Dec. 23, 2021

H-001-4/2021: Loss of Cook 3rd Class Doris Miller

One of the sailors lost in the sinking of Liscome Bay (CVE-65) was Cook 3rd Class Doris Miller, who had been the first African American to be awarded the Navy Cross for his heroism in combat aboard the battleship West Virginia (BB-48) during the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. Miller’s highly publicized award made him the first real hero

Dec. 23, 2021

H-066-1: The Naval Historical Center

I usually post information about the history of the Navy as a whole, but today I’d like to recognize a milestone in the history of the command I lead. On 1 December 1971, the Navy combined the Naval Historical Display Center—now the National Museum of the U.S. Navy—with OPNAV’s Naval History Division to create the Naval Historical Center. The first

Dec. 23, 2021

H-Gram 066: “At Dawn We Slept”

This H-gram covers the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and is a significantly updated and revised version of my H-Gram 001 from 2016, and with one additional portion drawn from H-Gram 025 from 2019. It also includes some history of the Naval History and Heritage Command.

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