Operation “Infinite Reach”

                                                20 AUGUST 1998                                    OPERATION “INFINITE REACH” Osama bin Laden had already earned the respect of senior Islamic extremists for his efforts, both financial and personal, supporting the mujakideem against the Russian invasion of Afghanistan.  Bin Laden became further incensed during Operations Read More

Baghdad Missile Attack

                                                   26 JUNE 1993                                      BAGHDAD MISSILE ATTACK The decade following Operation “Desert Storm” was marked by Iraqi frustration over continuing United Nations sanctions and Coalition policing.  Then seemingly to rub salt in Iraq’s wounds, on 14 April 1993 a specially chartered Kuwait Read More

BUCKLEY vs. U-66 (cont.)

                                                    6 MAY 1944                                           BUCKLEY vs. U-66 (cont.) Every available sailor manned BUCKLEY’s (DE-51) rail with a tommy gun, rifle, or any manner of weapon the arms lockers could yield.  Depth charges, set to explode at the surface, arched from the destroyer Read More

BUCKLEY vs. U-66

                                                    6 MAY 1944                                                BUCKLEY vs. U-66 Oberleütnant zur See Gerhard Seehausen was in desperate need of re-supply.  Operating in the mid-Atlantic west of the Cape Verde Islands, his cruise so far had been constantly dogged by US aircraft from a nearby Read More

USS MANNERT L. ABELE (DD-733)

                                                  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

Retiring Victory

                                                 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

Battle of the Komandorskis

                                                 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

The French Problem and Operation “Torch” (cont.)

                                            8-16 NOVEMBER 1942             THE FRENCH PROBLEM AND OPERATION “TORCH” (cont.) The landing of 84,000 American troops in French North Africa brought the full rage of Vichy President Marshal Philippe Pétain against President Franklin Roosevelt.  “It is with stupor and sadness that Read More

The French Problem and Operation “Torch”

                                              8 NOVEMBER 1942                   THE FRENCH PROBLEM AND OPERATION “TORCH” After the fall of France to the wehrmacht in June of 1940, der Fuhrer was content to allow France to be divided.  A German puppet government centered in the city of Vichy Read More

The Tragedy of SEAWOLF

                                                3 OCTOBER 1944                                       THE TRAGEDY OF SEAWOLF The Sargo-class fleet submarine SEAWOLF (SS-197) was a veteran of the Pacific war by this date, having served nearly continuously since the Pearl Harbor raid.  The 71,608 tons of enemy shipping she had sent Read More