• Argonaut Class Submarine
• Keel laid: May 1, 1925, at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME
• Launched: November 10, 1927
• Commissioned: April 2, 1928 as USS V-4 (SF 7) her name was changed to Argonaut in February 1931
• Displacement: 2,710 tons surfaced; 4,164 tons submerged
• Length: 381′
• Beam: 33′ 10″
• Operating depth: 300′
• Complement: 8 officers, 80 enlisted
• Armament: four 21″ torpedo tubes forward, two mine launch tubes, 16 torpedoes; two single 6″/53 deck gun, two 30 cal. mgs

On January 10, 1943 Argonaut spotted a convoy of five freighters and their destroyer escorts. An Army aircraft was by chance flying overhead and witnessed Argonaut’s attack. Argonaut hit at least one of the destroyers with her torpedoes, and they promptly counterattacked. A crew member on board the plane saw Argonaut’s bow suddenly break the water at an unusual angle. It was apparent that a depth charge had severely damaged the submarine the destroyers continued circling Argonaut and pumping shells into her. She slipped below the waves and was never heard from again. One hundred and five officers and men went down with the submarine.

Naval Historical Center

Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet

Patch(es) were obtained from:
NavSource Online (Submarine Photo Archive).
Originally contributed by Mike Smolinski.

I was recently asked why there are two high tides per day, that was easy. I was asked why it happens that way and had to do a little research. Granted it was easy in the days of the Internet but it was interesting.

The pull of the moon creates the bulge (high tide) of the sea water directly below it. However, on the opposite side of the Earth the simultaneous high tide is caused because the moon is tugging harder on the ocean floor than the surface of the sea (since the sea floor is closer to the moon at this time). This effectively “leaves the surface water behind” causing a high tide.

Due to continents and the fact that the moon does not revolve directly over Earth’s equator some places on Earth may experience only a single high tide per day and other areas of the Earth may have every other high tide higher than it’s mirror tide of 12 hours prior.

Interesting but fairly useless trivia.

As I said earlier, over Christmas and New Year’s the family headed up to our cabin in Alaska (See it here). This was my first winter in Alaska and the 16 days there were positively better than I had expected.

So many times I have looked out at Jade Lake from our cabin. This first winter in Alaska it was great to look at the cabin from the middle of Jade Lake. It was more beautiful than I could imagine.

Ok, so I didn’t get pictures of the kids in the process of sledding down our porch stairs and right on down the driveway, but as you can see they had a little spontaneous fun of their own.

The snow was about 3 to 4 inches deep on this table when we arrived. I used it as our snow marker throughout our stay. By New Year’s eve (when we cleared the table) there was about 15 to 20 inches of snow piled up. A few days before New Year’s eve the winds came up and several inches sublimated. So I’d estimate that we received about 20 inches of snow during our 16 day stay, spread fairly evenly over that time period. The temperature got up to 32 briefly but generally stayed in the higher teens during our entire visit.

A special thanks for my father-in-law and brother-in-law for their special efforts in ensuring that all the toys were up and ready to play. We all loved it. Sure wish the colds didn’t cause us to hold back a little on the play.

In general, a good time was had by all. This was one of the best vacations we have ever experienced – colds and all!

On the road today, maybe once I get to my hotel I can do some much needed maintenance on this blog. Hey, at least I can set the goal. Let’s see if I actually follow through.

I was talking with a great friend yesterday and came to the realization that I should revive the habit of giving myself quiet time to reflect them blog on those reflections. Let’s see if I can develop those new habits.

I have returned from the great north and am in the routine. Decision time is fast approaching. My wife is vacillating almost daily on moving or not moving (at least at this time). I don’t blame her, I am as well. I have loosely set the week of January 15th as the week to make a decision and it seems wise to stick to that date unless something changes significantly after that time.

• Gato Class Submarine
• Keel laid: March 20, 1942, at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME
• Launched: July 20, 1942
• Commissioned: October 1, 1942
• Displacement: 1,526 tons surfaced; 2,410 tons submerged
• Length: 311′ 8″
• Beam: 27′ 4″
• Operating depth: 300′
• Complement: 6 officers, 54 enlisted
• Armament: ten 21″ torpedo tubes, six forward, four aft, 24 torpedoes, one 3″/50 deck gun, two .50 cal. machine guns, two .30 cal. machine guns

On the morning of January 5, SCORPION reported that one of her crew had sustained a fracture of the upper arm and requested a rendezvous with USS HERRING (SS 233) which was returning from patrol and was near her. The rendezvous was accomplished on the afternoon of January 5 but heavy seas prevented the transfer. HERRING reported this fact on 6 January, and stated “SCORPION reports case under control.” SCORPION was never seen or heard from again after her departure from that rendezvous. On February 16, 1944, USS STEELHEAD (SS 280) and SCORPION were warned that they were close together, and that an enemy submarine was in the vicinity.

No information has been received from the Japanese which would indicate SCORPION’s fate. SCORPION was lost soon after these mines were laid, or at a time when they presumably offered the greatest threat. She could have been an operational casualty, but her area consists of water shallow enough so that it might be expected that some men would have survived. Since we know of no survivors, the most reasonable assumption is that she hit a mine.

Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet

Patch(es) were obtained from:
NavSource Online (Submarine Photo Archive).
Originally contributed by Mike Smolinski.

Well, if ringing in the New Year has any flavor of what’s to come, 2006 may be comparatively better than its successor. ‘Nuff said.