The Cold War Boats Association

12/11/2025

USS BERGALL (SSN 667) Commissioning Brochure - 13 JUN 1969

https://coldwarboats.org/logroom-667/ship-s-archives-667/ship-s-brochures-667/commissioning-ceremony-brochure-1969-667

12/09/2025

The mission statement of the Cold War Boats Association includes preserving the history of Cold War submarines and there is a great deal that goes into making that available to our members. The coldwarboats.org website is the primary repository of every Cold War boat related artifact we are able to get our hands on.

This includes commendation letters for the command, command-related correspondence, crew publications, cruise books, physical memorabilia, newspaper articles and clippings, training aid booklets (TABs) where no longer classified, qualification related materials like qual cards and training aids, ship’s brochures published for significant events, envelopes and cachets related to the ship’s post office, recordings of sounds of the boat, watch-bills, and pretty much anything else remotely related to a Cold War Boat.

Where do these items come from? I’m glad you asked. Our main source of these artifacts come you, our registered members. You can upload your photos, scans, and pdfs quickly and easily for preservation on the coldwarboats.org website.

Others are gifted to us by family members of shipmates on Eternal Patrol, and we use our admittedly limited funds to purchase other collectibles as they become available.
Which brings us to our titular topic for today. We have accumulated hundreds of ship’s brochures: keel layings, christenings, launchings, commissioning, change of command, welcome aboard brochures, inactivations, and decommissioning.

Our Historical Archivist invests a great deal of time scanning these documents so we can post them in the appropriate command’s Logroom Archives under Ship’s Brochures.

Currently we have posted 184 brochures, mostly from fast-attacks and boomers, smoke boat brochures being few and far between.

These include:

Keel Laying: 1
Christening: 3
Launching: 19
Commissioning: 44
Welcome Aboard: 50
Change of Command: 10
Inactivation: 36
Decommissioning: 21

To access all of these Brochures, you must be registered and logged in, though a selection are available for public viewing by non-registered guests. You can find them in your command’s Logroom >> Archives >> Ship’s Brochures.

All of them are indexed under Homeport >> Collections by various types, as well.

If you have collected any of these, and would like to preserve and share them with your shipmates and their families, please contact me for details. You can scan and upload them at your convenience, email me digit images, or arrange to send the documents themselves, insured and transported at no expense to you - we will scan them and return them to you promptly.

Don’t let these valuable pieces of Cold War submarine history be lost or hidden. Your name will appear on the website with every item you contribute, and your sponsorship tag will identify you as a Contributor.

Be a part of preserving our

legacy.https://coldwarboats.org/homeport/quarter-deck-fleet/pod-fleet/looking-for-ships-brochures

The mission statement of the Cold War Boats Association includes preserving the history of Cold War submarines and there is a great deal that goes into mak

12/07/2025

Reason One –Contact a Shipmate - This is one of the three primary missions at Cold War Boats - CONNECT. We have established a central point for locating shipmates and being located that protects your privacy, and that of those you reach out to.

It means that both of you have to be registered, so it follows that “Get Registered and Spread the Word” is our ‘connecting’ mantra. We have almost 12,000 names, which sounds like a lot until you realize there may have been more than 500,000 shipmates that served on Cold War Boats between 1946 and 1991.

You can contact other registered shipmates with the click of a mouse. Log in to coldwarboats.org, locate your shipmate on the Master Personnel Roster or any boat’s Master Sailing List, choose Send PM (Private Message) if you want to keep your email address private, or choose Email to, well, send an email, with your email address. Their contact info remains private until they choose to share it with you.

Looking at the calendar this morning, I discovered that I qualify as antique, being older than 50 and just a smidgen this side of 70. You don’t need me to remind you that days are short for all of us. Join us at Cold War Boats, reach out and connect, and never have to say “I regret not reconnecting sooner…”

There is not a moment to lose.

