Naval History Blog

From the Marine Corps History Division…

A debate persists as to what constituted the first hostile action for U.S. naval aviation (the earliest distinctions between Navy and Marine aviation were marginal).  Some argue the scouting flights in the Veracruz action in 1914, in which Navy and Marine pilots participated, was the first occasion when naval aviation planes came under fire of an enemy.  Two purported “bullet” holes were noticed on two different planes at different times.  However, at least one of these holes was believed by the pilot to merely be the result of an errant screwdriver. 

Whether the incident constituted proof of the first incident of aviation combat or the active imagination of a pilot, it prompted concern of military aircraft fuel tanks.  With the anticipation of U.S. aircraft joining the fight in World War I, this concern was revivified and a “bullet-proof” self-sealing gas tank was first demonstrated to the Army and Navy by the Bureau of Standards on 18 May 1917.  They consisted of double walled galvanized iron containing layers of felt,gum rubber, and an Ivory soap-whiting paste.

John Freeman Mackie was born on 1 October 1835 in New York City. Working there as a silversmith, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on 24 April 1861.  His first assignment was on the USS Savannah as part of the ship’s Marine Detachment. On 1 March 1862, Mackie was promoted to the rank of corporal and was assigned to the ironclad U.S.S. Galena under the command of Commander John Rodgers.

On 15 May 1862, a small Union navy flotilla which included the Galena, Aroostook, Port Royal, Naugatuck and the famous USS Monitor attacked Confederate Fort Darling, located about 4 miles below Richmond, Virginia, near a bend in the James River called Drewry’s Bluff. Fort Darling, sited on top of the bluff, guarded the river entrance to the Confederate capital and was of tremendous strategic importance to the rebel cause. At 0600 Galena opened fire on the well-defended fort, but this attack was strongly resisted by the Confederates. Almost immediately Commander Rodgers was severely wounded by a Confederate shell. Early on in the fighting it was obvious that the Union ships were at a clear disadvantage. The well-armored USS Monitor was unable to elevate its guns to properly target the fort and a hundred pound gun on the Naugatuck exploded and forced that ship to also retire out of range. The Port Royal and Aroostook were both wooden hulls and not able to withstand the plunging fire from the fort. Thus the lone remaining ironclad, Galena, was forced to fight alone for over four hours.

While the Galena was indeed considered an ironclad ship, its armor was still fairly thin as compared to that of the more powerful USS Monitor. Confederate rounds from the fort repeatedly penetrated Galena’s armor plating and caused a significant number of casualties. To make matters worse, Confederate Marines manning rifle pits on the nearby riverbank used sharpshooters to pick off any exposed personnel. At the height of the fighting, a 10-inch round once again penetrated Galena’s armor belt and smashed into one of its 100 pound Parrot guns, killing nearly its entire crew.  Shouting, “come on boys, here’s a chance for the Marines,” Mackie and a number of nearby comrades quickly manned the Parrot rifle and kept the weapon in action.

By noon, the Galena was entirely out of ammunition and Commander Rodgers moved the vessel down river and safely out of range. During the intense fighting in front of Fort Darling, the Galena had been hit dozens of times by solid shot. Twelve sailors and one Marine had been killed and eleven more men were wounded.

For his conspicuous performance in combat at the battle of Drewry’s Bluff, Mackie was promoted to sergeant and recommended for the Medal of Honor. Reassigned to the USS Seminole, Mackie received the medal on 10 July 1863 while anchored off Sabine Pass in Texas. He was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps on 23 August 1865 in Boston, Massachusetts after having served over 4 years of continuous service. During his time on active duty, Mackie had participated in sixteen major naval engagements and was in dozens of skirmishes in his role as a Marine assigned to Union navy ships. The only wartime injury he received occurred in January 1864 when he was struck in the head with a chain hook while trying to quell a group of rioting Seminole sailors. Mackie was the first U.S. Marine to receive the Medal of Honor.

69 years ago today, the gallant defenders of Wake Island surrendered to a numerically superior Japanese force. 

This wartime poster depicts Marines of the 1st Defense Battalion manning an M1917A1 machine gun during the defense of Wake Island in December 1941. USMC Poster.

The Bolshevik seizure of power following the 1917 October Revolution plunged Russia into a protracted and bloody civil war. The Civil War’s destabilizing affects led to an international intervention. Among this international group were Great Britain, France, Japan, China, and the United States. Between 1918 and 1920, the allied powers deployed military expeditions to major Russian ports to protect allied citizens and support anti-communist forces.

