A Sailor's Heritage
There is something special about being a Sailor—as Gunner's Mate Second Class Charles... Read More
Someone Else's Turn
A veteran Sailor calls for more Americans to defend their hard-won freedoms.
I am admittedly a... Read More
Lest We Forget: Coast Guardsmen Arrighi and Deyampert; USS Melville, (AD-2)
Coast Guardsmen Arrighi and Deyampert
On 3 February 1943, the U.S. Army Transport (USAT) Dorchester... Read More
Lest We Forget: Reuben James, USS Minneapolis (CA-36)
Reuben James
Many remember Stephen Decatur as one of the bravest and most colorful sailors in the... Read More
Lest We Forget: Joseph K. Taussig Jr.; USS Langley (CV-27)
Joseph K. Taussig Jr.
On 7 December 1941, Ensign Joseph K. Taussig Jr. had just relieved the... Read More
Lest We Forget: Gerald Farrier, U.S. Type XXI Submarines
Gerald Farrier
Gerald Farrier grew up in Batesville, Arkansas, and joined the U.S. Navy as a teen.... Read More
Lest We Forget: Peter Williams; Trathen (DD-530)
Peter Williams
On the morning of 9 March 1862, the CSS Virginia (formerly the USS Merrimack) and... Read More
Notable Naval Books of 2006
The ground rules established last year remain in effect for this year's notable selections. As... Read More
Lest We Forget: The 50th
As I sit down before my laptop to write the 50th "Lest We Forget" column, it seems very... Read More
Lest We Forget: Midwatch in Surigao Strait
On the night of 24-25 October 1944, Torpedoman's Mate Third Class Roy West and the other men... Read More
Lest We Forget: "Bobbi"
In August 1963, Lieutenant Commander Vila Hovis received orders to Saigon, Vietnam. The orders were... Read More
Lest We Forget: "Deke"
With the Pacific war in its third year, William Parsons wanted—indeed expected—to be... Read More
Lest We Forget: Remember the Maine
Apprentice First Class Ambrose Ham was signal boy of the watch when the USS Maine arrived at the... Read More
Lest We Forget: Subdue, Seize, and Take...
On 9 February 1799, the USS Constellation was cruising in Caribbean waters when a lookout reported... Read More
Notable Naval Books of 2007
As in previous years, the list of notable naval books for 2007 was compiled, refined, and... Read More
Lest We Forget: Joint Warfare at Guadalcanal
A month after their landing at Guadalcanal, with the outcome of that campaign far from decided, the... Read More
Nobody Asked Me, But...Throw Down the Gauntlet
By most accounts, the recent airing of the PBS documentary Carrier has been well-received. In the... Read More
Lest We Forget: Extraordinary American
In many ways, John J. "Jack" Schiff typified that once very large and now rapidly... Read More
Lest We Forget: First, A Role Model
A mixed fleet of destroyers, cruisers, and lumbering amphibs were making their way home from duty... Read More
Lest We Forget: From Independence to Freedom
On 17 October 1965, Lieutenant (junior grade) Porter Halyburton launched from the deck of the... Read More
Lest We Forget: Loyal Officer from "Secessia"
In mid-1862, David Dixon Porter had been ordered to take command of a mortar flotilla at Key West.... Read More
A Dozen Navy Classics
Want to experience U.S. Navy history? The following 12 books will take you from the humdrum but... Read More
Lest We Forget: Brilliance Over Brawn
While serving in the Continental Navy, Joshua Barney had been captured by the British and was... Read More
Lest We Forget - 'Nancies' and the 'Lame Duck'
At the age of 32, Lieutenant Elmer F. "Archie" Stone had already had an unusual career... Read More
Lest We Forget: Passage to Freedom
Petty Officer Warren Carara left the quarterdeck to help the 80-pound, elderly woman board his ship... Read More
Lest We Forget: Slave to Diplomat
On 25 July 1785, three miles southeast of Cape St. Vincent, Portugal, a small, American merchant... Read More
Lest We Forget: A Timely Victory
Outraged by the seizure of American vessels and other humiliations by the so-called Barbary pirates... Read More
Notable Naval Books of 2008
As in previous years, the list of notable naval books for 2008 was compiled, refined, and... Read More
Lest We Forget: Navy vs. Habsburgs
When the United States entered World War I in 1917, naval aviation was in its infancy with only 43... Read More
Lest We Forget: A Question of Paternity
Beneath the main deck of the U.S. Naval Academy Chapel, there is a magnificent marble sarcophagus... Read More
Lest We Forget: MacLeod's Navy
Two 36-foot boats crept through the darkness in the Rung Sat Special Zone-long known as the "... Read More
Lest We Forget: A Change of Strategy
Just days before the beginning of the War of 1812, Secretary of the Navy Paul Hamilton met with the... Read More
MacArthur, FDR, and the Politics of Leyte Gulf
The seeds of the greatest naval battle of the Pacific war were not planted by U.S. Navy strategists... Read More
Lest We Forget: Pathfinder of the Seas
In the quarter-century preceding the Civil War, the Navy organized 11 important scientific... Read More
Lest We Forget: An Odious Practice
Early on the morning of 22 March 1820, two naval officers faced one another on a small field... Read More
Lest We Forget: Madame la Force
On the Friday evening of 28 June 1861, nearly 60 passengers boarded the packet St. Nicholas for a... Read More
Lest We Forget: Mediterranean Monotony
The USS Harry E. Yarnell (DLG-17) had been cruising off the coast of Algeria for many days. Jokes... Read More
Lest We Forget: Casey and Davey Jones Join Forces
Charles Peshall Plunkett graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1879. He later served in Admiral... Read More
Lest We Forget: 'A terrible storm of shot and shell . . .'
