National Museum of the United States Navy

01/08/2024

It's !

The 's collection team - with help from our fabricators and - recently took down a large oil from our Civil War: Securing the Seas for Union Victory . The painting, titled "CSS Virginia Engages USS Congress, March 8, 1862" by Francis Christian Muller, depicts the Confederate casemate ironclad firing at the USS Congress (right). Slightly offset to the left and in the background, USS Cumberland is slowly sinking.

01/05/2024

Until further notice, public access will be restricted.

Visitors to the National Museum of the US Navy will be required to have a Military ID card or a US Government Common Access Card for base access. Museum staff will not be able to es**rt visitors onto base on Saturdays.

Please follow and check back with our website/social media channels for updates.

01/05/2024

It's National Bird Day! 🦅

Check out this 1942 photograph of Laysan albatrosses on the Atoll seeming oblivious to the war happening around them.

Japanese aircraft had just bombed the island as part of their opening moves in the decisive Battle of Midway. Manned by U.S. Naval personnel until 1993, the atoll and surrounding islands are now a sanctuary managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It is home to over a million Laysan, Black Footed, and Short Tailed albatrosses, along with several other species and life.

See more at: https://www.fws.gov/refuge/midway-atoll

01/04/2024

The Legalman (LN) rating was established in 1972!

A as a Legalman in the Navy is and rewarding. LNs start their training with hands-on legal experiences, including providing support to JAG Officers, conducting interviews and legal research, and processing appeals. This specialized training can lead to service as court reporters or paralegals in the civilian sector.

📸: Legalman 2nd Class Antonio Dominguez, assigned to the Regional Legal Office Midwest, delivers a legal briefing to recruits at Recruit Training Command (RTC), June 2018. (U.S. Navy photograph)

01/03/2024

in 1944, U.S. Marine Corps pilot, Major Gregory Boyington, was shot down near Rabaul, a Japanese stronghold on the island of New Britain in the Pacific.

Ultimately, he survived the plane crash and was picked up by a Japanese , becoming one of nearly 30,000 Americans who were held as prisoners of war in the Pacific during World War II. Confronting disease, starvation, forced labor, and other dismal conditions contributed to a staggering death rate of 40 percent among POWs in the Pacific. After enduring twenty months in captivity, Boyington was released in August 1945.

📸: At a White House ceremony, President Harry S. Truman awards Boyington the Congressional Medal of Honor for his valor and brilliant of his squadron in conducting air raids in the Central Solomons from September 1943 to January 1944, October 5, 1945. (Naval History and Heritage Command photograph, NH105689)

📸: A sailor carries a U.S. POW aboard USS Santee (CVE 29), September 1945. With POWs dispersed in hundreds of camps across the , locating and recovering all of them was a major undertaking that took months. (Naval History and Heritage Command photograph, UA 22.03.01)

01/02/2024

Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, the 19th Chief of Naval Operations, died in 2000.

Admiral Zumwalt's touches today's fleet. He not only embraced , which impacted the Navy's warfighting readiness, but he was also a reformer. Zumwalt engaged directly with sailors through messages, called "Z-Grams," which were intended to address both small and large issues.

Read the infographic to learn about Zumwalt's messages regarding the fair treatment of minorities and women in the Navy, and use the link below to more of his profound impact on the modern Navy.

https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/people/chiefs-of-naval-operations/admiral-elmo-r--zumwalt-jr-/zumwalt-legacy.html

01/02/2024

New year, new us. 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣4️⃣

This year, we are making a to spend more time with friends! If sailors aboard USS Maine can find the time to hang out together, so can we.

📸: To squeeze in a quick card game on USS , sailors converted barrels, ammunition crates, and other items into makeshift tables and chairs, 1895-1898. (Courtesy of Library of Congress, LC-DIG-DET-4a14373)

12/30/2023

2023 was quite a year! Our #1 post that you shared and liked the most really helped spread some love.

all our followers, new and old. Here's to new discoveries in #2024.

