navy

On April 14, 1988, USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58) Hit a Mine

In April 1988, the ship participated in Operation Earnest Will in the Arabian Gulf. The United States launched the operation to protect reflagged Kuwaiti tankers during the “Tanker War” phase of the Iran-Iraq war.

On 14 April 1988, Samuel B. Roberts was on her way to meet with San Jose (AFS-7) to replenish stores when a lookout spotted mines in the area. Once the commanding officer, Cmdr. Paul Rinn, confirmed the ship had entered a minefield, he sent the crew to battle stations. He also ordered the men below to come topside—in the event of mine damage below the waterline. Rinn reversed engines and backed out of the minefield but hit an Iranian moored contact mine.

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14 April 2026 0

USS Parche (SSN 683): The Silent Sentinel of the Cold War

Note the broom!

The USS Parche (SSN 683), a Sturgeon-class nuclear-powered submarine, stands as one of the most extraordinary vessels in the history of the U.S. Navy. Commissioned on August 17, 1974, at a time when the Cold War was in full swing, Parche’s role evolved from a fast attack submarine into a highly specialized platform for some of the most secretive and daring missions of underwater espionage. Known for its ability to gather critical intelligence deep beneath the ocean, the Parche became the Navy’s most decorated submarine, carrying out covert operations that were instrumental to national security.

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7 April 2026 1

HALL of HONOR NOMINATION PACKAGE ICO CAPTAIN HOWARD C. EHRET (USN)

INTRODUCTION: Captain Howard C. Ehret (Howie) served in the United States Navy as a cryptologic professional from 1962 to 1992. He developed, honed, and assiduously applied his transformational leadership and unsurpassed technical cryptologic skills against the backdrop of the Cold War, the Vietnam War, and regional crises in the Middle East and the Atlantic too numerous to relate. His frame of reference was forward-deployed U.S. Naval forces operating “eyeball to eyeball” with the Soviets and other threats, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

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3 April 2026 2

CDR George “Guy” Thomas, USN (ret.)

Commander Guy Thomas enlisted in the Naval Reserve in Corpus Christi, Texas on 20 July 1965 while attending the University of San Francisco. 18 months later, with only 8 credits needed for graduation, he was called to active duty and assigned as a deck force seaman to the pre-commissioning crew of USS Horne (DLG 30), commanded by CAPT (ADM) Stansfield Turner, being built in San Francisco. During the next year he was able to finish his degree in History and put in for Officer’s Candidate School (OCS), but was turned down. He became the Commanding Officer’s driver who encouraged him to reapply for OCS which he did and was accepted. He was also assigned as the clerk for the Intelligence team and became the acting intelligence officer when both of the other two team members became unavailable. Deployed to Vietnam, he worked closely with the embarked NavSecGru Direct Support (DirSup) team who encouraged him to volunteer for duty with them, which he did.

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30 March 2026 1

The Most Dangerous Assignment

Radioman Second Class (RM2c) Walter Carl Rathsack was selected for the tenth class of the On-The-Roof Gang training that began in March 1933. Along with the other seven Radiomen in the class, he graduated in June 1933 and was ordered to Station BAKER in Guam. In the years leading up to World War II, Petty Officer Rathsack performed Radio Intelligence operations in Guam, Philippines and Hawaii.

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27 March 2026 0

Quantity Has a Quality All Its Own: Lessons from the 600-Ship Navy to Hormuz Today

By Retired Captain Ros Poplar, USN

As we face the challenges of keeping the Straits of Hormuz open, “Quantity is indeed a Quality all of its own “

As I was reminded by Shipmate Michael Morano this A.M. 1987 marked the high point of the “600 Ship Navy,” with total numbers reaching 594 combatants. Included within those numbers were 119 frigates, 69 destroyers, and 35 cruisers, all of various classes.

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