26 January 2019 Zumwalt-Class Destroyers The Gulf War of 1990-91 saw the last deployment of our vaunted WWII-era battleships—in naval gunfire support for ground operations ashore. By then, the cost of maintaining our battleship fleet had become prohibitive. Yet Congress was keen Read More
13 DECEMBER 1975 USS ALBANY COLLISION The catastrophic collision of the container ship Dali with Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge on 26 March 2024 is by no means the only time such an event has occurred. Indeed, on this date 50 years Read More
10-11 NOVEMBER 1975 50th ANNIVERSARY THE WRECK OF THE EDMUND FITZGERALD (cont.) No Coast Guard vessel in the area was capable of braving such heavy seas this night, but an HU-16 “Albatross” and an HH-52 “Sea Guard” helicopter were launched. In addition, Anderson Read More
10 NOVEMBER 1975 50th ANNIVERSARY THE WRECK OF THE EDMUND FITZGERALD When she slid off the ways in 1958, the 729-foot SS Edmund Fitzgerald was the largest man-made object ever to hit freshwater, indeed her size took Great Lakes freighting Read More
TODAY IN NAVAL HISTORY 24 OCTOBER-14 NOVEMBER 1995 THE LAST CRUISE OF DIXON At 1600 on the sunny Tuesday afternoon of 24 October 1995 the L.Y. Spear-class submarine tender USS DIXON (AS-37) cast off from middle pier at SubBase Point Read More
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
15 APRIL-31 OCTOBER 1980 MARIEL BOATLIFT The Cuban economy took a nosedive in the 1970s. Housing shortages and joblessness fueled popular dissent, yet Fidel Castro’s harsh restrictions on emigration appeared to condemn Cubans to a life of struggle. Faced with possible Read More
29 OCTOBER-9 NOVEMBER 1998 GLENN’S SHUTTLE MISSION At 19 minutes after 1400 this afternoon, Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center roared to life with the lift-off of the space shuttle Discovery (OV-103). COL Curtis L. Brown, Jr., commanded Mission Read More
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