu system collapsed into gibberish, roughly 3500 individual menu items, which may not sound like a lot to you, but it kept me busy for much of the last 24 hours!
The good news is that the site is back on-line, and ready for your access and perusal. Persistence paid off, and the reward is access to 396 boats, thousands of photos, sea stories, and boat records.
Another lesson learned on the boat pays off.
"Never give up, never surrender!" Even if you're just sorting out software!