Dec. 23, 2021

H-001-3/2021: Navy Valor at Pearl Harbor

This revision to my original H-Gram 001 corrects errors in the rank of several awardees, provides some additional context, and adds a brief synopsis of ships named in honor of the awardees. Fifteen Medals of Honor were awarded to U.S. Navy personnel for valorous action during the 7 December 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor; 10 of the awards

Dec. 23, 2021

H-001-2/2021: USS Ward, Warning and Operation “Divine Turtle” No. 1

Operation Shinki No. 1 Operation Shinki (Divine Turtle Operation No. 1) was the Japanese midget submarine component of the larger “Plan Z” surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. The midget submarine operation was a relatively late add-on to the plan, approved by the commander in chief of the Combined Fleet, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, during a planning

Dec. 23, 2021

H-001-1/2021: Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941

(This is a revised and updated version of H-Gram 001/H-001-1 from 2016) The following is not intended to be a comprehensive account of the Pearl Harbor attack, nor to whitewash the numerous errors of judgment and failures of process that occurred on all levels of the U.S. chain of command from the President to the tactical level. Over time, the

Nov. 16, 2021

A Unique Artifact Goes Virtual: Digitizing NR-1’s Control Room

It’s a challenge museums will always face: fulfilling our missions means collecting more artifacts than we have room to display. The advent of online platforms like social media, websites, and photo-sharing sites has substantially increased virtual access to artifact collections, to the delight of curators and educators. But there’s a catch —

Nov. 2, 2021

Bearcat in the Chesapeake: Navy’s underwater investigation of a prototype fighter aircraft

Grumman’s F8F Bearcat was lightweight fighter designed to operate from smaller naval aircraft carriers and had a higher rate of climb than its predecessor, the F6F Hellcat. Prototypes were tested starting in 1944, but they were not ready in time to see action in World War II. Noted for their speed and agility, postwar Bearcats became a significant

Sept. 3, 2021

Seaman First Class Freddie Falgout: First Military Casualty of World War II

On the evening of August 20, 1937, on the eve of his 21st birthday, Seaman First Class Freddie Falgout was searching for a seat for movie night on the well deck of USS Augusta (CL-31). Augusta had arrived off Shanghai a week earlier, on August 14, 1937, and was moored on the Huangpu River. A humanitarian crisis was underway as hostilities between Chinese and Japanese military forces had resulted in the death of hundreds of civilians, including four Americans, and the ship and her crew were evacuating American citizens and refugees from Shanghai. 

Aug. 30, 2021

A Sept. 11 Pentagon survivor 20 years later

Sept. 11, 2001, is one of those specific moments in time when everyone in the entire generation recalls exactly where they were, much like previous generations knowing where they were for the first reports of the attack on Pearl Harbor or when President John Kennedy was shot.

Aug. 26, 2021

Unique bedsheet in Navy’s collection tells a story of hope

In August of 2020, Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) was offered a rather unique and spectacular artifact -- a bedsheet. A common sheet is not very astounding, but the story behind this one explains why this bedsheet is different.

Aug. 20, 2021

Heroism at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001

Twenty years ago, on Sept. 11, 2001, news networks shared live reporting as terrorists launched a series of deadly attacks against targets in America. While the world struggled to come to terms and understand what was happening, there were men and women on the ground struggling to save lives. Among the many stories of heroism from that day is Lt. Cmdr. David Tarantino and Navy Capt. David Thomas who worked together to help multiple people escape the wreckage of the Pentagon.

June 11, 2021

Perry's Revenge — A Continued Look at the Wreck of an Early 19th-Century Naval Schooner off the Coast of Rhode Island

Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) archaeologists collaborated with Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) engineers during the second half of May 2021 to continue documenting the remains of Oliver Hazard Perry's schooner Revenge, which wrecked off of Watch Hill, Rhode Island in 1811. The team, along with local site discoverers, Charles Buffum