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28 February 2023
Welcome back to our National Maritime Historical Society members and friends who share a love for naval history!
LAST CALL! Today is the deadline for paper proposals for the North American Society
of Oceanic History annual conference in San Diego on 17–20 May! (See Calls for Papers below.)
Our featured content focuses on the Naval War College Foundation’s effort to permanently endow the Professor John B. Hattendorf Prize to distinguished scholars in recognition of the quality and depth of their original research and scholarship over a long career. Given Dr. Hattendorf’s life-long passion to keep naval history relevant to contemporary leaders, we strongly encourage support for this endeavor.
This week we offer two Navy-related reviews from last summer’s edition of Sea History. Please do check our list of books available for review and reach out to Dr. Dave Winkler with your requests.
Tuesday Tidings is compiled by Dr. David F. Winkler and Jessie Henderson. As always, comments are welcome at nmhs@seahistory.org.
| THIS WEEK'S FEATURED IMAGE | |
"Before the War," a painting by Carlton T. Chapman, depicts the US North Atlantic Squadron anchored in Hampton Roads.
| ITEMS OF IMMEDIATE INTEREST | |
4 March: Author Talk: "The Suffragist Playbook: Your Guide to Changing the World," with Rebecca Boggs Roberts and Lucinda Robb
National Museum of the US Navy - Building 76, Washington Navy Yard, DC
12:00-1:00 PM EST
https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/museums/nmusn/news-and-events/events/book-talk-20230304.html
8 March: Naval Order of the United States Monthly History Presentation
Tim Loughman: “A Strange Whim of the Sea: The Wreck of the USS Macaw" Naval Order of the United States History Night
8:00 PM EST
https://www.navalorder.org/noushistoryhappenings
10 March: Civil War Lecture Series: Development of Confederate Ironclads
12:00-1:00 PM EST
Free to watch online; $1 for nonmembers to attend in person
Mariners’ Museum and Park, Newport News, VA
Click here to sign up >>
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Naval War College Foundation Seeks to Endow Prestigious Hattendorf Prize
In 2011, the Hattendorf Prize for Distinguished Original Research in Maritime History was created and first awarded. Named for Professor John B. Hattendorf, Ernest J. King Professor Emeritus of Maritime History, a US Navy veteran, and special advisor at the USNWC, the Hattendorf Prize recognizes his rich legacy of research, scholarship, and service. Awarded five times (2011, 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2022), it has celebrated renowned academics for the quality and depth of their original research and scholarship over a long career.
The Naval War College Foundation (NWCF) has embarked on a $300,000 fundraising campaign to permanently endow the Hattendorf Prize and award it in perpetuity. Donor-committed funds will be invested into an endowment with the fund's income earmarked for the Prize Laureate's cash stipend and medallion, an award presentation ceremony in Spruance Auditorium featuring a lecture by the Prize Laureate, and other activities to maximize the Prize Laureate's engagement with USNWC faculty and students.
To date, the NWCF has raised $135,000 and continues to identify philanthropic champions who are able and inspired to make leadership gifts and pledges of their own. By endowing the Hattendorf Prize, our vision remains to advance the study and understanding of our nation’s and the world’s rich maritime history, as well as extend the legacy of a distinguished professor and patriot whose life’s work has influenced so much and so many and will continue to inform and enlighten for generations to come.
If you are interested in making a gift or pledge to this crucial priority or would like more information on this initiative, please contact Mike Bamonti, Senior Director of Development.
Photos: Top Left Image: US Navy photo by Cmdr. Gary Ross. From left, Professor John B. Hattendorf with Hattendorf Prize Recipient RADM James Goldrick, Royal Australian Navy (Ret.), MG Stephen Seiter, USA (Ret.), and USNWC President RADM Shoshana Chatfield, at the most recent prize ceremony. Top Right Image: Professor John B. Hattendorf. Photo courtesy of the USNWC. Bottom Image: The Hattendorf Medal. Photo courtesy of the USNWC.