New Orleans was vital to control of the Mississippi River, and Union Flag Officer David Glasgow... Read More
Lest We Forget: 'Spike'
He is a U.S. senator. He was once the Secretary of the Navy and an Assistant Secretary of Defense.... Read More
Lest We Forget: SEALORDS and ACTOV
Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr. was unquestionably one of the most controversial men to ever head the... Read More
Notable Naval Books of 2009
As in previous years, the list of notable naval books for 2009 was compiled, refined, and... Read More
Lest We Forget: UAV Pioneer
Today, we take for granted the existence of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), but what is less known... Read More
Lest We Forget: 'Don't Give Up the Vessel'
Early in the American Revolution, James Mugford of Marblehead, Massachusetts, was impressed aboard... Read More
Lest We Forget: Showing the Flag . . . and Other Things
In the early morning hours of 5 April 1946, the American battleship Missouri (BB-63) headed... Read More
Lest We Forget: A Pirate in Harm's Way
John Paul Jones-often called a "pirate" by the British in his days of raiding their... Read More
Lest We Forget: Tactical Defeat—Strategic Victory
Intent on taking control of the Richelieu-Champlain-George-Hudson waterways to separate New England... Read More
Lest We Forget
Five Brave Men
It was Thursday, 12 October 2000—the day before the Navy’s 224th... Read More
Lest We Forget: Five Brave Men
It was Thursday, 12 October 2000—the day before the Navy’s 224th birthday—when a... Read More
Lest We Forget: 'What Ship is that?'
History does not record why Edward Preble—seventh on the list of ten captains then in service... Read More
Lest We Forget: A Bright Future Momentarily Dimmed
The commodore ordered the young lieutenant to conduct an accurate survey of an important stretch of... Read More
'Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight'
As a historic American ship faces an uncertain future, the author of A Sailor’s History of... Read More
Lest We Forget: Hard-Learned Lessons
In the decades leading up to the Civil War—often called the “Antebellum Period”... Read More
Lest We Forget: Wingmen
Flying 1,000 feet above the icy mountains of Korea, the Corsair’s engine cut out—the... Read More
Lest We Forget: Black Ships
Shortly after dawn on 8 July 1853, a squadron of American ships, commanded by Commodore Matthew... Read More
Notable Naval Books of 2005
An old tradition has been resurrected. For many years, the Naval Review issue included a feature... Read More
Nobody Asked Me But…I Don't Run from Bugles
I have personally never seen a sailor run from danger. The courage component of our creed is alive... Read More
What Would Stephen Decatur Do?
I was in Vietnam in the middle of the North Vietnamese Easter Offensive in the Spring of 1972, and... Read More
Whataman!
The USS Seahorse, underway in the Pacific post-1943.
