Submarine

The nicknames of Rear Adm. Eugene B. Fluckey -- "The Galloping Ghost of the China Coast" and "Lucky Fluckey" -- meant to bring a little levity to the exploits of one of the most decorated sailors in history. But as loved ones and shipmates approached an urn on display under the vast dome of the Naval Academy chapel yesterday to say a few words, many stopped in awe, bowing slightly as a last homage to the man who sank 29 Japanese ships as a submarine commander in the Pacific on his way to receiving the Medal of Honor and four Navy Crosses.

Midshipmen at the Naval Academy could spend less time training at sea, some gates into Fort Meade could be shut down and routine maintenance at military installations across the state could be delayed under federal budget cuts set to begin Friday. Military bases in Maryland stand to lose $114 million in operational funding as part of the across-the-board spending cuts known as sequestration. That is on top of the $359 million the Pentagon expects to save by furloughing 46,000 of its civilian workers in the state.

"Silent Running: My Years on a World War II Attack Submarine," by James F. Calvert. John Wiley & Sons. Illustrated. 275 pages. $27.95 For better or worse, Retired Vice Admiral James F. Calvert's World War II submarine memoir reads like a decent, if schmaltzy, old-fashioned war movie."Silent Running" is the story of a straight-arrow Ohio college kid who wound up at the Naval Academy in 1939; who finagled his way into the submarine service; and who then helped command two U.S. submarines, from the far reaches of the Pacific to the sanctum of Toyko Bay.Along the way, Mr. Calvert, who went on to an illustrious career in nuclear subs and became the superintendent of the Naval Academy, tells of the evolution of American submarine warfare during World War II.He sketches vivid and terrifying scenes of being depth-charged by Japanese surface vessels - hours on end, with scores of explosions bashing leaks and pounding the stagnant air aboard the sub. He paints striking pictures of the boat plying exotic seas at night.

Navy Lt. Jordon C. Sims, whose wife, Megan, is the daughter of Marylou Donhauser of Pylesville, and Michael Donhauser Jr. of Bel Air, and sailors from the Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS Cheyenne (SSN 773), departed Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam for a scheduled six-month deployment in the Western Pacific region. The crew had anxiously waited for the day to deploy after having spent months preparing and training for the missions they will soon undertake. From different weather patterns to deployed operational tasking, Cheyenne will face many challenges during deployment that are not normally encountered in the local operating area.

Capt. George Woodruff Forbes Jr., a retired career naval submarine officer and World War II veteran who later commanded the USS Torsk, died of kidney failure Monday at Lorien Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Bel Air. The Fallston resident was 85. Born and raised in Jackson, Miss., Captain Forbes was a 1939 graduate of the Naval Academy. After receiving his commission, he went to sea as an officer aboard the submarine S-23, which was assigned to the fleet at Pearl Harbor. He served aboard the S-38 and USS Raton in the early years of the war before being given command of the USS Bluefish in 1944.

SEVENTY-FIVE years ago today, July 10, 1916, Baltimoreans were electrified to learn that the submarine Deutschland had arrived in the Patapsco and would dock near Fort McHenry. It was front-page news in The Sun, which hailed the event with these words:"Completing one of the most remarkable trips by a craft of its type ever attempted and making good a boast of the Germans that it could be done, the submarine Deutschland, carrying 1,000 tons of cargo, appeared in the Virginia Capes yesterday and will dock in Baltimore today.

Capt. Slade Deville Cutter, a renowned Naval Academy football player and boxer who later as a World War II submariner was credited with sinking a record number of Japanese ships while earning four Navy Crosses, died of heart failure Thursday at the Ginger Cover retirement community in Annapolis. He was 93. "He was clearly one of World War II's great submarine heroes and compiled a magnificent record. He was a top-flight person and an outstanding athlete, and there is no question that he is a genuine hero," said retired Rear Adm. Charles Minter, a friend, and member of the Naval Academy Class of 1937.

The distance between the deck of the Navy's newest nuclear submarineand the streets of Maryland's capital is a lot shorter than you might think.Members of the ship's crew, who have spent more than a year preparing the USS Annapolis for sea duty, say it's more than just a name that ties them to the city.For close to two years, city leaders and members of a local groupcalled The USS Annapolis Commemorative Committee have been at work, raising money to pay for some "Welcome to our family" gifts for the crew.

IN TIME, most Russians will forgive President Vladimir Putin's indecisiveness in handling the Arctic nuclear submarine disaster that killed 118. Didn't Stalin, after all, go into such a shock following Hitler's attack on the Soviet Union that nothing was heard from him for days? In the end, though, Mr. Putin can fully repair his reputation only if he realizes that in a democracy, people must be told the truth, however bitter it might be, and that official lies, tardiness and obfuscation cannot be tolerated.

