• Shark Class Submarine
• Keel laid: October 24, 1933, at the Electric Boat Company, Groton, CT
• Launched: May 21, 1935
• Commissioned: January 25, 1936
• Displacement: 1,316 tons surfaced; 1,968 tons submerged
• Length: 298′ 1″
• Beam: 25′ 1″
• Maximum depth: 250′
• Complement: 5 officers, 45 enlisted
• Armament: six 21″ torpedo tubes, (including two deck firing tubes), 16 torpedoes, one 3″/50 deck gun, two .50 cal machine guns, two .30 cal machine guns

Departing Manila on December 9, 1941, Shark was at sea during the Japanese bombing raids there the next day. For the next week, Shark patrolled Tayabas Bay until ordered back to Manila on the 19th to embark Admiral Thomas C. Hart, Commander-in-Chief of the United States Asiatic Fleet, for transportation to Soerabaja, Java. On January 6, 1942, she was barely missed by a torpedo from a Japanese submarine. A few days later, she was ordered to Ambon Island, where an enemy invasion was expected. On January 27, 1942, she was directed to join the submarines patrolling in Molucca Passage, then to cover the passage east of Lifamatola and Bangka Strait. On February 2, 1942, Shark reported to her base at Soerabaja that she had been depth-charged ten miles off Tifore Island and had failed to sink a Japanese ship during a torpedo attack. Five days later, she reported chasing an empty cargo ship headed northwest. No further messages were received from Shark. On February 8, 1942, she was told to proceed to Makassar Strait and later was told to report information. Nothing was heard and, on March 7, 1942, Shark was reported as presumed lost, the victim of unknown causes. Post war records point to the probability that Shark was lost through enemy depth charge attack, however specific responsibilty for the loss cannot be determined. She was struck from the Navy list on June 24, 1942.

Shark received one battle star for World War II service.

Naval Historical Center

Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet

Patch(es) were obtained from:
NavSource Online (Submarine Photo Archive).
Originally contributed by Don McGrogan, BMCS, USN (ret.)

The temperature of the Antarctic stratosphere causes the severity of the ozone hole to vary from year to year. Colder than average temperatures result in larger and deeper ozone holes, while warmer temperatures lead to smaller ones. The NOAA National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) provided analyses of satellite and balloon stratospheric temperature observations. The temperature readings from NOAA satellites and balloons during late-September 2006 showed the lower stratosphere at the rim of Antarctica was approximately nine degrees Fahrenheit colder than average, increasing the size of this year’s ozone hole by 1.2 to 1.5 million square miles. from “Antarctic ozone hole breaks records – NOAA” – Cherry Cherry Creek News 2-Feb-07

Doesn’t this say the ozone hole over Antarctica is getting larger due to colder than average temperatures?

Today, CFCs and many other ozone-depleting chemicals have been almost completely eliminated and the ozone layer has already shown signs of recovery. Satellite-mounted instruments show that the amount of chlorine in the stratosphere peaked in 1997 and now may be on the decline. But the ozone hole over Antarctica, which reached record size in late 2000, will remain with us for decades. Experts estimate it will be the middle of the 21st century before the effects completely disappear. from “Healing the Ozone Layer” – Natural Resources Defense Council

Am I correct in recapping that the ozone hole is recovering from what seems to have been widespread use of CFC’s for most of the 20th century?

Yet, I am confused. Isn’t Al Gore telling us that it’s getting warmer and Antarctica is melting? If this is true, isn’t it better for life on Earth not to be bombarded by the harmful UV radiation that is absorbed by the ozone layer. If warmer means a smaller ozone hole, isn’t that a good thing? But, if Mr. Gore is wrong (I know it’s hard to believe that the man who invented the Internet could be wrong) and the Earth is getting colder as recent weather trends seem to indicate, won’t our plight be worse since humankind will be exposed to far more dangerous levels of UV radiation?

Do we really want Earth to be cooler so that we can save the coastal cities of the world from becoming tourist attractions of venetian proportions at the expense of everyone being exposed to dangerous levels of UV light which is known to cause skin cancer?

I am so confused. Either science has let me down, or somewhere, somehow, someone has inserted their own agenda into scientific data skewing the conclusions.

