Submarine Coins
I was happy to see this story about how the Bismarck-Mandan Chamber of Commerce is launching a series of coins to support the commissioning of what will be USS North Dakota (SSN 784). Excerpts:
A battle coin to commemorate the new USS North Dakota was unveiled Thursday, the first in a series of four that will be produced until the submarine is commissioned in 2014.Seeing such high-level support for the submarine so early in the building process bodes well for the initial manning crew of the North Dakota. In my experience on two newcon boats, it makes the commissioning parties a lot better when there's a lot of financial support from the namesake.
Fifty of the silver battle coins will be minted, with the first one going to the North Dakota Heritage Center. They will be available for $100 each. An additional 1,500 verbronze coins also will be for sale at $20 each.
Bismarck-Mandan Chamber of Commerce president Kelvin Hullet said proceeds from the coins will go to activities to help promote the submarine...
...Gov. John Hoeven, flanked by Admiral Bill Owens, Vice Admiral Jeffery Fowler and Judge Robert Wefald, helped unveil the design of the coin.
Fowler, the superintendent of the Naval Academy and a Bismarck native, said after heading for Annapolis years ago that it's an honor to see the state have a ship named after it.
Did you old (or current) boats make a big deal out of ship's coins? It seems to me they've gotten to be a bigger deal in the last 10 years or so.
posted by Bubblehead at 10:17 AM
26 Comments:
On my last two ships the CO gave them as Atta-Boyz. They were not the same coins you could purchase from the store. I also exchanged them with other COs, and was able to develop quite the collection. I don't even recall seeing them until my XO tour, which started ca2000.
BTW, i have a few left and will be sending one your way soon.
3/06/2009 12:58 PM
On my last boat most of the Nav div was all from North Dakota. In my travels, it seemed that a lot of sub guys were from ND too. Must be the lack of sunlight or that we're cooped up for 6 or 7 month at a time during the winter that appeals to us?
3/06/2009 1:02 PM
When the Navy announced the SSN 783 and SSN784, it was all over the ND media. Nothing in the lame stream media about the USS Minnesota in the People's Republic. But I'm sure that the Al Franken voters will be relieved when POUS cancels the 783 boat as wasteful defense contractor spending. At least the Red States have pride in our military.
(S5W/S3G III - EO, BCE, SRO)
3/06/2009 2:45 PM
Anyone know what Bill Owens is doing in North Dakota?
3/06/2009 3:10 PM
Anyone know what Richie Cole is doing in North Dakota?
3/06/2009 3:14 PM
I got one coin from my old boat. It actually means more to me than most mementos I have kept from my time in the Navy. It was a Chief of the Boat coin for our Sub. A few of us got them for doing such an outstanding field day during our pre-orse underway, we made that 30 year old engine room look pretty.
I may have hated his guts for the quals he made me do. But I still liked that old A-ganger COB of our.
3/06/2009 5:18 PM
Actually, USS MINNESOTA was announced in the media. A simple Google search shows it.
"Red" states have no more claim to patriotism or pride in the military than "blue" states.
3/06/2009 5:45 PM
A state's patriotism in terms of military service can be indicated by the relative percent-volunteers on active duty.
For what it's worth, Texas ranks highest in this fashion: nearly 1 in 10 U.S. service members are from Texas...much more than the 8 percent that its population measures relative to the entire country.
BTW, "saying" that a blue state has as much patriotism as a 'red" state doesn't make it true. I've lived in some very "blue" states, and you damn sure can not convince me that many of these people have the U.S. best interests at heart. No effing way.
I remember the "Go Big Red" t-shirts at one blue state's major university that certainly had dual meaning. I think the hammer & sickle logo tipped me off.
3/06/2009 6:04 PM
Good old Anon-
1. "The Al Franken voters will be relieved" when Senator Franken is seated. He won, grommet.
2. Somehow being from Minnesota did not inhibit me from serving on active duty for 37 years. But I do agree with Samuel Johnson regarding loud patriotism: "the last refuge of a scoundrel."
3. If you google 'USS Minnesota SSN 783" (with the quotation marks) you get 313 hits. Guess the naughty folks in the press didn't know they weren't supposed to cover this, you twit.
4. You seem to be a Republican and you seem to be an idiot. But I repeat myself.
3/07/2009 3:46 AM
And might name-calling be the first refuge of...the psychological projectionist?
3/07/2009 7:08 AM
On my boat, all we had was a skeetball ticket dispenser on the desk in maneuvering. Depending on how well you performed, you could get anything from a big plastic comb to a NAM when you got off watch. I like the idea of boat tokens better - must be something new.
3/07/2009 7:17 AM
You couldn't buy coins in the ship's store on Ustafish: you got one from either the skipper or the COB.
When we DECOMMed we had one of the cleats and the cone from the hub of the screw melted down and minted into coins (great idea STSCS P!). You could buy those, but there were only like 1200 made and they sold out within a couple days.
-LT L
3/07/2009 10:21 AM
I have several from the 22 boat commisioning. Though the one I enjoy the most and like to talk about was the one given to me by USCINCSTRAT.
