30 DECEMBER 1944 USS PORCUPINE AND THE IX-TANKERS The Allied island-hopping drive across the Pacific in WWII created logistical problems for our Navy. Not the least was the need to fuel our massive naval and air fleets. Rather than build fixed Read More
25 DECEMBER 1863 CHRISTMAS DAY ATTACK! Our first warship named MARBLEHEAD was one of 23 Unadilla-class wooden gunboats built in the first year of the Civil War. Looking outwardly like a two-masted sailing brig, a single stack amidships revealed her steam Read More
20 DECEMBER 2012 “INSANE SENSATIONALISM” On 31 December 1999 the Navy held her breath as doomsday fatalists warned of global meltdown in “Y2K” scenarios. Many of the imbedded clocks in the electronic components of everything from fire control computers to elevators Read More
13 DECEMBER 1901 SAMPSON-SCHLEY CONTROVERSY The naval battle of Santiago on 3 July 1898 had been a pivotal victory in the Spanish-American war, despite some initial miscues. The overall commander, Acting RADM William T. Sampson, had gone ashore hours before the Read More
6 DECEMBER 1922 THE “UNITED STATES FLEET” Since the Revolution, our national security interests had concentrated on the Atlantic Ocean, and our Navy operated the majority of her warships in those waters. Only a handful of frigates or cruisers patrolled such Read More
2 DECEMBER 1943 THE LOSS OF CAPELIN LCDR Elliott E. “Steam” Marshall reported to the Portsmouth Navy Yard in the Spring 1943 as ordered. He had delivered his old command, USS CUTTLEFISH (SS-171), to New London at the end of 1942 Read More
28 NOVEMBER 1775 THE CAPTURE OF NANCY As GEN George Washington watched Boston from the Dorchester Heights during the Fall of 1775, he noted how easily the British kept their forces supplied by sea. While Washington’s army scrounged for food, uniforms, Read More
23 NOVEMBER 1846 FORT STOCKTON, SAN DIEGO On the morning of 29 July 1846, the sloop USS CYANE, 20, dropped anchor in the quiet Mexican harbor of San Diego, whose peacefulness belied the war then raging between the US and Mexico. Read More
16 NOVEMBER 1798 THE BALTIMORE INCIDENT (cont.) As CAPT Isaac Philips approached Cuban waters a squadron of warships flying Spanish colors was sighted on the horizon. They shifted to British colors and bore down on USS BALTIMORE, 20, and the nine Read More
16 NOVEMBER 1798 THE BALTIMORE INCIDENT For five months the US Navy had been patrolling, President John Adams having ordered the protection of American shipping from French privateers during a brush with that nation known today as the “Quasi-War.” October found Read More