Dear Naval Historical Foundation Family,

Welcome back to Thursday Tidings. 

The practice of rationing alcohol in the U.S. Navy has its origins dating back to the Royal Navy practice in the 18th Century. A ration of “grog,” consisting of a mixture of rum, gin, or whiskey with water, sugar, lime, or lemon, was portioned out to Sailors daily as a boost before fighting or tool to increase morale. Grog was also served on special occasions to Sailors in the 18th century. When the ration ceased for Sailors during the American Civil War, the only option was for the private stores of liquor and beer aboard ships (for Officers only). That was until the infamous General Order No. 99 of Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels on 1 July 1914. The order prohibited the drinking of alcohol “on board any naval vessel, or within any navy and or station.” Daniels was a strong supporter of the Temperance movement sweeping the pre-Prohibition country at the time. It wasn’t until the Carter administration that a new Secretary of the Navy, Edward Hidalgo, instituted a rule to allow two beers for Sailors who had been at sea for 45 days or more (at the discretion of the CO). The wildly popular rule sparked new traditions still in place today. Thus, the legend and lore of “Beer Days” carry on the same traditions that grog did for Sailors a hundred and fifty years prior. 

In honor of Daniels’ infamous 1914 ruling, we are dedicated this week to the role of alcohol in the U.S. Navy. We have written a lot of great material on the subject in previous years, which will make up the bulk of our featured content. 

CAPT Richard Dick reviews Pirate Killers: The Royal Navy and the African Pirates this week. We have once again included some helpful links on the U.S. Navy's role in the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. Check out our next Second Saturday on the Balisle Report and its impact on the U.S. Navy today. Registration is open!

As always, fair winds and following seas shipmates. This email is best viewed as a webpage for your reading convenience and best quality.

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Our Next Second Saturday

(On the 3rd Week of the Month in July):

The Balisle Report

Surface Ship Readiness--Why It Was Chartered, What It Said, What Was Done, Is It Still Relevant?

16 July 2022 | 11 am

During the Cold War, the Navy began the practice of building very complicated ships, which were expected to last a very long time. Because most of our wars have been on land, draining modernization and procurement funds, the Navy has pretty much had the appearance of extreme power but was often lacking the basic essentials to operate the fleet.

In February 2010, the Navy tasked retired three-star Adm. Phillip Balisle to assess surface force readiness. His report found that the Navy’s attempts to create efficiencies had instead harmed the fleet, resulting in cuts to staffing, training and maintenance.

The report warned that unless the Navy mended its ways, it would continue to see surface ships condemned in inspections and sail unready to fight. Our next Second Saturday (taking place on the third Saturday in July) will answer the question of the report's lasting impression and relevancy today. 

This event will feature VADM Peter Daly, VADM Phil Balisle, and RADM Brad Hicks.

The event will occur LIVE on our YouTube page on the morning of 16 July 2022. 

CPO Initiations Book Now Available at Navy Museum Store

We are happy to announce that we have several print copies of A Tradition of Change: CPO Initiations to CPO 365 and Back at the Navy Museum Store. The book is written by friend of NHF, ITCM Jim Leuci, USN (Ret.). If you would like to inquire about purchasing a copy of this book on Chief Petty Officer initiations, please email John Royal at the Navy Museum store at [email protected].

Alcohol in the Navy, 1794-1935

(Naval History and Heritage Command)

The consumption of alcohol on board U.S. Navy vessels was prohibited by General Order 99, effective 1 July 1914, issued by Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels on 1 June 1914.

The following timeline of regulations governed the use of alcohol in the Navy from 1794 to 1935: From the establishment of a daily ration of "one half-pint of distilled spirits" in 1794 to General Order 244 "restricted the use of alcoholic beverages at shore establishments under naval jurisdiction."

