Smithsonian Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

A Smashing Breakthrough

By Paul Stillwell
February 2009
Some years ago I had the pleasure of joining a tour of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's restoration facility in Silver Hill, Maryland. There, I encountered a fascinating ...
Constellation Annapolis

One-Ship Fleet-in-Being

By John D. Barnard
February 2009
Although she engaged in no high-seas battles during the War of 1812, the USS Constellation nevertheless proved to be a powerful presence off Norfolk.
top: COLIN BABB

Museum Report

By Colin Babb
February 2009
French-Canadian Fortress Returns to Life In February 1760, Prime Minister William Pitt the Elder wrote to his senior general in America, Jeffrey Amherst, that one of hardest-won possessions most recently ...
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Book Reviews

February 2009
The Ice Diaries: The Untold Story of the USS Nautilus and the Cold War's Most Daring Mission Captain William R. Anderson, USN, with Don Keith. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2008 ...
3d Marine Division riflemen

Letters to Iwo Jima

By Alan P. Rems
February 2009
The heroism and sacrifice of 3d Division Marines, as well as their families anguish, are revealed in letters to and from Major General Graves Erskine.
U.S. Naval Institute Photo Archive

On Our Scope

By Richard G. Latture, Editor-in-Chief
February 2009
One of the best things about working on Naval History is that with each issue we editors get to indulge our love of history. For us, every article is a ...
All Photos courtesy of Lawrence D. Sheely unless otherwise noted

Bonded in Battle

By Earl Rickard
February 2009
U.S. naval aviators' World War I role flying Royal Air Force bombers provided the backdrop for a friendship formed between a pilot and observer.
John Greaves

Raphael Semmes' Long Flight Home

By Captain John A. Rodgaard, U.S. Navy Reserve
February 2009
A scout-plane pilot (not a sea raider), the great-grandson of the CSS Alabama's skipper set out in August 1942 on an Aleutian Adventure.
James L. Cooper

Flying the Early-Early

By Lieutenant Colonel James L. Cooper, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve (Retired)
February 2009
For a VMA-312 Corsair pilot, the typical 1952 early-morning mission began with wake up at 0400 and did not end until the 0925 post flight cup of coffee.
National Naval Aviation Museum, Pensacola, FL

A-7 Punch Out over Laos

By Harry Hoffman
February 2009
After the author felt a thump, what had started out as a routine strike mission turned into a harrowing night on a brushy Laotian mountainside.
U.S. NAVY

Historic Aircraft

By Norman Polmar
February 2009
The Navy's "Heavies" When the subject of big naval aircraft is raised, one usually thinks of the A3D Skywarrior, the largest aircraft to regularly operate from aircraft carriers, or the ...
U.S. Naval Institute Photo Archive

Historic Fleets

By Robert J. Cressman
February 2009
Very much a bastard child, the eighth warship in United States service to carry the name Wasp was the result of Washington Naval Treaty limits on tonnage. After construction of ...
U.S. Marine Corps

Naval History News

February 2009
The French Did It The string of theories explaining the sinking of Henry VIII's flagship Mary Rose on 19 July 1545 has grown by one. According to a new academic ...
U.S. NAVAL INSTITUTE PHOTO ARCHIVE

In Contact

February 2009
'Battle for Tarawa' (See J. H. Alexander, pp. 10-35, December 2008 Naval History) Murray L. Dear New Zealand had good reason to be grateful for an American victory at ...