Naval Historical Foundation Blog | Naval Historical Foundation

All Present and Accounted For: The 1972 Grounding of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Jarvis and the Heroic Efforts that Saved the Ship

January 20, 2022Tyler RobinsonBook Reviews, BooksBering Sea, coast guard, Ellen Ahlness, Rescue, Steven Craig

Reviewed by Ellen A. Ahlness, PhD All Present and Accounted For is a comprehensive, well-researched, and well-narrated case study in U.S. Coast Guard History. Throughout his narration of this disastrous grounding, Craig ensures the historical rendering is never sterile; instead, it maintains an eye to the human experience of a complicated event in U.S. Military history.

The Initiation of Chief Petty Officers: A Tradition of Change — SECOND SATURDAY WEBINAR

January 15, 2022Tyler RobinsonEvent, Second SaturdayApril Beldo-Lilley, CPO, enlisted, Jim Leuci, MCPON, Mike Stevens, Traditions

We are joined today by former MCPON Mike Stevens, the 13th Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy, and FLTCM April Beldo-Lilley to weigh in on the subject.

History of the Chief Petty Officer Grade

January 13, 2022Tyler RobinsonThursday Tidings1 Comment

By CWO-4 Lester B. Tucker, USN (Ret.) Originally Published in Pull Together Vol. 32 No. 1 (Spring/Summer 1993) It is a sure bet that one of the proudest days in an enlisted individual’s naval service is the date on which a first-class petty officer dons the uniform and is accepted into the Chief Petty Officer

The Indestructible Man: The Incredible True Story of the Legendary Sailor the Japanese Couldn’t Kill

January 13, 2022Tyler RobinsonBook Reviews, BooksBrian Hayes, David Rocco, Dixie Kiefer, don keith, pacific war

Reviewed by LCDR Brian Hayes, USNR (Ret.) The Indestructible Man tells the story of Dixie Kiefer, a naval officer and aviator who served in several of the legendary battles of World War II’s Pacific Theater. Kiefer has been the subject of profiles by the Naval History and Heritage Command and other Internet and print publications,

Admiral Jeremy Michael Boorda: A Case Study in Deck-plate Leadership

January 13, 2022Tyler RobinsonThursday Tidings1 Comment

By CAPT James “Ros” Poplar III, USN (Ret.) As a thirty-year Surface Warfare Officer from 1974-2004 I had the opportunity to work for numerous leaders but by far one of the best was Admiral “Mike” Boorda where our wakes crossed twice. First during his tenure as Chief of Naval Operations from 1994-1996 and secondly after his

Avenging Pearl Harbor: The Saga of America’s Battleships in the Pacific War

January 13, 2022Tyler RobinsonBook Reviews, BooksCharles C. Kolb, Keith Warren Lloyd, pacific war, pearl harbor

Reviewed by Charles C. Kolb, Ph.D. 80 years after the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor, new books are being published on topics leading up to that event, the attack itself, and its aftermath. A volume titled Avenging Pearl Harbor: The Saga of America’s Battleships in the Pacific War has been written by U.S. Navy veteran

The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans

January 6, 2022Tyler RobinsonBook Reviews, Books

Reviewed by Ingo Heidbrink David Bosco’s new book The Poseidon Project provides not only a historical account of the development of the international Law of the Sea from Early Modern times to the present day, but also an easily accessible guide to key legal concepts in this complex area of international law. Comprising eight chapters

U.S. Aircraft Carriers 1939-45

December 23, 2021Tyler RobinsonBook Reviews, Booksaircraft carriers, Casemate Illustrated Special, Ingo Bauernfeind, Richard Dick, World War II

Reviewed by CAPT Richard Dick, USN (Ret.) U.S. Aircraft Carriers 1939-45 is an excellent 2021 addition to the Casemate Illustrated Specials series. This slim volume offers a surprisingly comprehensive overview of American carriers that served in World War II as well as those that belonged to wartime classes but were completed only in the aftermath