⭐️From February 14, 2023:

Happy Valentine's Day!❣️

💌: U.S. Navy

12/29/2023

in 1812, the U.S. Navy frigate encountered His Majesty's Ship Java off the coast of . Both captains elected to stay and fight, which commenced at 2:10 in the afternoon. Java's initial shots hit Constitution's wheel, killing its quartermaster team. Under Navy Commodore Bainbridge's , however, Constitution's company recovered from this initial shock and responded with a ferocious return fire. By 3:55, Constitution's gunners had silenced Java and the surrendered at 5:25.

While only a single ship action, Constitution's sent shockwaves of despair throughout the British press. One editor wondered if the Royal Navy did not take this new United States Navy seriously enough after seven months of war and losses. He wrote, "Can these statements be true? Can the English people hear them and not be moved? FIVE HUNDRED MERCHANTMEN AND THREE FRIGATES."

In contrast, Constitution, nicknamed "Old Ironsides," and its company arrived back in in February 1813 to wild celebrations.

Use the link below to read firsthand accounts of the fight.

https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/u/uss-constitutions-battle-record0/uss-constitution-vs-hms-java-1812.html

🖼️: Print by Nicholas Pocock depicting HMS Java "in a sinking state." (NHHC Accession # 80-192-A)

12/29/2023

2023 was quite a year! Let's look back at some of the posts you shared and liked the most.

⭐️From July 11, 2023:

In honor of , we take a look at the operational history of USS Shark (SSN 591).

The boat commissioned in 1961 and earned the Navy Unit Commendation from April 5 to May 9, 1964 for significant contributions to anti-submarine warfare. Shark was awarded a second NUC in 1966, engaged in local and special operations from 1968-1969, and underwent various trials in the early 1970s. The boat participated in UNITAS exercises in 1978 with South American countries.

Shark was the last Skipjack-class submarine to be taken out of service and decommissioned on September 15, 1990. USS Shark served the US Navy for 29 years and was transferred to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for recycling in 1995 and the process was completed in the summer of 1996.



📸: USS Shark alongside USS Triton (SSN-586) and USS Orion (AS-18) at San Juan, Puerto Rico, February 1965. Photograph taken by John Hummel. (NHHC Photo Archives Identifier: NH 86622)

12/28/2023

2023 was quite a year! Let's look back at some of the posts you shared and liked the most.

⭐️From March 17, 2023:

in 1959, the nuclear powered USS Skate (SSN 587) became the first submarine to break through the polar ice pack and surface at the North Pole!

This was Skate's second attempt at the operation as the ice pack was too thick during its first attempt in 1958. Both operations helped provide lessons on effective ways to a submarine under polar ice. Sailors used sonar to help determine the thickness of the ice above the boat and to unmapped sea ridges below the boat.

As part of the marking the achievement, the boat's company planted an flag on the ice. They also spread the ashes of polar Sir George Hubert Wilkins. The captain had attempted to reach the North Pole with a submarine in 1931. He leased the retired American boat O-13, renamed it , and had several U.S. submarine operate the vessel. He got within 600 miles of the North Pole before realizing his was in no condition to submerge under the polar ice.

📸: USS Skate at the North Pole preparing to spread the ashes of Sir Wilkins. (Naval History and Heritage Command photograph, NH # 108790)

Chart: A 1963 chart showing how used sonar to navigate under the polar ice cap.

12/27/2023

in 1990 Lieutenant Commander Darlene Iskra, the first female commanding officer of a U.S. Navy warship, reported for duty!

LCDR Iskra commanded the Bolster-class and salvage USS Opportune (ARS 41). Under Iskra's command, Opportune patrolled the Suez Canal during Operation Desert Storm and assisted in efforts following Hurricane Andrew in 1992. LCDR Iskra retired in 2000 after 21 years of service.

