SSN 680 Plan of the Day
- Frank Allen
The preparations for the USS WILLIAM H. BATES (SSN 680) AMOEBA RACES 21 are in full swing.
AMOEBA RACES 21 kicks off Monday morning, 30 AUG 2021 at 1000 with our main event, the Wekiva Island Outing, and continues for the first day or so of the USSVI Convention, where thirteen other boats are also having reunions.
- Frank Allen
In the true spirit of the Amoeba Races, we are once again off to the races! The Amoeba Races!
Now that most states are opening up for travel, we are moving ahead with the Amoeba Races 2021, also known as this year's USS WILLIAM H. BATES (SSN 680) reunion.
We are coordinating our reunion with the USSVI annual convention in Orlando, Florida. This allows us to take advantage of their hotel rates as well as their scheduled activities. Plans are still being developed but here is what we have now:
- Brad Williamson
SSN-680.org is dead.
Well, the website is still up, and if you type www.ssn-680.org, you’ll still get to the familiar blue and orange Bates site. It’s still usable to a degree, and you can still register and log in. Maybe dead-locked is a better word.
Time marches on. We have reached the point I can’t continue to modify and improve the website because of the database that drives the site. I found out last week when I wasn’t able to incorporate tracking of RSVP ’s to the August get-together in Orlando. The data structure behind the web site literally reached its limit, and without a major overhaul we can’t do much with it. That’s all on me, based on decisions made over eight years ago during the sun-680.org website’s first overhaul.
- Brad Williamson
There is a hint of reunion in the air. A good idea, long overdue, is coming together. Enough of you have expressed interest to motivate a few of you to push this forward.
We really haven't established anything more than the possibility at this point, but it's looking like Labor Day weekend of this year in Orlando, FL, with the USSVI Annual Convention might be a real possibility.
Check here for conversation as this evolves. Look for updates through the P.O.D., Facebook groups, and the occasional Familygram.
We'll keep you posted!
- Brad Williamson
I have a question for you. Most of us reading this have served on at least one submarine during Cold War, the Bates, and many have served on six, eight, and even more during their Navy careers. The question, which I’ll answer somewhere later in this post, is “How many submarines of the U.S. Navy were in service during the Cold War?”
For sake of argument, I’ll propose that the Cold War ran roughly between the end of WW II until the fall of the Soviet Union. Call it the beginning of 1946 through the end of 1991, and the boat must have been in commission at some point during that time.
Now hold on to your answer and your hats, because there is something I need to tell you.