One place where the United States Navy and Marine Corps participated in this effort was the Siberian port of Vladivostok, where U.S.S. Brooklyn under Rear Admiral Austin M. Knight was stationed in order to protect U.S. interests. During the spring and summer of 1918 the Czech Legion, a Czechoslovakian military force that had fought with the Russian Tsar’s army, found itself in open conflict with the Bolsheviks. The Czech forces subsequently seized a number of cities across Siberia. On June 29th, the Legion took control of Vladivostok and arrested the Bolsheviks in the city. That day, Admiral Knight deployed a detachment of 31 Marines under the command of 2nd Lieutenant Conrad S. Grove to guard the American consulate and maintain security. On July 6th, Admiral Knight, together with representatives from British and Chinese forces, issued a statement that the city would be taken under the protection of the Allied Powers, which would use all means necessary, “for its defense against dangers both external and internal.” The Consulate Guard remained until August 10th and a Marine Corps patrol was maintained at the Russian Navy Yard between August 4th and August 24th.

Between 1918 and 1922, Vladivostok became an important center for Russians fleeing the Bolshevik regime. Many came to the city on their way to safety in countries such as China, Australia, and the United States. During this period, U.S. Marines would make two more landings. On July 30, 1919, 31 Marines under 1st Lieutenant Leland S. Swindler disembarked from the New Orleans for two days to protect American interests in the nearby town of Tyutuke Bay. The next year, Marines were deployed to guard a U.S. backed radio station on Rusky Island, in Vladivostok Bay. The guard remained on the island until November 1922.

Throughout this period in Vladivostok, Marines and sailors worked together to protect American and international interests, maintain order, and protect individuals fleeing the Bolshevik regime during a period of great instability and uncertainty.

The Navy’s 1983 report on the Beirut Marine Barracks bombing, including homecoming for the wounded, and a memorial for those killed.

This 2009 Navy documentary chronicles the compelling stories recalled by Navy Medical Department personnel – physicians, dentists, nurses, and hospital corpsmen during the final year of World War II. 

Part 1 begins with the invasion of Okinawa, and includes an interview with Hospital Apprentice First Class Robert Bush, awarded the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry on Okinawa. 

Part 2 includes emotional interviews with Navy veterans who survived kamikaze attacks while serving on board ships stationed off Okinawa . 

In Part 3, former American POW’s recall hearing the news of Japanese surrender while being held in prison camps, and the subsequent air drop of relief supplies by American aircraft. 

Part 4 details the medical conditions and treatment of released American POW’s at the end of World War II, as well as their difficulties on arriving home. 

Part 5 concludes the film with closing thoughts from veterans of World War II.

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As Fidel Castro worked furiously to build an offensive missile capability in the Caribbean in the fall of 1962, the Navy/Marine Corps team utilized his folly as an opportunity to demonstrate its inherent synergy.

Navy Light Photographic Squadron Sixty-Two (VFP-62), stationed at Cecil Field, Jacksonville, Florida, received the warning order in early October to have 8 camera-ready RF-8A Crusaders ready to launch from Naval Air Station (NAS) Key West on short notice. The mission was treacherously simple: confirm the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba.

Shortly thereafter, the Second Marine Aircraft Wing (2d MAW) at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina received tasking to augment VFP-62 with Marine photo Crusaders. After a monumental effort to update the camera suite on the aircraft, a Marine Composite Reconnaissance Squadron Two (VMCJ-2) detachment of four Crusaders linked up with VFP-62 at Cecil Field on 21 October and flew with them to NAS Key West the following day.

Marine photo reconnaissance pilots flew their Crusaders along side the Navy aircraft for the duration of the crisis. The joint service unit documented the operational state of the Russian missiles and confirmed their dismantling during the crucial last week in October. They then documented the retrograde of the Russian ships as they carried the missiles back across the Atlantic.

With one exception, the Marines flew their own aircraft as wingman or lead in section with Navy aircraft. On 10 November Commander Ecker, the squadron Commanding Officer, authorized an all-Marine mission to commemorate the 187th birthday of the Marine Corps. President Kennedy attested to the effectiveness of this powerful Navy/Marine team by personally presenting it the Navy Unit Commendation.