Naval History Blog

On the anniversary of Amelia Earhart’s disappearance, we remember the women who made female aviation possible. Eighty-one years ago today, Amelia Earhart disappeared over the Pacific Ocean during an attempt to circumnavigate the globe. In a society where women’s capacities to physically and mentally cope with the rigors of aviation faced heavy scrutiny, Earhart overcame barriers and established new standards to pave the way for women in the field. After first flying in an airplane in 1920, she worked odd jobs to purchase her own aircraft and received an international pilot’s license in 1923. Earhart set about breaking altitude and… Read the rest of this entry »

On June 26, 1794, the French army launched their military balloon, L’Entreprenant, for reconnaissance during the Battle of Fleurus — the first use of an aircraft for military purposes. The Committee of Public Safety approved the creation of the French Company of Aeronauts in 1794 and sponsored the development of the hydrogen that would be used to raise the craft. After much testing and experimentation with gases and structures, L’Entreprenant was born [1].   Following a brief debut during a bombardment on June 2, L’Entreprenant was used to report enemy movements during a conflict with Austrian forces [2]. At Fleurus, the balloon… Read the rest of this entry »

Naval historians from around the world mustered last week in Annapolis for the U.S. Naval Academy’s biennial two-day, deep-immersion McMullen Naval History Symposium. During a banquet at the DoubleTree Annapolis Hotel on Friday night, 18 September, attendees heralded the latest authors to receive the Commodore Dudley W. Knox Naval History Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the U.S. Naval Historical Foundation. As in years past, the names of all three honorees in 2015, along with the namesake of the award himself, are familiar to readers of U.S. Naval Institute publications.

Last week, the Naval History & Heritage Command (NHHC) Underwater Archaeology Branch (UAB) received a trumpet and ceramic cup and saucer from World War II cruiser USS HOUSTON. The artifacts were returned to the US Naval Attaché in Canberra, Australia after their unsanctioned removal from the wreck site and made a journey of more than 10,000 miles to reach NHHC headquarters in Washington, DC. The artifacts will undergo documentation, research and conservation treatment at the UAB Archaeology & Conservation Laboratory.   USS HOUSTON, nicknamed the “Galloping Ghost of the Java Coast”, was a Northampton-class heavy cruiser that played an important role in… Read the rest of this entry »

The Navy’s experience with catamarans goes back nearly two centuries. It was Christmas Eve in 1813, the War of 1812 had entered its second year, and despite some notable victories on the high seas by Constitution, United States, and Essex, an increasingly effective British blockade choked off American commerce along the eastern seaboard. Robert Fulton hosted a group of distinguished civic and military leaders at his New York residence to address the challenge. Having an established reputation as a designer and builder of vessels propelled with steam-driven paddlewheels, Fulton unveiled plans for a maneuverable floating battery that employed this new… Read the rest of this entry »

Short version of “Wings for the Navy” highlighting Ely’s First Flight on 11-14-1910.  

The Rear Admiral Ernest M. Eller Prize in Naval History for the best article on the history of the United States Navy published in a scholarly journal in 2009 has been awarded to Trent Hone for his article “U.S. Navy Surface Battle Doctrine and Victory in the Pacific,” published in the Winter 2009 issue of the Naval War College Review. The prize is sponsored jointly by the Naval History and Heritage Command and the Naval Historical Foundation and includes a monetary award. Congrats again to Trent Hone!