After evading two attacking Chidori patrol... Read More
Remembering Eddie Albert
Eddie Albert, who became a household name starring opposite Eva Gabor in the hit television comedy... Read More
Admiral Samuel Gravely
Admiral Samuel Gravely is one of my personal heroes. I will never forget his coming to the... Read More
A Duel of Iron
On the morning of 9 March 1862, the nature of naval warfare changed forever when two warships,... Read More
Urban Naval Engagement
With the end of the Cold War and the onset of a new world order, the United States is faced with... Read More
Notable Naval Books of 1996
This year's notable naval books remind us of the reality of war in its various forms.... Read More
Notable Naval Books of 1995
In 1986, the "Notable Naval Books" column ended with the congratulatory observation that... Read More
Notable Naval Books of 1994
In the long history of civilization, a few books have proved the old adage—"the pen is... Read More
100 Years of Naval Institute Book Publishing
"It is only by a close study of the science and art of war that we can be prepared for war... Read More
Greatest of All Sea Battles
The Battle of Leyte Gulf was the biggest and most multifaceted naval battle in history. It... Read More
Notable Naval Books of 1993
In the late 1940s, during the great postwar debate over the future of the U.S. armed forces, many... Read More
Those Other Grads
Call the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association and ask how many people have graduated since the... Read More
Notable Naval Books of 1992
Colin S. Gray, writing in The Leverage of Sea Power: The Strategic Advantage of Navies in War... Read More
Notable Naval Books of 1991
One hundred years ago Alfred Thayer Mahan's seminal work, The Influence of Sea Power Upon... Read More
Notable Naval Books of 1990
"These are the times that try men's souls." These famous words of Thomas Paine, which... Read More
Notable Naval Books of 1989
Next year's notable books will probably reflect the sweeping changes that are occurring in the... Read More
Notable Naval Books of 1988
The generic term "history" embraces two distinct forms of the discipline: one is the... Read More
Notable Naval Books of 1987
With the possible exception of the men and women who must man them, ships are the most elemental... Read More
Vietnam: Two Views: God Be Here
PBRs did well on psychological operations because they could get so close to the people who lived... Read More
Notable Naval Books of 1986
Traditionally, this annual column has doted on historical works, frequently by a ratio greater than... Read More
Notable Naval Books of 1985
The venerable Scottish historian, Thomas Carlyle, wrote that "the history of the world is but... Read More
Notable Naval Books of 1984
Two factors distinguished 1984 in naval publishing. The first was the 40th anniversary of "D-... Read More
Nobody asked me, but…Self-confidence—the First Requisite
For many years, I thought myself merely unfortunate to have served more than one commanding officer... Read More
The New (and Improved) U. S. Inland Rules of the Road
Naval vessels spend the vast majority of their time under way in waters governed by the... Read More
Lest We Forget: Redemption
Cruising off the coast of Brazil in late December 1812, lookouts in the USS Constitution sighted... Read More
Notable Naval Books of 2010
As in previous years, the list of notable naval books for 2010 was compiled, refined, and... Read More
Lest We Forget: Old Ironsides
At the outbreak of the War of 1812, America was at a decided disadvantage. The Royal Navy was 60... Read More
Lest We Forget: Demologos
Much has justifiably been made about Jules Verne’s anticipation of future technologies in his... Read More
Keeping Floating Museums Afloat
A retired sailor takes a hard look at retired ships—their allure, their importance, and the... Read More
Lest We Forget: Running the Gauntlet at Island Number 10
In the spring of 1862, Union forces were poised to move down the strategically critical Mississippi... Read More
Lest We Forget: Words vs. Deeds
Nearly every student of naval history knows the story of John Paul Jones’ most famous... Read More
Lest We Forget: Putting the Horse Before the Cart
In the latter part of the 19th century, technology was rapidly growing, offering new and, in most... Read More
Lest We Forget: Taking the Dare
At the end of the Civil War, the U.S. Navy was one of the largest in the world and, with its... Read More
Lest We Forget - Shipmates
As a young lieutenant, Oliver Hazard Perry had been impressed with the courage and audacity of... Read More
Lest We Forget - Amphib Redux
Absent the great sweeping battles of World War II just a few years earlier, the Navy’s role... Read More
Lest We Forget - The Meditations of a Lion
Be a man of principle. Keep your word. Live with integrity. Be brave. Believe in something bigger... Read More
Lest We Forget - Remembering the Painful
For more than 100 issues, this column has recounted inspirational incidents from our history in... Read More
Lest We Forget - Number 85 Becomes a First
In the October 1930 issue of Proceedings, then-Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Aeronautics... Read More
Lest We Forget - Thornton & Norris
Petty Officer Michael Thornton and Lieutenant Thomas R. Norris were among the comparatively few... Read More
Lest We Forget - Commitment
As a retired Navy captain, George Thibault is no stranger to the Navy’s core values of honor... Read More