Submarine Tidbits

A quick run around items of interest to Submariners I found on the 'net:

1) There's a new homepage for USS L. Mendel Rivers (SSN 686) crewmembers and fans over at riversdelivers.org. Looks like it's off to a promising start. Does anyone have any advice for the webmasters of such sites on how to help their creation to take off?

2) The Kitsap Sun has an update on the recently-completed bow replacement of USS San Francisco (SSN 711). SFO moved out of her drydock last month, and will head to her new homeport of San Diego in the spring.

3) NR-1 was retired in a ceremony held in Groton last Friday after almost 40 years of service. You can see some recent pictures of her here, here, here, and here. I'm hoping that the Navy will build a replacement; interestingly, I think that's more like with a new Obama Administration since it would help establish some sort of pro-military/pro-nuclear bona fides while providing needed scientific capabilities (and, of course, providing unionized jobs in a couple of blue states).

4) A commenter in an earlier thread pointed out that retired Admiral "Skip" Bowman, former head of Naval Reactors, has resigned from his position of Nuclear Energy Institute President and CEO. Stating that he was contemplating retirement next year anyway, he said he wanted to give the new NEI leadership a chance to hit the ground running with the new federal administration. Knowing that Admiral Bowman would never back down from a fight, I'm inclined to take him on his word, rather that thinking he resigned due to the anti-nuclear stances of the Obama team. I look forward to seeing what he'll do next.

5) USS Albany (SSN 753) and USS Jacksonville (SSN 699) both recently returned from deployments. Some good pictures of the Jacksonville's return can be found here, and a story on Albany's deployment is here. Looks like the crew of the Albany got some decent liberty, with visits to Crete, France, Italy, and Norway (in addition to some Arabian Gulf ports) mixed in during their 7-month sojourn. Welcome home, guys, and I hope you get some well-deserved time off.