The Fast Cruise USSVI – Cincinnati Base
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US Submarine Veterans, Inc. – Cincinnati Base Fall 2021 Volume XVIII- Issue 4 Keel laid down for next SSN – USS Utah (SSN-801) The keel for the second ship to be named for the State of "These dolphins, once you pin them on your chest, leave deep Utah was laid down on Sept 1, 2021, at General Dynamics marks, right over your heart, Electric Boat Division at Groton Conn. The Utah will be the last long after the uniforms have been put away.” of the Block IV boats in the Virginia class. The next Virginia class submarine will be the start of Block V design. Keel laying today is not what it used to be, when the ships keel was actually the starting of the building of the ship. Today, fabrication of many ships components are started many months Base Commander David Ashley in advance and the laying of the keel is the initial joining of [email protected] several of the components in a symbolical ceremonial beginning of the ship. Because of this method, the commissioning of the Vice Commander Utah is slated for the fall of 2023 – only two years from now. Tom Fisher The Utah (SSN-801) is the second ship to be named Utah. COB The first was USS Utah BB-31, a battle ship. This Utah was sunk Bob Rogers in the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Most of Treasurer the crew was able to escape, but 58 crew members perished Joe Koize Yeoman with the ship. The battle ship remains in the harbor and a Tom Fisher memorial was erected nearby in 1972. Chaplain Earl Wafford Pride Runs Deep 1 The Fast Cruise USSVI – Cincinnati Base Member’s Page Happy Birthday EDITOR [email protected] October November December i Editor: Tom Fisher 2 – Steve Hayes 4 – Ken Lehmkuhi 5 – Keith Littlepage 14 – Joe Koize 14 – Al Bliss 29 – Charles Rapp 17 – Connie Moore 15 – Walter (Gus) Kraus. 19 – John Wass 31 – Ken Yaden If you don’t see your birthday please send me an email at [email protected] We would like to thank the We are seeking ways to locate other former submariners in our area who Sailors aboard the USS Ohio, SSGN 726 and the might like to join us. If you know of someone in the Cincinnati area who used to USS Kentucky SSBN 737 serve in submarines (or still does!) please tell them about the USSVI and the for their service to our Cincinnati Base You can direct them to the Base website at country and for protecting www.cincysubvets.com for more information about the Base. our freedoms. Meetings The Cincinnati Base of the USSVI holds meetings on the 4th Saturday of each month beginning at 1300 hrs. The Base is now having meetings in person and also by Zoom virtual meeting for persons that cannot attend in person. We are in the process of finding a new meeting location and have held meetings at four different locations so far. 2 The Fast Cruise USSVI – Cincinnati Base 2021 CALENDAR 26 June – Base Meeting at Loveland American Legion Post #256 3 July – Fort Thomas Parade 24 July – Base Meeting – American Legion Post 513, Mt. Healthy 28 Aug – Base Meeting at Loveland American Legion Post #256 9 September – Harvest Home Parade in Cheviot 25 Sept – Base Meeting – American Legion Post 513, Mt. Healthy 23 October – Base Meeting – Site TBD Early December – Christmas Luncheon – Date TBD ETERNAL PATROL PREPARATIONS Shipmates, while we hope your day and those of your shipmates is far off in the future, we must nevertheless prepare. Please copy this notice and place it with your will or important papers. IMPORTANT In the case of my death, please immediately notify the U.S. Submarine Veterans Inc., (USSVI) at 877-542-3483 or 360-337-297and give the person on duty the information regarding my death, funeral, and burial arrangements, plus who they can contact for follow- up and support. This information can alternatively be E-Mailed to the National Office at [email protected]. 