📸: Lieutenant Commander Darlene M. Iskra smiles for the camera shortly after her appointment as commanding officer of the salvage ship USS Opportune, February 15, 1991. (US Navy photograph)

12/27/2023

2023 was quite a year! Let's look back at some of the posts you shared and liked the most.

⭐️From Oct. 19, 2023:

The Naval Submarine Base at New London, was established in 1915! Today, the base is home to the Force Museum and USS (SSN 571) - the world's first nuclear-powered .

🖼️: Watercolor by Albert Murray depicting USS Nautilus, 1959 (Naval History and Heritage Command, Accession # 88-195-HL)

12/26/2023

2023 was quite a year! Let's look back at some of the posts you shared and liked the most.

⭐️From January 11, 2023:

, the National Museum of the U.S. Navy's education department offers a wide range of resources for classrooms and families!

Activities range from scavenger hunts to experiments. Some of our favorites include:

✏️ Sailor's Sea Chest (age Pre-K)
✏️ To the Ends of the Earth and Beyond (Grades 5-8)
✏️ Civil War Innovations (self-directed)
✏️ Codes and Signals - Breaking the Game of World War II and the Vietnam War (self-directed)
✏️ The U.S. Navy and (self-directed)

Use the link below to access all our educational offerings!

https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/museums/nmusn/education.html

12/24/2023

It's and we're celebrating Radarman Eddy Goldfarb.

A. Eddy Goldfarb (born September 5, 1921) is an American toy inventor that designed a wide range of toys, games, novelties and hobby kits for boys and girls of all ages. Creating over 800 toys and holding about 300 patents, he is best known for inventing Yakity Yak Talking Teeth, Battling Tops, KerPlunk, Stompers, and Vac-U-Form.

Excelling at math and science in high school, Eddy was interested in studying physics. But the dream of college would have to wait until he could afford the tuition.

When Pearl Harbor was bombed, Eddy enlisted in the Navy and enrolled in a special program to learn about radar. It was through the Navy that Eddy studied electrical engineering at the University of Houston.

As a radar technician, Goldfarb volunteered for submarine duty and was assigned to the submarine the USS Batfish. Eddy spent his few moments of down time sketching and tinkering. While at sea, he invented a specialized radar antenna. It was while at sea he decided that if he wanted to be an independent inventor, he needed to specialize in one industry. Eddy chose toys.

After the war, Goldfarb returned to Chicago. Goldfarb found his first success with Yakity Yak Talking Teeth, a simple gag item, which became a cultural icon.

Goldfarb attracted collaborative partners over the years and grew his business. At the height of his success, Goldfarb owned 3 buildings and employed a workforce of 39 model makers, industrial designers, engineers, sculptors and support staff.

For his many successes, Goldfarb was inducted in the Toy Industry Hall of Fame in 2003, and received the TAGIE (Toy and Game Innovation) Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chicago Toy and Game Group in 2010.

📸: Yakity Yak Talking Teeth. Courtesy of Toy Industry Hall of Fame, 2003.

A. Eddy Goldfarb in uniform, circa 1942. Courtesy of USPTO.

USS BATFISH (SS-310). Crew members receive combat awards on BATFISH's deck at the end of a successful war patrol, May 1945, at Pearl Harbor. The submarine at right is not identified. 80-G-468631. National Archives.

12/21/2023

How did you do?

Here is the answer key for our puzzle.

12/21/2023

Happy !

Please enjoy and this on us!

12/20/2023

1822, Congress authorized the West Indies Squadron to suppress piracy in the Caribbean. Commodore James Biddle was the squadron’s first commander, and some ships that served were the frigates Macedonian and Congress; the sloops Cyane, John Adams, Hornet, and Peacock; the brigs Spark and Enterprise; the schooners Alligator, Grampus, Shark and Porpoise and the Gunboats No. 158 and No. 168.



