On Our Scope

By Richard G. Latture

April 2020

Highlights from the April 2020 issue of Naval History.

‘To Us It’s Bushido’

By Vice Admiral Truman J. Hedding, U.S. Navy (Ret.)

April 2020

During World War II, then-Captain Truman Johnson Hedding (1902–95) was at the forefront of events during the final phase of fighting in the Pacific. He got up close and personal ...

In Contact

April 2020

The Second Flag-Raising Captain Gordon I Peterson, U.S. Navy (Retired) Mark Folse’s article on the Battle of Iwo Jima (“The Common Will Triumphant,” February, pp. 14–19) was an informative and ...

Sonar in the Sea Services

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

April 2020

Dolphins have been using sound for object detection for millions of years, but the earliest recorded instance of man’s venturing into the realm of hydroacoustics occurred in 1490, when Leonardo ...

Spiral Development of the Standard Missile

By Norman Friedman

April 2020

Given the speed of technological change, it is remarkable that the U.S. Navy has been using versions of the Standard Missile and its predecessors for 60-some years.

Naval History News

April 2020

Bikini Wreck Sites Mapped In a remote Pacific locale in the 1940s and ’50s, the United States conducted a series of nuclear weapons tests, sinking warships, tanks, and other vehicles ...

‘Commerce Raider Par Excellence’

By J. M. Caiella

April 2020

For fully two-thirds of its 244-year existence, the U.S. Navy has counted a warship named Essex among its number.

Operation Iceberg's Mixed Legacy

Vincent P. O'Hara

April 2020

On 1 April 1945, an armada of 1,321 ships gathered in the far western Pacific off Okinawa. Most had come from Leyte and Ulithi, others from Pearl Harbor, the Solomons ...

A Strong Hand on the Helm

By Edward J. Marolda

April 2020

Admiral James L. Holloway III, who slipped his cable on 26 November 2019, stands as one of the towering U.S. Navy leaders of the late 20th century. As an officer ...

Conspicuous Gallantry Under Fire

By Captain Michael G. Slattery, U.S. Navy (Retired)

April 2020

Lieutenant (junior grade) Tom Richards saved the lives of several fellow SEALs in January 1971 at great risk to himself, but his award was downgraded.

Sam Morison’s Long Campaign

By David Sears

April 2020

After bouncing between Atlantic and Pacific theaters observing U.S. naval operations during World War II, Samuel Eliot Morison embarked on an equally arduous undertaking: writing his 15-volume history of the ...

Reflections of the Civil War at Sea

By Robert M. Browning Jr.

April 2020

Robert Fulton Weir used his artistic talents to sketch scenes of shipboard life during the sectional conflict.

Wake Island Odyssey

By Paul T. Bonilla

April 2020

Wake Island, which actually is an atoll, is one of the most remote occupied locations in the Pacific Ocean, lying 1,200 miles southwest of Midway Atoll and more than 1,400 ...

Barbary War Interlude in Messina

By William J. Prom

April 2020

Midshipman Charles G. Ridgely firmly grasped a telescope as he perched himself at the bow of the schooner Nautilus on the night of 4 September 1804. First Lieutenant George Reed ...

Acts of Valor: James Elliott Williams

April 2020

Graphic art tells the inspiring story of the boatswain's mate whose courage in the Vietnam War garnered him the Medal of Honor.

The First ‘Blimp’

By Norman Polmar

April 2020

Airships—often termed blimps—were popular in the U.S. Navy for more than four decades.

Book Reviews

April 2020

Professionals review Scratch One Flattop, Ghost Fleet Awakened: Lake George’s Sunken Bateaux of 1758, and The War for the Seas.

Arlington National Cemetery Alive with History

By Kevin M. Hymel

April 2020

While Arlington National Cemetery honors the fallen from U.S. military actions and those who served proudly in uniform, it also is a living monument to the U.S. Navy and Marine ...

Pieces of the Past

By Eric Mills

April 2020

This March marks the 30th anniversary of a Hollywood blockbuster movie premiere near and dear to the U.S. Naval Institute’s heart.