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