Nov. 16, 2022

In Memoriam: Rear Admiral Albert L. Kelln, USN (Ret.)

It is with deep regret I inform you of the passing of Rear Admiral Albert Lee “Al” Kelln, U.S. Navy (Retired), on 17 October 2022 at age 92. Rear Admiral Kelln entered the U.S. Naval Academy in June 1948 and served as a submarine officer until his retirement in July 1980 as deputy director/vice director for management and operations, Defense

Nov. 9, 2022

In Memoriam: Vice Admiral William H. Rowden, USN (Ret.)

It is with deep regret that I inform you of the passing of Vice Admiral William Henry “Bill” Rowden, U.S. Navy (Retired), on 15 October 2022 at age 92. Bill Rowden entered the U.S. Naval Academy in July 1948 and served as a surface warfare officer until his retirement in October 1988 as Commander, Naval Sea Systems Command. His other commands

Photographed from USS President Adams (AP-38), USS President Jackson (AP-37) maneuvers under Japanese air attack off Guadalcanal, 12 November 1942. In the center background is smoke from an enemy plane that had just crashed into the after superstructure of USS San Francisco (CA-38), which is steaming away in the right center. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. (80-G-32366)

Nov. 2, 2022

Radio over Radar: Night Fighting Chaos at Guadalcanal (12-13 November 1942)

The tropical evening sun fell beyond the horizon in the southern Solomon Islands, showering the area in brilliant hues of salmon and auburn. In this distance, cracks of lightning peeled across the sky as charcoal clouds billowed into the area. Early that evening, 12 November 1942, Rear Admiral Daniel J. Callaghan received a report indicating that

George Schwarz (NHHC) conducts a metal detector survey over a wreck site. Divers can be deployed with tools, like metal detectors, to assist in identifying or pinpointing iron objects. Some objects become overgrown with marine life and are difficult identify with the naked eye. If the object is buried, more exact location data will assist future research efforts.

Oct. 26, 2022

Navy and NOAA Search for U.S. Schooner Alligator near the 200th Anniversary of Its Loss

In early September 2022, Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS) collaborated on a project to locate and study one of the U.S. Navy’s historic wrecks from the early 19th century, the schooner Alligator. The two week project, which took place in

Oct. 19, 2022

In Memoriam: Vice Admiral David M. Bennett, USN (Ret.)

It is with deep regret I inform you of the passing of Vice Admiral David Michael “Dave” Bennett, United States Navy (Retired), on 9 October 2022 at age 87. Vice Admiral Bennett enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve in October 1957 and served as a surface warfare officer until his retirement in September 1995 as Navy Department Inspector General. His

Oct. 13, 2022

In Memoriam: Rear Admiral Donald P. Harvey, USN (Ret.)

It is with deep regret I inform you of the passing of Rear Admiral Donald Phillips “Don” Harvey, U.S. Navy (Retired), on 25 September 2022 at age 98. Don Harvey enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve in March 1943 and served as a naval intelligence officer until his retirement in September 1978 as the Director of Naval Intelligence/Commander Naval

"CONSTITUTION.” Earliest known painted image, c.1803, attributed to Michele Felice Cornè Navy Art Collection.

Oct. 12, 2022

USS Constitution Launches – “A Magnificent Spectacle!” – Part II

Editor’s Note: On May 10, 2022, Naval History and Heritage Command began commemorating the 225th anniversary of the launch of the first of the U.S. Navy’s six frigates (United States), which began the new United States Navy. The launch of the frigates is a significant moment in both U.S. Navy and American history, and the U.S. Navy’s earliest

Attack aircraft carrier USS KITTY HAWK (CVA-63) steams the Pacific Ocean 21 July 1969. Photographed by Photographer's Mate First Class D.B. Wood. (USN 1140842)

Oct. 11, 2022

Racial Unrest Aboard Kitty Hawk

At approximately 1830 on 12 October 1972, Seaman Apprentice Terry Avinger waited in line to receive his evening meal while serving in the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk (CVA-63). When he approached the white cook serving food, Avinger, a black man, requested two sandwiches, but the cook sharply refused, offering only one. Frustrated by the rebuff,

Sailor W.R. Martin points out details of the Japanese trophy flags painted on the cruiser's pilothouse as a scoreboard of enemy ships claimed sunk in the Battle of Cape Esperance, 11-12 October 1942. The six Japanese ships (two heavy cruisers, a light cruiser and three destroyers) represented in this scoreboard greatly overstates the actual enemy losses, which were one heavy cruiser (Furutaka) and one destroyer (Fubuki) sunk and one heavy cruiser (Aoba) badly damaged. This overclaiming was typical of contemporary night surface actions. Photographed at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, soon after Boise arrived there for battle damage repairs in November 1942. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. (NHHC 80-G-36296)

Oct. 5, 2022

Variation on a Theme: Groping Blindly in the Dark at Savo Island and Cape Esperance

Low-hanging clouds drifted listlessly across a moonless sky on a tropical midsummer night. The occasional thunderclap stirred the silence and temporarily illuminated the otherwise calm seas that enveloped the Solomon Islands. In the months following the initial July 1942 occupation of Guadalcanal by Japanese forces, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN)

Sept. 20, 2022

In Memoriam: Rear Admiral James Granville Storms III, USN (Ret.)

It is with deep regret I inform you of the passing of Rear Admiral James Granville Storms III, U.S. Navy (Retired), on 19 July 2022 at age 90. Rear Admiral Storms entered the Naval Reserve in September 1951 and served as a surface warfare officer until his retirement in September 1986 as Assistant Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, Surface Warfare