Reason One – Contact a Shipmate - This is one of the three primary missions at Cold War Boats - CONNECT. We have established a central point for locating s

09/09/2025

A major on-going project at Cold War Boats is the gathering of records and documents that allow us to honor each and every shipmate that served on boats during the Cold War from 1946 to 1991 by adding their names to our Master Personnel Roster.
Yesterday, with the addition of the 112 shipmates from the inactivation crew of the USS ANDREW JACKSON (SSBB 619), Cold War Boats surpassed our first milestone of 10,000 names with a total of 10,016.
These names represent those who served in submarines over the 45 years of the Cold War. Some of those are currently registered, many of them are listed as missing, meaning we have no contact information for them, and many more have crossed the bar and are listed as on Eternal Patrol.
All are honored in the ranks of those who served.
So we set out for our next milestone, 20,000, a daunting task, but only a drop in the bucket of the estimated 400,000 names we expect to find.
If you want to make sure you are included, or to see who is currently listed on the commands you served on, visit coldwarboats.org. You must register and log in to see names other than those on Eternal Patrol.
If you would like to help in this endeavor by:
• locating and acquiring Personnel Diaries, commissioning, inactivation, and decommissioning brochures, and other documents, or
• Researching missing shipmates to discover contact information, or obituaries, or
• Participating in data entry for a specific boat, or
• Submitting other information that might add names to the roster,
Then contact me, Brad Williamson, at [email protected], or our Sailing List Manager, Jim Hart, at [email protected].
Regardless, if you aren’t currently registered at coldwarboats.org, then get there and make it so.
There is not a moment to lose!

08/04/2025

It was just over 48 years ago, probably early June 1977, and I was sitting at a long table down the middle of a barracks in Camp Nimitz at San Diego RTC, doodling on a scrap of paper my admittedly primitive idea for a flag worthy of Company 126. Dozens of other recruits gathered around, some with more artistic talent than myself, fortunately, that would take that seed of an idea and turn it into reality.
We spent a couple of months marching under that flag, and doing some serious behind-kicking in the many competitions that kept boot camp interesting. Everywhere we went, that flag led the way and anchored us to our fragile identity as a cohesive unit labeled simply 77-126.
Then we were gone. Off to our first schools and duty stations, some for storied careers, and others just using the Navy as a stepping stone to other adventures. I’m sure our company commanders AO1 Gilbert and QM1 Whalen didn’t waste any time grieving over our parting, but Sam Gilbert managed to hang onto the 126 guidon, perhaps because there was nothing better to do with it, and it seemed important enough to hang on to it.
Hang on to it he did.
Forty-six years later, having left the Navy behind after eight years, qualifying submarines, being selected for Chief, and wanting to see other parts of the world, I found myself the capturing the history of Cold War submarines at coldwarboats.org.
My love for history grew, and as I found ways to reconnect with those I served with back in the early eighties, it became important to me to locate, contact, and say thanks to those who challenged me to grow and learn. As you might imagine, among COs, XOs, COBs and Chiefs that help form me, one of those who made that investment was the Company Commander of 77-126, AO1 Gilbert.
About two years ago, I spent some time tracking down Sam, and rather quickly found him, alive and kicking, in northern Wyoming, where he grew up. A few Messenger chats, a couple of phone calls, and we picked up where we left off, 46 years ago, as all shipmates seem to be able to do.
Describing what it felt like to know he remembered me, for better or worse, and to hear his genuine emotion in responding to my gratitude for pushing me hard during those painful months, is beyond my skill with words, and all I can say is, you’ve got to do it yourself.
In those conversations, Sam, now in his late 80’s, revealed that he had maintained custody of all the flags for the companies he pushed at RTC San Diego, including the one I had helped create, back in the day. Preparing for the inevitable, he offered to transfer custody of the flag to me, since I was the only member of any recruit company to track him down and say thanks.
So we did. A trip to Wyoming from Michigan was arranged, and then cancelled. A year later, 2025, we arranged it again, and this time successfully. On June 10th of this year, Sam and I were reunited in his Wyoming hometown, along with our wives and spent an incredible evening catching up, swapping stories, and yes, transferring custody of the colors of 126.
These photos, Sam on the left, and me on the right, holding those banners, fail to capture the emotions of that day. Promises were made to cross paths again, even though time and tide wait for no man, and all our days are short.
There is nothing like the feeling of making new friends out of old, well, old men. I would recommend it for everyone. If you haven’t tracked down your Company Commander, your CO’s and Chiefs, even those shipmates that helped shape you into the person you have become, you need to make the effort.
The only disappointment you will find will be in being too late.
There is not a moment to lose…

05/26/2025

Today, we remember...

