On April 10, 1963, the USS Thresher (SSN 593) sank during deep-diving tests about 220 miles (350 km) east of Boston, Massachusetts, killing all 129 crew and shipyard personnel aboard. Her loss was a watershed for the U.S. Navy, leading to the implementation of a rigorous submarine safety program known as SUBSAFE. The first nuclear submarine lost at sea, Thresher was also the first of only two submarines that killed more than 100 people aboard; the other was the Russian Kursk, which sank with 118 aboard in 2000.
Continue reading “Remembering the Crew of the USS Thresher (SSN 593)”
During the tumultuous times of Operation Desert Storm in the 1990s, military strategists found themselves engaged in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse. In this theater of war, intelligence was the currency that could spell the difference between victory and defeat. Among the many innovative tactics employed during this conflict, one stands out as both unconventional and surprisingly effective: Pizza Intelligence, affectionately dubbed PIZINT.
Continue reading “How Pizza Orders Foreshadowed Military Operations”
On April 8, 1950, Soviet La-11 fighters shot down a US Navy PB4Y-2 Privateer (BuNo 59645) over the Baltic Sea, off the coast of Liepāja, Latvia. The privateer was a World War II and Korean War era patrol bomber of the United States Navy derived from the Consolidated B-24 Liberator. Named the Turbulent Turtle, the aircraft was assigned to Patrol Squadron 26 (VP-26), Det A. In addition to other types of missions, privateers were used by the US Navy for signals intelligence (SIGINT) flights off of the coast of the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China.
Continue reading “First Shootdown of the Cold War”
Adm. Gary Roughead, Chief of Naval Operations, salutes Vice Adm. Barry McCullough, commander of U.S. Fleet Cyber Command and U.S. 10th Fleet at the commissioning ceremony for U.S. Fleet Cyber Command at Ft. George G. Meade, Md. Circa?
The Air Force weapon systems officer whose daring rescue by special operations forces captivated the United States over the weekend signaled to his saviors by waving his stars-and-stripes-patterned boxer shorts, a defense contractor familiar with the mission told The High Side.
Continue reading “Stars and Stripes Signal: JSOC Daringly Rescues Downed Airman Under Fire”
Station HYPO 