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

June 17, 2016

Norfolk Naval Shipyard Drydocked First Ship in the Western Hemisphere June 17, 1833

For a ship that sat dormant for nearly seven years after it was completed, it's remarkable that USS Delaware would ultimately become one of the most noteworthy ships of the United States Navy. This 74-gun ship-of-the-line became the first ship in the Western Hemisphere to be dry docked, on June 17, 1833, at Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) in

June 17, 2016

Savage Buttons Reveal Secrets of Revolutionary War Shipwreck

When the Naval History and Heritage Command's Underwater Archaeology and Conservation Laboratory received over 1,000 artifacts from the Revolutionary War shipwreck assemblage of Royal Savage last summer, conservators recognized that a number of these artifacts were personal effects of the sailors and officers who sailed aboard the