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NAVAL HISTORY BOOK REVIEWS | |
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Opening the Great Depths: The Bathyscaph Trieste and Pioneers of Undersea Exploration, by Norman Polmar and Lee J. Mathers. Naval Institute Press (2021)
Reviewed by Michael L. Brennan, PhD
Polmar and Mather's chronicling of the bathyscaphe's design, development, and career as a naval research submarine is a compelling read. The authors' careers as a naval consultant and intelligence officer, respectively, play a strong role in their ability to document and describe the pioneering of such a massive technological achievement and its profound impact on furthering deep-water exploration. The description of the trails and ultimate record-breaking dives includes interesting descriptions of the deep "hadal" zone. Equally interesting in the history of the Trieste is the bathyscaphe's later career. This includes the deep-sea missions to find the wreckage of two nuclear submarines: USS Thresher (SSN-593), lest in April 1963, and USS Scorpion (SSN-589), lost in May 1968 - both with all hands. Following a deep-tow camera system's detection of debris from Thresher, Trieste dived on the wreck site in June 1963 and made several subsequent assessment dives. The Thresher expedition, coupled with the search for Scorpion, allow for a fascinating backdrop from which the authors tell the story of the construction of Trieste II, brought on site to search for Scorpion in October 1968, and Trieste III, which would dive on both sites a handful of times throughout its career between 1969 and 1979. As a pioneer of deep-sea exploration and manned submergence, the involvement of the three Trieste bathyscaphes in these searches for lost submarines weaves a profound story.
Featuring a forward by retired Lieutenant Don Walsh, the book is a great read and stands as a significant contribution to maritime history.
Read the full review in Sea History on pages 58-59 >>
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Rebels at Sea: Privateering in the American Revolution, by Eric Jay Dolin. Liveright Publishing (2022)
Reviewed by Louis Arthur Norton
Rebels at Sea is a broad and well-researched examination of the role of letter-of-marque vessels and privateering during the American Revolution. This new work is very much a welcome addition to Revolutionary War maritime history.
Read the full review in Sea History pages 59–60 >>
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NAVAL HISTORY BOOKS AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW | |
NAVAL HISTORICAL ANNIVERSARIES OF NOTE | |
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This week was a big week for the anniversary of United States Navy battleships and aircraft carriers. 130 years ago, on 28 February, 1893, USS Indiana, the first United States Navy battleship, was launched. 90 years ago, on 25 February, 1933, the first aircraft carrier, USS Ranger, was also launched. And 80 years ago, on 22 February, 1943, the last class of American fast battleships was launched, with USS Iowa the lead ship.
Read more about USS Indiana>>
Read more about USS Ranger>>
Read more about USS Iowa>>
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RECOGNITION IN THE NAVAL HERITAGE COMMUNITY | |
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Naval History and Heritage Command Awards Program for 2023 Announced
Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) officially announced the 2023 Navy History and Heritage Awards (NHHA) Program Season, 1 Feb. at the Washington Navy Yard
This annual awards program was established in 2020 to recognize public, nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organizations, including museums and individuals, who incorporate the history and heritage of the United States Navy into their publications, documents, and artifacts at their facilities. Organizations eligible for the program encourage and publicize scholarly, well-researched historical stories that depict the Navy’s history and heritage as well as preserve and maintain artifacts on loan from the Navy.
“These awards are for those museums that serve as force multipliers in informing the public of our Navy’s history and the importance of sea power to the security of the nation,” said NHHC Director Samuel J. Cox, a retired US Navy Rear Admiral. This program supports and promotes effective programs in non-federal organizations for exhibits, artifacts, and historical research. 2023, marks the third iteration of this annual awards program.
Applicants wishing to participate in the NHHA program may do so in one of three categories:
Navy History and Heritage Excellence Pennant (History “E”): Presented to the organization recognized for outstanding overall achievement in operations, including maintenance, curation/conservation, exhibitory, and Navy history education from organizations offering US Navy-related programming to the public.
Read the full article >>
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ADDITIONAL FEATURED CONTENT | |
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More Adventures in USS Mullinnix (DD-944) by John L. Morris
This adventure took place ca.1978–9, in the Persian Gulf, aboard USS Mullinnix, DD-944, a 3-gun Forrest Sherman class destroyer. I was assigned to this ship as head of the Weapons Department. One day the sonarmen reported they had detected, via our SONAR (Sound Navigation and Ranging equipment), an underwater contact. The captain was on the bridge when Sonar Control reported this via the “squawk box” announcing system. The CO quickly became caught up in this drama. He ordered that an “OPREP 3” message be sent out to higher authority regarding this yet-unevaluated underwater contact.
