Military History

From Defense Aerospace Harriers - 40 Years Old and Still Jumping (Source: UK Ministry of Defence; issued March 17, 2009) Few aircraft can be described as truly iconic, fewer still remain in service over long periods, but this year the British-designed Harrier celebrates its 40th birthday, having spent the past five years as a mainstay on operations in Afghanistan. And the Harrier really is unique - no other jet in service has its Vertical/Short Take-Off and Landing (V/STOL) capability where pilots can land on shortened runways, carrier decks or on landing pads in the middle of a forest. Developed during the Cold War, the Harrier has continually been devel…

From Navy Times [excerpt]

First CO of the USS Nautilus: http://nation.time.com/2013/07/18/riding-atomic-fire-beneath-the-waves/ (Time, Battleland blog)

Unveiling the Stealth Fighter (pdf, Aviation Week)

What Is A Periscope And Why Do They Matter To The Military? (British Forces News)

Reviewed by LCDR Donald A. Baker, USN An ancient Jewish teacher once said, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for their friends.” If risk to life and limb is any indication of an individual’s commitment to this ideal, then Coastguardsman Chris D’Amelio’s very personal and intimate account of rescuing fellow citizens in his memoir Life and Death at Cape Disappointment is a consummate example of what the principle looks like in practice. As a qualified surfman, the Coast Guard’s highest small boat qualification, D’Amelio had first-hand experience performing search and rescue (SAR) missions from his post at Coast Guard Station Cape Disapp…

By Richard L. Wright, Xlibris (2022) Reviewed By: Michael Romero, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Following the end of the American Revolution, the fledgling United States immediately found itself in dire financial straits. With no funds available to maintain them, the handful of surviving Continental Navy vessels were sold, and the service disbanded. The ratification of the U.S. Constitution in 1788 empowered Congress “To provide and maintain a Navy,” but what exactly does that process entail? Captain Richard Wright’s To Provide and Maintain a Navy: 1775-1945 shows how that question has been answered from the time of the U.S. Navy’s founding through the end o…

By Dwight S. Hughes, Savas Beattie, Barnsley, El Dorado Hills, CA, (2021.) Reviewed by Capt. Richard Dick, USN (RET). Dwight Hughes’ Unlike Anything That Ever Floated is an excellent overview of the conception, hurried development, and brief (but spectacular) service of the ironclads Monitor and Virginia and the men who built, directed, commanded, and sailed in them. While not the definitive history of either ship, the book covers the human, technical, strategic, and tactical aspects of their careers well and incorporates recent discoveries from ongoing work on the recovered portions of Monitor being preserved and studied at the USS Monitor Center at the Marin…

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…

Design Evolution Of The F-22 Raptor, Part 1 (Code One) F-22 Raptor Design Evolution, Part 2 (Code One) Lots of interesting little tidbits in there.

Reviewed by Diana L. Ahmad, Ph.D. Published twenty years after the death of the author, Franz Kurowski, the book focuses on U-48, the most successful U-Boat in World War 2. During the war, the author served as a Luftwaffe paratrooper with the Afrika Korps. After the war, he worked as a freelance journalist and wrote over one hundred books, including Panzer Aces: German Tank Commanders in World War II. U-48 provides a look into naval operations in World War 2 from the perspective of the Germans prior to the entry of the United States into the conflict. The book gives readers a detailed description of how the commanders of U-48 proved incredibly successful by si…

The Skies Of Korea: The Air War for a New Era (Defense Media Network)

A very detailed site about past and present Dutch Submarines, I don't remember if previously referenced, but it worth a look: http://www.dutchsubmarines.com/

The Leander Project is a very, very interesting site full of original text about British escorts and their development, regretably with many missing links as weapons, radars and sonars: http://www.leander-project.homecall.co.uk/index.html

Reviewed by Jeff Schultz Charles Melson’s Vietnam 1972: Quang Tri – The Easter Offensive Strikes the South provides a concise look at the role played by the South Vietnamese Marine Corps (VNMC) and their US Marine Corps (USMC) advisors during Hanoi’s 1972 Easter Offensive. The South Vietnamese defenders, in particular the VNMC, alongside American air and naval support acted as a temporary validation of President Nixon’s Vietnamization policy and forestalled the catastrophic fall of Saigon for several years. Melson is a prolific author and the former Chief Historian for the U.S. Marine Corps, with many titles to his credit chronicling the U.S. Marine experience an…

Vice Admiral William H. Rowden, USN (covered). By Rear Adm. Sam Cox USN (Ret.) With deep sadness the NHF reports the loss of another strong champion of naval history – Vice Adm. William H. Rowden, USN (Ret.) who passed on 15 October 2022 at age 92. Vice Adm. Rowden served as a Director on our Board of Directors for two decades from 1995 until 2015 when he achieved director emeritus status. During his tenure he led the audit committee, assuring the organization remained on solid financial footing. Before his two decades of service to our foundation, he served the nation for four decades as a Surface Warfare Officer. A young William H. Rowden took the oath of offi…

BBC News story

Hear how, in only 60 days, founder of the Top Gun program Dan Pedersen assembled his team and created a legacy which lasts to this day. View the full webinar HERE. The post Blog first appeared on Naval Historical Foundation. View the full article

Very interesting and scenario fodder: https://m.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/missions-secret-australian-submarines-cold-war-revealed.html

https://chuckhillscgblog.net/2017/09/05/battle-of-the-paracel-islands-16-january-1974/