USS SANTEE

                                             27 DECEMBER 1917                                                     USS SANTEE Even before the United States entered WWI, our Navy was assisting the British in combating Kaiser Wilhelm II’s U-boats.  This effort intensified after US entry in June 1917.  At the time, targets for the U-boats were Read More

MONAGHAN vs. the Tempest

                                           18-20 DECEMBER 1944                                     MONAGHAN vs. THE TEMPEST The Pacific war was a long one for USS MONAGHAN (DD-354).  She was the ready destroyer at Pearl Harbor on the morning of 7 December 1941 and was just getting underway to investigate a Read More

Where Were the Carriers?

                                             7-8 DECEMBER 1941                                    WHERE WERE THE CARRIERS? Most everyone will recall that one significant shortcoming of the Pearl Harbor raid from the Japanese perspective was its failure to destroy the American Navy’s aircraft carriers.  Yamamoto had targeted them in particular, appreciating Read More

Determination vs. Complacency

                                              7 DECEMBER 1941                               DETERMINATION vs. COMPLACENCY Japan emerged from the First World War as a bona fide naval power, a rival to US primacy in the Pacific.  And as early as 1918, Imperial Defense Policy identified the United States as her Read More

“Come and Take It!”

                                              1 DECEMBER 1778                                            “COME AND TAKE IT!” The colony of Georgia was a late arrival to our Revolutionary War, her citizens needing British protection from hostile Creeks and Cherokees to their west.  Nevertheless, the Continental Congress authorized the construction of forts Read More