Image: Portrait of Commodore James Biddle by Thomas Sully, 1839. Courtesy of The Pennasylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

12/20/2023

in 1870, Coxswain William Halford reaches the island of Kauai in a small captain's gig, from USS Saginaw, in an attempt to save his shipwrecked comrades. The rest of the crew held their hopes high when he left with four other shipmates on a perilous journey of over 1500 miles. The volunteers traveled over open ocean from Kure Atoll, for over 30 days, to get help.

You can check out some in-depth background of an amazing artifact from a panel with Naval History & Heritage Command's Curator Branch staff.

Watch here: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1092519264504622

12/17/2023

in 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright successfully flew the Wright Flyer - a heavier-than-air, mechanically propelled in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. These pioneers of launched an era of experimentation and invention, generations of future aviators.

Use the link below to view examples of naval aircraft. How has the Wright Flyer informed Navy airplane design?

https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/naval-aviation-history/naval-aircraft.html

📸: A pair of A-4 Skyhawks assigned to Marine Attack Squadron (VMA) 533 pictured during in-flight refueling during October 1962. Vietnam prisoners of war CDR Everett Alvarez, VADM James Stockdale, and CAPT John McCain were all shot down flying A-4s. (National Naval Aviation Museum photograph)

12/15/2023

Operation Earnest Will ended in 1988.

The operation, which started in July 1987, required U.S. Navy ships to es**rt reflagged Kuwaiti tankers and neutral ships and tankers in an effort to protect them from missile attacks and mines laid during the Iran-Iraq War. This large convoy operation was a part of the Tanker War phase of the Iran-Iraq War.

Learn more about Operation Earnest Will and the Tanker War in NHHC Director Samuel Cox's H-Gram 018, linked below!

https://www.history.navy.mil/about-us/leadership/director/directors-corner/h-grams/h-gram-018/h-018-1.html #:~:text=Operation%20Earnest%20Will&text=However%2C%20on%2025%20May%2C%20U.S.,operation%20since%20World%20War%20II.

📸: Mess Management Specialist 2nd Class Williams Hendrickson scans for mines during an Operation Earnest Will convoy mission, June 1, 1988. (U.S. Department of Defense's Defense Visual Information Center, ID: DN-SN-88-10150)

12/13/2023

in 1775, the Continental Congress authorized construction for thirteen frigates for the naval service. That included 5 ships of 32 guns, 5 with 28 guns, and 3 with 24 guns. Hancock, Raleigh, Randolph, Warren, and Washington in the first group, Effingham, Montgomery, Providence, Trumbull, and Virginia in the second, and Boston, Congress, and Delaware to wrap up the completion of the builds.



📸 : Oil Painting by W. Nowland Van Powell, depicting Lieutenant John Paul Jones raising the Grand Union flag as Alfred was placed in commission at Philadelphia, 3 December 1775. (Photo Archives Identifier: NH 85212-KN)

12/13/2023

On November 25, 1838, Secretary of the Navy James K. Paulding ordered:

"The practice of bringing home in the public vessels of the United States various animals, such as Horses, Asses, Mules and other quadrupeds, formerly authorized by this Department, having been found by recent experience productive of great inconvenience, and liable to abuse, is hereby strictly prohibited."

The problem with Paulding’s order was that it conflicted with an older standing order that naval officers were to always be on watch for anything that would improve agricultural practices. Given that the United States was still very much a nation, the older order was grounded in national security and the practice continued for the rest of the 1800s.

Paulding was attempting to prevent another public scandal that was currently plaguing his navy. Sailors had accused Commodore Jesse Elliot of using the frigate USS as a cargo vessel to bring home Arabian and Andalusian . The complaint was one of several charges filed against the old commodore from a cruise fraught with problems.

But Commodore Elliot was willing to gamble his career on it, because there was money to be made. Spanish and Arabian horsemen rarely sold examples of either breed to outsiders. Ultimately, a Navy court martial did indeed find Elliot guilty of abuse of his sailors, but he walked away a very rich man.

