Digitizing Proceedings
Realizing an important strategic goal, the U.S. Naval Institute has just completed digitizing every issue of Proceedings published over 140 years. With the contents preserved electronically, they will be available to Members now and in the years to come to access, use, and enjoy.
The decade of the Sixties has been described in many ways: the Most Historically and Culturally Complex Decade, or the Decade of the Beatles, but I believe that it is best described as the Decade of Clashes.
It begins with the Soviet Union shooting down a U-2 flown by Francis Gary Powers. Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev pounds his shoe on the table at the U.N. General Assembly, protesting the discussion concerning the Soviet Union’s policies toward Eastern Europe. The USS George Washington (SSBN-598) commences the first strategic-deterrence patrol. The June 1960 Proceedings carries a great article on NOTS San Clemente Island and the testing of the Polaris missile. Lieutenant George Lowe writes a very timely piece in the November 1961 issue: “Deterrence—The Next 20 Years.”
1961 is a busy year. The Soviet Union launches the first man into space. President John F. Kennedy proposes a program to send man to the moon and back. The Peace Corps is established and the Bay of Pigs invasion is thwarted by Cuba. In Proceedings, the 50th anniversary of naval aviation is recognized in the May issue. The USS Enterprise (CVAN-65) will be commissioned late in the year. Captain Vincent P. de Poix, her first commanding officer, provides a photo tour of the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier (June 1962).
In 1962, the Cold War heats up as we approach the brink of nuclear war with the Soviet Union. The Cuban Missile Crisis rivets the world for 13 days in October. Quarantine and blockade become words that receive much legal interpretation as President Kennedy and Premier Khrushchev back away from a direct confrontation. In Proceedings, Admiral Ben Moreell (King Bee) recognizes the 20th birthday of the Seabees (March 1962). Captain Elmo Zumwalt’s article “A Course for the Destroyers” (November 1962), a must-read, takes a strategic view of the future environment and proposes a mix of destroyer types for the years ahead. Lieutenant (junior grade) Jonathan T. Howe discusses the problem of very talented officers leaving at the end of their obligated service (January 1962, “Time of Decision”). He emphasizes the important role leadership plays in showing, by example, that a career officer has enjoyed his time in the Navy and is proud of his accomplishments. Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz offered Proceedings readers “An Open Letter to Junior Officers” (February 1960) in which he discussed the necessity for the Navy to have “the finest, most dedicated officer corps.” He concludes with what I imagine Lieutenant (jg) Howe was looking for: “Membership in this corps is highly honorable, soul satisfying and sufficiently remunerative to reward active young men who have a love of country and a willingness to accept responsibilities to their nation. I have found this to be so.”
The assassination of President Kennedy in 1963 provided this nation with images that will never be forgotten. Martin Luther King delivered his stirring “I have a dream” speech. The Navy suffered its worst submarine loss when the USS Thresher (SSN-593) sank with the loss of all 129 crew members and shipyard personnel. In January, Proceedings delivered a special issue—a look ahead to the Navy of 1973. Articles by the CNO, Admiral George W. Anderson Jr., and nine other senior officers detailed where they thought the Navy of 1973 would be. Noted author George Fielding Eliot provided the setting with his article “The World Environment of 1973.” It is interesting to note that the looming escalation of the “military assistance program” in Vietnam did not merit any reference. Many of the capabilities that were predicted for 1973 were achieved, but most happened in the 1980s.
The year 1964 was marked by the 2 August Gulf of Tonkin incident between the USS Maddox (DD-731) and three North Vietnamese PT boats. The resulting Gulf of Tonkin Resolution gave President Lyndon Johnson the green light to proceed with an expansion of the war in Vietnam. Proceedings recalled the brief history of the Thresher in March, and in the May issue Captain Frank A. Andrews described the search for and location of the wreckage. Another must-read for today’s Navy leadership is George Lowe’s article “The Genesis of America’s Oceanic Power” (July). Lowe wrote a companion piece, “The Case for the Oceanic Strategy” in June 1968. Lieutenant H. H. Ferrier’s “Torpedo Squadron Eight, the Other Chapter” (October) is a great World War II story about the shore-based portion of VT-8 stationed at Midway Island. More of this story is now recorded in Robert J. Mrazek’s 2009 book A Dawn Like Thunder.
