24 NOVEMBER 1992 US DEPARTS THE PHILIPPINES The presence of American military bases in the Philippines was a consequence of our acquisition of that archipelago in 1898 after the Spanish-American war. When independence was granted to the Republic of the Philippines Read More
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
19-20 JANUARY 1942 PT-31 Matters had run afoul for LT Edward G. DeLong and the 12-man crew of PT-31 soon after splitting company with PT-34. The fuel strainers of his wing engines clogged, and the center engine failed shortly with an Read More
18–19 JANUARY 1942 ACTION IN SUBIC BAY The first five weeks of our involvement in World War II found US forces battling a Japanese onslaught in the Philippines. On Luzon we were pushed farther and farther down the Bataan Peninsula, cut Read More
4 JANUARY 1945 USS OMMANEY BAY The twin-engine Japanese medium bomber, converted into a flying bomb herself, dove toward USS OMMANEY BAY (CVE-79). To the American crew it was a complete surprise! Screened by the numerous small Philippine islands nearby, Ommaney’s 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