25 APRIL 1914 1ST OPERATIONAL SORTIE Though the Navy and Marine Corps had been experimenting with the new-fangled flying machines of the early 20th century, their operational role was still being defined. Aerial reconnaissance seemed a logical task, as such technology Read More
19 APRIL 1861 THE “ANACONDA” PLAN At the outbreak of the Civil War the senior-most officer in our federal Army was GEN Winfield Scott, the victor of the Mexican War of the 1840s. As an overall strategy to deal with the Read More
12 APRIL 1945 USS MANNERT L. ABELE (DD-733) WWII generated a boom in warship construction such that the 23 April 1944 launch of the 42nd Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer from the Bath Iron Works in Maine hardly attracted unusual attention. She Read More
7 APRIL 1966 LOST H-BOMB Considering the pace of Cold War activities in the 1960s, accidents were bound to happen. Such was the case on 17 January 1966 when an Air Force B-52 collided with a KC-135 tanker during an aerial Read More
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