One of the two vessels involved on that dark night in the Solomons.

A Nocturnal Encounter with Lasting Effects

The destroyer’s crew was at battle stations. There was little doubt the enemy was nearby, although there was no way to be sure since the ship had no radar and ...

Lieutenant Commander Thomas J. Cutler, U.S. Navy
March 2025
A German depiction of the U-boat attack on the merchant ship Linda Blanche during World War I. The Linda Blanche was sunk on 30 January 1915 by U-21, under the command of Lieutenant Otto Hersing.

Sabbatical: William Sowden Sims

Sims was sent to England to work with the British should the United States choose to enter the war on the side of the Allies.

Lieutenant Commander Thomas J. Cutler, U.S. Navy (Retired)
January 2025
U.S. Naval Institute CEO and publisher, retired Navy Captain Jim Barber, U.S. Naval Institute CEO and publisher, sitting at his desk. Barber guided the Institute through rough seas, from which it emerged stronger than ever.

James A. Barber: Warrior and Scholar

Retired Captain James A. Barber recalled his experiences commanding a destroyer escort (the USS Hissem [DE-400]) in 1968 as part of the Taiwan Patrol Force.

November 2024
Queen Artemisia of Halicarnassus is at center left of Wilhelm von Kaulbach’s painting of the Battle of Salamis shooting arrows at the Greek fleet. The queen-commander had earned Xerxes’ respect by showing more courage than her male counterparts.

Artemisia: Warrior Queen

She is remembered as both “a cowardly pirate” and “fighting with the greatest gallantry among the foremost leaders”

Lieutenant Commander Thomas J. Cutler, U.S. Navy (Retired)
September 2024
Admiral Evans and President Theodore Roosevelt on board Roosevelt’s yacht, the Mayflower. On Evans’ death in 1912, Roosevelt proclaimed the Navy had never had a man “who more thoroughly and joyously welcomed a fight.”

Fighting Bob Evans

“Even the American Navy, fertile though it has been in gallant fighting men, has never had any man who more thoroughly and joyously welcomed a fight.”

August 2024
The destroyer USS James E. Williams (DDG-95), commissioned on 11 December 2004, was named in BM1 Williams’ honor.

No Exit Ramps

By all accounts, “Willy” Williams was a good sailor.

February 2024
Commander Edward L. Beach (left) on duty on board the USS Amberjack. Beach commanded the Amberjack after a tour in the Navy’s Atomic Defense Section in the Pentagon.

Namesake: Edward L. Beach

Most successful writers are either fiction or nonfiction authors; Ned Beach succeeded in both genres.

Lieutenant Commander Thomas J. Cutler, U.S. Navy (Retired)
October 2023