Military History

In the immediate aftermath of World War I, many Americans attributed the naval arms race between Great Britain and Germany as a factor leading to the cataclysmic conflict and had little appetite for further naval spending by the United States. Influenced by pacifist voices as well desiring to cut the budget, President Warren Harding invited hosted a naval arms confrontation in Washington between 1921-22 that resulted in an understanding between the five-post World War I naval powers of the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, France and Italy to place a moratorium on new capital ship construction and impose tonnage restrictions on the fleets of the five signatory nations…

In the immediate aftermath of World War I, many Americans attributed the naval arms race between Great Britain and Germany as a factor leading to the cataclysmic conflict and had little appetite for further naval spending by the United States. Influenced by pacifist voices as well desiring to cut the budget, President Warren Harding invited hosted a naval arms confrontation in Washington between 1921-22 that resulted in an understanding between the five-post World War I naval powers of the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, France and Italy to place a moratorium on new capital ship construction and impose tonnage restrictions on the fleets of the five signatory nations…

In the immediate aftermath of World War I, many Americans attributed the naval arms race between Great Britain and Germany as a factor leading to the cataclysmic conflict and had little appetite for further naval spending by the United States. Influenced by pacifist voices as well desiring to cut the budget, President Warren Harding invited hosted a naval arms confrontation in Washington between 1921-22 that resulted in an understanding between the five-post World War I naval powers of the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, France and Italy to place a moratorium on new capital ship construction and impose tonnage restrictions on the fleets of the five signatory nations…

Reviewed by Diana L. Ahmad In his autobiography, Charles H. Bogart has provided readers with a thoroughly enjoyable look at his experiences in the United States Navy from 1958-1961. Written with a good sense of humor, the book provides an intimate look into the day-to-day experiences of young men on board the radar picket destroyer, U.S.S. Dennis J. Buckley (DDR 808), that operated out of Long Beach, California. Bogart served as a radarman, occasionally worked at “mess cooking,” and even attended firefighting school. Bogart takes his readers through three years of enlisted service from Boot Camp to Radar School to four West-Pac journeys. “Denny J’s” travels incl…

The NHF Five Star Mess Night beyond the Fight Top in the Navy Museum With Covid restrictions finally lifted, the Naval Historical Foundation hosted its third annual Mess Night on Saturday, November 5 at the National Museum of the United States Navy. As with previous Five Star Mess Nights, the event was built around a theme and this year’s centennial of U.S. naval aircraft carriers provided the appropriate occasion for the event. Although the USS Langley (CV 1) had been placed in commission in March of 1922, it was not until the autumn of that year that the converted collier got underway to conduct the first launches and traps of “aeroplanes” from Langley’s “flying deck…

The NHF Five Star Mess Night beyond the Fight Top in the Navy Museum With Covid restrictions finally lifted, the Naval Historical Foundation hosted its third annual Mess Night on Saturday November 5 at the National Museum of the United States Navy. As with previous Five Star Mess Nights, the event was built around a theme and this year’s centennial of U.S. naval aircraft carriers provided the appropriate occasion for the event. Although the USS Langley (CV 1) had been placed in commission in March of 1922, it was not until the autumn of that year that the converted collier got underway to conduct the first launches and traps of “aeroplanes” from Langley’s “flying deck.…

http://navyhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IMG_2338-003-1-scaled-1024x328.jpgThe NHF Five Star Mess Night beyond the Fight Top in the Navy Museum With Covid restrictions finally lifted, the Naval Historical Foundation hosted its third annual Mess Night on Saturday, November 5 at the National Museum of the United States Navy. As with previous Five Star Mess Nights, the event was built around a theme and this year’s centennial of U.S. naval aircraft carriers provided the appropriate occasion for the event. Although the USS Langley (CV 1) had been placed in commission in March of 1922, it was not until the autumn of that year that the converted collier got underway…

The NHF Five Star Mess Night beyond the Fight Top in the Navy Museum With Covid restrictions finally lifted, the Naval Historical Foundation hosted its third annual Mess Night on Saturday, November 5 at the National Museum of the United States Navy. As with previous Five Star Mess Nights, the event was built around a theme and this year’s centennial of U.S. naval aircraft carriers provided the appropriate occasion for the event. Although the USS Langley (CV 1) had been placed in commission in March of 1922, it was not until the autumn of that year that the converted collier got underway to conduct the first launches and traps of “aeroplanes” from Langley’s “flying deck…

Reviewed by Dr. Ernie Marshall The author is an award-winning freelance journalist and independent author/historian whose previous books include: The Millionaire’s Unit: The Aristocrat Flyboys Who Fought the Great War and Invented American Air Power; 1941: Fighting the Shadow War; and The Bonfire: The Siege and Burning of Atlanta. With half a score of books written about Admiral Rickover, Wortman’s book is largely a retelling of the story but with his interpretive view of the man. Rickover is one of the most interesting figures in U.S. Naval history. He was born Chaim Godalia Rykower in the small Polish town of Mako’w-Mazowiecki to devoutly orthodox Jewish parents…

http://www.navyhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/DSC_5315-300x200.jpgNHF Executive Director Captain Charles T. Creekman, USN (Ret), and Tonya Simpson from the Navy Department Library pose with one of the recently acquired Afghan war books The Naval Historical Foundation is pleased to announce the successful acquisition of three vintage 19th century books for the Navy Department Library. If you recall in November, NHF made an appeal, called “Bucks for Books,” to raise funds for the acquisition of these books for the Library. A number of generous donors stepped forward, and over $2200 was raised. Three books (one of which is a two-volume set) were acquired by NHF, and…