We set aside this day, Memorial Day, to honor those military personnel who died serving in the United States Armed Forces, and that number is so great as to be hard to grasp.

We are grateful, we give thanks, and we acknowledge the sacrifice made by so many, but unless you personally know someone who gave their life serving, the sheer magnitude of numbers renders those we remember nearly anonymous.

Perhaps we focus on those lost only in the submarine community, but even the 3506 submarine officers and men lost during World War II are difficult to hold in your head, and that doesn’t include those lost before or since.

Even bounding our count with the duration of the Cold War, from 1946 to 1991, produces hundreds of names from the well-remembered USS THRESHER (SSN 593) and the USS SCORPION (SSN 589) to the lesser known USS COCHINO (SS 345)/USS TUSK (SS 426) incident, and many others lost one or two at a time.

Who can name all of these men, who selflessly sacrificed themselves so that we might live the lives we live today. Even me, I confess, if pressed, could only produce the name of TMC(SS) Walter ‘Wally’ Bishop, Chief of the Boat of the USS SCORPION at the time she was lost, and that only because I was billeted for a short time in Bishop Hall at SUBASE Point Loma, named in his honor.

That brings me to the sharp point of remembering…sometimes found in the act of remembering a single sailor, perhaps unnoticed in the overpowering numbers of Memorial day.

His name is Billy Carter Semones

In 1964, Billy Carter Semones was a 28 year old Navy Torpedoman First Class, Submarine Qualified, Petty Officer serving aboard the USS HENRY CLAY (SSBN 625), one of the Navy's new atomic-powered ballistic missile submarines, and one of the nation's ultimate weapons during the Cold War.

The Henry Clay was in distress on November 2, 1964: a severe storm off the Atlantic coast of Spain was causing 30-foot waves while the sub was operating on the surface in preparation for another several months patrol underwater.

A hatch cover was loose; its banging was interfering with the Henry Clay's forward sonar array, a critical navigation and ranging system.

Meanwhile, a Soviet trawler equipped with spy equipment was lurking nearby trying to record a "sound signature" of the sub in order to track its movements.

Billy Semones strapped on a life vest and headed onto the deck to lock down the hatch cover. As the high waves crashed onto the rolling deck, Billy was trying to secure his safety line when he was suddenly swept overboard by a wave.

Although crewmen from the Clay braved diving into the cold water to try and rescue Billy, nearly drowning in the huge waves, his body was never recovered.

Due to Cold War security concerns at the time, the Navy only told Billy's family that he had died accidentally during a minor repair job. His parents, Rosalyn and George Semones of Woodford County, Kentucky, were devasted by Billy's death and never really got over it.

Rosalyn died in 1985 and George died in 2002, neither knowing that their son was actually a war hero.

Today, Memorial Day 2025, I ask you to remember the sacrifice made by one of our own, a Cold War submariner, one TM1(SS) Billy Carter Semones, and take a quiet moment to thank God that men such as Billy Semones once lived…

Today, we remember... We set aside this day, Memorial Day, to honor those military personnel who died serving in the United States Armed Forces, and that

05/15/2025

If you were at the 680 reunion in Las Vegas last week, and likely even if you weren’t, you know I can’t resist the opportunity for story-telling. Nothing like a good sea-story to reconnect, share a few laughs, and remind us of how many years it’s been since we last set foot in Ops Middle Level.

Now, for the first time ever you will have the opportunity to join me nationwide via the magic of radio and the internet. I have been invited to join radio & TV personality, Steve Kates AKA Dr. Sky, as we discuss life on a submarine in contrast to life in outer space, our very own Cold War Boats Association, and probably everything in between.

Mark your calendars for this Saturday evening, the 17th of May, and join us at 2100 (9:00 pm) Pacific - midnight Eastern time, for two hours of interesting banter about submarine life and why that remains so important to us after all these years.

