Welcome to the SSBN 657
USS FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
Crew Home Page - Blue & Gold
This web site is dedicated to the men of the Key and their families, and to the 41 For Freedom FBM Submarines, anyone else just would not understand. As George Orwell wrote: "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." The Crew List of the Key contains the names of those men.
USS FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
Crew Home Page - Blue & Gold
This web site is dedicated to the men of the Key and their families, and to the 41 For Freedom FBM Submarines, anyone else just would not understand. As George Orwell wrote: "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." The Crew List of the Key contains the names of those men.
From Greg Ott: The picture on the home page of the Key emergency surfacing was taken in Eluthera Sound at AUTEC during acoustic trials. The photo was taken from the deck of the sound trials ship, not the Pulaski. I was on the boat standing OOD and we staged the picture. The boat came up much closer than anticipated.
Key News 
Key News Updated August 10, 2026
Welcome to the remodeled F. S. Key web site! It has been a journey to get here and it is about 85% complete. I created the old web site in 2006 using MS FrontPage software. The software stopped being supported by Microsoft about 2010. I kept using it because no compatible alternative was made available. The site became harder and harder to update as the various servers that it was stored on were replaced with servers that were not campatible with old FrontPage software. In November of 2025, I found software called RocketCake, made in Austria, that was very similar in concept to MS FrontPage. There was a learning curve, but I soon got the hang of it. I wont get all geeky here but it took a lot of time to recreate the data and images from the old site to the new site. I did use AI to assist me with some tricky problems like moving the crew list with 7 columns and 1,600 rows while keeping the ability to edit it.
Take a tour around using the new menu system at the top of each page. I am still adding to some pages, especially the 1980's and 1990's photo pages. There are over 7,000 images on this site and each has to be moved and resized, so it takes a while. Another benefit of this modern software upgrade is that this site should be easier to view and use on tablets and cell phones. The main menu on cell phones will be 3 horizontal lines at the top of each page. Click there to open the menu.
My motivation for doing all this is to put the Key web site in a condition where someone else will be able to continue updating it, as I am aging out. My plan is to turn it over by the next Reunion 28. So if you are a former Key shipmate and think you might be interested in maintaining this web site into the future, drop me an e-mail.
Also, if you click on something that does not work, or you see something that is obviously wrong, drop me an e-mail (ssbn657@comcast.net) so I can fix it. There are many things I cannot see until the site becomes active. I have not updated the old site since the Reunion 26 in St. Marys, GA - so lets get things caught up...
1 Aug 2026 - New shipmated added to the Key Crew List: Dan Rancour 85 - 89 Blue Crew; Ronnie Ellis 80 - 86 Blue Crew. See Crew List for details. Welcome aboard.
1 Aug 2026 - We were notified of the passing of two Key shipmates: Richard D. Boyer and Richard D. Sales. Our deepest sympathies go out to their family and friends. And to our two shipmates we say: Rest your oars shipmates. We have the watch. Jobs well done. Obituaries can be found in Eternal Patrol.
Richard Sales
14 Aug 2026 - Found two more former Key shipmates on the USSVI web site who have passed. Corcoran, Gerald - Officer and Czulewicz. Rest in peace shipmates. Jobs well done. Obituaries can be found in Eternal Patrol.
Tom Czulewicz
I will be adding more images and data from the old site as time permits. That's it for now....
Welcome to the remodeled F. S. Key web site! It has been a journey to get here and it is about 85% complete. I created the old web site in 2006 using MS FrontPage software. The software stopped being supported by Microsoft about 2010. I kept using it because no compatible alternative was made available. The site became harder and harder to update as the various servers that it was stored on were replaced with servers that were not campatible with old FrontPage software. In November of 2025, I found software called RocketCake, made in Austria, that was very similar in concept to MS FrontPage. There was a learning curve, but I soon got the hang of it. I wont get all geeky here but it took a lot of time to recreate the data and images from the old site to the new site. I did use AI to assist me with some tricky problems like moving the crew list with 7 columns and 1,600 rows while keeping the ability to edit it.
Take a tour around using the new menu system at the top of each page. I am still adding to some pages, especially the 1980's and 1990's photo pages. There are over 7,000 images on this site and each has to be moved and resized, so it takes a while. Another benefit of this modern software upgrade is that this site should be easier to view and use on tablets and cell phones. The main menu on cell phones will be 3 horizontal lines at the top of each page. Click there to open the menu.
My motivation for doing all this is to put the Key web site in a condition where someone else will be able to continue updating it, as I am aging out. My plan is to turn it over by the next Reunion 28. So if you are a former Key shipmate and think you might be interested in maintaining this web site into the future, drop me an e-mail.
Also, if you click on something that does not work, or you see something that is obviously wrong, drop me an e-mail (ssbn657@comcast.net) so I can fix it. There are many things I cannot see until the site becomes active. I have not updated the old site since the Reunion 26 in St. Marys, GA - so lets get things caught up...
1 Aug 2026 - New shipmated added to the Key Crew List: Dan Rancour 85 - 89 Blue Crew; Ronnie Ellis 80 - 86 Blue Crew. See Crew List for details. Welcome aboard.
1 Aug 2026 - We were notified of the passing of two Key shipmates: Richard D. Boyer and Richard D. Sales. Our deepest sympathies go out to their family and friends. And to our two shipmates we say: Rest your oars shipmates. We have the watch. Jobs well done. Obituaries can be found in Eternal Patrol.
Richard Sales
14 Aug 2026 - Found two more former Key shipmates on the USSVI web site who have passed. Corcoran, Gerald - Officer and Czulewicz. Rest in peace shipmates. Jobs well done. Obituaries can be found in Eternal Patrol.
Tom CzulewiczI will be adding more images and data from the old site as time permits. That's it for now....
Key webmaster is Russ Christie MT1 70 - 75 Blue and Combined crews