It’s refreshing to be able to talk frankly about the things that matter in life. How often I limit myself by only conveying information that:

1. I feel safe presenting about what’s inside me, or
2. I don’t feel the other party really wants to know, or
3. I don’t feel the other party really cares about what’s going on inside me

Typically I have found that I take the ‘tough guy’ approach and keep it bottled up inside. This does not do any good and has, on more occasions than I can count, caused me to magnify the negative that my mind conjures up. In the end all the bad is so exploded out of proportion that it is not even recognizable as the seed that started all the personal turmoil.

Yesterday was such a day. Headed home from work I called a good friend, explained things to him (or more appropriately “dumped on him”). This was very healing and helped to put things back into perspective. I arrived home just in time for the weekly couples study group that we host. We’re at a point with these two other couples where I feel safe unloading my relationship burdens. It is safe and the counsel of these couples is extremely valuable.

Wisdom is found in a multitude of counselors.

• Balao Class Submarine
• Keel laid: March 11, 1943, at the Electric Boat Company, Groton, CT
• Launched: November 14, 1943
• Commissioned: April 3, 1944
• Displacement: 1,526 tons surfaced; 2,242 tons submerged
• Length: 311′ 9″
• Beam: 27′ 3″
• Operating depth: 400′
• Complement: 6 officers, 60 enlisted
• Armament: ten 21″ torpedo tubes, six forward, four aft, 24 torpedoes, one 5″/25 deck gun, one 40mm gun, one 20mm gun, two .50 cal. machine guns

Barbel departed Fremantle, Australia, January 5, 1945 for the South China Sea on her fourth patrol. Late in January she was ordered to form a wolf-pack with Perch (SS 313) and Gabilan (SS 262) and patrol the western approaches to Balabac Strait and the southern entrance to Palawan Passage. On February 3rd Barbel sent a message reporting that she had been attacked three times by enemy aircraft dropping depth charges and would transmit further information on the following night. Barbel was never heard from again. Japanese aviators reported an attack on a submarine southwest Palawan February 4th. Two bombs were dropped and one landed on the submarine near the bridge The sub plunged, under a cloud of fire and spray. This was very likely the last engagement of Barbel. She was officially reported lost 16 February 1945.

Barbel received three battle stars tor her World War II service.

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.

What does it take to be able to really get to know someone and trust them with matters that are most important to you?

Relationships are like onions, the external layer is the superficial level where I might say “How are you doing?” and not really expect anything real in response. I would expect “Fine,” “Good,” or OK as the general response. If someone actually said, “I’m doing badly, my wife told me to move out because I drink too much and she’s right,” I’d normally be unprepared for such a response and 9 times out of 10 look for the nearest exit. Why? TMI (Too Much Information). I really don’t need all your problems because:

1. I’ve got enough of my own and don’t need yours added
2. If you tell me yours, I’d be expected to tell you mine

It’s pretty obvious that neither of these are putting others before my needs or desires. So typically we have learned not to impose our burdens on others and hope they do the same. That’s safe but it’s not real. With this attitude, I’d go through life and have all this stuff bottled up inside with no avenue to work it out. There needs to be a way to peel back the layers of that onion that don’t take a 25 year friendship to accomplish. Thoughts I need to work through.

To fill you in… It was a criminal trial, there were 2 defendants, 2 counts against each and we, the jury, rendered one defendant guilty on both charges, the other guilty on one charge and a mis-trial was declared on the second count. After 2 solid days of deliberations, we the jury, were afraid that the judge and send us back and “make us come to a verdict”. Fortunately after inquiring of each juror separately he determine what we had already determined – there was no way all 12 of us would unanimously agree on this last charge.

Across the board, every one of us knew that BOTH were guilty on all counts but to be fair and impartial we could ONLY look at the evidence submitted not gut feeling. We had to assume innocence unless the evidence proved beyond a reasonable doubt that he was guilty on the undecided charge. We could not reach unanimity based solely on the evidence submitted so a mistrial was declared on this one count. That puts the ball back into the D.A.’s court to decide whether to conduct another trial or not. By the way this defendant happened to have a prior that he was on probation for and guess what – it was also involving taking something that did not belong to him.

The system does work. Each person on the jury worked hard to win others to their point of view; each juror had their fair say; the evidence and the laws were scrutinized very closely; personal feelings were overlooked by requiring 12 to be unanimous.

As an aside: 12 jurors gave up 5 days of their lives, who knows how many hours were spent in pre-trial preparations/negotiations by the Bailiff, Clerk and judge, not to mention admin assistants. What was this over? 3 guys driving around at 2:40am stopping, breaking into a car and removing a 12 pack of Coors Light and a case of Red Bull.