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Painting, Oil on Canvas; By Clifford Lee; 1973 of the first African-American trained by the Navy as a Naval Aviator, Ensign Jesse L. Brown completed 20 combat missions over Korea between October and December 1950 before being shot down and killed on 4 December 1950. He and wingman Thomas Hudner were the subject of the recent movie Devotion and were both enshrined in the National Naval Aviation Museum Hall of Honor – See “Recognition” below.
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Tuesday Tidings Naval History Newsletter
Honoring Our Navy History & Supporting the Naval Heritage Community
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24 January 2023
Welcome Back to our National Maritime Historical Society Members and Friends of Naval History,
There is a naval tradition that dates back at least a century to enter the deck log entry for the midnight-to-4 AM watch on the first day of the year in rhyme. As an incentive to maintain this tradition and inspire creativity, the Naval History and Heritage Command in recent years has conducted a competition. Our feature article this week is the announcement for this year’s competition that offers background on this unique naval tradition.
Also, this week’s recognition section salutes ten individuals who recently were recognized by the Surface Navy/Coast Guard and Naval Aviation communities for enshrinement into respective Halls of Fame/Honor. The accomplishments of these individuals are quite inspirational.
For book reviews, we feature Dr. Robert Browning’s evaluation of Michael Bren Bonner’s and Peter McCord’s The Union Blockade in the Civil War: A Reassessment and an overview of Paul Gill’s Armageddon in the Arctic Ocean: Up the Hawse Pipe from Galley Boy to Third Mate on a Legendary Liberty Ship in the Biggest Convoy Battle of World War II written by the chairman of NMHS, CAPT Jim Noone.
Tuesday Tidings is compiled by Dr. David F. Winkler and Jessie Henderson. As always, comments are welcome at nmhs@seahistory.org.
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Items of Immediate Interest | |
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Admiral Hyman Rickover, Engineer of Power
20 October 2022 Naval Submarine League History Webinar Available for Viewing Until 1 February 2023
Moderator:
David A. Rosenberg, PhD – Military historian and NSL History Seminar Chairperson
Panelists:
Marc Wortman, PhD – Author of Admiral Hyman Rickover, Engineer of Power
RADM Jay Cohen, USN (Ret.) – Commanding Officer of USS Hyman G. Rickover (SSN 709)
CDR Matt Beach, USN – Commanding Officer of PCU (Pre-Commissioning Unit) Hyman G. Rickover (SSN 795)
VADM Jay Donnelly, USN (Ret.) – Commanding Officer of USS Hyman G. Rickover (SSN 709) and member of the Commissioning Committee for SSN 795
There are many stories about Admiral Rickover. This panel presented his story and his legacy from the perspectives of both research and personal recollection. His life was complex; his style was often controversial; his accomplishments are undeniable. He led the US Navy through a technological leap that transformed the capabilities of submarines and aircraft carriers. The Navy has honored his legacy by naming two submarines for him; the second is about to be commissioned into service.
View the webinar at Naval Submarine League >>
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National Navy Museum Book Talk: Becoming FDR: The Personal Crisis That Made a President, with Jonathan Darman
30 January 2023 12:00 —1:00 PM (EST)
Learn more here >>
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Naval Order of the United States History Night Program
The Naval Order of the United States monthly History Night program for January, featuring Trent Hone discussing his book Mastering the Art of Command: Admiral Chester W. Nimitz and Victory in the Pacific can now be viewed online.
Watch the full program >>
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U.S. Navy Calls For Poem Submissions: Naval History and Heritage Command Announces the 2023 New Year’s Deck Log Poem Contest
Story by Chief Petty Officer Torrey Lee
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Over the 247 years of the US Navy’s active service, commissioned vessels have served across the globe, building new traditions and legacies. With entries dating back to 1929, the first day of January has marked the start of one of the Navy’s most uniquely creative traditions, the New Year’s deck log poem.
These poems, written by deck log watches across the fleets, provide a creative outlet for sailors to encapsulate the previous year’s trials and events through verse. US Navy vessels have been encouraged to keep this tradition, as Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) continues to spotlight the most creative poems in an annual deck log entry contest.
"These poems help illustrate the mindset of sailors because they are not restricted by the usual constraints of what goes into a deck log. They can write about what they feel and what has happened," said Alexis Van Pool, the deck log program coordinator at NHHC.
