Established in 1898, the Naval Institute Press is the book-publishing department of the U. S. Naval Institute and a member of the Association of University Presses since 1949. Guides and textbooks of interest to Sea Service professionals, including The Bluejacket’s Manual, which was first published in 1902 and is now in its 25th edition, remain the core of its program.
After World War II and during the Cold War, and especially in response to the interests of the World War II and Baby Boom generations, its list expanded to include significant contributions in military and naval history, military and naval biography, references works on the world’s ships, aircraft and weapons, as well as reprints of the classics of naval literature.
In the 1980s, The Hunt for Red October and Flight of the Intruder, its first two novels, became New York Times bestsellers and the basis for feature films. Recent bestsellers include Circle of Treason: A CIA Account of Traitor Aldrich Ames and the Men He Betrayed, which was produced as an ABC television miniseries, and SEAL of Honor: Operation Red Wings and the Life of Lt. Michael P. Murphy, USN. In 2013, the U.S. Naval Institute Oral History Program was reestablished as a part of the Press.
In 2018, its 120th year, the Press cast its net wider, appealing to different and younger audiences via a partnership with the video game producers at World of Warships.
The Naval Institute Press publishes some eighty books and oral histories each year in multiple formats. The Press employs 20 staff members and may be found on the second deck of Beach Hall, on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Academy.