Reminder from Submarine Commissar Raises a Question We have All Thought About

Time nor tide waits for no man, said fifteenth century author Robert Green. They both sneak up on you, said the man shown here at the periscope, where's your happy blogiversary to me?

Here it is: Happy Blogiversary to Molten Eagle! Since my counter has been restarted too many times, I have not tracked visits, except to note gradual increases each quarter. Still rather insignificant by naval observatory blogging standards. But I digress.

We all spent years on our various boats. Bothenook at a geezer's corner spent 6-1/2 years on one, for example. I spent several years there myself, and except perhaps for a ship's reunion in 1997, probably never met him. The ship was launched in 1955 and commissioned in 1957, the late Comdr. R. B. Laning in command (met him at the reunion, but ex-Pres. Jimmy Carter the only U.S. President to "Qualify-in-Submarines", and the ship's early nuclear Engineering Officer, did not attend the reunion). After exactly thirty years, the much-overhauled submarine was finally decommissioned in 1987.

Nominally, the ship's complement was 10 officers and 84 enlisted men. We always had more of both, however (not counting the spooks, etc.). During my time, I had the privelege of serving with 5 COs, 36 officers and almost 160 men I can still name. My guess is somewhere between 1,450 and 1,950 people were ever assigned.

Your boats had different years of service, different crew complements, etc. Have you ever wondered how many officers and men have or will have served on your boats over their years in commission? That is considerable talent and expertise devoted to something much smaller than the dimensions of a football field, isn't it?