Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution, NMAH/ Division of Work & Industry

Bouncy But Dry Ride to Safety

By Captain Robert F. Bennett, U.S. Coast Guard (Retired)
October 2008
Volunteer crews deployed an odd-looking life-car off the New Jersey shore in what would be the first shipwreck rescue to originate from a U.S. government lifesaving station.
U.S. Naval Institute Photo Archive

A Warrior in Autumn

By Paul Stillwell
October 2008
One of the fascinating aspects of interviewing retired Navy men and women is discovering what sorts of personalities they have long after the conclusion of their active service. For some ...
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The Ship that Couldn't be Built

By Stephen C. Small
October 2008
Under construction for seven years before the Civil War, the Stevens Battery, arguably the most technologically advanced warship of the mid-19th century, never came to fruition.

On Our Scope

By Richard Latture
October 2008
Admiral Chester Nimitz called it the worst loss the U.S. Navy had suffered in the Pacific "without compensatory return" since the 9 August 1942 debacle off Savo Island. The Pacific ...
U.S. NAVY (JOHN NAREWSKI)

Naval History News

October 2008
Fitting Way to Finish Thunder and lightning heralded the Navy's unique NR-1 as she pulled into port at the New London, Connecticut, submarine base on 23 July. The occasion was ...
Right Bottom: Naval Historical Center; Far Right: U.S. Naval Institute Photo Archive

'Wallowin' in a Typhoon Before Morning

By Patrick McSherry
October 2008
The political intrigue in store for the big ships of the Great White Fleet a century ago was nothing compared to the mighty storm they weathered between the Philippines and ...
left and above: Naval Historical Center

How Civil War Sailors Lived

By Elizabeth Hoxie Joyner
October 2008
When the Union ironclad gunboat Cairo went to the muddy bottom of the Yazoo River in 1862, she carried items made by companies most of us would recognize today.
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Book Reviews

October 2008
If By Sea: The Forging of the American NavyFrom the Revolution to the War of 1812 George C. Daughan. New York: Basic Books, 2008. 536 pages. Notes. Bib ...
Peter Jordan/Getty Images

Courage in the Face of Terror

By Major Robert T. Jordan, U.S. Marine Corps (Retired)
October 2008
The sights and sounds of the terrorist attack on the Marine battalion landing team barracks at Beirut International Airport in October 1983 are still palpable to those who survived the ...
BATTLESHIP NORTH CAROLINA MEMORIAL

In Contact

October 2008
'Halsey Knows the Straight Story' (See A. P. Rems, pp. 40-46, August 2008 Naval History) Lieutenant Commander Neil G. Carey, U.S. Navy Reserve (Retired) It was a pleasure to ...
Sovfoto

The Cruise Missile Comes of Age

By Andrew Hind
October 2008
When Egyptian patrol boats fired Soviet-manufactured Egyptian Styx cruise missiles and sank the Israeli destroyer Eilat in 1967, naval warfare changed forever.
NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER

Historic Fleets

By Robert J. Cressman
October 2008
First of Her Breed As technological change transformed submarines from novelty to weapon of war, it naturally followed that more sophisticated "mother ships" would be required to service them. In ...
U.S. NAVY

Historic Aircraft

By Norman Polmar
October 2008
Flying Whales Part II: Vietnam Edward "Ed" Heinemann's Douglas A3D Skywarrior had its genesis as a 68,000-pound carrier-based atomic bomber. Its lasting fame, however, evolved from the aircraft's versatility throughout ...
Eric Smith

'I Was a Navy Misfit'

By Al Corona
October 2008
Calling his skipper by a nickname no one ever used to his face was only his first mistake. More miscues left this Sailor alone on a fueling barge, armed only ...