Civilians file aboard a U.S. Navy landing craft as thousands more jam the beaches awaiting evacuation to Taiwan, February 1955.

On Our Scope

December 2024
The cathartic euphoria generated by victory in World War II was, sadly, a fleeting thing, immediately overshadowed by the standoff between freedom and autocracy...
Civilians laden with their earthly possessions flee their homes and make for the landing beaches to be transported from the Communist-bombed Dachen Islands to Formosa (Taiwan) by the U.S. Seventh Fleet, 7 February 1955. Right: Chinese Nationalist soldiers load ammo aboard the USS Ford County (LST-772) as evacuation operations continue.

Crisis in the Taiwan Strait

By Lieutenant Commander Thomas J. Cutler, U.S. Navy (Retired)
December 2024
It was the opening round of a struggle that continues to this day—and may yet end in superpower conflict. Here is how it all started.
January 1942: With the Philippines heating up in the face of the unstoppable Japanese invasion, Lieutenant John D. Bulkeley’s PT-34 torpedoes a Japanese ship in Binanga Bay.

Earning Glory in a Forlorn Defense

By Colonel Richard D. Camp, U.S. Marine Corps (Retired)
December 2024
A tribute to the legendary Lieutenant John D. Bulkeley and Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three’s fight against Japanese forces in the early days of the Pacific war.
AIR Hero Dec24

CNO Succession—Two Views

By Admiral Worth H. Bagley, U.S. Navy (Retired), and Admiral Harold E. Shear, U.S. Navy (Retired)
December 2024
Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr. served as an innovative Chief of Naval Operations from 1970 to 1974. His actions elicited praise on one hand and criticism on the other.
Formosa or the Philippines? (L. to r.) General Douglas MacArthur, President Franklin Roosevelt, and Admiral Chester Nimitz meet in Hawaii in July 1944 to determine the strategy going forward in the Pacific war.

The Invasion That Never Was

By Ensign Nels Waaraniemi, U.S. Navy
December 2024
Operation Causeway was shelved to clear the way for the invasion of the Philippines. But Causeway’s plans underscored relevant lessons for today’s concerns in the South China Sea.
The USS LCI(R)-230 getting into position to launch rockets at Palawan Island, Philippines, February 1945.

The Gray Days of November–December 1944 

By Lieutenant Robert Milton Prestidge, U.S. Naval Reserve (Retired), edited by Susan P. Woodward
December 2024
An eyewitness account from the Pacific War vividly describes the fearsome rise of the kamikaze threat in the wake of the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
Exocet

Legacy of the Exocet

By Steven Iacono
December 2024
From the Falklands to the Persian Gulf to today’s global hot spots, the iconic French-built antiship missile has been a strategic game-changer.