Greatest navy commander

[bhukkadakota]

I know most people will say Horatio Nelson but i found this quote interesting "You may wish to compare me with Lord Nelson but do not compare me with Korea's Admiral Yi Sun-Sin . . . he is too remarkable for anyone." Statement made by the Japanese admiral who defeated the russian navy in 1905. Just wondering if anyone was interested in discussing who was the best. Feel free to add more names.

[This_Guy]

Cmdr. Weikert. USS Sam Houston SSBN 609

Skipper of my first submarine. No, he didn't win any great battles. Our sub was an FBM (Fleet Balistic Missle) sub. Our job was to roam a big patch of ocean that only us and our fleet commander knew we were in, and stay hidden, ready to send death from above to any potential enemy that might launch a nuclear attack on the USA (read that as Soviet Russia).

But he was just a great commander :-)

Other than him, I guess there were a few others that did some stuff during some hot wars, but who cares ;-)

[bhukkadakota]

Cmdr. Weikert. USS Sam Houston SSBN 609

Skipper of my first submarine. No, he didn't win any great battles. Our sub was an FBM (Fleet Balistic Missle) sub. Our job was to roam a big patch of ocean that only us and our fleet commander knew we were in, and stay hidden, ready to send death from above to any potential enemy that might launch a nuclear attack on the USA (read that as Soviet Russia).

But he was just a great commander :-)

Other than him, I guess there were a few others that did some stuff during some hot wars, but who cares ;-)

Hehe thats cool. How does it feel like in the submarine?

I put Yi Sun Shin because this bloke had never lost a battle and once he took 13 ships and beat off a japanese fleet of 1000 by leading them into the open sea. The japanese lost 133 boats and the koreans lost none. Also i choose him because im from his family line hehe.

[TheAnalogman]

Nimitz. I'll explain later.

[This_Guy]

Nimitz was actually the first name that came to my mind when I saw this thread. But despite my years in the US Navy, I've never been a great student of naval history.

He was certainly a great commander when you look at what he was able to do with what he had available, and the odds that were against him at the start of the war.

The battle of Midway often is called the turning point of the war in the Pacific. His guts and leadership were certainly displayed well there!

I think it can be argued that he was both very lucky, and had the benefit of some outstanding intel.

But, what great battle wasn't won by some combination of luck, intel, and leadership?

[This_Guy]

"How does it feel like in the submarine?"

Hard to sum up. Not that differant from being on a surface ship, except you can't see out ;-)

I used to spend my spare time climbing around in caves for fun, so riding in a closed ship wasn't that big a deal to me. Also the newer (post WWII) subs are much bigger inside than the old ones. Still a bit cramped, but most passageways allow two folks to pass (might bump each other, but can get by;-).

Nice thing is, if it's rough weather topside, you just drop down another 100 feet or so. It smooths out nicely.

Under normal patrol conditions, the boat has a gentel roll (left to right rocking motion). Most of the bunks are aligned with the long axis of the boat, so it's like a gental rocking to sleep :-)

Subs have much smaller crews than most surface ships, so you tend to know each other better. Because of this, there is less seperation between officers and crew also. A much more informal atmosphere than most surface ships have.

Our days at sea involved 6 hour watchs with 12 hours between them. So, it was like an 18 hour day. Normal patrol would be about 72-74 days out/under the water, without surfacing. We would go to periscope depth, and look around, and copy satilite broadcast, and get a navigation fix, every day or two. But that would normally be done while it's dark outside, to lessen the chance of detection.

Every now and then we would have a "Mid-Patrol break" where we would pull into a port about mid way of the patrol. Out of 10 patrols, I had two of those. One to Lisbon, and one in Chin Hey (sp?) S. Korea. We spent roughly 3 days in each of those cities. But because of the requirement to safeguard/maintaine the sub, 1/3 or so of the crew had to remian on board at all times. That still gave us all about 2 days to raise havok ;-)

Again, hard to sum up how it feels. But it was a job we all signed up for (it's an all volenteer force. You HAVE to ask for it, can't be ordered to go to subs without first asking :-). Most of the crew has specialzed training on equipment that is differant from most of the stuff on surface ships. Each crew member is expected to know not only his equipment, but the ship in general. If your walking through the boat, and there is a fire or flood situation, you MUST sound the alarm, and combat it quick. Doesn't take long to fill a sub with smoke, and water in the "people tank" is never a good thing;-) But this means again, we had a group of folks that cared, and strived to do a good job. We all knew that our lives depended on each other, if there was an emergancy. While there was plenty of joking around and what have you, there was a sense of caring about each other. And we all wanted to help the new folks learn all they could. They might be the ones to find that fire, or leaking valve!

Hope this gives an idea of how it was. Sorry to be so wordy :-)