April 15th, 1912

The sinking of the S. S. Titanic

       April 15th, 2012, marks the one-hundred year anniversary of the sinking of the “unsinkable” S. S. Titanic after a collision with an iceberg.  The tragedy of the Titanic was not that such a large and well-built ship sank on her first and only voyage, but that she lacked sufficient life-saving equipment, which resulted in the unnecessary loss of many lives.  In observance of the fiftieth anniversary of the Titanic disaster, the April 1962 issue of Proceedings contained an article, written by John Carroll Carrothers, which detailed the Titanic‘s brief history, from the beginning of her first voyage to her final moments.  Carrothers’ article, reprinted below, noted the many factors which could have prevented the loss of so many lives, and perhaps even the sinking of the ship.

                The 50th anniversary of the world’s greatest and most tragic peacetime disaster at sea—the sinking of the S.S. Titanic on her maiden voyage—will be observed on 15 April 1962. Read the rest of this entry »

April 4th, 1949

NATO is established

       In the wake of World War II, and at the beginnings of the Cold War, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was founded between the United States, Canada, and a large number of European nations.  Ten years after the establishment of NATO, Proceedings published an article by Admiral W. F. Boone, USN, in its April 1959 issue.  The article focused on the objectives of NATO as well as the acheivements and challenges encountered during the first ten years of its existence.  Though establishing such an international union, especially in a time of peace, proved to be challenging for every member, the article, excerpted below, demonstrates that NATO, overall, has proven to be a success in preventing another global war.

        NATO is the keystone of the supporting arch of United States foreign policy. Read the rest of this entry »

April 2nd, 1827

Construction of the United States’ first Naval hospital begins

The original historically registered building remains a centerpiece of the complex after renovations and expansions.

        On April 2nd, 1827, the construction of the U. S. Navy’s first hospital began, in Portsmouth, Virginia.  Although the construction of this hospital, which was finally completed in 1830, took three years, it marked a great milestone in the history of U. S. naval medicine.  Previously, the Navy had been ill-equipped to aid its wounded sailors, especially in times of war, and the construction of a hospital dedicated solely to naval medicine at last paved the way to innovations that would prove invaluable, such as hospital boats from the Civil War onwards.  An article which appeared in the September 1929 issue of Proceedings, documented the history of naval medicine, from the very beginnings of the world’s first navies, to the developments later made by the twentieth-century American and European navies.  The article, written by Commander W. L. Mann (M. C.), USN, is excerpted below:

        A cursory review of the origin and development of the profession of naval medicine shows that it evolved during the days of the Roman Empire, almost disappeared as a distinct entity during the Dark Ages, and later became an organized medical service in the Venetian navy during the fourteenth century.   Read the rest of this entry »