On this day, December 7...

...I'd like to introduce you to a ship I know well: The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Taney. It is moored in Baltimore Harbor, not far from the local Barnes and Noble which I consider an outpost of civilization. The Taney is moored next to the bus stop.

This ship has quite a past. It is now the last military ship to survive the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Before that, it participated in the effort to find Amelia Earhart.

During World War II, this ship was used to evacuate Americans from Enderbury Island and to rescue survivors of the Battle of Midway. She saw action at Okinawa, gunning down four kamikaze pilots.

After the war, the Coast Guard used the Taney for search and rescue as well as drug interdiction. She was decommissioned in 1986.

I may not be overly fond of Balmer, but the history on display here is pretty damned impressive.