Close Navigation ×
Perch Base Event Photos

Upcoming Events

Eternal Patrol

The "MidWatch"
Arizona's Silent Service Memorial

Arizona's Silent Service Memorial.

Meeting Minutes

Videos

Perch Base Officers

Base Awards

Links

About Perch Base

USS Perch War Patrols

Flash Traffic

SubVet Application

Eagle Scout Program

Base Newsletters

Policies/Procedures

Useful Base
Documents and Forms.

Docs & Forms
Board of Dir. Login
☰ Nav Menu
Click on our Perch Base logo to return to the home page

Déjà vu
all over again

USSVI logo

Click on the logo or these words to go to the United States Submariners home page.

"Déjà vu all over again" is a quote (a.k.a, "Yogi-ism") from the great philosopher and baseball player Yogi Berra.
When was the last time you used a sextant?
The Perch Base Life Member & Webmaster, Dan Marks, was frustrated that he never gets to see the Anthem Veterans Memorial when it is lined up with the Great Seal every November 11 at 11:11:11 AM because we are always participating in the Phoenix Veterans Day Parade when the solar alignment occurs.
But have you ever considered that the same solar alignment repeats for any solar position twice a year, except the summer and winter solstices? So the Webmaster put on his Quartermaster hat (he happens to be a nuke ET) and determined the sun’s azimuth and elevation at 11:11:11 AM on Veterans Day, then went to the astronomical tables and determined the other date to achieve the same solar position is January 30th at approximately 11:40 AM (sometimes January 31 in a leap year).
According to Jim Martin, the Anthem Veterans Memorial chief engineer, the Anthem Veterans Memorial was designed to align correctly within plus or minus 12 seconds to compensate for pole wandering and seasonal slowing of the earth’s rotation. Learn more about Jim's engineering of the Memorial on the Anthem Community Council website. Jim Martin was also the engineer for the Arizona Silent Service Memorial (ASSM) in Wesley Bolin Plaza.
I then took a ride to the Anthem Veterans Memorial and took this picture. Perch Base member Carlton Clarke was also present for the solar alignment.
Did you miss it? Stop by next year at the Anthem Veterans Memorial on January 30, 2025 at 11:40:42 AM! (plus or minus 12 seconds)

Click on the thumbnail for a larger picture.

Anthem Veterans Memorial on 01/30/2024

The Anthem Veterans Memorial on 01/30/2024, 11:43:00 AM.

Return Home

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FOR THE WEBMASTER?  EMAIL [email protected]