November 1922 Proceedings—Lieutenant Commander W. Atlee Edwards, U.S. Navy, served as Admiral William S. Sims’ aviation aide during World War I. In “The U.S. Naval Air Force in Action 1917–18,” he wrote, “Officially, the U.S. Naval Air Force Foreign Service executed thirty-nine attacks against enemy submarines, of which ten were considered to have been partially successful; it dropped 100 tons of high explosives on enemy objectives; and it had [credit for] 22,000 flights in the course of which it patrolled more than 800,000 nautical miles of submarine-infested areas. In point of fact, it did immeasurably more.”
November 1972 Proceedings—In “Buoys Will Be Buoys,” Lieutenant Commander J. E. Meade, U.S. Coast Guard, wrote, “The aids to navigation system in the United States is an integrated system using fixed, electronic, and floating aids. . . . Fixed aids, especially those located on the shore, are by far the most reliable. Lighthouses are not subject to shifts in position. . . . Electronic aids such as Loran are likewise insulated from the marine environment. . . . Floating aids (buoys) are the weakest link. [Their batteries] are less reliable; their delicate signal apparatus – timer, flasher, lens, daylight control, and lamp—changer—are exposed to violent motion. . . . They are subject to shifting their position.”
November 1997 Proceedings—In “The Boomer Reborn,” former Congressman Jim Courter wrote, “One proposal for recycling a Cold War weapon system seems to hold particular promise for enhancing the firepower and survivability of naval elements operating in the littoral. That is the idea of converting surplus Trident ballistic- missile submarines (SSBNs) into platforms for the launch of conventional guided missiles against land targets—in other words, into SSGNs. . . . The Trident SSGN would be affordable because the vessels, their bases, and many of the needed weapons already have been purchased.”
A. Denis Clift
Golden Life Member
