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16 July 2024
Welcome back to our National Maritime Historical Society members and friends who share a love for naval history!
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Happy Admirals Day! On this date back in 1862, Congress authorized the rank of Rear Admiral, which would be given to David Glasgow Farragut! If you happen to be an admiral and enjoy reading Tuesday Tidings, this might be a great day to consider making a contribution to sustain this publication. Just click: Donate - National Maritime Historical Society (seahistory.org) (Non-admirals can donate too!)
On a more somber note, tomorrow marks the 80th anniversary of a horrific accident on the West Coast. Our feature story comes courtesy of the Naval History and Heritage Command.
In previous editions we have mentioned the successful dry dockings of the battleships Texas and New Jersey. Tuesday Tidings is pleased to report another historic vessel, SS John W. Brown, is en route to Norfolk from Baltimore for some high-and-dry maintenance. See: “WWII Liberty Ship Heads to Drydock in Norfolk, Thanks to Fundraising Rally” | Chesapeake Bay Magazine. It’s worth noting that another historic ship, the destroyer USS Kidd (DD-661), continues to undergo maintenance at the Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors shipyard in Houma, Louisiana. A return of that famed Fletcher-class destroyer to the Baton Rouge waterfront is expected next spring.
Best wishes to the National Maritime Historical Society for a successful 61st anniversary meeting later this week at their Peekskill, New York headquarters. For details visit: www.seahistory.org.
This week for our Naval History Book Review we turn to Dr. Winkler, who will offer a review on a book that offers a new interpretation on the phrase “Don’t Give Up the Ship!” As for books available for review, we’ve been asked: With a smaller-than-normal available books list, how is it that Tuesday Tidings sustains its Naval History Book Review feature? The answer is that many of our readers have recently picked up new titles for summer reading and have offered to provide reviews. If you find yourself in that boat, please don’t hesitate to reach out! (We love saving on postage!)
Tuesday Tidings is compiled by Dr. David F. Winkler and Jessie Henderson as a benefit for members of the National Maritime Historical Society and friends of naval history.
As always, comments are welcome at nmhs@seahistory.org.
| ITEMS OF IMMEDIATE INTEREST | |
10 July 2024 – Naval Order History Happenings: Marines in Crisis
With former Marine Corps Chief Historian Dr. Charlie Neimeyer
8 PM (EDT) (ZOOM)
12 July 2024 – USS Monitor Legacy Program: Siege of Port Hudson
With John V. Quarstein
Noon–1 PM (in person/Zoom)
16 July 2024 – Mighty 8th AF Museum Speaker Series
USS Langley Key Personalities
With David F. Winkler, PhD
Savannah, GA
6 PM (EDT)
17 July 2024 – Dinner with a Curator: “ Lighter Than Air: Wartime Blimps”
World War II Museum, New Orleans, LA
6:30-8:30 PM (CDT) (Live)
19 July 2024 – Absorbing the Shock of Port Chicago: Losing Weapons Transshipments Across the Pacific Theater
Mare Island, CA
10-11 AM (PDT) (Live) Lecture
25 July 2024 – Naval Order Continental Command Lecture
The Coast Guard with the Marines in the Pacific World War II
With Master Chief David Mattingly
7–8 PM (EDT) (Youtube)
28 July 2024 – Mare Island Speaker Series
Mare Island and USS Langley
With David F. Winkler
Mare Island, CA
2–3 PM (PDT) (Live)
2 August 2024 – USS Monitor Legacy Program
The Battle of Mobile Bay
With John Quarstein
Mariners’ Museum, Newport News, VA
Noon–1 PM (EDT) (Live, Streaming)
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The effects of the 17 July 1944 explosions at Port Chicago, California, showing the wreckage of the joiner shop in the center and munitions pier beyond. Photo: The Mare Island Navy Yard. | |
On the evening of 17 July 1944, two cargo ships—SS Quinault Victory and SS E. A. Bryan—were berthed at the munitions pier at Port Chicago Naval Magazine, California, when massive explosions rocked the base. At 10:18 PM, a dull clang and the sound of splintering wood preceded a blinding flash and a substantial detonation on the pier, followed within seconds by smaller detonations and then the massive explosion of munitions in E. A. Bryan’s holds. On board E. A. Bryan or on the pier ready to be loaded were 4,606 tons of antiaircraft ammunition, aerial bombs, high explosives, and smokeless powder. The ship, most of the pier, all structures within a 1,000-foot radius, and many of the flatcars were literally disintegrated. The explosion blew Quinault Victory into pieces that subsequently sank in the waters of the bay. A Coast Guard fire barge was blown away from the munitions pier and sank, killing its crew of five. The 320 individuals in the immediate proximity of the blasts—Navy personnel on loading details, a Marine Corps sentry, the ships’ Navy armed guard and merchant mariner crews, and civilian employees—were killed instantly. Of those killed, only 51 were able to be identified in the aftermath. Most of the personnel killed were African American sailors. More than 250 other personnel were injured, many seriously. Most of the buildings on base were damaged, and many were completely destroyed. Secondary fires raged and munitions continued to cook off for some time after the explosion of E. A. Bryan. The shock of the detonations could be felt as far away as San Francisco, 40 miles to the southwest, and even in parts of Nevada. | |
African American ordnance Sailors assembled 5-inch shells in a Port Chicago Naval Magazine workshop, circa 1943/44. Photo: U.S. Navy/National Park Service. | |
