USS Langley

‘You Could Barely See the Deck’

In 1969, Commander Etta-Belle Kitchen, U.S. Navy (Retired), conducted one of the U.S. Naval Institute’s earliest oral histories—with one of the U.S. Navy’s earliest aviators.

Vice Admiral Gerald F. Bogan, U.S. Navy (Retired)
March 2022
Vice Admiral William P. Mack

Insidious Political Influence

Dr. John T. Mason Jr.’s 1980 oral history of Admiral Mack specified that the Institute could not release a sensitive portion of it until after the deaths of all involved.

Vice Admiral William P. Mack, U.S. Navy (Retired)
November 2021
The Paul Revere under way in the Pacific.

New Role for the Paul Revere

In the mid-1950s, the Navy acquired five Mariner-class merchant ship hulls to arm them with liquid-fueled ballistic missiles.

Rear Admiral Robert B. Erly, U.S. Navy (Retired)
July 2021
U.S.S. Yorktown

Rescuing Survivors at the Battle of Midway

A vivid firsthand account of the action during the June 1942 clash with Japan that turned the tide of the Pacific war.

Rear Admiral Joseph M. Worthington, U.S. Navy (Retired)
May 2021
As executive officer of VP-22 in the 1960s, John Coughlin ramped up cold-weather training for the aircrews prior to an Alaskan deployment in the dead of winter.

Deployment to Adak

As executive officer of VP-22 in the 1960s, John Coughlin ramped up cold-weather training for the aircrews prior to an Alaskan deployment.

Rear Admiral John T. Coughlin, U.S. Navy (Retired)
April 2021
Recalling the rigors of training on a sailing ship, Admiral James Gracey observed, “You learned that you could do things you never dreamed of, and you learned the importance of teamwork.”

Going Aloft

Admiral Gracey describes his experience in the 1940s as a cadet on board a sail training ship that Denmark had loaned to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.

Admiral James S. Gracey, U.S. Coast Guard (Retired)
February 2021
The Royal Australian Navy Adelaide-class guided-missile frigate Darwin intercepts the Iraqi motor vessel Tamdur smuggling prohibited goods in the Gulf of Oman, September 1990.

Desert Shield at 30

An excerpt from featured interviews with many of the key players in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

Rear Admiral William M. Fogarty, U.S. Navy (Retired)
December 2020