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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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