The battleship USS Arizona (BB 39) resting at the bottom of Pearl Harbor, is a powerful symbol of the devastation wrought on 7 December 1941 as Japanese aircraft swooped down on the unsuspecting American Pacific Fleet. Surprisingly, until the year 2000, the U.S Navy did not have a scale model of the battleship in the
Edited by Jim Bresnahan, Naval Institute Press, 2011. Reviewed by Rear Admiral Ed Keats, USN (Ret) Counter factional histories have been popular with chimerical writers over many years. I can recall from high school days being fascinated with a book based on the author’s imagination of an early ending to the Civil War right after
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
By Norman Polmar (Editor’s note: This is the sixth 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.) As mentioned in previous blogs, in the early 1960s I was befriended by then-Captain F.J. (Fritz) Harlfinger and then-Commander Dominic Paolucci.
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
As we approach the 71st anniversary of the tragic Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the thoughts of many around the nation will turn towards Hawaii, and the wreck of the battleship USS Arizona. But another Navy vessel from that colossal battle is being prepared for display in the deep South. The tugboat ex-USS Hoga (YT
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
There is perhaps no place in America as closely identified with naval history as Pearl Harbor. The “day that will live in infamy” on 7 December 1941 has not been forgotten by the people of the United States, and great care has been taken to preserve U.S. Navy history and heritage on and around the
We are drawing closer to completion of the new “Into the Lion’s Den” exhibit in the Cold War Gallery, and we’d like to take the opportunity to remember the fourth U.S. Navy surface warship involved in the 1972 night battle in Haiphong Harbor. We previously shared stories about USS Providence and USS Rowan, as well
Iconic images of U.S. Navy warships under attack and on fire at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 are seared into the collective American memory. Yet the total amount of moving picture footage of the surprise Japanese attack in Hawaii is limited, with the same shots often repeated over and over again. Rare footage shot
Admiral Arleigh Burke, who served an unprecedented three terms as Chief of Naval Operations, is renowned for his exploits during World War II in the Pacific. Yet his career during the war got off to an inauspicious debut. Then-Lieutenant Commander Burke was stationed at the Naval Gun Factory in Washington, DC in 1941. In an
Slade Cutter (1911–2005) was a career U.S. naval officer and a legendary submariner. He gained early notoriety as an All-American football player at the Naval Academy, and was later named to the College Football Hall of Fame. As commanding officer of USS Seahorse (SS 304) he tied for the second most Japanese ship kills of
Have a safe and happy Veterans Day!