READ THE FULL TIMELINE

Alcohol in the Navy, 1794-1935

(NHF Blog, 29 June 2014)

A few of us in the room stared at the vase as the amber-colored liquid poured out of the bottle. There was a surprising hiss of carbonation once the bottle cap came off. NHF Executive Director Captain Todd Creekman, USN (Ret.) picked up the contents and sniffed.

He looked up surprisingly and exclaimed, “It smells like beer.” It did. There was a mild sour and vinegary note to it as well. Other than that, it smelled like old beer.

If you are wondering what 70-year-old beer looks like, here is your proof. If you are wondering what it tastes like…well…you will have to find out for yourself.

The Naval Historical Foundation donated two World War II-era beer bottles to the Curatorial Branch of the Collections and Management Division at the Naval History and Heritage Command. NHHC Curators Clarissa Frank and Connie Beninghove were on hand with several NHF staff members (former and current) to witness the transfer of bottles. The bottles originally belonged to former Navy Lieutenant Wayne L. Yoakum. Yoakum served on the USS Coghlan (DD 606) during World War II, where he procured the bottles.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

USS Spokane Field Day in Norfolk

(Naval History and Heritage Command Photo)

(CL 120) Crewmen enjoy beer at a ship's Field Day party at the Fleet Recreation Park, Norfolk, Virginia, on 14-15 May 1947. Photograph from the USS Spokane scrapbook, donated by Rear Admiral John M. McIsaac, USN, 1974. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command.

(NHHC Photo #NH 99029)

V-J Day With The 22nd Special Naval Construction Battalion

(Naval History and Heritage Command Photo)

Personnel celebrating V-J Day with beer, at NAB Manus, Admiralty Islands, 15 August 1945. 

(NARA Photo #80-G-338462)

A Hundred Years Dry:

The U.S. Navy’s End of Alcohol at Sea

Staff

(USNI News)

Sailors on USS Normandy enjoy a rare beer. With limited exceptions, ships in the US Navy have had no alcohol for a hundred years. US Naval Institute Archives

As a flotilla of naval vessels from around the world participates in the Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC) to sustain relationships in the maritime community, a century ago this week international navies converged for a remarkably different occasion—to drink the last of the U.S. Navy’s supply of alcohol. On July 1, 1914, the ships of the U.S. Navy officially became dry under General Order No. 99. “The use or introduction for drinking purposes of alcoholic liquors on board any naval vessel, or within any navy yard or station, is strictly prohibited, and commanding officers will be held directly responsible for the enforcement of this order,” reads the hundred-year-old order. Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels issued the order. A teetotaler, former newspaper publisher, and supporter of the temperance movement, the North Carolinian had already become unpopular with many of those in the sea services. When the order was first announced in on April 16, 1914, it was met with derision and mockery in the press, which regarded the policy as an attempt to make the Navy softer.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

CHOW: The (Navy) Daquiri

(NHG Blog/YouTube, 30 June 2016)

Well, it is officially summer. If the spiking temperatures and humidity here in the nation’s capital do not tell you what time of year it is, the abundance of mosquitos buzzing around your backyard barbeques will. If you are like me, you enjoy the refreshing taste and sharp bite of a cold and stiff drink on a hot summer’s day in the sun. In honor of summer, we are featuring a classic summertime cocktail introduced into the United States by a naval officer at the turn of the century.

I think drinks are best served with a little bit of naval history. Here is the story behind the daiquiri.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

WATCH THE VIDEO

Extra Links:

Alcohol and the U.S. Navy

• Spirits on the USS Monitor (Mariners' Museum)
• A Farewell to Grog (Naval History and Heritage Command)
• Steel Beach Picnics (Jalopnik)

Pirate Killers: The Royal Navy and the African Pirates 

By Graham A. Thomas

Reviewed by  CAPT Richard Dick, USN (Ret.) 

