The newly commissioned USS Aaron Ward at Boston, Massachusetts, 23 April 1919.

The Aaron Ward: The Navy’s ‘Quiet Warrior’

On the evening of 16 May 1919, three of the U.S. Navy’s new Curtiss flying boats began an epic journey to be the first to fly across the Atlantic Ocean ...

Andrew K. Blackley
March 2025
The second USS Panay (PR-5) on a standardization trial on 30 August 1928, off Woosung, China.

The Gunboats Panay

At the outset of an occupation of the Philippines that would last for decades, U.S. personnel took control of the Spanish gunboat Panay.

September 2024
The frigate Philadelphia in Tripoli Harbor, 16 February 1804, by Edward Moran (1829–1901). Previously captured by the Tripolitans, the frigate was boarded and burned by a party from the ketch Intrepid led by Lieutenant Stephen Decatur.

A Daring Little Ketch

When the coastal trading vessel Mastico sailed from Tripoli Harbor in North Africa in December 1803, her master set a course into the dangerous waters of the Mediterranean.

June 2024
A contemporary lithograph “sketched and drawn on stone by Parsons; lithographed and published by Endicott & Co., New York,” shows the ship uncluttered by sails.

The Service’s White Elephant

Perhaps the least known of the U.S. Navy’s Civil War–era ironclads was a highly innovative, technologically advanced, high-freeboard seagoing ship built solely to battle the Royal Navy.

March 2024
Shown in her early configuration in a circa 1900 photograph, the Iowa (Battleship No. 4) wears a white and buff paint scheme. Of interest is that while the border between the two colors is at the forecastle deck level, the aft main turret, on the main deck one level lower, is painted in both colors.

The Segue Ship

In the wake of the Civil War, the U.S. Navy was stagnant.

J. M. Caiella
February 2024
The Hoga battles fires on the battleship Nevada (BB-36) while lashed to the big ship’s bow. She still bears a dent in her hull, allegedly as a result of this event.

The Littlest Hero

Up the Arkansas River is the home of a U.S. Navy icon, one of only two surviving ships from the 7 December 1941 surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.

November 2023
The Eastwind is shown off the coast of Greenland in her World War II state, including her Arctic camouflage. Note the twin dual 5-inch/38-caliber gun houses fore and aft.

The Other Capture

Soon after the end of World War II in Europe, hitherto secrets of the fight against Germany became more widely known. One of the major headline-grabbing stories was the revelation ...

J. M. Caiella
October 2023