from david...

The Captain, XO, Conning Officer and others on the Bridge Wing during
our UNREP with USNS Walter S. Diehl.

This statue was pretty haunting as well.  Located at the "Hypocenter
Park," it gives the time and date of the detonation.  The Nagasaki
bomb, named "Fat Man," was dropped on August 9th, three days after
Hiroshima and the day after the USSR declared war on Japan.

This is a monument to the "26 Saints of Japan," who were crucified on
this spot in Nagasaki in 1597.  2 Portuguese priests and 24 Japanese
Christians were crucified for their faith, which had been outlawed in
Japan 10 years before.  They were canonized by the pope in 1862.

And while we were paying homage to the holy shrine of the 26 martyrs,
Dave Wagenborg, our CSO and a good buddy, took the opportunity to
attempt to slide down the railing of the steps.

ENS Dan Pappas, the most junior officer in the Wardroom, dances during
the UNREP while dressed as a Leprechaun.  This is a tradition that
goes back a long way in the Navy- since O'Kane is an Irish name, we
chose a Leprechaun outfit.  Our "breakaway" song is "Smells Like Teen
Spirit" by Nirvana.

They have Dunkin Donuts in Japan!

Life is so tough on deployment...massage chairs at the liberty center!
One of our sailors asked if we could get these for the ship...

At the Sasebo Train Station, getting ready to go to Nagasaki.

Me on the train to Nagasaki.

This is me at the spiral staircase entrance to the atomic bomb museum
in Nagasaki.

This monument behind me marks the "hypocenter," or ground zero, for
the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb detonation (it was actually an airburst 500
meters above this point).

There were many photos of the aftermath of the atomic bomb detonation,
but this one struck me as by far the most haunting.

Passing pallets from USNS Walter S. Diehl to O'Kane.

(how david, and all the crew, gets his mail, packages, etc!  here's hoping it's not swimming first!!  not to mention food, supplies...  that's a tiny line it's on!)

swim call just east of the mariana islands... 23,000 feet of water below him!!!

Fair winds and following seas from the Western Pacific and South China Sea!

When last I left you, we had been in Sasebo, Japan, for the second time.  We have since left the northern climes and headed south for the Straits of Malacca, the busiest waterway in the world.  If you ever doubt the importance of strategic sea lanes (roughly 90% of international commerce travels by sea), one look at a radar screen, or out of your bridge windows while approaching the Straits of Malacca will convince you how critical control of the seas are.  There are hundreds and hundreds of vessels (from supertankers and massive container ships to small ferries and fishing vessels) that transit through this narrow chokepoint between Indonesia, Malaysiaand Singapore every day.  It is always an impressive sight.

Previously, I promised some pictures from Japan- here are some pictures from the trip I took with Dave Wagenborg (our Combat Systems Officer) and Paul Duenas (our Chief Engineer) to Nagasaki, about an hour and a half train ride from Sasebo.  ObviouslyNagasaki is known, unfortunately, as the site that the second atomic bomb was dropped on August 9^th, 1945- three days afterHiroshima and the day after the Soviet Union declared war on Japan.  They have a museum, a peace park, and a monument dedicated to the atomic bomb dropping.  It was certainly interesting to get a slice of history, and humbling enough to appreciate how devastating a weapon it really was.  There were a few other interesting parts of Nagasaki that we saw as well- such as the memorial to the “Twenty Six Saints of Japan”- Christians crucified for their outlawed faith back in the 16^th century.  An interesting trip to an interesting place, likely something I will never get to see again (and topped off by some really good Indian food).

I have also included a couple of pictures of our Underway Replenishment (UNREP) with the USNS Walter S. Diehl.  While on deployment, we typically get fuel, food, mail, parts and ammunition via UNREP from an oiler or replenishment ship, although we can also get all these things in port.  Fuel is transferred via high pressure hose connections, and stores come over on pallets, which you can see in the pictures.  The ships are typically about 150-200 feet apart during these transfers, which require constant attention to detail in shiphandling.  It is definitely one of the more interesting things we do in the surface navy.  I also tried to send a video (alas, the file size was too large) or our most junior ensign dancing during the “breakaway” from the oiler (once all lines are passed back to the oiler and fueling/replenishment is complete, we speed up and turn away- this is called the breakaway).  We typically play a breakaway song and the most junior officer on the ship dances while dressed up as a leprechaun (to celebrate O’Kane’s Irish heritage).  Humiliating?  Maybe…but all in the name of Naval Tradition.

Love,

David