In 1909 the governance of the Navy was vested in the Secretary of the Navy, and under him the afloat commanders and the chiefs of bureaus responsible for the Navy’s material requirements, such as the Bureau of Yards and Docks. SECNAV had no operational director or advisor, and no one responsible for coordinating the work of the bureaus. Coordination problems with operations and with ship construction led to a long and sometimes very public discussion about the need for a senior uniformed advisor and military staff for SECNAV. Statutory authorization for such an advisor and staff was unlikely because of concerns among senior leadership that such an organizational change would create a German-style general staff and diminish the authority of the Bureaus.

On 1 December 1909 SECNAV George von L. Meyer took matters into his own hands, establishing on his own authority an “aide system”—four rear admirals, responsible respectively for Operations, Material, Personnel, and Inspections—to provide SECNAV with advice and professional information on the coordination of the work of the bureaus. These positions had no statutory existence and therefore only as much authority as SECNAV chose to (and could by law) provide them. In fact Meyer’s successor, Josephus Daniels, did not support the aide system, and allowed three of the four aide positions to dissolve. The remaining Aide for Operations position laid the groundwork for the establishment of the Navy’s highest ranking post.

On 3 March 1915 Congress passed the naval appropriation act for FY 1916, which established the position of Chief of Naval Operations as we know it today.

November 19th, 1969

Navy astronauts become 3rd and 4th men to walk on the moon.

“The impact of man in space and man on the Moon has been felt in almost all segments of our society.  The astronauts are in every sense explorers who have broadened the limits of mankind’s environment . . .”

        On November 19th, 1969, CDR Charles Conrad Jr. and CDR Alan L. Bean became the third and fourth men to walk on the moon.  Conrad and Bean were members of the all-Navy crew in the Apollo 12 mission, along with CDR Richard F. Gordon, Jr., the mission’s Command Module Pilot.  In the October 1972 issue of Proceedings, Midshipman Second Class Raymon Paul Wiggers, Jr., U. S. Naval Reserve, described the Apollo 12 mission in an article about the Navy’s invaluable role in the United States Astronaut Corps.  This detailed history examined the importance of Navy astronauts in the success of NASA’s missions, and speculated on the fate of the space program following the acheivements of the Apollo lunar missions.

         In the exploration of a world consisting of island continents surrounded by vast oceans, it is not difficult to understand why explorers have often been men of the sea.  Throughout history, the great seafaring nations, using their navies and maritime fleets, have predominated in the great discoveries.   Read the rest of this entry »

November 10th, 1775

Congress Establishes U. S. Marine Corps

The First Recruits, December 1775, by Col. Charles Waterhouse, USMCR, shows Capt. Samuel Nicholas, 1st Lt. Matthew Parke, and a scowling sergeant with prospective Leathernecks on the Philadelphia waterfront. (USMC Art Collection)

        236 years ago, the Continental Congress first established the Marine Corps to assist the Continental Navy in the American Revolution.  At the time, Marines were already serving in various State Navies, and their exemplary service conviced the Congress that a Marine Corps would be of great value in winning the Revolution.  An article in the June 1923 issue of Proceedings, by Major Edwin N. McClellan, USMC, documents vividly the first years of the U. S. Marine Corps.  McClellan’s article gives a detailed account of the founding of the Marine Corps, as well as  its recruiting methods, the many services perfomed by Marines, and even the uniform and salary given to the Continental Marines.  Noting the great role played by the Marine Corps in the American revolution, the article begins with a quote from the American writer, James Fenimore Cooper:

        “At no period of the naval history of the world, is it probable that Marines were more important than during the War of the Revolution,” wrote J. Fenimore Cooper, and “the history of the Navy, even at that early day, as well as in these later times, abounds with instances of the gallantry and self-devotion of this body of soldiers.” Read the rest of this entry »

On 31 October 1956 an R4D Skytrain named “Que Sera Sera” landed on the ice at the South Pole carrying seven Navy men – pilot LCdr. Conrad S. Shinn; copilot Capt. William. M. Hawkes; navigator Lt. John Swadener; crew chief AD2 John P. Strider; radioman AT2 William Cumbie; Rear Adm. George J. Dufek, Commander Task Force 43 and Commander Naval Support Forces, Antarctica; and Capt. Douglas L. L. Cordiner, Commanding Officer of Antarctic Development Squadron 6.

As the crew disembarked they became the first men to stand at the South Pole since Capt. Robert F. Scott of the British Royal Navy had accomplished the feat in January 1912.

The party remained at the pole for 49 minutes setting up navigational aids to assist the future delivery of materials and equipment for constructing a scientific obser¬vation station at the South Pole as part of Operation Deep Freeze, the Navy’s support of scientific missions in Antartica.

A fierce battle erupted in Afghanistan as a Taliban armored column attempted to overrun a team of Green Berets, on Thursday 25 October 2001. Barely a month after 9/11, fighting flared across the embattled country as special operators fought alongside allied tribesmen to direct air strikes against Usama bin Lāden and his al-Qāidah (The Base) thugs, and Mullah (master) Muhammad A. Umar and his Taliban extremists.