Over the years, enlisted and officers of every pay grade have authored these deck log poems. The poems narrate stories from places of pride to others sharing their thoughts on their fellow crew.
Ironically, one of the first recorded examples was brought to light due to a commanding officer’s disapproval. A junior officer aboard USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) recalled that his skipper was a humorless fellow who had never heard of this tradition and sent the log back for rewriting. Since then, the Navy has made this an official tradition with a supporting NAVADMIN message.
Read the full article >>
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News From the Greater Maritime History World | |
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Dinner chair Samuel F. Byers, founding dinner chairman Philip J. Webster and NMHS chairman CAPT James A. Noone, USN (Ret.), invite you to join the National Maritime Historical Society as we honor three esteemed award recipients for our 2023 gala in Washington, DC on 9 May 2023: USS Constitution Museum, Congressman Joseph D. Courtney and Oyster Recovery Partnership.
For more information and to register, visit www.seahistory.org/washington2023 >>
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Naval History Book Reviews | |
The Union Blockade in the American Civil War: A Reassessment by Michael Brem Bonner and Peter McCord (University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, 2021) | |
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Reviewed by Robert Browning
... The authors’ greatest contribution is their statistical analysis of the economics of the blockade and its effectiveness. They point out that blockade running created a “short-lived boom economy,” with a wide assortment of international characters looking to get rich, which attracted the needed capital. They likewise assert that the blockade was a psychological weapon, inflicting abnormal economic conditions upon the South. Bonner and McCord maintain that the mere existence of the blockade “demoralized” the Confederacy because it was a constant reminder to those on the home front that there was a war ongoing, yet they submit that the effect is impossible to quantify. The authors further look at the deterrent effect of the blockade and claim that shortages impacted all industries, particularly railroads, and they also examine how it caused inflation. Their findings relate that the Union navy’s ability to stop steam powered blockade runners actually decreased during the war. The two do assert, however, that it did prevent large cargo ships from participating in the trade, and that the maintenance of the blockade greatly affected the events of the war, emphatically claiming that the blockade was a successful and important Union victory. The greatest contribution of this book is the fresh look at the blockade’s effectiveness. Importantly, they look at the cost-benefit ineffectiveness argument as well as the material and effectiveness argument. The tables provided by the authors to support their claims are valuable. There are a few trifling errors. The most vexing is their continual reference to Rear Admiral Samuel Phillips Lee as “Stephen.” Nevertheless, this work shines new and important light on the topic and everyone investigating the blockade should start with this book.
Read the full review in Sea History 180 on page 58>>
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Armageddon in the Arctic Ocean: Up the Hawse Pipe from Galley Boy to Third Mate on a Legendary Liberty Ship in the Biggest Convoy Battle of World War II by Paul G. Gill, edited by Paul G. Gill, Jr. (Hellgate Press, Ashland, Oregon, 2022) | |
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Reviewed by CAPT James A. Noone, USN (Ret.)
... In a subsequent Atlantic crossing to the Mediterranean, the Nathaniel Greene was torpedoed by a U-boat. Gill was jolted by the explosion and blacked out, but somehow woke up and managed to crawl out of his cabin through the debris. Five crewmembers were killed; many others were injured. The ship was towed and beached in Algeria. Gill finally got home and married his fiancée. At this stage in his life, his high-sea adventures were mostly over, but not quite. He taught for a while at the Maritime Officers Training School but, getting restless, accepted a Navy Reserve commission. He was assigned as a stevedore officer in the 37th Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (Seabees) at Pearl Harbor. When the war was finally over, he was discharged from the Navy in 1946. Although he lacked a high school diploma, he used the GI Bill and attended college, graduating in three years. Amazingly, he then applied for admission to, and was accepted at, Harvard Business School, graduating with an MBA!
Gill’s book is full of adventure and determination, a terrific read. Many autobiographies aren’t page-turners, but this one is.
Read the full review in Sea History 180 on page 59>>
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Naval History Books Available for Review | |
Naval Historical Anniversaries of Note | |
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On 23 January 1960, the Bathyscaph Trieste descended into the Challenger Deep, at the southern end of the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of all the oceans in the world. Manned by Lt. Don Walsh, USN (a 2012 NMHS Distinguished Service Award recipient) and Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard, the Trieste went seven miles below the surface. The trip took nine hours.
