Enough with the Carriers and Battleships Already

Welcome to the USS Becuna, a Balao-class submarine on display at Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia (Penn’s Landing). One deck is open for tours and I would suggest it to anyone visiting the area. More information on the Balao class is here.

The Becuna’s history can be summarized here. Tribute sites can be found here, here and here. She bridged WWII and the Cold War. Silent Victory: The U.S. Submarine War Against Japan, the two volume set by Clay Blair Jr. (Lippincott Publishing, 1975), references Becuna’s WWII experiences. Blair’s book was the first one I read about submarines years ago and I recommend it. If I know you personally, I’d be willing to loan out my copy if you want to email me through my website. Information about her post WWII configuration can be found here, here, and here.

During my tour of the ship, a former submariner (not this person) was there to answer questions about the sub. Knowing how important and how ingrained the environment of secrecy in the submarine community is (especially regarding the Cold War), I nonetheless asked if he could share any stories with me. While very polite, he would only talk superficially about it. One must understand the cloak of secrecy in the submarine community, which was removed only in 1998 with Sontag and Drew’s landmark book, Blind Man’s Bluff (Harper Collins). To this day you will still be hard pressed to engage in any detailed discussion about post WWII activities with a submariner. God bless them.
However, this same veteran was more than happy to share stories with me about the smells, living conditions, and hardships that made up life aboard a Balao-class sub back then. It is fascinating stuff that everyone should know about to better appreciate United States Veterans and the sacrifices they made. Other stories from Becuna’s sailors can be found here.

Enough about how I spent a day sightseeing. I post this to raise the issue of historic preservation. The cause of historic preservation must be continually raised and supported in American lexicon by history geeks (guilty as charged) since it so easily falls into oblivion. For most Americans, it remains obscure until their school-age child has to do a history report. Then there is a brief moment of “wow, isn’t that cool?”, quickly followed by “maybe we should visit there someday.” And then they go back to their daily life, losing an opportunity to pass along this American value of historic preservation to the younger generations.
How often do you hear anything in the media (History Channel aside) about the history preservation movement in this country? Rarely at the national level. And it only occasionally makes local news when a developer wants to destroy/encroach upon/otherwise screw up a historical site and is resisted by the preservationists.

USS Becuna, registered in the National Register of Historic Places, is in distress. From Mr. Sandy MacNaught’s Becuna site:

Want to fulfill the Creed and help a distressed boat? USS Becuna, a Guppy 1A memorial boat in Philly, is hurting. MBT 6B is leaking. Were it not for temporary repairs, the boat would be listing 7°. Temporary repairs aside, the boat needs to be drydocked for permanent repairs. Individual and Base donations greatly appreciated. Please consider a Base project to raise funds to help. Mark your donations to:

Becuna Dry Dock Funds, c/o Independence Seaport Museum
211 S. Columbus Blvd, Phil., Pa 19106-3199. (this was checked with District Cmdr and local Base Commander for validity.)

This is not an adversarial situation where one has to choose sides in a legal battle between preservationists or idiot developers who want to desecrate important sites by putting a strip mall on a battlefield, for example. This is straight up support of a historic ship without any political overtones or legal dispute involved. Please consider a donation to this worthy cause.
As I stand on Becuna's deck and look across the river at the USS New Jersey, I'm reminded that it is usually the battleships or aircraft carriers that get all the attention, not to mention the lion's share of preservationist donations. However, there are many submarines around the country that are in need of your help. Naval history preservationists, as well as those sympathetic to them, need to re-think their priorities about which class of ships they support. Subs have just as glorious a history as any battleship or carrier in their own way. Each one has a story if you take the time to look into it. You'll just have to dig a little further because its just not in the submarine community's nature to discuss it or to gloat about this campaign or that battle. Stories of grand sea battles will not mention submarines, but each patrol of a submarine was just as important as any other mission, inherently more dangerous than any surface ship, and fraught with more hardship than most of us could handle.

The Becuna is a little-known treasure in need of support. The submarine community might be secretive and reserved, but I'm not, so I make this post to try and give some publicity to a worthy cause. Consider this a shout into the bullhorn for saving our subs.

Another American Tradition Bites the Dust

Major League Baseball (MLB) had its opening day in Japan. What is the world coming to? While I am only a casual follower of steroid ball, this is just wrong.

With all the issues that MLB has had to deal with, and their responsibility to rebuild their image as a clean American sport now that the steroid era is coming to an end, one has to wonder what they were thinking. The frenzy over the Mitchell Report in January and Roger Clemens’ congressional testimony in February is over, and MLB lost an opportunity for a new beginning with the 2008 season. A lost opportunity for a new era free of HGH, controversy, and government oversight. How great it would have been to be able to look back on 2008 ten years from now and remember that opening day was the turning point when MLB started its new era. An era to mirror the “olden days” when the players were iconic heroes, and fans were able to turn to baseball to escape the drudgery of their lives, if only for 3 hours. An age where the biggest controversy was how many hot dogs Babe Ruth ate in the dugout during a game. But no, MLB squanders an opportunity for rebirth. They can ill afford to lose opportunities like this.

The trend in modern times towards globalization, making the world smaller, bla bla bla is not relevant to an American institution like professional sports. It’s bad enough that the NFL is taking America’s number one sport to Europe for regular season games, but that’s a topic for some other day. Major League Baseball’s opening day is a strong American tradition (even stronger than the NFL’s opening game) that has survived the tests of the steroid era. The excitement of opening day 2008 is palpable in the post-Mitchell report days as fans try to put a controversy-filled off-season behind them. So why disappoint the fans not just by having a game in Japan, but the game? An opportunity for rebirth lost. A slap in the face to MLB fans. When will MLB get their act together? Certainly not with the current, spineless commissioner.

I don’t mind MLB, or anyone else for that matter, having exhibition games overseas. However, regular season games and above all, MLB’s opening day, should remain a strictly American tradition. More isolationism in a world of increasing globalization is a principle I can support, even if I'm not a huge baseball fan.