Naval Historical Foundation

03/24/2023

Lessons in heroism, but also leadership, forgiveness, morality, and humanity from former POW Porter Halyburton. Inspiring. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCLM1CJoLwk&list=PLWX4R7nG6a8k_aeOSJP5qAEf66Qz0fiRn&index=1

03/15/2023

“Like previous flights, I am undertaking this one solely because I want to, and because I feel that women now and then have to do things to show what women can do," wrote Amelia Earhart to President Roosevelt on her plans to circumnavigate the globe
https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2022/april/pieces-past

Letters from Amelia Earhart to President Roosevelt detail her plans to circumnavigate the globe.

12/28/2022

The U.S. Naval Institute is maintaining and preserving the former Naval Historical Foundation website so readers and former NHF members can still access past issues of Pull Together and other content. NHF has decommissioned and is no longer accepting new members or donations. NHF members are being converted to members of the Naval Institute. If you have questions, please contact the Naval Institute via email at [email protected] or by phone at 800-233-8764.

Not a member of the Naval Institute? Here’s how to join! https://bit.ly/3WttYh3

07/05/2022

In honor of , check out our video series on "Understanding Bikini Atoll" we produced back in 2016 on our YouTube page.

Naval History and Heritage Command Historian Dr. Frank Blazich discusses the history behind Operation Crossroads from a U.S. Navy perspective.

06/24/2022

06/21/2022

Appeal For Assistance
Captain John Hebert Dent Memorial Fund

We recently received an email from an individual asking for assistance in sprucing up the neglected gravesite of Captain John Hebert Dent, a naval officer that served during the Quasi-War, First Barbary War, and the War of 1812. He was the acting captain of USS Constitution during the attacks on Tripoli in 1804. Captain Dent is buried in a neglected plot in Jacksonboro, South Carolina, in Bethel Cemetery. His goal is to raise funds to better serve the memory of Captain Dent and his service to the United States.

He writes: "Since your organization’s mission is to promote the rich history and heritage of the United States Navy, I thought you would like to join us in honoring Captain Dent. He was one of the Navy’s outstanding and respected officers, one who contributed so much to the legacy of the fledgling United States Navy and our emerging nation. I invite the Naval Historical Foundation to join us in honoring the memory of Captain John Hebert Dent."

You can read the full text of the appeal below.

https://www.navyhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/DOC051322-05132022083933.pdf

06/20/2022

At the outbreak of the Civil War, the Union Navy only had 7,600 personnel. Manpower was was further drained by defections to the Confederacy. Freedmen and escaped slaves flocked to enlist, especially because the Navy was less restrictive than the Army. By the war's end, 18,000 men and 11 women of African descent had served in the Navy, at one point accounting for 23% of all Union sailors.

06/20/2022

"In our current era of artificial intelligence/machine learning, unmanned vehicles, and drones these histories of past significant technologies present lessons to be learned. This thoughtfully innovative, well-written and well-researched synthesis of key technologies – tools, weapons, and platforms – is fact-filled and a wonderful primer useful for understanding the history of the individual technologies and their interrelationships with others, even beyond the six detailed in this unusual and welcome book for navy bookshelves."

Read Charles Kolb's review of "Innovating Victory: Naval Technology in Three Wars" on our website.

Reviewed by Charles C. Kolb, Ph.D. Vincent P. O'Hara is an independent naval historian and the author of thirteen works, including Six Victories: North Africa, Malta, and the Mediterranean Convoy War, November 1941-March 1942 (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2019) and with Leonard R. Heinz, Clash....

06/18/2022

06/16/2022

In case you missed it, you can watch our 2022 Annual Meeting and Leighton Lecture in its entirety on our YouTube page.

2022 Naval Historical Foundation Annual MeetingFeaturing the Leighton Lecture, with Patrick O'Donnell

06/13/2022

A SHIP A DAY - June 13 Edition

USS Flasher (SSN 613): BEST IN THE WEST

USS Flasher, a Permit-class submarine, served from 1963 to 1992. She earned the (5) Battle Effectiveness Awards, (4) Meritorious Unit Commendations, Navy Unit Commendation, and Presidential Unit Citation during her time in service before she was scrapped via the Ship-Submarine Recycling Program. U.S. Navy

05/27/2022

Feel the Need for Speed? Before you see : Maverick, check out this 2021 video of The Top Gun Program's founder, Captain Dan Pedersen, as he discusses the origins of the Naval Weapons Fighter School. Joining the Q&A were Top Gun graduates, Vice Adm. Walter E. “Ted” (Slapshot) Carter, USN (Ret.), and Vice Adm. Thomas (Killer) Kilcline, USN (Ret.).

The Top Gun Program's founder, Captain Dan Pedersen discusses the origins of the Naval Weapons Fighter School. In the following Q&A, we are joined by Top Gun...

05/26/2022

: USS Abner Read (DD 526)

USS Abner Read had a remarkable history during her World War II service. She saw action in the Aleutian Islands Campaign and survived hitting a mine that blew off her stern. After she was repaired, she operated in the Pacific in the New Guinea campaign and the Battle of Leyte Gulf. She sank after an air attack off Leyte on 1 November 1944, losing 24 of her crew.

05/25/2022

: The US Navy is honoring its only Filipino to be awarded the Medal of Honor, America's highest decoration for military valor, by naming a new warship after him.

Trinidad was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on January 21, 1915, aboard the USS San Diego, a 12,000-ton armored cruiser that was the flagship of the US Pacific Fleet.

The US Navy is honoring its only Filipino to be awarded the Medal of Honor, America's highest decoration for military valor, by naming a new warship after him.

05/25/2022

Happy Birthday IncSea Agreement. Tody marks the 50th anniversary of the Incidents at Sea Agreement between the US and USSR Here is a picture of the 40th commemoration featuring NHF Historian Dave Winkler and Senator John Warner who passed away exactly one year ago! Rest in Peace Senator!

05/25/2022

: USS Caroline County (LST 525)at Cua Viet, 15 March 1967. The ship brought ice cream to the Marines at Cua Viet to commemorate her visit.

During World War II, LST 525 was assigned to the European Theater and decommissioned on 25 June 1946. She was recommissioned in October 1950 and performed services for the Amphibious Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, until decommissioned on 15 September 1954. On 1 July 1955 she was named USS Caroline County (LST 525).

[📷 : Defense Imagery photo # DM-ST-85-09355]

05/24/2022

: USS Pickerel (SS 524), shown here surfacing at a 48 degree up angle, during tests off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii, 1 March 1952.

She was commissioned in 1949 and served the U.S. Navy until 1972 when she was transferred to the Italian Navy as Primo Longobardo (S 501).

Pickerel completed a 5,200-mile (8,370 km) voyage from Hong Kong to Pearl Harbor in 21 days while completely submerged, probably the longest distance ever traveled by a submerged diesel-electric submarine.

[📷: Naval History & Heritage Command Photo 97019]

05/20/2022

: May 20 Edition

USS Alacrity (MSO 520) was a minesweeper that served in various operations in the Caribbean and Mediterranean during her service life. Most notably, she provided support for the Apollo 16 and Apollo 17 moon shots.