2 APRIL 1944 FATAL ACCIDENT The Caroline Island lagoon of Chuuk (formerly Truk), ringed by a 40-mile-wide coral reef, was a key forward naval base for the Japanese in WWII. With the Allied advance across the Pacific, Truk became the target Read More
26 MARCH 1943 RETIRING VICTORY VADM Boshiro Hosogaya’s heavier force pursued the American cruiser/destroyer squadron of RADM Charles H. McMorris, gaining steadily. CAPT Bertram J. Rodgers in SALT LAKE CITY, with the longest-range US guns, kept up impressive fire from the Read More
26 MARCH 1943 BATTLE OF THE KOMANDORSKIS One Japanese success at the battle of Midway was an effort intended only to be a diversion. As Yamamoto’s Combined Fleet closed on Midway Island, a smaller force of two carriers and supporting ships Read More
22 MARCH 1820 ARTICLE 114. DUELING. James Barron and Stephen Decatur enjoyed distinguished careers during the wars with the Barbary pirates. They became not just colleagues, but good friends. Thus, Decatur was disheartened in 1807 when Barron, then in command of Read More
13 MARCH 1865 SKIRMISH AT FORT LOWRY We are familiar with inspiring stories of epic battles and heroic sailors, but the day-to-day operations of Civil War gunboats were often less dramatic. The Potomac Flotilla, tasked with protecting Washington, DC, and the Read More
7 MARCH 1960 NAVY ICEBREAKERS The 1950s was a decade of scientific endeavor in such far reaching environments as outer space, the deep ocean, and Antarctica. With respect to the latter, the US Navy cooperated with the International Geophysical Year 1955 Read More
29 FEBRUARY 1844 “PEACEMAKER” DISASTER A series of advancements were made in naval gunnery in the decades before the Civil War. The commonly used material for gun construction at the time was wrought iron, being cheaper and more readily available than Read More
LATE WINTER, 938 AD BATTLE OF THE BACH DANG RIVER In 111 BC the powerful Han dynasty of southern China invaded and conquered the region to their south then called Nam Viet (now northern Vietnam). Hungry for the fertile farmland of Read More
15 FEBRUARY 1918 ENS ALBERT STURTEVANT In the early months of 1917 the United States was still officially neutral in the three-year-old World War that gripped most of Europe. But attacks by German U-boats on American merchant ships were continuing. All Read More