On July 21, a Navy court of inquiry convened and over the next 39 days conducted its investigation on the Port Chicago disaster. The court’s primary focus was on training and operational practices prior to the disaster. As Port Chicago was racially segregated, much of the investigation was focused on the personal and professional challenges of a segregated command. As was common at the time, the court’s report strongly implied that (supposed) specific attributes of African American enlisted personnel had slowed training evolutions and day-to-day operations, and made them more difficult. However, in the court’s opinion, the explosions and the subsequent loss of life were not due to negligence or inefficiency. Although the exact cause of the explosions was never determined due to a lack of eyewitnesses and extensive destruction of the pier, a number of shortcomings could have contributed to the disaster, according to the court. The shortcomings included the following: Port Chicago was at its operational capacity; there were shortfalls in munitions handling; override of basic safety procedures occurred; and instructions did not sufficiently cover all aspects of ordnance safety and handling in port during wartime. | |
South view from the munitions pier, showing the wreckage of the joiner shop at the right in the aftermath of the Port Chicago disaster, July 17, 1944. Photo: The Mare Island Navy Yard. | |
Soon after the disaster, surviving ordnance personnel were transferred from Port Chicago to Mare Island Naval Shipyard, also in California. While there, the sailors were once again assigned to ordnance loading duties, similar to what they experienced at Port Chicago. Clearly, they were still shaken by the disaster and approached their tasks with a high degree of uneasiness. Finally, on 9 Aug., 328 battalion ordnance sailors refused to carry out their duties unless safety procedures were improved. After appeals from their officers, 70 workers agreed to go back to work under the current conditions. On 10 Aug. Rear Adm. Carleton H. Wright, commander of the Twelfth Naval District, gave the remaining 258 sailors an ultimatum: go back to work, or their actions would be considered mutiny and the consequences would be severe. Ultimately, 50 sailors, later known as the “Port Chicago 50,” stood their ground. The 208 that did return to work were given summary courts-martial and docked three months’ pay. The Port Chicago 50 were charged with disobedience of a lawful order and mutiny. Ultimately, the men received sentences from 8 to 15 years of confinement and would be dishonorably discharged. With some prodding from future Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall (NAACP chief counsel at the time), Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal ordered the Navy to review the case, but ultimately the court reaffirmed the original sentences. However, pressure from several high-level individuals and organizations, including former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, prompted Forrestal to have the convicted sailors released from confinement in January 1946. The men were dispersed among various ships deployed in the Pacific, performing menial duties until receiving general discharges under honorable conditions. As late as the 1990s, they and their descendants repeatedly appealed to Congress and the Navy to have their names and records cleared. Recognition finally occurred on July 17, 1994, when the Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial was dedicated to those lost in the disaster. Freddie Meeks, at the time thought to be the last surviving known member of the Port Chicago 50, received a presidential pardon in December 1999. However, complete exoneration of all 50 sailors has not occurred to date. To learn more about, follow this link: Port Chicago disaster. | |
NAVAL HISTORY BOOK REVIEWS | |
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One Man’s Fight For a Better Navy: Memoir of Holden A. Evans, former Naval Constructor, USN By Holden A. Evans, New York: Dodd, Meade & Co. (1940); Lawrence M. Kaplan (Ed.), CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (2015).
Reviewed by David F. Winkler, PhD
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In the talk that I plan to give for the Mare Island Historic Park Foundation at the end of July (2024) on my recent book America’s First Aircraft Carrier: USS Langley and the Dawn of US Naval Aviation (Naval Institute Press, 2024), I will focus on the Mare Island-Langley connection, which is strong, as Langley was originally built there, as the collier Jupiter. As an aviation ship, Langley would make many a return visit, including a yard period in 1936–37 where yard workers peeled off the forward third of the flight deck to convert the ship to a seaplane tender.
Read full review>>
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NAVAL HISTORY BOOKS AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW | |
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Preble Hall Podcast
Interview with author Charles Lachman
Listen here>>
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The Society for Military History announces a call for papers for its 90th Annual Meeting in Mobile, Alabama, 27–30 March 2025, at the Battle House Renaissance Mobile Hotel and the
Renaissance Mobile Riverview Plaza Hotel.
The Program Committee’s objective is to create a slate of panels that represent the breadth of expertise and interests as well as the overall diversity of the Society’s wide-ranging membership. Individual paper and panel proposals on all facets of military history broadly defined will be considered for inclusion. Members in the academic community, the armed forces and governmental agencies, museums and archives, and independent scholars, as well as international members, are encouraged to participate.
