Naval History (original) (raw)

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Exploring the Wreck of the Yorktown

For the first time since the loss of the USS Yorktown at the Battle of Midway in June 1942, a ...

By James P. Delgado, Phil Hartmeyer, Russell E. Matthews, and Michael L. Brennan

August 2025

From Midway to Watchtower

In the summer of ’42, Chief of Naval Operations Ernest King seized the initiative and kicked off the most critical campaign of the Pacific war.

By Jonathan Parshall

August 2025

Halsey’s Folly

Admiral William F. “Bull” Halsey Jr.’s insistence on attacking Kure Harbor, Japan, in July 1945 was one of questionable wisdom.

By Barrett Tillman

August 2025

Highlights from Naval History

Icarus

A vintage cutaway drawing of the USS George Washington (SSBN-598)—the U.S. Navy's first operational ballistic-missile submarine.

On Our Scope

By Eric Mills

August 2025

It was the summer of 1985, and the Cold War was at its apex. But a change was in the air.

The Sequoia—the yacht for eight U.S. Presidents and site of many a gathering for international diplomacy—turns 100 in 2025.

Author of the Year banner

Marolda Named Naval History Author of the Year

August 2025

Edward J. Marolda—the author/editor of numerous books and a historian with the U.S. Naval Institute Oral History Program—was recognized as the 2024 Naval History Author of the Year.

Walter H. Bollendonk’s 1961 painting Polaris Underwater Firing depicts the submarine launch of a ballistic missile. Polaris and its successors became a Soviet nightmare—and a major driver in Soviet naval development.

Strategic Submarines and the Cold War End Game

By Norman Friedman

August 2025

A renowned authority offers an insightful look at the dueling strategies for deploying ballistic-missile submarines during the decades-long U.S.-Soviet naval standoff.

The forces of Kamehameha I (right) repel the invasion fleet of the Oahu-Kauai coalition in the 1791 “Battle of the Red-Mouthed Gun.” The king would continue to deploy his Western naval-cannon arsenal in the land campaigns by which he conquered and united the Hawaiian Islands.

The Guns of King Kamehameha

By Brigadier General Raymond E. Bell Jr., U.S. Army (Retired)

August 2025

Kamehameha I used British-manned ships’ guns to consolidate his power over the Hawaiian Islands in the 1790s.

The sailors on board PT-321 fish Japanese survivors out of the water following the Battle of the Surigao Strait. The Japanese suffered heavy losses, including ships damaged and sunk by Coward’s squadron.

A Coward at the Battle of Leyte Gulf

By Lieutenant Thomas J. Cutler, U.S. Navy (Retired)

August 2025

Jesse Coward graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in the class of 1922 and retired as a rear admiral in 1947. In between, he fought the Japanese in some of...

After the utter destruction of the Chinese fleet, the French Far East Squadron proceeds to bombard the Foochow arsenal.

The Fleet That Died at Foochow

By Eric Mills

August 2025

China’s humiliating defeat by the British in the Opium War of 1839 to 1842 had laid bare the fact that the Qing Dynasty needed to modernize its military.

Que Será Será is on display at the National Naval Aviation Museum. While the basic fuselage is original, the outer wing panels and most likely the engines, cowlings, and cowl flaps are not.

Gooney Bird South

By J. M. Caiella

August 2025

At times, the least likely of aircraft—especially one that is well past its prime—will be thrust into the spotlight and create its own bit of history.

In 1866, the SS London foundered in the Bay of Biscay. Only 19 of the ship’s 239 passengers and crew survived. Reports that the ship was overloaded with cargo helped galvanize public support for laws to protect sailors from unscrupulous owners.

Plimsoll Lines: The Measure of a Ship

August 2025

Named for Samuel Plimsoll, a tireless 19th-century campaigner for sailors’ welfare, the lines are there to prevent the ship from being overloaded with cargo.

The Surakhani Ship Museum, nestled along the Baku waterfront, is a modern maritime museum in a community with a rich nautical tradition.

A Caspian Gem: The Surakhani Ship Museum

By Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Heck, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve

August 2025

Nestled along the Baku waterfront is the Surakhani Ship Museum, a small treasure of a modern maritime museum.

Eyewitness to history: When the iconic surrender ceremony ending World War II was held on board the USS Missouri, Stuart Murray was serving as the battleship’s captain.

The Missouri Surrender Ceremony

By Admiral Stuart S. Murray, U.S. Navy (Retired)

August 2025

As a captain, Murray commanded the U.S. Navy’s newest battleship, the USS Missouri (BB-63), when Japanese representatives signed the Instrument of Surrender on 2 September 1945.

Several people on a U-boat in black and white.

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