The high-level report that was sent was reserved for contact with enemy forces, where “hostilities are imminent.” I’m guessing the mistake occurred in the radio room. There, various “canned” emergency messages were kept ready on small rolls of punched paper tape so they could be transmitted in seconds. The radioman on watch had probably grabbed the wrong tape roll. So President Jimmy Carter was awakened during the night back in DC. I’ve often wondered how he reacted. Maybe he said “USS what? Do they have nook-you-lah weapons? It’s nothin’ Rosalynn, go back to sleep, deah, just some idiot tin-can sailuhs.”
My evaluation, using seldom-used classified publications, was that we were chasing a fish net. These thick books were Allied Tactical Publications. They proved easy to use and exactly what I needed to determine the nature of our sonar contact. I was at first using these books in the Sonar Control room but took the pertinent volume to the darkened CIC, a couple decks up, to show the captain. He seemed very distracted and was adamant that we had cornered a hostile sub, in warm water only 90 feet deep. I said “Captain, it hasn’t moved, there’s no Doppler, the flow chart right here says it is probably a fish net!” I still recall him repeating “Russian sub, I know we got one, Russian sub....” as he pounded his fist on the glass top of the table-like “dead-reckoning tracer” device in CIC. His voice was hoarse, he was drooling a little, and his wig was now crooked. This scene reminded me of The Caine Mutiny, where Captain Queeg steamed over his own tow line while berating a sailor. It was a little scary because this wasn’t a movie! We were soon buzzed by Iranian P3 anti- submarine aircraft. The Iranian navy was watching us churn up the water out in “their” Gulf. I’m sure they wondered what the heck we were up to. They were considered an ally at the time, and our “hostilities imminent” message may have been shared with them via our embassy. This event somehow made it to the wire services and my mom sent me the resulting newspaper article, which I still have.
In a related incident a day or two later, an Iranian navy patrol boat came straight at us in what I thought was an attack profile. I asked the CO to authorize manning and making ready one of our three 5”/54 rapid-fire Mark 42 gun mounts. He yelled “No, that’d look aggressive,” and refused. The USS Pueblo debacle was on my mind, and I imagined that small patrol boat capturing the destroyer that refused to load even one of its guns. Pueblo had 50-caliber machine guns (but the canvas covers were iced over at the time.) Prior to our deployment, I had drafted a naval message requesting a pair of 50’s prior to our deployment, but the CO would not release it; I think he just didn’t like guns. I got my personal 9mm pistol out of my safe and stood just inside the aft port “light locker” where I could look outside but remain concealed. I didn’t want the ship to be captured by a few armed Iranian sailors. Fortunately the boat just looked us over for a while and departed. We had an armory full of light machine guns, rifles, shotguns, and pistols, but no time to get them. I was sure the captain wouldn’t allow us to issue them even if we had time.
Of our 3 rapid-fire guns, my choice, in case one was needed “for real,” was Mount 52, amidships. The hydraulics were leaky and some referred to the below-decks loader room as a “rain forest.” Somehow that gun was the most reliable, even though the CO dreaded shooting it. By some miscalculation during construction or overhaul, Mount 52’s gun firing cutout cams didn’t allow for the presence of the captain’s gig. The gig’s plexiglass windows were not far enough from the gun’s muzzle and always shattered when that gun was firing forward of the starboard beam. As a result we’d have a captain-interest, top-priority job during our next inport period.
The XO wandered into Mount 52’s loader room one day. I happened to be there, and he began flailing his arms and yelling at the two gunner’s mates and me about the leaking hydraulic fluid. I wished he had asked to see me outside of that room, using the chain of command and berate me only, since this was my responsibility. I mentioned this to him tactfully later. He replied that such a comment was highly disrespectful, and flew in the face of his authority. I resisted the urge to take issue with his assertions, knowing they’d just add fuel, and apologized. Later that day, I was tipped off that one of those men would likely come around that night with a big wrench, looking for officers to bash. This was nothing too extraordinary in light of that ship’s toxic atmosphere. I did lock the door of my stateroom that night!
