The U.S. Naval Institute is maintaining and preserving the former Naval Historical Foundation website so readers and former NHF members can still access past issues of Pull Together and other content. NHF has decommissioned and is no longer accepting new members or donations. NHF members are being converted to members of the Naval Institute. If you have questions, please contact the Naval Institute via email at [email protected] or by phone at 800-233-8764.Not a member of the Naval Institute? Here’s how to join!
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BOOK REVIEW – A View from the Deckplates: Two Decades Aboard Destroyers during the Cold War (1950-1970)

By George Chambers, Authorhouse, Bloomington, IN (2004). Reviewed  by Jim Bussert If anyone has ever wanted to get the experience of serving on destroyers for twenty years, Senior Chief Fire Control Technician George Chambers has provided the answer. His love of destroyers is evident in his descriptions and table of different classes from pre-World War

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BOOK REVIEW – Joe Rochefort’s War: The Odyssey of the Codebreaker Who Outwitted Yamamoto at Midway

By Elliot Carlson, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2011). Reviewed by Capt. John A. Rodgaard USN (Ret.) Joe Rochefort is a legend to all United States Navy intelligence professionals and Elliot Carlson’s outstanding biography finally introduces the man behind the legend. The author also lifts the veil of mythology and mystery that has surrounded the

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BOOK REVIEW – Dark Seas: The Battle of Cape Matapan

Introduced by J. E. Harrold , University of Plymouth Press, Farnham, UK, (2012). Reviewed by Joseph Moretz. Ph.D. Dark Seas is a reprint of a British Admiralty Battle Summary monograph originally published in 1950 intended for the private use of serving officers (B.R. 1736(35) The Battle of Cape Matapan). As a summary, it eschewed any

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BOOK REVIEW: The Battles at Plattsburgh, September 11, 1814

By Keith A. Herkalo,. History Press. Charleston, S.C (2012) Reviewed by David Curtis Skaggs, Ph.D. Of all largely ignored major military operations in what is often called America’s “forgotten war,” the Lake Champlain campaign of 1814 ranks in first place. Self-styled “amateur historian” Keith Herkalo brings enthusiasm and diligence to another inquiry into the battles

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BOOK REVIEW: Signed, SEALd and Delivered – A Jack Kane Thriller

By Sam Ginder, Red Lead Press, Paperback, 339 pages Reviewed by Vice Adm. Robert F. Dunn, USN, (Ret.) What a terrific escape from the routine and mundane is this book! A sitting United States Senator hires a hard-hitting former Navy SEAL to track down the Senator’s missing daughter, a beautiful and charming twenty-something. At a

USS Joseph P Kennedy NA43-3112

USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr.: Cuban Missile Crisis Veteran

This month marks the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis. During that dramatic confrontation, ships and aircraft of the U.S. Navy formed a blockade around the island of Cuba, to put a stop to Soviet efforts to build an offensive nuclear force on that island nation (watch a video about the Crisis here). One

Cold War Gallery Central Hall

Cold War Gallery Opening to the Public

In October 2012, the Cold War Gallery at the Washington Navy Yard, part of the National Museum of the United States Navy, will open to the public. The Gallery has been in development since 2003 and features a number of impressive exhibits, as well as a large collection of ship and aircraft models. The facility

War of 1812 NHHC Logo

Call for Papers: From Enemies to Allies – An International Conference on the War of 1812 and its Aftermath

June 12-16, 2013, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland Submission Guidelines: Call for Papers Opens: July 1, 2012 Online Call for Papers Available: July 1, 2012 Final Submission Deadline: February 1, 2013 Conference Theme: The Maryland War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission, the United States Naval Academy, and the United States Navy’s Naval History and Heritage

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BOOK REVIEW: Counterinsurgency Leadership in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Beyond

Edited by Nicholas Schlosser and James M. Caiella, Marine Corps University Press, Quantico, VA (2011) 204 pp. Reviewed by Captain Roger F. Jones, USN (Ret.) Schlosser and Caiella have assembled and edited a series of presentations at a Marine Corps University symposium in 2009, which carried the same title as this book. While the focus

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BOOK REVIEW: Steam Coffin – Captain Moses Rogers and the Steamship Savannah Break the Barrier

By John Laurence Busch, Hodos Historia, (2010), 726 pp. Reviewed by Mark Lardas On Thursday June 17, 1819 lookouts at the Cape Clear Island semaphore station sent a report to the Royal Navy base at Cork, Ireland that a ship was afire off Cape Clear. A revenue cutter sent to investigate discovered not a vessel

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BOOK REVIEW: The Role the USS Casablanca (CVE-55) Played in World War II in the Pacific

By Dr. Barbara G. Jones. 2010, The Edwin Mellen Press, Box 450, Lewiston, NY., 515pp. Reviewed by Charles H. Bogart Dr. Barbara Jones has penned a well-written and interesting history of the escort carrier USS Casablanca (CVE 55). The story is told using official records, personal reminiscences, and secondary sources. The author divides her account

2012 Birthday Banner

NHF Co-Sponsoring 237th Navy Birthday Celebration

For the seventh consecutive year, the Naval Historical Foundation will co-sponsor the Navy Birthday Celebration in the Washington DC area, along with the National Capital Council of the Navy League of the United States. The event will be held 13 October at the Sheraton Premiere Hotel in Tysons Corner, VA (see our listing here for

Sterett Guadalcanal Flag

USS Sterett Flag From World War II Finds Its Way Home

We were contacted last month by the Commanding Officer of the destroyer USS Sterett (DDG 104) about an historic artifact that once belonged to the Naval Historical Foundation. Commander Stewart L. Bateshansky, USN, recently assumed command of the Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer, homeported in San Diego. He was shown a tattered 5 foot

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Schooner Pride of Baltimore II Visits Washington Navy Yard

There is a very special visitor at the Washington Navy Yard this week: the topsail schooner Pride of Baltimore II. The schooner is a replica of a War of 1812 era privateer. In this photo, Pride of Baltimore II is tied up alongside the Washington Riverwalk Trail. Nearby is the destroyer Display Ship Barry. At