Theodore Edson Chandler

                                                7 JANUARY 1945                                    THEODORE EDSON CHANDLER Theodore Edson Chandler was born at Annapolis on 26 December 1894 into a distinguished Navy family.  His father, the future RADM Lloyd H. Chandler, attended the Naval Academy at the time.  Young Chandler followed in Read More

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

Where Were the Carriers?

                                             7-8 DECEMBER 1941                                    WHERE WERE THE CARRIERS? Most everyone will recall that one significant shortcoming of the Pearl Harbor raid from the Japanese perspective was its failure to destroy the American Navy’s aircraft carriers.  Yamamoto had targeted them in particular, appreciating Read More

Determination vs. Complacency

                                              7 DECEMBER 1941                               DETERMINATION vs. COMPLACENCY Japan emerged from the First World War as a bona fide naval power, a rival to US primacy in the Pacific.  And as early as 1918, Imperial Defense Policy identified the United States as her Read More

Last Call from GRUNION

                                                   30 JULY 1942                                       LAST CALL FROM GRUNION On 30 June 1942, LCDR Mannert L. Abele conned the new Gato-class submarine USS GRUNION (SS-216) out of Pearl Harbor on her first war patrol.  WWII was seven months old, and the first glimmers 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

Station “Hypo”

                                                   27 MAY 1942                                                STATION “HYPO” Next week will mark the 83rd anniversary of the Battle of Midway, one of the most significant events in our Navy’s history.  Many are aware that ADM Chester W. Nimitz was aided in this victory by Read More

Adventures of a Navy Blimp

                                                   12 MAY 1944                                  ADVENTURES OF A NAVY BLIMP The years between the World Wars saw the development of lighter-than-air zeppelins and blimps, initially useful in the civilian common carrier industry by virtue of their sustained cruising capabilities.  These same cruising and 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

“Down the Throat”

                                               24 JANUARY 1943                                            “DOWN THE THROAT” USS WAHOO (SS-238) is one of best remembered submarines of WWII, and her third war patrol from 14 January to 7 February 1943, under CDR Dudley W. “Mush” Morton, is perhaps the most noteworthy of Read More