When I was on the 22 boat, squadron assigned me to be his personal driver when he flew in to Groton for the Louisiana christening. After 3 very entertaining days of chauffering him around, I drove him back to his Lear jet (literally, car right up to the planes door on the runway)in Groton. When he was getting on he turned around and gave me one of his command coins as thanks.
Pretty neat coin. General Eugene E. Habiger was his name.
3/07/2009 3:34 PM
Speaking of "coinage," check out this new goof upon the new 'bleeping' Citibank (not one for the kiddos):
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/c130f64d6f/the-new-f-ing-citibank
3/07/2009 9:38 PM
Here's a direct link to the above.
3/07/2009 9:39 PM
The most memorable CO coin handout I recall was after a EM3 (DV) went and unplugged live forward shore power cables from the bunker when he was assigned to clear tags on the aft shore power bunker. Another member of the division was up on the smoke pad and noticed EM3(DV) about to unplug them and yelled stop, to no avail. The CO handed him a coin at the next all hands muster for his effort, I guess in an attempt to encourage the questioning attitude.
3/08/2009 6:09 AM
Rubber Ducky = Troll. Maybe he should take up knitting or something and stop being the one consistently negative person commenting. Just my 2 cents.
3/08/2009 11:11 PM
Anon-
1. Get a handle.
2. Equating 'negative' as same as an adverse reaction to a right-wing whackjob suggests a heartfelt belief that progressive attitudes should be stifled. Witness the last election and recent poll numbers, the bulk of the nation feels otherwise and I'm with them.
3. It's hard to be serious about a topic as silly as ship's coins.
3/09/2009 6:22 AM
The coin I am most proud of is the one given to me by my Brother. It was his coin from when he commanded the SSN 22 from 01-03. I keep it in my office.
R.C.
3/09/2009 10:17 AM
The Duck is actually a bit of an admirable character in some ways. He does speak his mind, which is a quality I find lacking in too many submarine officers.
Example of the Duck in action.
His politics are not something that I can admire, but with 50+ years on the planet myself I honestly think that one's politics largely come from individual unconscious issues that the bearer is likely himself completely unaware of. So I neither take politics personally, nor seriously.
Politics of any flavor are divisive, obviously, and well known for their lack of integrity...and so that pretty much speaks for itself.
The Duck is a character, to be sure. I was once on a boat that he was visiting - and I mean truly in visitor status - and recall his stopping by the control room to issue forth on some subject, with the net-net being that I, the OOD, was being told by him, visitor, to go do something with the boat. The man was a senior officer, deserving full consideration, and so I looked at a cohort and he looked at me and we both looked back at the Duck...and our facial expressions left no doubt that we took our orders from the Captain, not a Rubber Ducky visitor, regardless of paygrade.
The Duck went storming off, elbows flying (as always), shouting to the effect that "that's just the way it is!"...his way of indicating that I should just do what he said.
I must say, I did not. But I did remember the moment, and the name of a particularly odd O-6 who was somewhat sadly like a duck out of water.
With 37 years of faithful service, John, I suggest you take some time off to go fishing. You've earned it...as well as my begrudging respect.
3/09/2009 4:56 PM
"With 37 years of faithful service, John, I suggest you take some time off to go fishing. You've earned it...as well as my begrudging respect."
Will do so tomorrow, in canoe after redfish. Muito obrigado.
3/09/2009 5:44 PM
"I was once on a boat that he was visiting - and I mean truly in visitor status - and recall his stopping by the control room to issue forth on some subject, with the net-net being that I, the OOD, was being told by him, visitor, to go do something with the boat. The man was a senior officer, deserving full consideration, and so I looked at a cohort and he looked at me and we both looked back at the Duck...and our facial expressions left no doubt that we took our orders from the Captain, not a Rubber Ducky visitor, regardless of paygrade."
The incident is not remembered, but would guess it had to do with your boat's conduct and condition on my waterfront. Boil water anyway you want, but do keep your topsides tidy and your sailors safe. Be well.
3/09/2009 5:49 PM
What I like the most about this blog is the breadth of experience that drops by to comment.
3/10/2009 5:43 AM
I agree. Just imagine how many times I'd have faced the tender mercies of *my* CO if I said half of this stuff in person. But online, my right to free speech is intact.
3/10/2009 6:53 AM
Rubber Ducky...
I think Bill Owens is from North Dakota...
-phw
3/10/2009 12:19 PM
In the Army you get them as both "been there done that" and "atta boy's" Its actually quite interesting to see other services do it too. We call them "Challenge Coins"
the tradtition is that you keep one in your wallet, when at the Bar (or the dine in, if someone slaps a coin down you have to be able to within one step get retrieve your coin, the one with the higher rank gets free drinks, the one with the lower ranking one pays. There is also some sidebar as to the importance of the command. If its a Sergeant Major's (E-9) coin, then the importance of the Sergeant Major is the determining factor in rank.
As a young private I was astounded at just how many "unofficial" rules there were about coins. Is the Navy the same way?
3/21/2009 12:19 PM
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