12 FEBRUARY 1947 THE KGW-1 “LOON” German technology of WWII was envied by the Allies. In the final months of the war, captured German systems began making their way to the US. One such innovation was the V-1 “buzz bomb,” a Read More
4 JANUARY 1989 NAVY 4, LIBYA 0 Since 1973 Libyan strongman COL Muammar Kaddafi had claimed territorial sovereignty over the international waters of the Gulf of Sidra–a claim the United States never recognized. In obvious rejection of Kaddafi’s claim, our warships Read More
20 DECEMBER 2012 “INSANE SENSATIONALISM” On 31 December 1999 the Navy held her breath as doomsday fatalists warned of global meltdown in “Y2K” scenarios. Many of the imbedded clocks in the electronic components of everything from fire control computers to elevators Read More
3 NOVEMBER 1962 FIRST ALL-MISSILE CRUISER With the WWII Pacific battle for the Marshalls winding down and the fight to retake the Marianas just beginning, our Navy laid the keel for the second Oregon City-class heavy cruiser, CA-123, at Bethlehem Read More
30 AUGUST-20 SEPTEMBER 1995 OPERATION “DELIBERATE FORCE” The Balkan cease fire brokered by former President Jimmy Carter in 1994 had failed. United Nations’ efforts at peacekeeping in the war-torn former Yugoslavian republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina had given way to NATO and its Read More
1992-PRESENT THE TROUBLE IN BOSNIA Bosnia-Herzegovina, the central-most state in the former Yugoslav nation, is a melting pot of all the diverse Yugoslavian cultures. Serbians, Croatians and Balkan Muslims each control their respective regions of Bosnia–a close association that has bred Read More
25 JUNE-5 JULY 1991 THE 10-DAY WAR The culturally diverse and ethnically proud peoples of eastern Europe’s Balkan region have been subjected to domination for centuries. Between 600-650 AD, Slavics from further east gained control, in particular, Yugoslavs moved into Serbia, Read More
31 MAY 2002 FIRST NAVY JACK In the days of sail, ships at sea identified themselves by flying their national flag, called an “ensign,” a term carried over from European heraldry. To be most visible, it was flown from the tallest Read More
27 MAY 2015 LAST NAVY EA-6B “PROWLER” On this day the last of the Navy’s premier electronics countermeasures (ECM) aircraft, the Northrop-Grumman EA-6B “Prowler,” was retired after a short flight from Squadron VAQ-134 at Whidbey Island to the Seattle Museum of Read More
31 MARCH 2004 GOODBYE TO ROOSEY While serving as Assistant Secretary of the Navy in the 1920s, Franklin Roosevelt asked for the establishment of a naval base on eastern Puerto Rico. He even suggested it be named after his cousin, former Read More