Naval History Blog

On this day in 1943, Lt. Gen. George S. Patton slapped a soldier hospitalized for psychoneurosis, accusing him of cowardice. The event almost ended Patton’s career.   General Patton, at the time was commander of the Seventh U.S. Army. He visited a military hospital in Sicily where he visited with wounded soldiers, asking them about their injuries. Patton then encountered a soldier who lacked visible signs of injury, he then inquired about the soldier’s health. The soldier was Private Charles Kuhl and only 18 years old. Patton questioned Kuhl why he was in the hospital and Kuhl replied, “Its my… Read the rest of this entry »

  On 3 August 1942, Mildred McAfee (later Mildred McAfee Horton) was commissioned as a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Naval Reserves, making her the first female line officer in the U.S. Navy. Future Captain McAfee was the president of Wellesley College when she was recruited to become the first director of the newly established WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service). In this excerpt, Captain McAfee discusses how she became involved with the WAVES and her early introduction to rank.     To read more about the Naval Institute Oral History Program, go to https://www.usni.org/heritage/oral-history-catalog.  

1941 – President Franklin Roosevelt embargoes the export of oil and aviation fuel from the United States except to Britain, the British Commonwealth countries and countries of the Western Hemisphere The oil embargo on Japan set the stage for the attack on Pearl Harbor and the U.S’s involvement in the Second World War. Japan is an island nation that lacks natural resources, which led to its imperialist conquests leading up to the events of World War II. Japan, in coordination with Nazi Germany’s European expansion, invaded China in 1937 and started expanding to Islands in the South Pacific seizing countries such as… Read the rest of this entry »

Recently male sailors in the U.S. Navy are speaking out for equality within the ranks. The push was fueled when the Navy authorized women to wear more relaxed hairstyles such as ponytails. Men are not asking to grow their hair long, rather they are pushing for more relaxed grooming standards with regards to facial hair. The Navy has a long history of great beards, but was sadly ended in 1984. In honor of this valiant fight for hair equality I compiled a list of the seven best beards in U.S. Navy history.   7. Samuel Francis Du Pont Rear Admiral… Read the rest of this entry »

On this day in 1874, the USS Intrepid, second ship of her name, was commissioned by the U.S. Navy. The name Intrepid means fearless or adventurous, both things this mighty ship was not. Despite the cutting edge technology and new designs used to create the massive ship, she proved merely experimental. The Intrepid was the Navy’s first ship equipped with self-propelled torpedoes and led the way for future ships of more efficient and useful designs. Her predecessor, the USS Intrepid (1798) has a peculiar and distinguished history. Captured from the Tripolitan Navy several months after the USS Philadelphia ran aground, the first Intrepid was converted to a… Read the rest of this entry »

At roughly 0015 on July 30, 1945 the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) was struck by two torpedoes from the Japanese submarine I-58 in the Philippine Sea. The ship was on a highly classified mission, to deliver various parts needed to finish the field construction of the atomic bomb “Little Boy” on Tinian Island. Only a little more than two weeks from the surrender of Japan, the sinking of the Indianapolis was one of the last major naval events of World War II. Once struck, it took only 12 minutes to sink, which was not enough time for a distress signal to… Read the rest of this entry »

The Armistice between the United States, South Korea, and North Korea that ended the Korean War was signed on July 27th, 1953. The Armistice marked the end of three years of bloodshed, setting terms and conditions that were meant to be temporary. It was to be followed by legislators and diplomats to settle the question of Korean statehood. Military leaders from each of the combatant countries oversaw the talks. Field Marshall Peng Dehuai was the representative from the People’s Republic of China, Lieutenant General William Kelly Harrison was the United States’, and General Nam Il was the People’s Democratic Republic… Read the rest of this entry »

On this day in 1947 President Harry Truman signed into law the National Security Act of 1947. The bill reorganized the military, by placing the Army and Navy into the Department of Defense, and creating the position of Secretary of Defense at its head. It also created the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Council. However, it seems the most impactful act from the bill, was establishment of a new branch of the military; the United States Air Force. Upon its inception, the Air Force began a campaign designed to downplay the significance of the Navy, especially aircraft carriers,… Read the rest of this entry »