By Captain George Stewart, USN (RET) This is the third in a series of articles by Captain Stewart detailing the technical specifications, manning, and operations of the U.S. Navy’s Fletcher class destroyers. In my previous two articles (read Part 1 here, read Part 2 here) I gave technical and manning overviews of the U.S. Navy’s
Are Young Americans Into Mahan? Naval History Strongly Represented in 2013 National History Day Contest
By Christopher Eckardt The annual National History Day (NHD) concluded with the national awards ceremony on 13 June at the University of Maryland. Every year, the NHD contest invites historically minded students in all fifty states, the territories, and even internationally, to research a topic of interest to them and present their work in a
BOOK REVIEW – The Silent Service in World War II: The Story of the U.S. Navy Submarine Force in the Words of the Men Who Lived It
By Edward Monroe-Jones and Michael Green, eds., Havertown, PA, Casemate (2012). Reviewed by Charles C. Kolb, Ph.D. The editors have assembled an anthology of 46 oral histories of variable lengths that focus on stories of men as well as old S- and newer fleet-type boats that fought against the Japanese during World War II in
Former Vietnam POW Visits Cold War Gallery
The U.S. Navy’s Cold War Gallery, located at the Washington Navy Yard, pays tribute to the service and sacrifice of the men and women who served during the five tense decades of the latter half of the 20th century. In June, the Naval Historical Foundation cut the ribbon on a new “Battle Behind Bars” exhibit,
BOOK REVIEW – Fighting for MacArthur: The Navy and Marine Corps’ Desperate Defense of the Philippines
By John Gordon, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, (2011). Reviewed by Captain Roger F. Jones, U.S. Navy (Retired) This is a book well worth reading from several standpoints. First, the role of the Navy and Marine Corps in the defense of the Philippines in World War II, as compared to the Army, is not generally
Norman’s Corner: Pointing to General Genda
By Norman Polmar (Editor’s note: This is the seventh in a series of blogs by Norman Polmar, author, analyst, and consultant specializing in the naval, aviation, and intelligence fields. Follow the full series here.) While in high school I became interested in the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. As I
Spilling the Secret – Captain Morton T. Seligman, U.S. Navy (Retired), U.S. Naval Academy Class of 1919
By Captain Lawrence B. Brennan, U.S. Navy (Retired) (Editor’s Note: a version of this article first appeared in the January 2013 issue of the Universal Ship Cancellation Society Log. Article is copyrighted by the author, all rights reserved.) “The game may not be worth the candle.” Special Prosecutor William D. Mitchell, former Attorney General of
BOOK REVIEW – A Hard Fought Ship, The Story of HMS Venomous
By Robert J.Moore and John A. Rodgaard; Holywell Publishing, St. Albans, Hertfordshire, UK, (2010). Reviewed by Thomas C. Hone, Ph.D. This well-illustrated paperback book covers the career of a Royal Navy destroyer commissioned in 1919 and the experiences of the men who served in her. The book does a splendid job of giving the reader
Remembering Pearl Harbor: Interview with a Navy Survivor
The following interview is an excerpt from the oral history of Captain Douglas G. Phillips, USN (Retired), recorded in December 2010. Captain Phillips graduated from the New York State Merchant Marine Academy in 1937, and later obtained a commission with the U.S. Navy. His first Navy assignment was aboard USS Castor, and he later reported
BOOK REVIEW – Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942
By Ian W. Toll, W.W. Norton Company, New York, London, (2011). Reviewed by Rear Adm. Richard Gentz, USN (Ret.) Do not expect an objective review to follow! I was an immediate fan of Ian Toll when I found his first book Six Frigates in a gift shop on the Newport, Rhode Island waterfront. The continued
BOOK REVIEW – Two Books on Flying Boats
Float Planes & Flying Boats: The U.S. Coast Guard and Early Naval Aviation By Captain Robert B. Workman, Jr., USCG (Ret.), Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2012). China Clipper – The Age of the Great Flying Boats By Robert Gandt, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2010).
BOOK REVIEW: The US Navy and the War in Europe
By Robert C. Stern, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD: (2012) Reviewed by Richard P. Hallion, Ph.D. The vast scope, momentous operations, and drama inherent in the Pacific War—think Midway, Guadalcanal, the return to the Philippines, and Okinawa, for just a few examples—have always dominated the narrative of the U.S. Navy’s contribution to the Allied victory
Samoan Hurricane
A Naval Historical Foundation Publication, 1 August 1965 ORIGINAL TEXT OF PAMPHLET “Samoan Hurricane” By Rear Admiral L. A. Kimberly, USN This manuscript on the hurricane that occurred in Samoa on 15, 16, and 17 March 1889, was written by RADM L. A. Kimberly, sometime after the hurricane occurred. Admiral Kimberly, was the Commander-in-Chief of
New Exhibit to be Built for Navy Museum’s Cold War Gallery
Design and Production, Inc., a leading builder of large, complex museum exhibits, has been contracted to build “Into the Lion’s Den,” a new Cold War Gallery exhibit at the U.S. Navy Museum. Scheduled for completion by June 2012 as commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the war in Vietnam begins, “Into the Lion’s Den” describes
Commemorative Events
COMMEMORATIVE EVENTS Midway Dinner and Anniversary Navy Birthday Celebration Submarine Force Birthday History Seminar Midway Dinner In 1999, the Chief of Naval Operations sent a message to the fleet directing the annual commemoration of two significant events in our proud naval history—the birth of our Navy on 13 October 1775, and the U.S. Navy’s World
