Courtesy of Mike Bak

Four Ships Named Sterett

By Paul Stillwell
December 2008
Just as the sun was setting on a balmy August Saturday evening in Baltimore, Sailors at the stern of the guided-missile destroyer Sterett (DDG-104) raised the American flag to signify ...
U.S. Naval Institute Photo Archive

On Our Scope

By Richard G. Latture, Editor-in-Chief
December 2008
Naval History's readers continually fill our mailbox with superb unsolicited articles. Nevertheless, I occasionally must ask historians to write stories for us on particular topics, and in some cases—such ...
U.S. NAVAL INSTITUTE PHOTO ARCHIVE

In Contact

December 2008
"Out-Sputniking' the Soviets" (See C. LaVO, pp. 48-51, August 2008 Naval History) Randolph Bartlett Carl LaVO's article about the USS Nautilus' (SSN-571) 1959 underwater transarctic voyage reminded me ...
NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER

Historic Aircraft

By Norman Polmar - Author, Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet
December 2008
The Last of the Floatplanes While it's dangerous to cite an aircraft as being the "first" or "last," one is safe in describing the Curtiss SC Seahawk as the U.S ...
Tarawa Waterhouse

A Bloody Proving Ground

By Colonel Joseph H. Alexander, U.S. Marine Corps (Retired)
December 2008
The Marine Corps amphibious doctrine was put to the test when the Pacific Fleet opened a second front in the war against Japan.
National Archives

Across the Reef: The Assault on Betio

By Colonel Joseph H. Alexander, U.S. Marine Corps (Retired)
December 2008
During 76 hours of vicious fighting the 2d Marine Division wrested control of Tarawas Betio Island from an enemy that fought virtually to the last man.
U.S. Naval Institute Photo Archive

An Enduring Legacy

By Colonel Joseph H. Alexander, U.S. Marine Corps (Retired)
December 2008
Although photos and press accounts of Tarawa shocked wartime Americans, the battle ultimately burnished the Marines reputation for heroism.
courtesy of norman hatch

'What War Was Like'

An Interview with Major Norman Hatch, U.S. Marine Corps (Retired)
December 2008
A cameraman describes filming the brutal Tarawa battle, including a riveting sequence showing Japanese and Marine fighters in the same frames.
James M. Caiella

A Dozen Navy Classics

By Lieutenant Commander Thomas J. Cutler, U.S. Navy (Retired)
December 2008
From mutiny to glory, from the age of sail to carrier jets, the books on our list of Navy must-reads run the gamut of naval experiences.
NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER

'Nowhere to go but Down'

By Donald A. Green
December 2008
In the USS Utah when the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor began, the author frantically climbed out of the sinking battleship only to face strafing planes.
Naval Historical Center

Historic Fleets

By Robert J. Cressman
December 2008
A Fine Little Vessel Industrialist John N. Willys' yacht Isabel was on the ways at Bath (Maine) Iron Works when she attracted the Navy's attention as America entered World War ...
DAN FELGER

Naval History News

December 2008
Navy D-Day Monument Dedicated After more than 64 years and a half million dollars, on 27 September the U.S. Navy finally dedicated a monument that pays proper tribute to the ...
na

Book Reviews

December 2008
The Lions of Iwo Jima: The Story of Combat Team 28 and the Bloodiest Battle in Marine Corps History Major General Fred Haynes, U.S. Marine Corps (Retired), and James A ...
YAMATO MUSEUM

Museum Report

By Kay Nishimura
December 2008
A Super Battleship's Hometown Museum The city of Kure, with a population approaching 250,000, has a beautiful natural harbor on Japan's Seto Inland Sea, about 25 minutes southeast of Hiroshima ...