Aug. 29, 2016

The Loss of USS Memphis (ACR 10)

From the moment a ship is launched, the ocean is trying to sink it. Only the skill of the ships' crew and the reliability of her machinery can prevent it. One hundred years ago, on Aug. 29, 1916, the ocean suddenly overwhelmed the crew and the technology of the U.S. Navy armored cruiser, USS Memphis (ACR 10) anchored off Santo Domingo, Dominican

Aug. 24, 2016

Exploring Our Past and Forging Our Future: Diving on USS Independence

As I watched the video screen from the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) a half a mile below the ocean, the stern of the World War II light aircraft carrier USS Independence (CVL 22) came sharply into view. It triggered a memory of the opening scene of the film Titanic, where another vehicle comes upon the bow of that tragic vessel, evoking powerful

Aug. 22, 2016

Underwater Archaeologist Joins Salvage on Dive Training Operations

From the Field: NHHC underwater archaeologist Dr. Alexis Catsambis recently joined Mobile Diving Salvage Unit (MDSU) 2 on a dive training operations conducted on multiple U.S. Navy sunken military craft."This is an excellent opportunity for two commands with a shared interest in underwater operations to work collaboratively. MDSU-2 divers are

Aug. 8, 2016

#MuseumMonday: National Museum of the United States Navy

The National Museum of the United States Navy was established in 1961 and opened to the public in 1963. As an official Department of the Navy museum under the Naval History and Heritage Command, the National Museum of the United States Navy is the only Navy museum to present an overview of U.S. naval history 1775 to the present. Permanent and

Aug. 4, 2016

Savage Coating: NHHC Conservators Team With USNA to Solve a History Mystery

The remains of Royal Savage, approximately 50 timbers and 1300 artifacts, were excavated in the 1930s and brought to the Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) Underwater Archaeology (UA) Branch in July 2015. Most of the Royal Savage artifacts were removed from Lake Champlain more than 80 years ago and received only minimal treatment which

Aug. 4, 2016

NHHC Surveys for Lost Naval Aircraft

From July 25 to Aug. 3, 2016, Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) underwater archaeologists conducted side-scan sonar operations in the Chesapeake Bay and Patuxent River to locate U.S. Navy aircraft lost near Naval Air Station Patuxent River (NAS Pax River) as a continuation of research started in 2015.The focus of the survey is to locate

Aug. 3, 2016

Nautical Terms and Naval Expressions - Uniform Edition

Sailors have terms and expressions for just about anything, so it comes as no surprise that there's a whole set of nautical terms and naval expressions that are related to parts of their uniforms. Here are a few you may or may not have heard of before: Bluejacket The term bluejacket is widely used today to refer to an enlisted Sailor below the rank

Aug. 1, 2016

Preserving Peace with Strategic Deterrence

Imagine working for years to design and build something you hope fervently never to use. The U.S. Navy does just that with the nuclear submarine-launched ballistic missiles that form the foundation of the Navy's strategic deterrence program. Deterrence strategy aims to prevent a possible nuclear attack by demonstrating the ability to retaliate. To

Aug. 1, 2016

Gaining New Appreciation for the Crew of USS Indianapolis

A torpedo ripping into the guts of a ship. Sailors scrambling, boilers exploding. The once-proud cruiser slipping beneath an uncaring ocean. And then an agonizing four day drift across the Pacific, with only a merciless sun, dehydration and sharks for company . . . These were the horrors that the surviving Sailors and Marines of USS Indianapolis

Aug. 1, 2016

Navy Lessons Learned from Sinking of Indianapolis

The sinking of USS Indianapolis (CA-35) provides many lessons to the contemporary United States Navy, officers and enlisted alike. It shows, perhaps above all else, that the worst can happen at any moment, even under sound and responsible leadership. The bravery showed by the Sailors and Marines through their ordeal stands as an example to their

July 29, 2016

Looking Beyond the Sharks: The Legacy of USS Indianapolis

With President Franklin D. Roosevelt on board, USS Indianapolis acts as the reviewing platform as a formation of eighteen TG-1/2 (or T4M-1) torpedo planes pass overhead, during the fleet review off New York City, 31 May 1934. The President is standing immediately in front of Indianapolis' second eight-inch gun turret. The ship at right, in the

July 29, 2016

Where was the USS Indianapolis When Sunk? Deck Logs of Tank Landing Ship Provide Key Details

Thomas Helm, a scholar and onetime crewman of USS Indianapolis (CA-35), described the loss of the ship in his 1963 Ordeal by Sea as follows: "Midnight [on 30 July 1945] a moderately heaving sea and clouds covering a half moon now nearly three hours old. The Indianapolis, with her 9,950 ton displacement spread over 610 feet, sliced her way westward

July 25, 2016

National Museum of the American Sailor

On July 3, 1911, the very first recruit arrived at Naval Training Station Great Lakes to report to the newly opened boot camp in Great Lakes, Illinois. Joseph Wallace Gregg was a slender seventeen-year old from Terre Haute, Indiana. He later recalled, "I was a little shy, homesick and didn't cut too much of a figure in my new Navy uniform,"

July 18, 2016

The Naval War College Museum

Tradition has it that on a late October's day in 1884, U.S. Navy Commodore Stephen B. Luce came ashore at Coasters Harbor Island - a site designated earlier that month by the Secretary of the Navy to be a place for a new kind of college in Newport, Rhode Island. Once ashore, Luce proceeded to a large stone building, the former Newport Asylum for

July 15, 2016

Sailor Reflects on Houston and Perth

Editor's note: EMN1 Shaun Milender, a crewmember on the USS Houston (SSN 713), recently represented the U.S. Navy on board the HMAS Perth III, during at-sea ceremonies honoring the WWII crews of the USS Houston (CA 30) and HMAS Perth (D 29). The ships were lost in action during the Battle of Sunda Strait in Feb 28-March 1, 1942.I recently got

July 11, 2016

The Puget Sound Navy Museum

The Puget Sound Navy Museum in Bremerton, Wash. collects, preserves, and interprets the naval heritage of the Pacific Northwest from 1840 to the present. The museum was founded in 1954 as the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Museum, showcasing the history of the Shipyard. Over six decades, the artifact collection has been moved four times. The Puget

July 5, 2016

Our People, Our History - Introducing the National Museum of the American Sailor

At the Great Lakes Naval Station Fourth of July Fireworks show this year, I was able to make a very exciting announcement. On a day celebrating over 240 years of American independence, I, along with Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Mike Stevens, announced the renaming of Navy's Great Lakes Naval Museum to the National Museum of the American

July 1, 2016

Distinguished Flying Cross Recognizes Heroism and Extraordinary Achievement

On July 2, 1926, the Distinguished Flying Cross was authorized by Congress. In the past eight years only five DFCs have been awarded four of them were to astronauts (and one of those astronauts, Navy Capt. Mark Kelly, received it twice). Sadly, one of those Distinguished Flying Crosses was presented posthumously to the family of Lt. Miroslav Steven

June 27, 2016

The National Naval Aviation Museum

Opened more than a half century ago, the National Naval Aviation Museum offers a unique blend of past and present in telling the story of aviation in the United States Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. Located on board historic Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola, the Navy's first air station, the museum sits in close proximity to the white sand

June 23, 2016

Nautical Terms and Naval Expressions - Part Two

Have you ever wondered why a "peacoat" is called a peacoat? Why in the world is the bathroom called the "head?" How did the term  "ensign" come to be used to refer to both a flag and an officer? The language of the Navy can leave you wondering where Sailors came up with these terms and expressions. The second installment in our series explores five