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

USS COLE Bombing

                                               12 OCTOBER 2000                                             USS COLE BOMBING On January 3rd, 2000, the destroyer THE SULLIVANS (DDG-68) moored in the port of Aden, Yemen, for refueling.  While her crew worked, unseen Al-Queda operatives pushed a small boat loaded with explosives into the harbor. But Read More

The “Spru-Cans”

                          20 SEPTEMBER 1975 – 21 SEPTEMBER 2005                                               THE “SPRU-CANS”  By the 1960s our aging fleet of WWII Allen M. Sumner and Gearing-class destroyers was increasingly inadequate against the growing threat of Soviet submarines.  A more capable platform for convoy escort and Read More

“Nero” of Guam

                                                   16 JUNE 1944                                                “NERO” OF GUAM On 21 July 1944 the USMC landed on the Marianas island of Guam–the second island in that archipelago to be retaken from the enemy.  Guam was defended by 19,000 Japanese under LGEN Takeshi Takashima, but Read More

Persistence…

                                                 13-17 MAY 1944                                                 PERSISTENCE… At 1400 on 13 May 1944, CDR George C. Wright of DESRON 21 was ordered to take USS GLEAVES (DD-423), NIELDS (DD-616) and MACOMB (DD-458) out of Oran, Algeria, to search for a submarine that had torpedoed Read More

USS HALLIGAN

                                                 26 MARCH 1945                                                   USS HALLIGAN The bloody and bitter fight for Iwo Jima had barely begun to quiet before the next target on the relentless march toward Japan was determined–Okinawa.  Here the Marines expected yet another tenacious fight to the death Read More

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