The Mayaguez Crisis, Mission Command, and Civil-Military Relations

December 22, 2021Tyler RobinsonBook Reviews, BooksChristopher J. Lamb, Civil-Military Relations, Joseph Ilk, Khmer Rouge, piracy, Vietnam War

Reviewed by LCDR Joseph L. Ilk, SC, USNR (Ret.) “On May 12, 1975 – only two weeks after the fall of Saigon and the collapse of South Vietnam – Cambodian Khmer Rouge forces boarded and seized the U.S. merchant vessel SS Mayaguez in international waters and took its crew hostage.” Thus begins Dr. Christopher J.

Into the Iron Triangle: Operation Attleboro and the Battle of North Saigon, 1966

December 16, 2021Tyler RobinsonBook Reviews, BooksArrigo Velicogna, Asia@War Series, irregular warfare, Stephen Tribble, Vietnam War

Reviewed by LTC Stephen A. Tribble, Ph.D., USA Common perceptions of the Vietnam War include visions of guerrilla warfare, airmobile infantry, strategic bombing, tactical air support, and unprepared American draftee replacements heading off to a foreign land to fight an enduring war against an unrelenting enemy. In Into the Iron Triangle: Operation Attleboro and the

The Medic: A World War II Story of Imprisonment, Hope, and Survival

December 9, 2021Tyler RobinsonBook Reviews, BooksClaire Swedberg, Diana ahmad, memoir, pacific war, Philippines, POW, World War II

Reviewed By Dr. Diana Ahmad Stationed at Ft. McKinley Hospital Clinic in the Philippines on the day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Henry “Hank” T. Chamberlain became a prisoner of war (POW) of the Japanese by April 1942. Trained as an Army Medic and surgical technician prior to the start of the war, Chamberlain used

“Slapshot” on Cruise: Top Gun (1986)

December 7, 2021Tyler RobinsonFeatured Videos

Top Gun student, then-Lieutenant Slapshot Carter on working with Tom Cruise on the first Top Gun movie, along with the Navy pilots, air crew, and public affairs advisors who also supported the movie., with special thanks to our NHF board member, then-Secretary of the Navy, John F. Lehman. View the full webinar HERE.

“A Date Which Will Live in Infamy…” Reflections from Ten U.S. Navy Sailors Who Witnessed the Pearl Harbor Attack

December 6, 2021Tyler RobinsonThursday TidingsKyle Nappi, pearl harbor, uss arizona, World War II

By Kyle Nappi Three years ago, I visited the oil-leaking wreckage of the battleship USS Arizona (among other solemn locations) in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Now, eighty years since America’s Day of Infamy, I pause and reflect on those hallowed grounds in Oahu as well as the dwindling number of military veterans who witnessed and survived

Pearl Harbor and the Kimmel Controversy— Second Saturday Webinar

December 4, 2021Tyler RobinsonEvent, Second SaturdayAdmiral Husband E. Kimmel, david rosenberg, leadership, pearl harbor, Randy Papadopoulos, Steven Honigman, Ward Carroll, World War II

On December 7, 1999, the Naval Historical Foundation hosted a colloquium at the U.S. Navy Memorial to discuss the question of accountability for the tragic losses suffered 58 years prior. Join us as we revisit this issue ahead of the 80th anniversary of the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. This webinar features an introduction

Navy Chaplains at Pearl Harbor

December 2, 2021Tyler RobinsonThursday Tidingschaplaincy, pearl harbor, Sean Walsh, World War II

By LCDR Sean Walsh, USN (Ret.) Following up on last week’s commemoration of the 246th anniversary of the Chaplain Corps, the NHF would like to acknowledge the service of Navy chaplains during the attack at Pearl Harbor. At the time of Pearl Harbor, the Chaplain Corps had only 192 chaplains on active duty (105 Regular

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