The admiral “had some maddening habits,” one of his staff officers recalled. “He would play golf all the afternoon then return, dine, play a rubber or two of bridge, and come down to his office . . . at 11:30 p.m. and start sending for his staff.”
No way to run a command, most would agree. However, the admiral in question, Max Horton, achieved remarkable results as the Allies’ de facto North Atlantic commander-in-chief. He would spend his long nights in the great plotting room at Western Approaches Command’s headquarters in Liverpool, overseeing the nocturnal battles between convoy escorts and U-boats.
In this issue’s cover story, “Turning Point in the Atlantic,” Commander In Ha, U.S. Navy, explains how in the spring of 1943 Admiral Horton implemented his offensive-minded Battle of the Atlantic doctrine in combination with technological innovations and air power.
About two months after the tide of battle in the Atlantic turned, three “Long Lance” torpedoes slammed into the USS Helena, sending the light cruiser to bottom of Kula Gulf in the Central Solomons. Mike Stankovich, in “A Promise Kept,” recounts the ordeal of her survivors. Many were pulled from the oily sea the night she went down, but 166 drifted to enemy-held Vella Lavella Island.
Both Ha’s and Stankovich’s articles were among the 292 submissions we received for last year’s inaugural CNO Naval History Essay Contest. Although they didn’t win prizes, we deemed their essays, as well as others, worthy of publication. The Naval Institute is pleased to announce we are coordinating the execution of the second CNO Naval History Essay Contest, sponsored with support from General Dynamics. For details, see the facing page.
While Naval History’s February issue focused on Marines fighting in Vietnam, in this issue’s article “ROTC under Siege,” retired Navy Captain Brendan O’Donnell recounts the precarious situation future naval officers faced on college campuses during the conflict. Antiwar protests led to colleges and universities shutting down their ROTC programs. O’Donnell focuses on events at the College of the Holy Cross, where the school’s Naval and Air Force ROTC programs came within a hair’s breadth of being shuttered.
On 24 September 2016, Naval Institute CEO retired Vice Admiral Peter Daly (Holy Cross, class of 1977) delivered the keynote address celebrating the 75th anniversary of NROTC at the college. The event was hosted by the school’s O’Callahan Society, named in honor of Holy Cross professor, Navy chaplain, and Medal of Honor recipient Rev. Joseph T. O’Callahan, S.J.
In his talk, the admiral recalled how, as a midshipman fourth class in September 1973, he wandered into an NROTC lecture room where textbooks were piled high on tables. “As I looked, I realized each table represented a different school . . . all the books on the first table said ‘property of NROTCU Harvard.’ The next was all books from NROTCU Dartmouth . . . next Yale, then Brown . . .” At these schools, the program had been banned, resulting in Holy Cross being the last full-up NROTC school in New England.
In closing, Naval History and the Naval Institute are pleased to announce The Fund for Naval History, which is a way for benefactors to support the long-term stability of this magazine. The fund’s initial gift is from the Estate of Captain David J. Gray, USN (Ret.), and Laura B. Gray. Captain Gray developed an early love of history, and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the subject. His career included service as an electronics and intelligence officer in the USS Newman K. Perry (DD-883) and as a senior analyst with the Naval War College’s War Gaming Department. According to Captain Gray, who passed away on 19 December 2016, “The study of history sharpens the strategic skill level of officers at all levels and enables us to function on a higher level and be suitable candidates for higher positions.” We deeply appreciate his support.
Richard G. Latture
Editor-in-Chief