was the name given to the US Navy's initial nuclear powered ballistic missile launching submarines.  All forty one vessels were the most expensive and most powerful warships ever launched by any nation.  Carrying sixteen Polaris A-1 intercontinental ballistic missiles, these underwater giants could reign death and destruction upon an enemy on a scale once only imagined.  "Mutually Assured Destruction" or "MAD," was the order of the day.  "You bomb me and I'll bomb you to a level from which you'll never recover."  This was the creed behind the US Navy's SSBN fleet.  The submarines, nicknamed "Boomers" came to symbolize all that the Cold War stood for. 

This site deals with one of those submarines; the USS Casimir Pulaski (SSBN-633).  The six hundred and thirty third US Navy submarine and the only US Navy vessel named for a Polish national, Count Casimir Pulaski.  Her motto was "Per Tridentem Libertas" - or peace through seapower, and for thirty years from 1963 to 1993 she patrolled the world's oceans keeping America and her allies safe from the threat of nuclear war. 

To quote George Orwell: "we sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm."  I was one of those men.  My name is Don Murphy and I served onboard USS Casimir Pulaski from October 1985 to April 1989. 

I am writing a book about the "Pulaski Fish" to glorify her existence and let others know of the sacrifices her crew made daily to keep her at sea, defending her nation.  She served silently, carrying her cargo of sixteen missiles and her one hundred fifty crew to and from patrol after patrol.  If you served onboard the Pulaski I'd like to hear from you.  You can contact me at:  JDM4791@Juno.com.

In the meantime, enjoy your visit to the site.  Be sure to read the SECURITY and OVERVIEW sections and by all means, drop me a line with any questions, compliments, complaints, etc.

Cheers,

Don

2 June 2008 - Updated the Reunion Photos page by adding photos from the Charleston reunion.  Thanks to shipmate Ron Skinner for sending in some of the photos.  Also updated the Reunions And Meetings page.  More photo postings to follow.  

Last update:  30 May 2008

A lot of you have expressed an interest in donating money to help with the running of this site.  And a few of you have actually gone to the effort of sending me some cash.  Firstly, I am doing this website as a labor of love and with no thought of compensation.  But, I will be honest, I do pay a hosting fee and other costs and if anyone would like to throw me a dollar here and there, you are more than welcome and have my eternal thanks.  If you'd like to send me money you have two options:

1.  If you are extremely computer savvy and a trusting individual, you can send money to me via my PayPal account.  It's easy, safe and painless.  I've been using PayPal for two years now and have never been scammed, ripped off, etc.  To send money to me via PayPal, click here

2.  If you'd rather use the USPS, you can send cash, checks,  etc to:  Don Murphy, 635 Xavier Avenue, Melbourne, Florida, USA  32901.

Again, enjoyment of this site is free.  Do not feel obligated to contribute.  If you do decide to, I will remember you when I get elected president and I'll make you cabinet minister of your choice, ok?  So far, I have a secretary of defense and secretary of silly walks chosen.

STOP PRESSES!  I'm presently having some problems with PayPal at the moment, so as of today (30 July 2007) do not use the PayPal button to send donations.  I'll let you know when it's back up and running again.  Thanks for your patience.

This website is not affiliated with the US Navy, the Department Of Defense or the U.S. Navy Submarine Force.  Any opinions expressed herein are my own and do not neccessarily reflect the blah, blah, blah...you know the drill. 

I have made many attempts to contact past shipmates.  If you see your photo here and you wish it to not be here, please email me and I'll remove your photo.  Likewise, if you are an ex shipmate and would like a copy, let me know as well and I'll make you one.  And further to the likewise, if you are an ex shipmate and would like your photo/photos posted on this website for everyone to see, let me know.  All photos submitted either digitally or physically will become the property of the www.usscasimirpulaski.com website unless you desire them to be returned to you.  All photos will be credited to the person who submitted them.  This is interesting as you may be submitting the photo but you may not be the photographer!  Never fear - if you see your work on this site and it is incorrectly credited, email me and I'll make the neccessary amendments. 

All this stuff is to the best of my knowledge, my own.  If you feel that I'm stealing your ideas or copying your work let me know.  Everything here is recollected as best I can remember.  I was retired in 1989 and have not stepped foot onboard a Polaris SSBN since then.  So if you read something that doesn't sound right, or if you're an ex shipmate and I describe something that's not how you "remember it," by all means, let me know.  This website deals with a submarine that served throughout the Cold War.  It was there at the early stages and it was there at the end.  The whole point of this website is not to justify the actions of the various government's involved or to say who was right and who was wrong.  The sole purpose of this website is to educate the public by remembering the sacrifices of the US Navy's Submarine crews who patrolled the world's oceans, keeping our nation and the nations of our allies, safe for democracy.

This is a story who's telling is long overdue - both by the crewmembers who lived the life and by the U.S. Government.  The world wide web has given many people an outlet for capturing memories and recollections.  Let's hope that this website gives birth to many others, because as you will find out on this site, the USS Casimir Pulaski was but one of hundreds of submarines keeping the free world safe. 

Enjoy your visit!