12/12/2023

On July 7, 1937, Chinese and Japanese forces clashed at the Marco Polo Bridge near Beijing. This skirmish quickly escalated into full-scale war. In the months that followed, the Japanese rapidly advanced down the Chinese coast. As they approached the capital city of Nanking, U.S. gunboats began evacuating U.S. officials from Nanking. With Chinese defenses having collapsed and the largely surrounded, water offered the most suitable evacuation route.

On December 11, 1937, the U.S. naval vessel Panay (PR 5) loaded the last of the evacuees and began moving up the Yangtze River. The following day, Japanese aircraft, acting under orders to attack any ships traversing up the Yangtze from Nanking, attacked and sank , killing three people and wounding 43 sailors, along with five civilian passengers. Although Japan officially apologized for the incident and paid a cash indemnity to the U.S. for the attack, U.S.-Japan diplomatic relations continued to deteriorate, continuing a path to eventual war between the nations.

📸: Panay sinks in the Yangtze River from damaged sustained during the engagement, December 12, 1937 (Courtesy of the Naval History and Heritage Command, NH 50807)

📸: Gunners aboard Panay fire back at attacking Japanese aircraft, December 12, 1937 (Courtesy of the Naval History and Heritage Command, NH 50815)

12/11/2023

How much packing material does it take to cover a ballistic missile? A whole lot!

The collections team and contractors lift a Trident 1 (C-4), a launched ballistic missile, to wrap for transport and storage. Trident 1s were used aboard Benjamin Franklin and -class submarines.

Use the link below to learn more about Trident 1 and its packing and relocation to the Command's management facility.

https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/museums/nmusn/new-nmusn/behind-the-scenes/curator/general/weapons/trident-1-c-4.html

12/09/2023

Go team! Let’s make !

12/08/2023

From our Education Director P. Perry:
"The museum wishes to thank Globalize DC for its participation in this observance of National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day 2023.

National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, also referred to as [...] Pearl Harbor Day, is observed and honor the 2,403 Americians who were killed in the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941. The attack led to the United States declaring war on Japan the next day and thus entering World War II.

High School students from several DCPS Plus charter high schools were asked to make a remembrance wreath for the Americans who perished in the attack. participating schools included McKinley, Coolidge, EL Haynes, Washington Latin, Jackson-Reed, and DCI."



📸: Madelina R., DC International School; Elias L., EL Haynes PCS; Felipe L., Jackson-Reed HS; Zitlaly H. EL Haynes PCS; Kori J., Coolidge HS; Penelope M., School Without Walls HS; Aaron W., McKinley Technology HS; Zion D., Coolidge HS; Mararita M., DC International School; Tristan L., Washington Latin PCS; Jennifer P., DC International School; Chamiya C. School Without Walls HS

12/07/2023

A most joyous holiday to all our shipmates and their families!

12/07/2023

12/07/2023

On November 5, 1941, Radioman Third Class Mitchell Cohn, assigned to Scouting Squadron Six aboard USS Enterprise (CV 6) at , wrote a letter to his mother. He talked about his experiences on watch duty, mentioned his plans to buy peanut butter to make sandwiches on long flights with the squadron, and discussed the possibility of taking leave to spend time with his over the holidays in December.

Barely a month after writing this letter, in 1941, Mitchell Cohn was killed during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Early on that fateful day, was stationed approximately 200 miles west of the island of and launched a routine search flight. Cohn was a crewman on one of the planes that departed on this mission. After completing their search grid, the scouting party headed for Ford Island near Pearl Harbor to refuel. They reached land just as the Japanese attack unfolded. Initially, the crews believed they had arrived in the middle of a drill, but they quickly found themselves engaged in air-to-air combat with Japanese fighter planes. Mitchell Cohn was killed in this engagement, becoming one of the 2,403 U.S. personnel to die in this shocking and devastating attack.

📝: Depicted here is a letter from Mitchell Cohn to his , Annette, November 5, 1941. It was one of many letters he wrote to his family, describing his life in the Navy. (Courtesy of the Naval History and Heritage Command Operational Archives, RM3 Mitchell Cohn Papers)