Naval History Blog

SCORPION Project barge transported back down the Patuxent after the completion of the field work.

 On August 12, the NHHC Underwater Archaeology Branch (UAB), and its partners MD SHA and MHT, successfully completed the first phase of their three-year archaeological investigation of the Patuxent shipwreck believed to be the War of 1812 U.S. block sloop SCORPION.  Firstly, a big thank you to our on-site visitors who made the trip out to Upper Marlboro, MD.  It was great to see you and we really appreciate your support!  We were also glad to welcome members of the press on site to inform them about the SCORPION project, our partnerships and the NHHC and were pleased to see the story covered in the Washington Post, Baltimore Sun and The Capital (Annapolis). 

Underwater archaeologists preparing to dive on the wreck.

 During the first part of the two-week project, UAB’s team of underwater archaeologists, in cooperation with MD SHA and MHT, measured the site and extent of the wreck beneath the sediment via a process called “hydroprobing.”  Based on the data from the hydroprobe, the team was then able to determine which parts of the wreck most warranted investigation.  Archaeologists then removed the overburden (overlying sediment) from specific parts of the wreck using dredge systems; the sediment pulled from the wreck was suctioned up the dredge onto the barges where it was screened by capable staff.  Some artifacts were also recovered and brought back to the UAB Conservation and Archaeology Lab for stabilization, treatment and documentation.  

Again, the UA team is very grateful to MD SHA and MHT as well as URS and SUPSALV. With their help and cooperation, significant progress was made during Phase 1 and we look forward to working with them again on the next phase of the SCORPION project in summer 2011. We’re always glad to talk about the SCORPION project and answer any questions, so feel free to stop by our offices or send us an email (NHHCUnderwaterArchaeology@navy.mil) and stay tuned for more posts!

The first Missouri, a wooden-hulled sidewheel steam-frigate, was commissioned in early 1842. In the summer of 1843 she departed the United States, under the command of Captain John Taylor Newton, to convey a diplomat to Alexandria, Egypt. On the evening of 26 August, as Missouri lay in the harbor of Gibraltar, the accidental breakage of a demijohn of turpentine started a fire when the liquid fell upon a lighted lamp. Capt. Newton, paying the customary call on the governor of the crown colony, returned to Missouri when he learned of the fire. Some of Missouri’s crew had rigged the pumps and employed hoses, while others formed bucket brigades. British sailors from the 74-gun ship HMS Malabar also assisted in the vain attempt to quell the raging flames. Although a court of inquiry investigating Missouri’s loss found the captain guilty of negligence and he was temporarily suspended from duty, Newton praised the zealous efforts of his officers and men save the ship.

The second Missouri (Battleship No. 11) rendered aid to the earthquake-stricken city of Kingston, Jamaica, in January 1907, voyaged around the world with the Great White Fleet, and trained midshipmen once newer dreadnoughts joined the fleet. The third Missouri (BB 63) served with distinction in World War II, hosted the signing of the Japanese surrender in September 1945 in Tokyo Bay, and showed the Stars and Stripes in the eastern Mediterranean in the spring of 1946 to show American support of Greece and Turkey. She went on to serve in the Korean War and Operation Desert Storm, and lies moored today at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, as a memorial.

Today’s commissioning of the fourth Missouri (SSN 780) continues the legacy of valor and heroism which have been the hallmark of the name since the mid-19th century.

(DD–886: dp. 2,425; l. 390’6”; b. 41’1”; dr. 18’6”; s. 34 k.; cpl. 367; 6 5”, 16 40mm., 5 21” tt., 6 dcp., 2 dct., 1 dcp (hh); cl. Gearing)

Brandon Richards of KPLC 7 in Lake Charles, Louisiana reports:

It’s been sixty-five years since J.T. Platt last boarded the USS Orleck.  “I was one of the grunts. I did what I was told,” said Platt, who worked at Consolidated Steel Corporation, the group that built the Orleck starting in 1944.  Platt worked at the company in Orange, Texas from 1944 to 1945.

He left Consolidated Steel two months after the Orleck was commissioned. Platt was part of the original group from Consolidated Steel, responsible for making sure all of the equipment on board the Orleck was in working order. Platt was also in charge of making sure all of the ship’s wires were working properly…

Click here to read the rest of the story.  For a brief history of the USS Orleck as well as background information on her namesake, please click here.

