Michael "Mike" Hogan grew up in
Marblehead, Massachusetts, about two stone throws from the ocean. Marblehead is known as the "birthplace of the American Navy", a title that is constantly debated with nearby Beverly, where he currently lives. Marblehead was a great place to grow up, the old timers were all related to each other, a nice quiet, historic tourist town. Then the yuppies discovered it during the 1980's, driving real estate prices skyward. He entered the Navy on the 6th of January in 1972. He
took the six year hitch to get the extra training, then extended one more year for the re-enlistment bonus.
Mike attended basic recruit training at the Naval Training Center in Great Lakes, Ill, as well as Basic Electric and Electronics School and ET "A" School. "A great place to spend two winters." Mike volunteered for submarine duty after "A" school, because he was interested in marine navigation equipment, and considered a career in that field after his
enlistment.
In March 1973 Mike attended a course in Inertial Navigation Principles at Groton, Connecticutt followed by a course in AN/UYK-7 Diagnostic Maintenance at Mare Island, California. He finished up his training with a course on the operation and maintenance of the AN/WSN-1 Dual Minisins at NUSC, Newport, Rhode Island.
He reported to the Los Angeles PRECOMUNIT ON 2 Aug 1973, but was immediately sent to USS Finback (SSN-670) on a six month temporary duty
assignment (TAD). He earned the Navy Expeditionary medal while onboard Finback. He reported back onboard Los Angeles on 04 February 1974 for the new construction phase of the submarine. He was onboard for sea trials, commissioning, and weapons certification trials, then was transferred to SUBRON SIX on 15 April 1977 during the infamous "Dirty Thirty" scandal.
Mike was transferred to the USS Sellers (DDG-11) in time for a Mideast cruise. "That was a real eye-opener for
me. To go from modern,state-of-the-art electronics and then go backwards twenty-five years was something else. I hadn't seen a tube in four years and had to read a book to figure out how they worked again." "Some of those skimmer pukes told me how great destroyer duty was, but there's no comparison. That destroyer crew seemed to be broken into numerous groups, whereas the crew of the USS Los Angeles (SSN-688) was like one big family."
Hogan left the Navy on January
5, 1979, and returned to his home town of Marblehead, Massachusetts. He was by then fed up with the electronics industry, and went back to his school day occupation as a commercial fisherman/lobsterman. "I only spent one year actually at sea out of my seven year Navy hitch and had to become a civilian again to go to sea." He is the owner/operator of a 32 foot fishing vessel, and is the only crewmember. "At least I don't show up late for work, or hung over." " Lobstering is kind of like
endless Christmas. Every day you go out, every trap that comes over the rail, you just don't know what's inside. It could be good, or it could be like getting coal in your stocking."
Mike finally got married after a lengthy courtship. "My father-in-law didn't think much of an uneducated fisherman." Mike and his wife Mandy currently live in Beverly, Massachusetts with their nine year old daughter Briana. Someday he will be forced to move to North Andover, Massachusetts to
the handicapped horse farm where his wife is executive director. "Just where I want to live, getting devoured by mosquitoes for seven months of the year."
Like many of us old sailors, Mike has packed on a few pounds. "I used to put ten pounds on in the winter when I was done lobstering, and burn it all off during the summer and fall. Then I started to put on fifteen pounds and only losing ten."