3 The Fast Cruise USSVI – Cincinnati Base Base Commander’s Corner Greeting Shipmates! I hope this finds you healthy and doing well. I trust your Summer has gone well. Our meeting location has been in limbo for a while. Hopefully this will change soon. We have been meeting at various American Legions and VFWs since we resumed meeting in person in March. It seems that the two that most have favored is Loveland American Legion Post 256 (Eastside) or Mt. Healthy American Legion Post 513 (Westside). The others have not had good hours, were a difficult location or difficult for our regular Saturday meetings hours. Our September meeting will be at the Mt. Healthy Post on Saturday September 25. Due to Covid, we decided to postpone the cookout we typically do at the September meeting. After the September meeting, I send out for a vote on a location. I have reviewed all the suggestions that came in on the July 2021 Questionnaire. I was disappointed with the number of responses. There may have been more responses from members that do not regularly come to meetings than the ones that do. I did find that there were several who had moved out of the area that I was not aware. I do appreciate in the input provided. Most of the responses suggested we keep our meetings on Saturday, some wanted Eastside and some Westside. Generally, the suggestion was to meet at the VFWs or American Legion Posts. A couple suggested restaurants. I have reviewed the restaurant idea with the bases that do this. They say it is difficult to have a meaningful meeting as folks are constantly going or coming for food or eating. We can discuss having a couple meetings at restaurants. We currently have the Christmas luncheon as December member still on the agenda. The biggest take away from the Questionnaire was things to make the meetings more interesting. This was one of my ideas earlier this year also. So, I am working on the topics. The August meeting was the early U Boats by Tom Fisher. I thought this was very interesting. I have been intrigued with some of the technology of the 4 The Fast Cruise USSVI – Cincinnati Base German boats. The September meeting is Sonar with our own in-house expert, Dennis Griffith. Everyone is going to have a chance to volunteer so be thinking of what you can share. Fred Heyse “volunteered” for something in the Questionnaire. We are going to continue to have a Zoom connection for a while. This will help our members that want to join in but not able or are not comfortable attending in person. We now have an unlimited time again so those that want to join virtually can do so. Dick Young is hosting a reunion for his qual boat, USS Henry Stimson in mid- October. This is at the Holiday Inn Airport in Northern KY. If you have not contacted him and would like to join in for the dinner on Saturday October 16, you need to get him a message at [email protected]. There is a guest speaker you won’t want to miss. It is rumored that Commander Gus Kraus will be there. I am thinking Dick may volunteer to have a video or slide presentation at a future meeting with info on his reunion. Dick - be sure to get some good photos or videos. There were some ideas on how to add to our membership. Some were to leave brochures or cards at Veterans Hospitals and Veterans organizations. Another was to continue our involvement in parades. At the Harvest Home Parade on September 9, we made contact with 3 sub vets that were not base members. We either gave them cards or information about the base. I believe we need to focus on this. I may be looking for a “volunteer” to work on getting the word out. One person suggested we merge with one of the other bases. I am not in favor of this. There are enough sub vets in the Cincinnati, Dayton, and Northern KY area that we can have and maintain a strong base. There was a nomination at the August meeting for Secretary to replace Tom Fisher who was elected to Vice Commander. The nomination was Steve Hayes. With the members in attendance, the vote was unanimous to accept. We still need to get a vote from those not at the meeting. Please be alert for an email soliciting your vote. I ask that each of you do your part to keep the Base thriving and active. Thanks for all that has been done for our Base. David Ashley Base Commander 5 The Fast Cruise USSVI – Cincinnati Base Fort Thomas Parade July 3, 2021 Ready and Waiting Under Way 6 The Fast Cruise USSVI – Cincinnati Base Harvest Home Parade September 9, 2021 Ready to go – just waiting our turn Another Great Crowd 7 The Fast Cruise USSVI – Cincinnati Base Plaque for new Base Logo My daughter, Katie Daly, is a graphic designer. She redesigned our Base logo in a vector file format that can be increased or decreased in size without losing clarity. The base approved a plaque to reward her and I presented it to her Sept. 11. 8 The Fast Cruise USSVI – Cincinnati Base A Different Member(s) and their Boat will be presented Every Issue: The Skate Class Submarines And the USS Swordfish SSN-579 The Cincinnati Base has three members that qualified submarines on the USS Swordfish (SSN-579), a member of the Skate class of submarines: Galin Brady qualified 1962, Walter Meyer qualified 1974, and Johann Reiter qualified in 1975.