Reviewed by Ellen A. Ahlness, PhD All Present and Accounted For is a comprehensive, well-researched, and well-narrated case study in U.S. Coast Guard History. Throughout his narration of this disastrous grounding, Craig ensures the historical rendering is never sterile; instead, it maintains an eye to the human experience of a complicated event in U.S. Military history. The book is divided into two parts, together comprising a total of twelve chapters. It also features an introduction, epilogue, final comments, and appendices. The inclusion of extensive supplemental information—including poetry, first-person accounts, images, informational visuals, and ship specif…

ADM Robert J. Natter describes sending the USS George Washington (CVN-73) to New York in the aftermath of 9/11 and the confidence and comfort it provided New York city’s citizens in a great time of trial and sadness. View our full Second Saturday Webinar HERE. The post Blog first appeared on Naval Historical Foundation. View the full article

Reviewed by Jeff Schultz Dr. Wigand Wüster’s An Artilleryman in Stalingrad: A Soldier’s Story at the Turning Point of World War offers insight into a pivotal World War II campaign through the rarely told artilleryman’s perspective. His frank memoir lacks the self-serving elements common to historical retellings where pride takes precedence and real experiences require at least some embellishment to fit ego-driven narratives. Wüster served prewar and fought from 1939 Poland up to his capture in early 1943, rising to the rank of Oberleutnant (first lieutenant). He spent years in Soviet captivity before his release in late 1949. Postwar, he earned a law degree and wo…

We are joined this month by The Honorable Steven Honigman, Geoffrey Beaumont, the son of artist Arthur Beaumont, and Navy Art curator, Gale Munro. Join us as we discuss the important work of Navy painter Arthur Beaumont. The post Blog first appeared on Naval Historical Foundation. View the full article

Reviewed by Charles C. Kolb, Ph.D. 80 years after the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor, new books are being published on topics leading up to that event, the attack itself, and its aftermath. A volume titled Avenging Pearl Harbor: The Saga of America’s Battleships in the Pacific War has been written by U.S. Navy veteran and professional firefighter Keith Warren Lloyd. Lloyd studied history and political science at Arizona State University and has previously authored several other books centered on World War II, among them Great Desert Escape: How the Flight of 25 German Prisoners of War Sparked One of the Largest Manhunts in American History (Lyons Press, 2019) documen…

This month, we delve into Major League Baseball in the 1940’s, and how wartime affected America’s favorite pastime. We are joined by former Houston Astros TV Announcer, Bill Brown, and naval historian and baseball fan, Paul Stillwell for a densely informative discussion. The post Blog first appeared on Naval Historical Foundation. View the full article

Reviewed by David F. Winkler, Ph.D. Paul Stillwell has filled one of the remaining voids in the bibliographic study of America’s World War II naval leadership with his well-written narrative of Vice Adm. Willis A. “Ching” Lee who was entrusted with command of the American battleline during the Pacific war against Japan. Such a position, merely a decade earlier, would have placed him at the pantheon of American naval leadership during the war. Yet with aircraft carriers supplanting battleships as the primary capital ship in the wake of Pearl Harbor, the big-gun combatants would be relegated to shore bombardment and fleet air defense duties. There were some not…

Reviewed by Anton K. Smith Too little is written about the roles and sacrifices of professional women contributing to the war effort in World War II. An established author, renowned historian, and former British sailor, Peter Hore works to correct the deficit in this new book about Britain’s Women’s Royal Navy Service, whose members quickly became known as “Wrens.” Gathering a wealth of information directly from the aging heroes who long kept their secrets, Hore focuses on those Wrens that contributed signals intelligence from an array of coastal listening posts around England’s southern approaches to “Station X,” the code name for Britain’s now famous, war-time cente…

By Matthew J Garretson, Friends of Naval Aviation, Pensacola, FL (2021). Reviewed by Ens. Sydney M. Willis, USN Blue Angels Decades Vol: 1 is a comprehensive history of the Blue Angels, the Navy’s Flight Demonstration Squadron, through the view of primary documents in their archives. The book transforms a collection of documents into a coherent timeline of the Blue Angels’ history. Mathew Garretson, the author, lets the documents speak for themselves and only adds captions to each providing more context or stories that connect them to make a cohesive timeline. Garretson is a naval historian who focuses primarily on aviation and is the print historian for the Bl…

http://www.navyhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/potomacfever-205x300.jpgBy J. William Middendorf II, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2011), 213 pages. Reviewed by Captain Roger F. Jones, USN (Ret) J. William Middendorf II was an undergraduate at Harvard when World War II began; he soon signed up for the Navy V-12 program and then shifted to NROTC (which took him to Holy Cross). He received his degree – and commission – and was called to active duty in mid-l945, as the war was winding down. A year later, after a scary voyage on an LCS from Shanghai to San Francisco, Middendorf was mustered out, completed his Harvard education, and then embarked on a long and …