To plan a visit to the USS Orleck Naval Memorial in Lake Charles, Louisiana, click here.

The USS Gravely (DDG-107) undergoing sea trials on June 23, 2010.

According to Navy News Service, “The Navy officially accepted delivery of the future USS Gravely from Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding during a ceremony July 26 in Pascagoula, Miss. Designated DDG 107, Gravely is the 57th ship of the Arleigh Burke class.” 

Moreover, according to Navy News Service, “The new destroyer honors the late Vice Adm. Samuel L. Gravely Jr., the first African American commissioned as an officer from the Navy Reserve Officer Training Course. He was the first African American to command a warship (USS Theodore E. Chandler); to command a major warship (USS Jouett); to achieve flag rank and eventually vice admiral; and to command a numbered fleet (Third).”

For more about the life of VADM Samuel L. Gravely, Jr., USN, please view our on-line exhibit by clicking here.

Atomic bomb testing at Bikini Atoll is the subject of this 1946 Navy documentary.

Sam Richards of the Contra Costa Times writes, “The National Park Service, in partnership with the U.S. Army and Friends of Port Chicago, will dedicate the newest national monument — by definition a national park “unit” — and honor all who served at Port Chicago Naval Base when two munitions ships and several boxcars exploded on July 17, 1944, north of Concord. Saturday is the 66th anniversary of the explosion that killed 320 men and injured nearly 400 others — the worst home front disaster of World War II.”

For more information and photos about the July 17, 1944 explosion at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine explosion Base, please view our frequently asked question on the subject.

USS Texas (BB-35) dressed with flags for Navy Day, 27 October 1940. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

In a 15 June 2010 Houston Chronicle article entitled “Near-Sinking Of Battleship Texas A ‘Wake-Up Call’“, Amanda Casanova writes:

Millions of dollars and major repairs have kept the iconic Battleship Texas afloat over the years, but last weekend it was a pump and a rag that stopped it from sinking into the Houston Ship Channel.

On Thursday, an employee at the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site, where the Texas is moored, noticed the 96-year-old ship was sitting lower in the water than usual when he left the park…

… A combination of a pump failure and leaks — at least one new one — had caused the ship to take on at least 105,000 gallons of water and sink nearly three feet into the channel. By Saturday, replacement pumps and a rag stuffed into the new leak had righted the ship, and it was stabilized on Sunday… Tours of the ship continued throughout the weekend.” 

2014 marks the Centennial of the USS Texas’ commissioning.  

For a complete history of the USS Texas (BB- 35 ), click here.  For additional photos of the USS Texas from our photo archives, click here.

From David F. Winkler

Naval Historical Foundation

For the ninth time since the centennial of the U.S. submarine force in 2000, the Naval Submarine League and the Naval Historical Foundation teamed to organize an evening seminar at the U.S. Navy Memorial last April 15th that focused on an aspect of undersea warfare. With the sponsorship of Northrop Grumman Marine Systems, this year’s seminar was entitled: “Ocean Surveillance During the Cold War: Sensing, Fusion, Exploitation.”

What made this annual submarine history seminar uniqueWAS that the three presenters had backgrounds other than the submarine force. Following introductory remarks by Naval Historical Foundation President Vice Admiral Robert F. Dunn and former Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence Captain William H.J. Manthorpe, Rear Admiral Thomas Brooks provided the audience with an overview of the Ocean Surveillance Information System (OSIS).

A former Director of Naval Intelligence, Brooks depended on multiple sensors to keep track OF Soviet naval forces. He STATED that the need for a systematic approach became apparent in the 1960s as the Soviet Navy transitioned from a coastal defense force to a blue water navy. As the Soviet ability to launch missiles tipped with nuclear warheads from submarines evolved during that decade, the need to detect, process, and disseminate reports to commanders accelerated.

It quickly became apparent that flagships of that time period did not have the capacity to assimilate the data. To support the Sixth Fleet, the Navy established Fleet Oceanographic Surveillance Intelligence Facility Rota in the late 1960s. The Navy later established four other facilities/centers to support other fleet commanders and these five OSIS nodes fed the National Oceanographic Surveillance Intelligence Center in Suitland, Maryland.

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