Naval History Blog

March 11, 1778 – Lieutenant Gotthold Frederick Enslin becomes the first documented service member to be dismissed from the U.S. military for homosexuality. Under an order from General George Washington which states “abhorrence and detestation of such infamous crimes,” Lt. Enslin is drummed out of the Continental Army after being found guilty of sodomy. March 1, 1917 – The Articles of War of 1916 are implemented. A revision of the Articles of War of 1806, the new regulations detail statutes governing U.S. military discipline and justice. Under the category Miscellaneous Crimes and Offences, Article 93 states that any person subject to military law… Read the rest of this entry »

  I’ve enjoyed reading the oral history of Captain Winifred Quick Collins during Women’s History Month. Captain Collins dedicated her career to the advancement of women in the Navy, and her reminiscences reveal the many obstacles she overcame as we progressed toward a more inclusive Navy. Collins was among the first officers accepted when the WAVES were established in 1942; one of the first female officers commissioned in the regular Navy, which happened in 1948; and at the top of her profession as the only woman line captain at the end of her career. She was selected for the Navy experience as the… Read the rest of this entry »

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day we remember the Irish-born John Phillip Holland and the Holland IV. 1898: John P. Holland’s submarine, Holland IV, performs the first successful diving and surfacing tests off Staten Island, New York. Read more about Holland and his submarines here. https://www.navalhistory.org/2012/03/17/uss-holland-ss-1-makes-her-first-successful-submerged-run-17-march-1898   Another anniversary, 1959: USS Skate (SSN-578) becomes the first submarine to surface at the North Pole, traveling 3,000 miles in and under Arctic ice for more than a month. Read more about the USS Skate here. https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1984-06/us-navy-sailing-under-ice

World War II for the flying boats started sooner than many. PBY Catalinas and PBM Mariners, a newer flying boat built to complement the PBY, were sent to Iceland, Newfoundland, Bermuda, and other bases as part of the Neutrality Patrol where they searched for German U-Boats. In May of 1941, Lieutenant Leonard Smith was helping train RAF pilots in PBY operations when he took part in a mission that spotted the German battleship Bismarck, which led to its sinking. The seaplanes escorted the Marine contingent to Iceland in July of the same year.[1] When hostilities commenced, the seaplanes were there…. Read the rest of this entry »

On 15 February1943, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Ernest J. King assigned responsibility for sea-going development of helicopters to the U.S. Coast Guard. The Coast Guard has proven time and time again that the helicopter is a unique instrument for the saving of human lives.” Here are some of the important missions flown by the service’s helicopters. ‘Yes, I Can’ The first life-saving mission by a Coast Guard rescue swimmer took place on 10 December 1987. At 1936 the Bluebird, a 26-foot fishing vessel requested assistance. The duty helicopter crew at Coast Guard Air Station Sitka, Alaska, quickly boarded HH–3F… Read the rest of this entry »

12. Rob Riggle The comedian and actor Rob Riggle who appeared on Saturday Night Live, The Daily Show and dozens of films sitcoms and commercials retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve in 2013. His deployments included tours in Kosovo and Afghanistan. 11. Bea Arthur Actress Bea Arthur enjoyed a successful career playing acerbic characters on the TV series Maude and The Golden Girls. During WWII under her birth name Bernice Frankel, she served in the USMC as a truck driver and typist. Oddly, in her later years she would deny that she was a Marine…. Read the rest of this entry »

In this excerpt from his 1970 Oral History Interview with CDR Etta-Belle Kitchen, USN (Ret.), then-Admiral Thach recounts his first first meeting with future Medal of Honor recipient and fighter ace Edward Henry “Butch” O’Hare in 1940. The complete oral history is a delightfully told memoir from the man who was probably the Navy’s foremost fighter plane tactician of World War II. He is best known as the inventor of the “Thach Weave,” whereby U.S. fighters could successfully combat Japanese Zeros. Thach tells of devising the maneuver at home with kitchen matches. In a series of enjoyable tales, Thach describes his Naval Academy… Read the rest of this entry »

Experience by British, American, and Allied forces during the early parts of the Second World War underscored the need for effective close fire support and beach bombardment. It soon became clear 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 the U.S. Navy began modifying their existing and planned landing… Read the rest of this entry »