Watch archival footage>>
Read more here >>
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Naval History News from the Fleet | |
Recognition in the Naval Heritage Community | |
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Surface Navy/Coast Guard and Naval Aviation Organizations Induct New Members to their Respective Halls of Fame/Honor
During the recent Surface Navy Association Symposium, six individuals were inducted into a Hall of Fame recognizing active-duty, retired or civilian individuals, who, while in the service of their country, have performed an exceptional or heroic action on the field of battle, or have contributed significantly to the development of operational or combat readiness or capability to the sea forces of the United States Navy or United States Coast Guard. Last October, the National Naval Aviation Museum enshrined four remarkable naval aviators for their accomplishments within the museum’s Hall of Honor.
Read more here >>
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Additional Featured Content | |
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CSS Shenandoah Salute Cannons
by CAPT. Charles T. Creekman, USN (Ret.) and John L. Morris
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The short, complex career of the armed cruiser CSS Shenandoah was filled with dozens of successful actions as a commerce-raider, described in detail here. After the ship was confiscated by the US Navy in 1866, her battery was moved into Navy yard storage, and her two small, elegant saluting cannons were placed in the Ordnance Museum in the Washington Navy Yard. These handsome cannons are only about three feet long, and have bores of about two inches. Their barrels are bronze, and their carriages are cast iron with wooden transoms. They were first listed in the “Record of Miscellaneous Guns” (National Archives Record Group 74, E113). They were transferred to the US Naval Academy Museum ca. 1921 and are listed in the USNA Museum catalog of 1925. The authors, USNA classes of 1969 and 1971 respectively, recall these guns flanking the wide main stair landing in Mahan Hall at USNA. Now only one of these bronze-barreled guns with cast-iron “lion” carriages is on display, while the other is in storage. During the 19th century, specialized saluting guns were sometimes carried by merchantmen and yachts, but it seems, rarely aboard warships, which used their secondary battery guns for firing blanks when necessary. CSS Shenandoah most likely removed these guns from one of her many prizes. The guns were almost certainly manufactured in England. The color photos show guns number one and two, respectively. Which of these guns is depicted in the older black and white image is unknown. The authors would like to thank Mr. Grant Walker, USNA Museum curator, for his assistance with access to the artifacts and documentation.
See additional photos here >>
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Naval History Calls For Papers | |
Upcoming Naval History-Related Gatherings | |
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7–9 February 2023: Tall Ships America 50th Annual Conference, 25 America’s Cup Ave. Newport, RI
17–18 February 2023: Western Naval History Association Symposium, USS Midway Museum, San Diego, CA
23–26 March 2023: Society for Military History, Hilton San Diego Bayfront, San Diego, CA
9 May 2023: National Maritime Awards Dinner, National Press Club, Washington, DC
17–20 May 2023: North American Society for Oceanic History Conference, Maritime Museum of San Diego, CA
21–22 September 2023: McMullen Naval History Symposium, US Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD
September 2023: Historic Naval Ship Association
October 2023: Naval Order of the United States Congress, San Diego
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Preble Hall Naval History Podcast | |
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The United States Naval Academy Museum's naval history podcast from Preble Hall features historians, practitioners, military personnel, and other experts on a variety of naval history topics from ancient history to more current events.
EP171: 22 January 2023 >> Vice Admiral Rod Rempt, 59th Superintendent, recounts his first command, USS Antelope (PG-86) as Soviet-US tensions rose in the eastern Mediterranean during the Yom Kippur War of 1973.
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Naval History & Heritage Command H-Grams | |
The International Journal of Naval History (IJNH) provides a preeminent forum for works of naval history, researched and written to demonstrable academic standards, with the goal of stimulating and promoting research into naval history and fostering communication among naval historians at an international level. IJNH welcomes any scholarly historical analysis, focused on any period or geographic region, that explores naval power in its national or cultural context. The journal is independent of any institution and operates under the direction of an international Editorial Board that represents various genres of naval history. | |
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With the 250th anniversary of the US Navy on the horizon, NMHS seeks your support as we plan to honor those who have provided for our maritime security.
DONATE TODAY >>
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