Paul Kennedy was expecting to sleep in on the morning of December 7, 1941. He had been on deck duty on board the U.S.S. Sacramento at Pearl Harbor until 4 a.m., then grabbed coffee with a buddy and hadn’t gone to bed until 5:30 a.m. So, when alarms sounded at around 8 a.m. as a ...read more
John F. Kennedy’s heroics during World War II earned him a Navy and Marine Corps Medal and a Purple Heart—he is the only U.S. president to have earned either of those honors. Kennedy’s political supporters made a big deal of JFK’s military honors, but when asked exactly how he ...read more
It happened in moments—a gust of whipping wind. Suddenly, the USS Akron, a dirigible performing exercises off the coast of New Jersey, felt more like a flimsy toy than one of the most advanced aircrafts of its age. Then it happened. Buffeted by winds, the airship plummeted toward ...read more
In August 2017, researchers announced they had found one of history’s most significant—and sought-after—shipwrecks. More than 72 years after it sank in July 1945, the final resting place of USS Indianapolis has been discovered in the Pacific Ocean. But the heavy cruiser isn’t ...read more
History of the Tomahawk cruise missile The Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) is an American-developed weapon classified as a cruise missile, which is an unmanned jet-propelled aircraft that uses guidance systems to seek and destroy targets. The missiles are approximately 21 ...read more
The Tangi Valley, located along the border between Afghanistan’s Wardak and Logar provinces some 80 miles southwest of Kabul, is a remote, inaccessible area known for its resistance to foreign invasion. Alexander the Great suffered heavy troop losses there during his campaign in ...read more
1. D-Day Landings – 1944 On June 6, 1944, some 175 members of Naval Combat Demolition Units (NCDUs)— predecessors of the Navy SEALS–were among the first invading forces to arrive on the beaches of Normandy. Approaching under heavy German fire, the demolitionists used explosives ...read more
After more than 3,000 Marines were killed in the Battle of Tarawa (November 1943), it became clear that the U.S. military was in need of better pre-invasion intelligence. Enter the Naval Combat Demolition Units and Underwater Demolition Teams (UDTs), the forerunners of today’s ...read more
1. The origin of America’s special forces can be traced all the way back to 1676. King Philip’s War, in which Native Americans clashed with British settlers and their Indian allies, was one of the bloodiest conflicts (per capita) in American history. In 1676, Governor Josiah ...read more
Unlike any American before him, Chris Kyle performed his job with pinpoint accuracy. As a sharpshooter serving in Iraq, that job had deadly results. The Pentagon has credited Kyle with over 160 kills. The actual number could be almost double. The most lethal sniper in American ...read more
Chester W. Nimitz graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1905 and served as chief of staff to the commander of the U.S. Atlantic submarine force during the First World War. By 1939, he had risen to become chief of the Navy’s Bureau of Navigation. After the bombing ...read more
Laden with weapons and gear, Petty Officer Marcus Luttrell grasped the rope dangling from the rear of the Chinook transport helicopter and descended into the moonless night. Twenty feet down, his boots touched ground in the remote mountains of northeastern Afghanistan near the ...read more
The operation rescued Dr. Dilip Joseph of Colorado Springs, who had been kidnapped by the Taliban outside Kabul several days earlier along with two Afghan coworkers. According to U.S. officials, the kidnappers demanded a ransom of $100,000 from Joseph’s employer, Morning Star ...read more
Around 2 p.m. on the afternoon of August 19, 1812, a lookout aboard USS Constitution spied a sail against the cloudy southern horizon. The newsflash brought the frigate’s commanding officer, Captain Isaac Hull, and his charges “flocking up like pigeons from a net bed,” according ...read more
Originally known as SEAL Team Six, the United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DevGru) is one of several publicly disclosed units under the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), an elite and highly classified group that coordinates counterterrorism and other ...read more
The United States Naval Academy opens in Annapolis, Maryland, with 50 midshipmen students and seven professors. Known as the Naval School until 1850, the curriculum included mathematics and navigation, gunnery and steam, chemistry, English, natural philosophy, and French. The ...read more
In Annapolis, Maryland, the United States Naval Academy admits women for the first time in its history with the induction of 81 female midshipmen. In May 1980, Elizabeth Anne Rowe became the first woman member of the class to graduate. Four years later, Kristine Holderied became ...read more
On this day in 1776, during the Revolutionary War, the American submersible craft Turtle attempts to attach a time bomb to the hull of British Admiral Richard Howe’s flagship Eagle in New York Harbor. It was the first use of a submarine in warfare. Submarines were first built by ...read more
On this day in 1776, Navy Captain John Barry, commander of the American warship Lexington, makes the first American naval capture of a British vessel when he takes command of the British warship HMS Edward off the coast of Virginia. The capture of the Edward and its cargo turned ...read more
On this day in 1775, the Continental Congress appoints seven members to serve on an administrative naval committee tasked with the acquisition, outfitting and manning of a naval fleet to be used in defense against the British. Almost two weeks earlier, on October 13, 1775, ...read more
On this day in 1775, the Continental Congress authorizes construction and administration of the first American naval force—the precursor to the United States Navy. Since the outbreak of open hostilities with the British in April, little consideration had been given to protection ...read more
On this day, the Navy Airship Patrol Group 1 and Air Ship Squadron 12 are established at Lakehurst, N.J. The U.S. Navy was the only military service in the world to use airships–also known as blimps–during the war. The U.S. Navy was actually behind the times in the use of blimps; ...read more