The Green Berets desperately called in close air support, and the pilots included Major Brantley A. “Junk” Bond, USMC, of VMFA-251 Thunderbolts, embarked on board Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71). As Bond rolled in, enemy gunners opened up intense fire, but undaunted, the Marine maneuvered his F/A-18C Hornet into tight turns and blasted the tribesmen one-by-one, knocking out four or five anti-aircraft guns.

The forward air controller realized that Bond had a better view of the enemy and passed control of the other aircraft to the Marine. Wasting no time, Junk Bond dropped a five hundred pound bomb about sixty yards in front of a tank, close enough that the concussion knocked the tank out and probably wounded some of the crew.

The explosion flushed out other tanks and armored personnel carriers, and the terrorists and their supporters perceived their precarious position and attempted to disperse, but as each pilot checked in with him, Bond “lazed” (laser designated for guided ordnance) their targets, directing a veritable storm of fire against the enemy. All told, aircrew put as many as fifteen vehicles out of action, and Bond received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his intrepidity during the critical battle.

Dr. Raymond Hayes (left) and Head Conservator George Schwarz examine p-XRF data taken from a Civil War-era Aston pistol recovered from USS HOUSATONIC at the Underwater Archaeology & Conservation Laboratory.

NHHC volunteer, Dr. Raymond Hayes, Professor Emeritus at Howard University, Washington DC, and Woods Hole Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA, has partnered with the Underwater Archaeology & Conservation Laboratory (UACL) to analyze archaeological materials from historic naval shipwrecks.

Dr. Hayes has been awarded a Research & Discovery Grant from Olympus INNOV-X to examine archaeological components from shipwrecks using an innovative Delta portable X-Ray Fluorescence (pXRF) unit.  This state-of-the-art technology uses an x-ray beam to identify the specific elements present within archaeological material.  Dr. Hayes’ research endeavors to use this data to trace the elemental composition of a wood sample back to original construction materials, marine sediments, and sealing or fastening materials applied to wooden ships. Included in the study are data from USS Housatonic, USS Tulip, and CSS Alabama, as well as recently recovered artifacts from the 2011 USS Scorpion field project, the archaeological investigation of a Patuxent River shipwreck believed to be the flagship of the Chesapeake Bay Flotilla, which fought to defend Washington D.C. from the British during the War of 1812. As part of the Navy’s commemoration of the Flotilla’s important role in the War of 1812, a full excavation of the USS Scorpion site is anticipated.

Scientific technologies like pXRF provide archaeologists and conservators valuable chemical information that can be used to better conserve and interpret submerged cultural heritage.  An innovative feature of pXRF devices is that they can be used in both the laboratory and the field to analyze artifacts recovered from wet environments.  Artifacts from underwater sites can be difficult to initially identify as they may be encased within thick concretions or obscured by unidentifiable corrosion products, however, pXRF data can give archaeologists data which can signal the presence of an artifact. 

Detail of portable X-Ray Fluorescence machine collecting data from Civil War-era pistol.

Following recovery from underwater archaeological sites, artifacts are particularly susceptible to damage caused by soluble salts (e.g., chlorides) accumulated from the water or sediment that surrounded them for decades or even centuries.  If allowed to crystallize, the salts expand and cause catastrophic damage which may result in complete destruction of the artifact.  Data from pXRF can determine the concentration of chlorine within an artifact to help conservators understand the degree of salt contamination and mitigate it properly.  During conservation, pXRF can help conservators develop the most optimal treatment plan for artifacts and reveal the presence of toxic components, such as lead, cadmium or arsenic. Comparative data may also reveal similarities or differences in artifact composition that could suggest age and geographic origins.

This is only one part of the extensive research that goes on at the Underwater Archaeology & Conservation Lab, where over 2300 artifacts recovered from US Navy shipwrecks and aircraft wrecks are curated, 140 of which are currently undergoing active conservation treatment. The Laboratory, located in BL 46 of WNYD, also hosts public tours showcasing important artifacts that span from the American Revolution to World War II and make the Navy’s history come alive! Please feel free to contact us anytime (202.433.9731) if you’d like to visit!

 For more information about the NHHC Underwater Archaeology Branch and the Underwater Archaeology & Conservation Laboratory, please visit http://www.history.navy.mil/underwater.

October 13th, 1775

Creation of the United States Navy

October 13th marks the 236th birthday of the U. S. Navy, which was originally founded in 1775 as the Continental Navy.  Two hundred years later, in 1975, Proceedings issued a Bicentennial salute, featuring excerpts from past articles which described the birth and growth of the Navy during the Revolutionary War.  Below is an excerpt from Charles O. Paullin’s article, “Origin of the Continental Navy,” which was printed in November 1927:

In the summer of 1775 the need for a Continental Navy was less urgent than that of an army, and the establishment of a navy was not discussed in Congress.  Outside of that body, however, suggestions for a naval force were made as early as July. Read the rest of this entry »

October 9th, 1873

First meeting of the U. S. Naval Institute