Jan. 7, 2025

Catherine Nimitz Volunteered to Support the US War Effort in World War II

While Catherine Nimitz’s husband led the Pacific Fleet to victory in World War II, she made her own significant contributions to the war effort on the home front.

Dec. 29, 2024

Passing of President Jimmy Carter

It is with deep regret I inform you of the passing of President James Earl “Jimmy” Carter Jr. on 29 December 2024 at age 100. President Carter entered the U.S. Naval Academy in July 1943 and graduated with distinction in June 1946 with the wartime-accelerated class of 1947. He served as a surface line officer before transferring to submarine duty

Oct. 23, 2024

Maurice Brodsky: An “Average Enlisted Man” at the Battle off Samar

Eighty years ago, a handful of American destroyers, destroyer escorts, and escort carriers faced off against a superior Japanese force of battleships, cruisers, and destroyers at the Battle off Samar (25 October 1944). Task Unit 77.4.3 “Taffy 3’s” small combatants, commanded by Rear Admiral Clifton Sprague, famously attacked Vice Admiral Takeo

Sept. 18, 2024

Remembering Resistance: U.S. Navy POWs at the Hanoi Hilton

On Aug. 5, 1964, Lt. j.g. Everett Alvarez, Jr., a young U.S. Navy aviator, had just finished bombing a North Vietnamese patrol boat base in retaliation for the Tonkin Gulf Incident when his Douglas A-4 Skyhawk was struck by enemy fire. After ejecting, he was captured by Vietnamese militia, then interrogated by North Vietnamese officers before being

Aug. 9, 2024

100 Years Ago: The U.S. Navy at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris

Any servicemember who wished to train was considered for temporary duty in connection with the Olympic tryouts, which started with regional tryouts in April 1924.Tryouts were held across the country for all sporting events. The servicemembers and civilians competing for the Olympic rifle team gathered at Quantico, Virginia, for the national

Aug. 6, 2024

The U.S. Navy at the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp, Belgium

“We swear that we will take part in the Olympic Games in a spirit of chivalry, for the honour of our country and for the glory of sport.”–Olympic oath, written by Baron Pierre de Courbetin, the founder of International Olympic Committee (IOC), first introduced at VII Olympiad, April 20–September 12, 1920, in Antwerp, Belgium The Navy at the 1920

Aug. 1, 2024

U.S. Navy Sailors Bear Witness to History: USS San Francisco at the 1896 Olympics in Athens, Greece

This delegation was largely comprised of student-athletes from athletic clubs in New England—most prominently the Boston Athletic Association.Taking a break from cruising the eastern Mediterranean, USS San Francisco anchored at the port of Piraeus to allow sailors to attend the games. Assigned to the European squadron in 1895, it was the flagship

June 29, 2023

Nimitz at the Naval Academy: The Plebe Year of One of America’s Most Distinguished Admirals

Plagued by poor health and lacking nautical experience, future Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz persevered and excelled during his plebe year at the U.S. Naval Academy which began in 1901.

May 17, 2023

A Sailor on Foot: Lieutenant Victor Blue and the Search for the Spanish Fleet, July 1898

In war, sailors find themselves doing jobs they never would have expected to perform in normal circumstances. This was especially true in the Spanish-American War of 1898, as the Navy’s officers and men dealt with new technologies in America’s first conflict overseas since the Mexican-American War. The war gave plenty of opportunities for

Dec. 12, 2022

Admiral Chester Nimitz Takes Command in the Aftermath of Pearl Harbor

On the morning of 16 December 1941, nine days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Rear Admiral Chester W. Nimitz was working at his desk in the U.S. Navy’s Bureau of Navigation when he was summoned to the office of Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox. Exhausted from working more than a week with little sleep, Nimitz trudged over to Knox’s

Sept. 16, 2022

When Bud Met Mouza: The Zumwalts' Whirlwind Romance and Lifelong Love

Mouza Coutelais-du-Roche married Lieutenant Elmo Zumwalt Jr. after a three-week whirlwind romance in Shanghai. The challenges she faced adapting to both a new country and life as a Navy spouse inspired her lifelong mission to support Navy families.

March 1, 2022

In Memoriam: Rear Admiral Ronald Charles Wilgenbusch, USN (Ret.)

It is with deep regret I inform you of the passing of Rear Admiral Ronald Charles Wilgenbusch, U.S. Navy (Retired), on 25 February 2022 at age 83. Rear Admiral Wilgenbusch enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve in 1956 and served as a surface line officer and materiel professional, with specialty in communications, until his retirement in 1991 as

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. 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 10, 2021

Birth of the Blues

"It's always about the money" goes the old saying and that was certainly true 75 years ago when Chief of Naval Operations Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz ordered the establishment of an exhibition flight team, the birth of today's famed Blue Angels. Having led the Navy to victory in the Pacific during World War II, Nimitz ascended to the sea

June 10, 2021

Blue Angels Scrapbook

Most people define the Blue Angels by graceful formations soaring in the sky overhead, but life in the Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron is much more than the time spent in the cockpit or on the flight line.  Enjoy the scrapbook of images taken through the years that provides a portrait of the Blue Angels experience.The 1953 team pictured in front

Jan. 7, 2021

Ringing in the New Year Navy Style

The Naval History and Heritage Command is hereby reviving the tradition of the New Year's Deck Log Poetry contest. The deck log is the official record maintained by all commissioned U.S. Navy vessels. While the contents of a deck log are generally fiercely regulated, the United States Navy has long held the tradition of the Midnight New Year's Day Poem. The first entry of the New Year, written in verse, gives a brief glimpse into the minds of the sailors and shipboard life, and provides a human voice to the otherwise impersonal deck log.

Dec. 31, 2020

Steaming Into the New Year

EDITOR'S NOTE: For many American Sailors, forward-deployed around the world in defense of freedom, it's already 2021. As America gets ready to celebrate the arrival of the New Year, we wanted to share a unique, longstanding U.S. Navy tradition you may not have heard of. U.S. Navy ships maintain a deck log in which they record all the important

Oct. 29, 2020

NHHC Biography Collection

Accessioned from the Chief of Information (CHINFO) in 1974, the Biography Collection is one of the larger collections housed at the United States Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC). This collection primarily contains biographical sheets, service transcripts, Casualty Reports, obituaries, career biographies, and news articles about Navy

Oct. 20, 2020

You Never Know What You're Going to Find

The Archivists at the United States Navy Archives perform many different tasks. The Reference Archivists provide reference services to the public and to the fleet by providing information and access to archival materials and collections. Before these archival materials and collections can be made available though, they have to be processed. The