Today’s submariners can glean valuable examples of tactical positioning from the Age of Fighting Sail. In her February 1815 showdown with HMS Cyane (right) and Levant (left), the USS Constitution managed to best both adversaries; James Fenimore Cooper hailed the action as being “among the most brilliant maneuvering in naval annals.”

Fighting Sail. . . and Submarines

To prepare for modern submarine-vs.-submarine combat, look to the lessons from the glory days of oak and canvas.

Commander Jeff Vandenengel, U.S. Navy
August 2024
Spanish vessels gathering at Cadiz, Spain, in preparation for an invasion of England are put to the torch by Sir Francis Drake in a daring preemptive strike, 1587.

Drake’s Raid on Cadiz

How Sir Francis Drake took the fight to the enemy and stymied the Spanish Armada’s preparations for the invasion of England.

Chuck Lyons
August 2024
Allied troops loading into landing craft, infantry at a North African port in preparation for Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily.

‘A Glorious Retreat’ The Evacuation of Sicily

The Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943 exceeded expectations—but more than 100,000 Axis troops managed to slip away to fight another day.

Lieutenant Colonel Brian Kerg, U.S. Marine Corps
August 2024
Oily survivors from the torpedoed USS Helena are taken aboard the USS Nicholas (DD-449) after the July 1943 Battle of Kula Gulf.

Night Fight at Kula Gulf

Revisiting the fierce July 1943 battle fought in darkness between U.S. and Japanese naval forces during the New Georgia campaign.

Leonard R. Heinz
August 2024
t the entrance to Charleston Harbor in August 1863, heavy artillery pounds Confederate-held Fort Wagner, while ironclads fire on Fort Sumter.

Turnover and Turmoil off Charleston

The “Cradle of the Confederacy” was always going to be a tough nut to crack, but for Rear Admiral John Dahlgren, losing one chief of staff after another made matters ...

Neil P. Chatelain
August 2024
An amphibious transport aircraft, a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ShinMaywa US-2, lands on the water at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, in January 2023.

Amphibiosity Is Up in the Air

Amphibious aircraft could connect warfare domains and support DMO.

Lieutenant Commander Michael Ackman, U.S. Navy
July 2024