A 2014 Tribute to U.S. Submariners

Background  Notes

Molten Eagle has dedicated the annual celebration of our nation's Thanksgiving holliday to active duty service members, and particularly to past and present submariners. Last year's historical double-feature displayed a frayed 1903 Thanksgiving Day menu from the vintage sloop-of-war steamer (USS Hartford)  in tribute to USS Hartford (SSN-768). The latter still in commission, had already endured a fateful grounding and later collision in addition to a U.S. submarine's arduous workload.

from 2011 - "Tributes for Thanksgiving"...
 "Though serving beyond sight of others, submariners remain on very influential minds." - Juan Caruso Davenport

A Secretary of the Navy once said, his biggest fear was a phone call announcing that one of our nuclear armed submarines — a "boomer" — had not come home. - It was Former Senator John Warner (R-Va.), Peter Huessy, June 16, 2010, Nuclear Deterrence: Painting a Bull's Eye On the US.

from 2009 - "To All of Our Brave Sailors, Especially Submariners on Thanksgiving Patrol" ...
 
Particularly remembered were our surface warfare people with American folk singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie's ballad "The Sinking of the Reuben James"  sung on YouTube.  

from 2008 -  "Remember the Submariners [and their families] When You here "Happy Thanksgiving!"  ...

"We never had to go off station because we couldn't fix or adapt to a broken piece of equipment. We never had to go off station because someone got hurt or because of family problems back home... You, the men of the Augusta, fixed it when it got broken and you, the families of Augusta, handled problems as they arose and made sure the ship could continue to perform, ‘Any Mission, Any Time.' I thank you.” - Cmdr. Mike A. Haumer, CO, USS Augusta (SSN-710)

The 2014 Thanksgiving Tribute 

We dedicate our appreciation to all active duty military service people and their families, again with particular appreciation of those who pay the unseen sacrifices of submariners and their families.  Submariners and their families respect and pay a high price for secrecy, such as not knowing where they will be sent... which is not as unusual as some may believe.

For instance, about 140 crew of  USS Jefferson City (SSN-759) return to their new Home Port for Thanksgiving (without their families?). 

The sub left San Diego on April 9 on a western Pacific deployment and was expected to return to California six months later.

On the deployment, a "small" water leak was detected in a valve located in the sub's nuclear propulsion system, DeWalt said. "It's coolant water so it's just trace amounts of radioactivity in the water being collected on board the ship," DeWalt said.
The sub arrived in Guam on June 21. DeWalt said there were no issues with the crew, environment or populace. It took some time to pinpoint the leak, which was first noticed as excess condensation, DeWalt said. Some specialized equipment had to be brought in to identify the source.  The question then became, "Do we fix it here in Guam? Do we go back and fix it when we get back home in San Diego?" DeWalt said. "The determination was, the expertise is here at Pearl Harbor."

The end result is the sub is being moved to Hawaii early, requiring a move by families as well. "Being a sailor, it's a dynamic environment that we live in and operate in," DeWalt said. "These kind of things can happen out there."  - Military.com

Submarines are always silent and strange.