While you can listen us on the radio in the NYC area on Talk Radio 77 WABC, I’d encourage all of you to go to:

www.wabcradio.com

Click the LISTEN button on the bottom of the page.

https://coldwarboats.org/homeport/quarter-deck-fleet/pod-fleet/inner-space-on-outer-space

If you were at the 680 reunion in Las Vegas last week, and likely even if you weren’t, you know I can’t resist the opportunity for story-telling. Nothing l

06/13/2024

It’s June, and August is not far off. The USSVI Convention this year is being held just outside of Cleveland, August 19-23, at the Embassy Suites in Independence, OH.

For many of you that have registered with Cold War Boats, we haven’t had the chance to meet, face to face. Therefore, let it be known I will be showing up at the USSVI convention, and that Margaret and I will be at the Embassy Suites from the evening of the 21st, to the morning of the 25th.

All of you that might be there are invited to connect. We are not attending any of the USSVI scheduled events, but on our own schedule we expect we might visit the USS COD (SS 224) museum ship, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and maybe even the house where “A Christmas Story” was filmed, for you that find that as interesting as we do!

So, the invitation is extended to all Cold War Boats shipmates, as well as my SSN 680 brothers-in-arms. Look us up, stop by and chat, or catch us in the lobby swapping sea stories and catching up with old friends.

If you are planning to connect with me while you're there, please take a moment and follow this link to RSVP:

https://coldwarboats.org/homeport/recreation-fleet/reunions-separator-fleet/reunions-fleet/event/81-cold-war-boats-association-cleveland-oh

Your RSVP will let me know to look for you - we’ve come all this way, it would be a shame to miss each other!

03/25/2024

The USS ARCHERFISH (SS/AGSS 311)website at coldwarboats.org has been launched, and is ready for fitting out with your submissions of photos, stories, and artifacts. It can be found here: https://coldwarboats.org/the-boat-311/uss-archerfish-ss-311/quarterdeck-311

Archerfish was a Balao-class submarine. She was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the archerfish.

Completing seven war patrols between December 1943 and September 1945, Archerfish is best known for sinking the Japanese aircraft carrier Shinano in November 1944, the largest warship ever sunk by a submarine. She was decommissioned at the in JUN 1946 and placed in the Pacific Reserve Group at MINSY.

Her Cold War service began during the Korean War in 1952 and continued through OCT 1955 when she was again decommissioned and placed in reserve.

After a short respite, Archerfish was reactivated as an auxiliary submarine (AGSS) in JUL 1957 and performed oceanographic work, specifically Operation Sea Scan, gathering data on maritime weather, water composition, ocean depths and temperature ranges. She would pursue various other research in support of Cold War submarine operations until 1968. Declared unfit for further naval service, she was sunk off the coast of San Diego by the USS SNOOK (SSN 592) on 19 OCT 1968.

If you have photos, stories, or artifacts related to the 311, reach out to me until we get a Site Lead volunteered! I'll make sure it gets on the Archerfish site. If you're planning a Archerfish reunion, again, let me know. The new Archerfish website has a reunion function already built in that will let you organize, promote, and keep track of attendees and events.

All Archerfish shipmates are invited to make the USS ARCHERFISH (SS/AGSS 311) site on Cold War Boats their new on-line home.

Welcome Aboard!

https://coldwarboats.org/the-boat-311/uss-archerfish-ss-311/quarterdeck-311

03/19/2024

The USS BASHAW (SS/AGSS/SSK 241) website has been added to the list of functioning sites at coldwarboats.org. Besides needing a site lead to take responsibility for tracking down shipmates, photos, and records from the 241, there are deck logs, personnel reports, a welcome aboard brochure, related postal covers, and some memorabilia. Stop by and browse, and leave a comment.

You can find the BASHAW here: https://coldwarboats.org/the-boat-241/uss-bashaw-ss-241/quarterdeck-241

02/02/2024

While the process seems slow, I am adding my collection of ship's artifacts to the Cold War Boats site. Among these are many Commissioning Brochures, such as this one for the USS RICHARD B. RUSSELL (SSN 687).

In addition to the order of ceremony, biographies of the prospective Commanding Officer and Executive Officer, there are often lists of the commissioning crew-members, and many of the newer brochures included photographs as well.

For you plank-owners, Commissioning Brochures will be added to The Logroom for each boat. I will alert you to new ones as I can get them posted.

At the moment of breaking the commissioning pennant, USS RICHARD B. RUSSELL (SSN 687) becomes an active member of the fleet.