The battleship Oregon fought in three wars–though only in two of them as a battleship. An emblem of the New Steel Navy during the Spanish American War, a special flagship during World War I, and finally a symbol of American resourcefulness during World War II, the old Oregon’s storied history was well-captured by John D. Alden in a 1968 Proceedings article, excerpted here.
The history of naval architecture is replete with designs that, however innovative, never made it out of the concept phase. Some, like the large surface effect ship, seemed promising but could not deliver their designed performance even as smaller prototypes Others, like the sea control ship escort concept, were cancelled because of budget cuts. Still others, however mercifully, never made it off of paper. Such was the Iowa-class interdiction/assault ship, a late-1970s proposal that would have transformed the four battleships into “battlecarriers”—one-ship power-projection force with a landing deck for short take-off vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft operations.
An Allied armada hoisted anchor on 6 June 1944 and departed its base to force a landing on a hostile shore. The result would prove decisive to the outcome of the World War II and would free an enslaved population from years of brutal oppression. That day the world’s attention was focused on the north coast of France, where Allied troops were pushing inland in the largest-ever amphibious assault. While Operation Overlord would become the one and only D-Day in the public’s mind, in truth there were many other D-Days, many other H-Hours on many beaches throughout the world. From… Read the rest of this entry »
The USS Yellowstone (AD-27) Association will hold the ship’s reunion from September 22nd – 26th, 2019 at the Holiday Inn in Virginia Beach. To request a reunion packet, contact: Paul W. Bowen, Secretary/Treasurer 30 Briar Drive Rochester, NH 03867 Phone: 603-948-2821 Email: [email protected]
Shortly after the cessation of hostilities of World War I, the United States found itself with a number of obsolete craft from the beginning of the era of the all-steel Navy. Now no longer needed, U.S. Navy disposed of its original torpedo boat destroyers that had entered service shortly after the end of the Spanish-American War. The three boats Truxtun class were bought by private shipping interests. The Truxtun (DD-14) and her sisters Whipple (DD-15) and Worden (DD-16) were refitted with diesel engines for the first experiment in making small, fast, shallow draft banana carriers. As Commander John D. Alden, U.S. Navy (Retired) recounts below, they… Read the rest of this entry »
Experiences of British, U.S., and Allied forces early in World War II underscored the need for effective close-in fire support and beach bombardment. The most effective method for providing this much-needed capability was not to develop specialized platforms for the task, but to modify the ships and craft that already had the capability to get close-in to shore in medias res. The answer was landing craft. Much as the Soviets had done with their Katyusha on land, the British Royal Navy and U.S. Navy began modifying their existing and planned landing craft and boat designs to accommodate rapidly evolving rocket… Read the rest of this entry »
Though the United States took a keen interest in the development of ballistic missile technology after World War II, it was not until the Soviet launch of the satellite Sputnik in October 1957 that a new urgency in the matter. Within a matter of months the Navy launched its own satellite (Vanguard 1) into orbit, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was created, and spurred the U.S. Air Force to invest in a series of ships. Since 1950, the Air Force had exclusive jurisdiction over the Long Range Proving Grounds—the Atlantic and Pacific Missile Test Ranges—headquartered at Patrick and Vandenberg… Read the rest of this entry »
The month of May historically has been an important time for the USS Enterprise. On May 12, 1938 the USS Enterprise CV-6 was commissioned and on May 18, 1775 the Enterprise I was captured from the British Fleet. These historic May events have led us to take a look at the history of the USS Enterprise, which represents a name that has been a continuing symbol of the great struggle to retain American liberty, justice and freedom since the first days of the American Revolutionary War to today. The most recent ENTERPRISE VIII (CVN 65) is the eighth ship of… Read the rest of this entry »