WASHINGTON - They probably want to smoke, to ease their nerves. But they cannot. They may want to scream. But they must not. They undoubtedly feel fear, but they must fight it. Anything to save air. For the crew of the sunken Russian submarine Kursk, saving oxygen became a paramount concern as soon as their air-pumping power plant shut down. And both air and hope appeared to be running out. Details remained sketchy on the condition of the Russian crew members and their prospects for survival, but U.S. and Russian submariners said life aboard the crippled sub is certainly grim and probably growing grimmer with every passing hour.

A recent report by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments concluded, "Historically the U.S. military has often been slow to identify, adequately prioritize, and respond effectively to the emerging challenges likely to impose the greatest stresses on our forces in future contingencies…" The 30-year shipbuilding plan just submitted by the U.S. Navy unfortunately confirms this judgment, and recent decisions by the Senate Armed Services Committee...

Capt. Frank J. Coulter, a retired decorated career naval officer who commanded the submarine USS Skipjack in the Pacific Theater during World War II, died June 21 of respiratory failure at his Severna Park home. He was 93. The son of a police officer and a homemaker, Captain Coulter was born in Baltimore and raised in Canton, and later in the 1600 block of N. Broadway. After graduating from Polytechnic Institute in 1935, he earned his bachelor's degree from the Naval Academy in 1939.

In a recent editorial ("Mayors for peace," June 22), The Sun addresses the resolution recently by the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) calling for an end to U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and redirection of funds to meet domestic needs. The Sun erroneously states that the last time the USCM expressed its collective opinion on foreign policy was in 1971, when it called for an end to the Vietnam war. In fact, in 2004, 2006 and each year since, the USCM has adopted increasingly stronger resolutions calling on the president to commence negotiations for the elimination of nuclear weapons by 2020, as urged by Mayors for Peace, an international association headed by the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The 1854 sloop of war Constellation and the World War II submarine Torsk are due back in Baltimore's Inner Harbor Monday after seven weeks in dry dock for scrubbing and repairs. The Constellation is scheduled to be towed from the Sparrow's Point Shipyard at 9 a.m., arriving at Pier 1 by 10 a.m. The Torsk will follow, arriving about 2 p.m., according to Chris Rowsom, executive director of Historic Ships in Baltimore, the vessels' caretakers. The move is about three weeks late, the result of unexpected rot discovered in Constellation's hull.

Bit by bit, Michael Raphael's company is digitizing the real world. Direct Dimensions, the Owings Mills firm he founded, scans items, buildings and even people and turns the results into 3-D computerized models. It has trained its equipment on everything from the presidential limousine to submarines to the Lincoln Memorial. Clients have used these digital copies for projects ranging from building renovations to special effects for films. Seeing growth potential in one of its niches, Direct Dimensions is preparing to spin off a new firm — ShapeShot — that will focus specifically on scanning people's faces.

Capt. Robert Louis Brady Jr., a career naval officer and submarine commander, died Thursday of respiratory failure at Safe Haven Manor in Sudlersville. He was 88. Captain Brady was born in Brighton, Mass., and raised in Upper Darby, Pa., where he graduated from Upper Darby High School in 1940. He joined the Navy Reserves and was nominated to the U.S. Naval Academy, from which he graduated in 1945. Captain Brady served aboard the battleship USS Wyoming before attending submarine school.

PHILADELPHIA - In 1960, when he was 22, Hayim Sheynin escaped from a sunken Soviet submarine by swimming into a frigid darkness that went on and on and on. Now head of the reference library at Gratz College in Elkins Park, Pa., Sheynin has been remembering the terror of his ordeal as he has been reading accounts of the sailors trapped aboard the Kursk. Like the Kursk, Sheynin's vessel sank in stormy Arctic waters after an explosion. Because of the Cold War, the Soviet government kept a lid on the incident.

By accident, scientists peering into icy waters far beneath the North Pole have found a hidden world of fire. Buried in sonar readings taken by a Navy submarine to create a map of the ocean floor, researchers discovered two large volcanoes that had recently convulsed the Arctic seabed. The surprise, reported in the current issue of the journal Nature, throws light on one of the last ocean frontiers, the Arctic deep. "We like to think we're smart people," said Dr. Margo H. Edwards, a marine geologist at the University of Hawaii who led the discovery team.

The departing superintendent of the Naval Academy says that if the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that bars gays from serving openly in the military ends, the academy will adjust, as it has changed over the years with the admission of minorities and women. The Obama administration is seeking to repeal the 1993 policy that prevents gay people from serving in the military unless they shield their sexual orientation. Vice Adm. Jeffrey L. Fowler said that if the ban is repealed, the academy will continue to apply its concept of "basic respect" among midshipmen.