Pirate Hunters has several strengths- it incorporates the author’s impressive research (although he does not footnote his sources) and is reasonably well written. Especially in looking at Barbary and the Rif, Thomas objectively presents the Navy’s challenges, constraints, successes, and failures. The book’s main weaknesses are the scarcity of maps and the excessive detail in some sections, which distract the reader from the overall picture. 

Continue Reading the Full Review Here

If you are interested in Vietnam history, please consider reviewing West Point Admiral: Leadership Lessons from From Four Decades of Military Service, by RADM Michael W. Shelton, CEC USN (Ret.).

Guidelines for getting involved in the NHF Book Review program can be found here,

and a list of titles available for review can be found here.

History in the Making: The U.S. Navy and the Ukrainian Crisis -- Select Links and Topics of Interest

We are currently witnessing history in the making with the situation involving the Russian invasion of Ukraine beginning last week. How does the U.S. Navy fit in? How are strategists, theorists, and journalists gauging the role of the U.S. Navy in any impending conflict? Here are several articles of note that seek to answer these questions as the situation progresses. Article opinions reflect those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect any stance by the Naval Historical Foundation. 

• US. Sending 18 Patrol Boats to Ukraine as Part of Latest Aid Package (USNI News)
• Biden to Announce Extension of U.S. Troop Presence in Poland (NBC News)
• Russian Navy Ordered to Lay Mines at Ukraine’s Black Sea Ports, US Says (Guardian)
• These Are The Riverine Patrol Boats Ukraine is Getting From the U.S. (The Drive)

1862 Boat Howitzer Elevating Screw traced back to

USS Dale

By John L. Morris

About 30 years ago, I bought an original Dahlgren Boat Howitzer elevating screw at a Civil War Show in Gettysburg, PA., put it on a shelf, and forgot about it until recently. I’ve been researching various Dahlgren Boat Howitzers including a pair recently acquired by the National Park Service after a Confederate monument in Fairfax, VA, was dismantled. One key to the provenance of one of those was the discovery of original markings on the top end of the steel elevating screw, which read “3.4 RL.” This meant the Howitzer, now a 4.62-inch smoothbore, had been manufactured as a 3.4 inch, 12-groove rifle which wore out and was then ‘bored up.” But that’s really beyond the scope here except to show why I checked my artifact. 

Mine has what appeared to be saltwater corrosion as opposed to just storage humidity corrosion. After carefully removing some of the rust from the top of the elevating screw, the stamped “No. 80” was visible. That must be the registry number of the Howitzer barrel with which the screw was originally issued, since the screw would normally always remain with that barrel. Checking National Archives Record Group 74 known as “Record of Naval Guns, Entry 112” showed Rifled Boat Howitzer No. 80 was made at the Washington Navy Yard in 1862, weighing 885 lbs.. It served in USS Two Sisters and then in USS Dale from 1863 on, but no final date was listed.

Explorers find USS Samuel B. Roberts Shipwreck

(Navy Times)

A U.S. Navy destroyer that engaged a superior Japanese fleet in the largest sea battle of World War II in the Philippines has become the deepest wreck to be discovered, according to explorers.

The USS Samuel B. Roberts, popularly known as the “Sammy B,” was identified on Wednesday broken into two pieces on a slope at a depth of 22,916 feet (6,985 meters).

That puts it 1,400 feet (426 meters) deeper than the USS Johnston, the previous deepest wreck discovered last year in the Philippine Sea also by American explorer Victor Vescovo, founder of Dallas-based Caladan Oceanic Expeditions. He announced the latest find together with U.K.-based EYOS Expeditions.

“It was an extraordinary honor to locate this incredibly famous ship, and by doing so have the chance to retell her story of heroism and duty to those who may not know of the ship and her crew’s sacrifice,” Vescovo, a former Navy commander, said in a statement.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Steel Beach Picnic

(AiirSource Military/YouTube)

Spirits on the USS Monitor

(Mariners' Museum/YouTube)

This Day in Naval History - 30 June

(Produced by NHHC)