TODAY IN NAVAL HISTORY 25 SEPTEMBER 1899 THE CAPTURE OF URDANETA The autumn of 1898 saw the end of the Spanish-American war and the ceding of the Philippine Islands from Spain to the United States. Militant Filipinos who had been Read More
22 AUGUST 1863 NOT ABOVE MAKING A BUCK! Blockade running during our Civil War was a profitable enterprise for those who were successful. The running of war materials brought a handsome price, but even higher profit margins accompanied “luxury” items, such Read More
22 MAY 1966 “CHARLIE’s AROUND HERE SOMEWHERE” The Rung Sat is a 400-square mile mangrove swamp between Saigon and the Vietnamese coastline. Four major rivers course through the otherwise impassable area, including the Long Tau shipping channel leading to Saigon. The Read More
22 APRIL 1864 THE LOSS OF PETREL To bolster Union naval forces patrolling the Mississippi in the Civil War, our Navy purchased a total of 63 existing sternwheel and sidewheel riverboats. Protection was added to their upper works in the form Read More
12-14 MARCH 1864 EASTPORT BEFORE FORT DE RUSSY The year 1863 had seen a turn in the Civil War in favor of the Union. A Confederate foray into the north had been reversed at Gettysburg and the last Rebel stronghold on Read More
21 FEBRUARY 1900 “THE SAND PEBBLES” Factional turmoil in 1920s China surrounding the emergence of the Nationalist Chinese movement led multiple western nations to protect their citizens and commercial shipping on China’s rivers with naval forces. Richard McKenna’s novel The Sand Read More
31 DECEMBER 1862 THE LOSS OF MONITOR Our Navy first entertained the new technology of armor plating in 1842 when Congress authorized inventor Robert L. Stevens to construct an ironclad steamship for coastal defense. However, delays in construction, funding, and the Read More
5-9 OCTOBER 1846 CYANE AT GUYAMAS On this afternoon of the Mexican War, CDR Samuel F. Du Pont brought the 20-gun sloop USS Cyane into the seaside harbor of Guyamas on the Sonoran mainland of western Mexico. His and other US Read More
18-23 SEPTEMBER 1863 “TERROR OF THE CHESAPEAKE” John Yates Beall was born New Year’s Day, 1839, on a farm in Walnut Grove, Virginia (now West Virginia). His dreams of studying law seemed to come true when he was admitted to the University of Read More
18-20 MAY 1863 THE YAZOO CITY SHIPYARD After the failure of the Yazoo Pass expedition before Confederate Fort Pemberton in March 1863, MGEN Ulysses Grant adopted a new strategy against Vicksburg, the last and most menacing Rebel city preventing Union control Read More