As background, I had learned that the only way to ensure our 3-gun gun battery would work when we needed it was to shoot “pre-action calibration” rounds every day. I made sure we were always topped off with 5-inch/54 caliber ammo. I had requested an augmentation of our 5-inch ammo allowance, and fired a half-dozen live rounds every day when we had a clear range.
I’ve always liked guns. I requested the weapons officer job on that ship following graduation from the Destroyer Department Head Course in Newport, RI. Fortunately, I knew some things about the guns that my leading gunner’s mate (an E-6) did not. We were trying to pass our Naval Gunfire Support qualification on the Bloodsworth Island range in Chesapeake Bay. We couldn’t get the gun’s automatic fuze setters to set the correct time delay on the illumination projectiles (starshells) and risked failing our qualification, a major embarrassment. The starshells are projectiles containing million-candlepower magnesium flares with parachutes allowing them to float down over a target while lighting it up at night. It turned out that the Army had taken over the ammo business and simply substituted their time fuze for the Navy one. Navy fuzes and the Army fuzes had very different numbers of “time of flight” seconds per degree-of-rotation. I never saw the technical bulletin that supposedly noted that. We had to get the starshells to ignite in the air rather than hitting the ground first, as was happening.
I told the gunner to go ahead and set the fuzes by hand, with the special bronze fuse-setting wrench, while they were still in the magazine. I decided on a certain time-of-flight that would cause midair ignition. Then we’d just turn the guns’ automatic fuze-setters off. He started crying, or maybe wailing. This behavior really caught me by surprise. I asked what the problem was, and he said that doing what I had directed would blow up the ship and kill everyone. I realized he had somehow missed or forgotten some basic things from his service schooling. I explained that the projectile fuzes don’t start “ticking” until they are fired. They were also designed to be “bore safe” (cannot detonate until they’ve left the gun). He cheered up and followed orders, and we qualified the next day, in fact burning up most of the vegetation on Bloodsworth Island with our starshells.
These fuze-setting issues concerned me and I reported them to higher authority via naval message. A team from Naval Ordnance Station Indian Head, MD, showed up and “investigated.” It turned out that none of them knew about our gun system and asked us to educate them. We tried to do so in a day, but were obviously unsuccessful. They left and sent out a report saying our problem was due to our failure to maintain our equipment (absolutely false.) Sometime later, I learned that the Army fuzes on our projectiles were mechanically incompatible with our automatic fuze setters, in addition to having incorrect timing.
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NAVAL HISTORY CALLS FOR PAPERS | |
UPCOMING NAVAL & MARITIME HISTORY GATHERINGS | |
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18 March 2023: Carrier Con 2023 – USS Hornet, Alameda
23–26 March 2023: Society for Military History, Hilton San Diego Bayfront, San Diego, CA
14–16 April 2023: National Maritime Historical Society 60th Annual Meeting, The Mariners' Museum and Park, Newport News, VA
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 Ships Association Conference
17-22 October 2023: Naval Order of the United States Congress, San Diego
| PREBLE HALL NAVAL HISTORY PODCAST | |
A naval history podcast from Preble Hall – the United States Naval Academy Museum in Annapolis, Maryland. Preble Hall will interview historians, practitioners, military personnel, and other experts on a variety of naval history topics from ancient history to more current events.
Click here for the latest episode: 176: Royal Navy Officers in the Early Eighteenth Century: CDR Ryan Mewett >>
Click here for all Preble Hall Podcasts >>
| NAVAL HISTORY & HERITAGE COMMAND H-GRAMS | |
H-Gram 077: 24 February 2023 >> Carter Hall at the Naval Academy, Remember the Maine, and the Charge of USS Bailey
| INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NAVAL HISTORY | |
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.
Click here to read the NEW FEBRUARY 2023 edition and archived issues on the IJNH website >>
| SUPPORTING US NAVAL HISTORY & HERITAGE | |
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.
Click here to donate today >>
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