1965 saw the passage of the Medicare Bill, the six-day Watts riots in Los Angeles, and the beginning of the three and a half years of Operation Rolling Thunder, a major escalation of the air campaign in Vietnam. In Selma, Alabama, a march in support of civil rights headed for Montgomery. In Proceedings, the August issue featured articles celebrating the 175th anniversary of the Coast Guard. The March “Professional Notes” covered Operation Sea Orbit, the record-setting around-the-world cruise of the Navy’s three nuclear-powered surface ships (CVAN-65, CGN-9, and DLGN-25). The notes also covered Lieutenant James H. Flatley III’s carrier operations with the C-130 Hercules. (As today’s COD-replacement battle continues, this provides an interesting read).
In 1966, our troop levels in Vietnam reached 400,000, and anti-draft protests were rapidly increasing in size and frequency. On 26 October, while conducting combat operations, the USS Oriskany (CVA-34) suffered a tragic fire that resulted in 44 deaths and 156 injured sailors. Proceedings continued to provide articles of value to the naval professional, from shipbuilding (January) to “Developing the Fleet’s Aircraft” (September). Commander Robert H. Smith Jr.’s Prize Essay, “The Submarine’s Long Shadow,” provided the reader with a view of the capabilities of modern nuclear submarines. In November, “Britain’s New Defense Policy: Its Significance to the Royal Navy” predicted that further reductions in force levels would be required, and the author was proven right as retrenchments were ordered in 1967 and 1968.
The Six-Day War between Israel and the United Arab Republic in early June 1967 captured the world’s attention. A week later, China successfully tested its first H-bomb. On 29 July, the USS Forrestal (CVA-59), while conducting combat operations in the Gulf of Tonkin, suffered a major fire; 134 sailors were killed and another 161 injured. In November, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara resigned. Proceedings continued to provide a wide selection of articles ranging from Hitler’s attempt to build an aircraft carrier (January 1967) to December’s “The Black Wake of the Torrey Canyon,” which articulated a need for updated laws for ship construction and to international laws governing liability for oil spills. Captain Albert Vito Jr.’s article “Carrier Air and Vietnam . . . An Assessment,” spelled out lessons being learned from our engagement in Vietnam and the requirements generated to reflect them. Most evident was the need for a multimission aircraft to reside on our carrier decks.
On 23 January 1968, North Korea captured the USS Pueblo (AGER-2) and her crew. In Vietnam, North Vietnam’s Tet offensive, launched in late January, sent an alarming signal that combat operations were not going as well as reported. At home, two assassinations captured the headlines: Martin Luther King in April and Robert Kennedy in June. Saddam Hussein is named Deputy Chairman of the Ba’athist Revolutionary Council in Iraq. This year, Proceedings articles covered such diverse subjects as “Career Development for the Naval Flight Officer” by Lieutenant Commander Steve Loftus, and Captain W. J. Kotsch’s very impressive analysis of the Israelis’ planning for and precise execution during the Six-Day War. Lieutenant Colonel Albert J. Smith offered a detailed look at Vietnam’s Mekong Delta and the importance of the area to the cultural and economic health of that country. And under the rubric of the good old days, Captain Ben Blee’s “A Hat in the Ring” provided many laughs.
On 14 January 1969, the Enterprise suffered a major fire while conducting flight operations off the coast of Hawaii—27 sailors were killed and 314 injured. In March, the Navy Fighter Weapons School stood up, and former President Dwight Eisenhower passed away. In July, the first withdrawal of troops from Vietnam was ordered by President Richard Nixon. That same month, Neil Armstrong took the first steps on the moon, fulfilling President Kennedy’s promise. February’s Proceedings “Professional Notes” provided Commander Don Walsh’s instructive introduction to the significant advances in oceanography that would come from man and sensors in space. Colonel R. D. Heinl Jr. wrote about the USS New Jersey (BB-62) bringing her 16-inch guns to the Vietnam War. Midshipman Dan Caldwell described the growing student unrest over the war in Vietnam—unrest that would continue into the next decade with tragic results.
Proceedings served its audience well during the 1960s, a time when the threat of a nuclear war overshadowed a brutally consuming unconventional war in Vietnam. Contributing authors covered both and more: the technologies that were needed in next-generation platforms, career advice given, combat stories shared, and reflections on the naval service of yore. What more could be asked of a professional publication?