24 JANUARY 1942 MAKASSAR STRAIT ACTION With the wreckage of the American fleet awash in Pearl Harbor, the Navy’s western Pacific squadron, known then as the Asiatic Fleet, found itself isolated. For the first four months of the war this fleet Read More
30 DECEMBER 1944 USS PORCUPINE AND THE IX-TANKERS The Allied island-hopping drive across the Pacific in WWII created logistical problems for our Navy. Not the least was the need to fuel our massive naval and air fleets. Rather than build fixed Read More
2 DECEMBER 1943 THE LOSS OF CAPELIN LCDR Elliott E. “Steam” Marshall reported to the Portsmouth Navy Yard in the Spring 1943 as ordered. He had delivered his old command, USS CUTTLEFISH (SS-171), to New London at the end of 1942 Read More
15-18 OCTOBER 1942 USS MEREDITH, DD-434 (cont.) In ten minutes, all to be seen of MEREDITH was floating debris, life rafts, and the black heads of sailors bobbing in a thick mat of oil. VIREO (AT-144) escaped the attack almost unscathed, Read More
15-18 OCTOBER 1942 USS MEREDITH, DD-434 The Gleaves-class destroyer USS MEREDITH (DD-434) was no stranger to the young War. After a brief stint in the Atlantic, MEREDITH transferred to the Pacific, where in April 1942 she screened HORNET (CV-8) on the Read More
17-18 AUGUST 1942 MAKIN RAID As a diversion to the 10-day-old invasion of Guadalcanal, 222 men of the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion embarked on two submarines, USS NAUTILUS (SS-168) and USS ARGONAUT (SM-1), for a raid behind enemy lines. Commanding the Read More
5 JUNE 1942 CAPT FLEMING vs. MIKUMA Under ADM Isoroku Yamamoto’s complex plan to capture Midway the four cruisers of RADM Takeo Kurita’s Cruiser Division 7 were tasked with a pre-invasion bombardment of the island. On June 4th these warships closed Read More
9 MARCH 1974 LT ONODA’S THIRTY-YEAR WAR In August 1944, a young Japanese 2nd LT in training, Hiroo Onoda, reported to the Futamata Army Training Squadron at the Nakano Military School. Over the next five months, he learned the guerrilla warfare Read More
21 FEBRUARY 1945 TWO CARRIERS IN HARM’S WAY As the third day of the battle for Iwo Jima began, the ships of Task Force 58 kept up their shore bombardment and their efforts against Japanese sea and air defenses. Indeed, on Read More