By Captain Todd Creekman, USN (Ret.) On Saturday, January 7th, 2017 retired Navy Captain George W. Stewart passed away at his home, under hospice care. While I knew his health had been declining, and had visited him in the hospital and a retirement community several times in November and December, I was just not prepared
By Captain George W. Stewart, USN (Ret.) I originally wrote this in response to questions raised by a member of the Steamship Historical Society concerning the lack of use in marine gas turbines in the commercial shipping world. This fact is true, even though they have been the standard application all new surface combatant vessels
By Captain George W. Stewart, USN (Ret.) Author’s Preface: When reading this post, bear in mind that we are discussing the conditions that existed in 1979-1981. I recognize that there have been many developments since that time. In October 1978, the Navy launched a “Women in Ships” program which provided for the assignment of women
By Captain George W. Stewart, USN (Ret.) As discussed in the previous post in this series, my detailer informed me in 1971 that my next assignment would be as Officer in Charge of something called a Fleet Introduction Team (FIT) at the Avondale Shipyard where USS Blakely (DE 1072), my previous ship, was built. The
By George Stewart A major factor in the determination of the feasibility of conversion from the original Cleveland-class cruisers to the Independence-class aircraft carriers was the fact that the propulsion plants could meet the needs of both ship types, without major modifications. The cruisers had a design speed of 32.5 knots while the carriers which
This paper discuses life on USS Knox-class frigates in the 1970s. It is a follow on to a previous article entitled “Post World War II Destroyer Escorts.” Much of the information was obtained by my personal experiences aboard ships of the class which include: Commissioning Executive Officer USS Blakely (DE 1072) Officer in Charge, Fleet
By Captain George Stewart, USN (Ret.) r>Destroyer Escort (DE) was the original US Navy classification for ships designed with endurance to escort mid-ocean convoys of merchant ships. During World War II their missions evolved into vital parts of hunter-killer groups where in combination with escort carriers (CVE) they were to play a significant role in
By Captain George Stewart, USN (Ret.) This episode starts when I was a student at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. I was due to graduate in September, 1967. Our Detailer from BUPERS was due to visit with us to discuss orders. When I went in to see him, I was pleasantly surprised when
By Captain George Stewart, USN (Ret.) This post provides a basic description of the turboelectric propulsion plant aboard the collier USS Jupiter (AC 3) in its original configuration. Much of this information was obtained from the textbook Practical Marine Engineering (1917) by Captain C.W. Dyson, USN. Additional information was obtained from an article in the
By Captain George Stewart, USN (Ret.) This post provides a description of the events surrounding the loss of USS Truxtun (DD 229) and USS Pollux (AKS 2) by grounding off the coast of Newfoundland in February 1942. Because over 200 lives were lost, it is considered to be one of the worst disasters in Naval
By George Stewart A “flivver” is an American slang term used in the early twentieth century to refer to any small car that gave a rough ride. These “flivvers” were primarily small, inexpensive and old. In the context of the United States Navy, “flivvers” refer to the two specific classes of destroyers that entered service
By George Stewart (This is the fourth and final installment in a series of blog posts covering the various operations conducted in Maine during WWII. Click to read Parts I, II, and III of George Stewart’s blog series about Casco Bay during WWII. To read all other post by George, go HERE.) PART IV This post
By George Stewart (This is the third in a series of blog posts covering the various operations conducted in Maine during WWII. To read Parts I and II of George Stewart’s blog series about Casco Bay during WWII, go HERE and HERE. To read all other post by George, go HERE.) PART III By 1943,
By George Stewart (This is the second of a series of blog posts that discuss the role that Casco Bay played during the Second World War. This is Part I of the series. “Going Ashore” are the collected posts from George Stewart, retired Navy Captain and NHF blog volunteer. Read the first post HERE). By 1942, the
By George Stewart (This is the first of a series of blog posts that discuss the role that Casco Bay played during the Second World War. This is Part I of the series. “Going Ashore” are the collected posts from George Stewart, retired Navy Captain and NHF blog volunteer). This series of blog posts will provide