Priority will be given to individual paper and panel submissions that highlight the presentation of original research, new interpretations, topics of immediate interest to our membership, and cutting-edge trends and subject matter. Submission of roundtables is encouraged, but preference will be given to panels that present new, original research.
All submissions will be judged on their merit using the above criteria.
Submission Instructions:
Individual paper proposals must include a 250-word abstract of the paper, and a one-page vita with contact information and email address. If selected, individual papers will be assigned by the program committee to an appropriate panel with a chair/commentator.
Panel proposals must include a panel title and 250-word abstract summarizing the theme of the panel; paper titles and a 250-word abstract for each paper proposed; and a one-page curriculum vitae for each panelist (including the chair and commentator) that includes institutional affiliation, email address, and other contact information.
Roundtable proposals must include a roundtable title, the full name and institutional affiliation of each participant, a 250-word abstract summarizing the roundtable’s themes and significance, and a one-page curriculum vitae for each participant.
Members who wish to volunteer to serve as chairs and commentators should send a one-page curriculum vitae.
Send all materials to the Program Committee Chair before 18 October 2024 at smhconferences@gmail.com.
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For The Trafalgar Chronicle
Publication Date: FALL 2025
Theme: Naval Leadership in the Georgian Era
For the 2025 edition of The Trafalgar Chronicle, the editors seek carefully researched, scholarly articles on “Naval Leadership in the Georgian Era.” We invite essays that provide examples of exemplary and questionable leadership in the predominant navies of the Georgian maritime era (1714–1837). We are interested to know about unique and far-reaching ways in which naval officers and administrators made crucial decisions and took significant actions affecting their futures, men, fleets, enemies, combat tactics and strategies, ships, policies and regulations, and naval doctrine itself. Additional topics: We also seek general-interest articles with unique perspectives on the maritime and naval history of the Georgian era. We invite biographical portraits, articles about battles at sea, maritime economics, exploration of foreign shores, foreign relations, politics, etc. We also welcome well-documented reports on preservation efforts regarding the artifacts, graves, memorials, and monuments of the Nelson era. Proposal Submission Guidelines: Please submit a proposal/abstract of no more than 500 words and a paragraph about your background (a biographical sketch). Proposals are due by 1 September 2024. Applicants will be notified of acceptance status by 1 October 2024. Submit all proposals and inquiries to tc.editor@1805Club.org.
Detailed author guidelines are available upon request. Article Guidelines: Articles should be 3,000 to 5,000 words long in MSWORD (unprotected) following the New Oxford Style Manual. Please include three to six high-resolution illustrations, each in a separate file (jpeg, pdf, or tiff). Articles are due 1 February 2025, at which point they will be edited and, in some cases, submitted to peer review. Articles will be returned to authors for revisions by 1 April 2025.
Revisions are due by 1 May 2025. Publication will be Fall/Autumn 2025. While we do not pay our contributors, each author will receive a copy of The Trafalgar Chronicle upon publication. Non-members of the 1805 Club will receive a free one-year membership. All authors will also receive a PDF of their published article for their portfolio. Authors retain copyright of their articles. Our Contributors: We welcome articles from 1805 Club members and anyone with an interest in the history of the Georgian Navy and other navies of the period. Our articles have come from writers of varied backgrounds: historians, journalists, university students, military personnel, preservationists, and novelists. Contact tc.editor@1805Club.org for additional information. The Trafalgar Chronicle is the scholarly flagship publication of the 1805 Club, a charity registered in England and Wales (number1202272) with an international membership of scholars and enthusiasts of the Georgian maritime era. The 1805 Club takes its name from the iconic Battle of Trafalgar that gave Nelson his place in history and confirmed the role of the Royal Navy in asserting Britain’s sea power. Seaforth Publishing is our publisher.
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UPCOMING NAVAL & MARITIME HISTORY GATHERINGS | |
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19–21 July 2024: National Maritime Historical Society Annual Meeting, Peekskill, New York
16–19 September 2024: Historic Naval Ship Association (HNSA) Symposium, USS Midway, San Diego
9 November 2024: Steamship Society of America, Queen Mary, Long Beach, CA
27–30 March 2025: Society for Military History (SMH) Annual Meeting, Mobile, AL
9–11 April 2025: Council of American Maritime Museums Annual Meeting, Pensacola, FL
24–25 May 2025: Canadian Nautical Research Society Annual Conference Port Hope,
Ontario
18–19 September 2025: McMullen Naval History Symposium US Naval Academy
24–28 September 2025: Historic Naval Ship Association (HNSA) Symposium/12th Maritime Heritage Conference, Buffalo, NY
| 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: 233: David Patraeus on CONFLICT>>
Click here for all Preble Hall Podcasts >>
| DRACHINIFEL YOUTUBE CHANNEL | |
Welcome to Navy History Matters, Naval History and Heritage Command’s biweekly compilation of articles, commentaries, and blogs related to history and heritage. Every other week, they gather the top-interest items from a variety of media and social media sources that link to related content at NHHC’s website, your authoritative source for Navy history.
Click here for most recent article>>
| 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 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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