Naval History Digital Edition

August 2009

A digital edition of the August issue of Naval History is available for current USNI members to view. The magazine image below is a link to the online magazine and ...

Ship to Stateside in a Dozen Days

By Commander Edward P. Stafford, U.S. Navy (Retired)

August 2009

For a Naval Reserve lieutenant (j.g.), the trip home from World War II's Mediterranean theater had more than a few twists and turns.

Book Reviews

August 2009

The Attack on the Liberty: The Untold Story of Israel's Deadly 1967 Assault on a U.S. Spy Ship James Scott. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2009. 374 pp. Illus ...

Naval History News

August 2009

Retrieving Lost Honor at Tarawa Sixty-six years ago, Leon Cooper was a 22-year-old Navy ensign dodging bombs and bullets as hundreds of Marines died around him while they struggled to ...

What Went Wrong at Koro?

By William H. Bartsch

August 2009

Although the 7 August 1942 U.S. landings on Guadalcanal and nearby islands were successful, the rehearsals for them in the Fijis were a complete bust.

Nothing Like First-Hand History

By Paul Stillwell

August 2009

For 40 years, the Naval Institutes Oral History program has been preserving reminiscences of key Navy and Coast Guard personnel.

Complementary Keys to Naval Victory

By Heidi Holz

August 2009

A tactical genius, Korean Admiral Yi Sun-sin used his innovative turtle ships to best advantage against Japanese fleets during the late-16th-century Imjin War.

Lessons Unlearned: The Camarioca Boatlift

By Senior Chief Marine Science Technician Dennis L. Noble, U.S. Coast Guard (Ret.)

August 2009

A 1965 refugee exodus from Cuba stretched U.S. Coast Guard resources thin.

Death on the River

By Noah Andre Trudeau

August 2009

Packed on board the riverboat Sultana when her boilers blew, recently freed Union POWs faced being consumed by flames or drowning in the Mississippi.

Fahey's Legacy

By Paul Stillwell

August 2009

The year 1939 was a busy one-filled with events that are still discussed 70 years later: movie classics such as The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind, the ...

Getting the Feel of Frigate Sailor Life

By Sarah H. Watkins

August 2009

A new exhibit at the USS Constitution Museum gives visiting recruits a chance to experience life on board a man-o-war in 1812.

The Butcher's Bill

By Commander Tyrone G. Martin, U.S. Navy (Retired)

August 2009

Wounded by musket balls, round shot, langrage, and a splinter, Old Ironside's Guerriere casualties received treatment ranging from enemas to amputation.

'Children of the Storm' Life at Sea in the First Six Frigates

By Charles E. Brodine Jr.

August 2009

For an early 19th-century Sailor, one of the choicest assignments available was service in one of the U.S. Navy's fast, powerful frigates.

Historic Aircraft

Norman Polmar, Author, Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet

August 2009

Big Brother is Flying If the C-47/R4D Skytrain—the military version of the Douglas DC-3 airliner—was the most successful transport aircraft of the World War II era, its big brother, the ...

The Oldest Submarine at Midway

By Robert J. Cressman

August 2009

A powerful Japanese force of four fleet carriers screened by fast battleships, cruisers, and destroyers launched 107 planes early on 4 June 1942, its commander believing that surprise had been ...

In Contact

August 2009

'The Underwater Navy at Normandy' (See R. S. Neyland, pp. 37-40, June 2009 Naval History) Master Chief Boatswain's Mate Edward Ries, U.S. Navy (Retired) The side-scan sonar image on ...

On Our Scope

August 2009

The Navy celebrates its birthday, with no great enthusiasm, every 13 October. On that date in 1775 the Continental Congress authorized the outfitting of two ten-gun vessels. In the wake ...

Museum Report

By William S. Dudley

August 2009

The First Gallery For those who enjoy the ultimate in the art of building ship models, a visit to the new model exhibit at the U.S. Naval Academy Museum is ...