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25 March 2025
Welcome back to our National Maritime Historical Society members and friends who share a love for naval history!
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Did you know today is National Medal of Honor Day? Congress established 25 March as Medal of Honor Day in 2007. For a list of US Navy Medal of Honor recipients, visit the NHHC page HERE. This Saturday marks the 80th anniversary of the beginning of one of the deadliest struggles in US Navy history: the Battle for Okinawa. This battle would be responsible for an additional six names on the Medal of Honor list. The NHHC overview of the Battle for Okinawa can be found HERE.
We wish the Society for Military History success at its annual conference in Mobile, starting Thursday. As previously highlighted in Tuesday Tidings, about three dozen presentations will touch on naval history topics. Unfortunately, the freeze on government official travel is affecting attendance. Stay tuned to Tuesday Tidings for forthcoming conference highlights.
For this week’s Naval History Book Review, we welcome back Master Chief David Mattingly who reviewed a book about a sailor who fell overboard in the Tonkin Gulf and wound up in the “Hanoi Hilton.” Enjoy! Added to our books available for review stack is Journey to the Jones Act by Charlie Papavizas. Check out this and other titles in our book list.
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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 and naval history news items are welcome at nmhs@seahistory.org.
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ITEMS OF IMMEDIATE INTEREST | |
Wednesday, 26 March – WWII Museum Opening reception and program
On American Shores: The Aleutian Islands Campaign
5 PM (CDT)
Thursday–Sunday, 27–30 March – Society for Military History (SMH) Annual Meeting, Mobile, AL
Saturday, 29 March – National Museum of Naval Aviation Lecture and Book Signing
America’s First Aircraft Carrier: USS Langley and the Dawn of US Naval Aviation
With David F. Winkler, PhD
11 AM–Noon (CDT)
Tuesday, 1 April – World War II Discussion Forum
Nimitz’s Newsmen: Waldo Drake and the Navy’s Censored War in the Pacific
With Hamilton Bean
8 PM (EST) (Virtual)
Wednesday, 2 April – USS Constitution Museum Sailing through History Series
Strong Ship Maneuvers: How USS Constitution Worked Wind to Strategic Gain in Battle
With Carl Herzog
12:30–1 PM (EST)
Thursday, 3 April – NMHS First Thursdays Seminar Series:
Wreck Divers & Archaeologists: A History of Maritime Archaeology in California
With Dr. James Delgado
7 PM (EST) (Virtual)
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National History Day Competitions Ramp Up
Throughout the United States, high school and middle school students are currently putting finishing touches on their entries for competitions that will begin at the local level, then statewide, and then at a national level, when about 3,000 students will gather at the University of Maryland just outside of the nation’s capital in early June to compete for national honors. As previously noted, Tuesday Tidings co-compiler Jessie Henderson knows the drill well, as her project on the US Navy and the Irish Famine earned her the third-place prize at the 2022 competition.
With this year marking the 50th anniversary of National History Day, the theme is Rights & Responsibilities in History. To foster an interest in naval and maritime history, the Naval Order of the United States, US Naval Institute, and National Maritime Historical Society all reward prizes to outstanding projects having naval or maritime themes. An NMHS video highlights that organization’s role, and illustrates the work also being accomplished by NOUS and USNI.
The Naval Order of the United States (NOUS) focuses its efforts at the state level. Ably coordinated by Cdr. John D. Hooper of the Hampton Roads Commandery, in 2024 the Naval Order supported the following state contests with NOUS judges and awards funded by the NOUS Foundation for naval and maritime history category projects in both the Senior (high school) and Junior (middle school) divisions in ten states: California, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia, and Washington.
The National Maritime Historical Society also offers special prizes for maritime-related projects to encourage the study of our maritime history in 21 states—Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Maine, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin—as well as the District of Columbia.
The US Naval Institute awards the Capt. Ken Coskey Prize at the national level for projects that incorporate the annual theme into a naval history story. Ms. Henderson claimed this prize at the senior level in both 2020 and 2021. The Coskey prize was named for the late former executive director of the Naval Historical Foundation who initiated the prize in the mid-1990s. Dr. Charles Chadbourn, a Naval Order Companion, has been involved in judging at the national level for well over two decades.
All three organizations are committed to furthering their involvement with NHD activities and would welcome any inquiries about financial support.
| | Navy Art Calendar to Cease Publication | | |
Unfortunately, the Naval Order Foundation, which provides funds for NOUS NHD prizes at the state level, lost a revenue stream when Tide-Mark Inc. announced it would cease production of calendars due to a declining market demand. Thus the 2025 special Navy250 Art edition will be the last of a series that stretched back nearly a quarter of a century. An initiative of the Naval Historical Foundation that had teamed up with the curators of the Naval Art Gallery at the Washington Navy Yard, the calendars featured some of the more noted works from a collection of some 20,000 images. The calendar also featured anniversary dates for easy reference. (It has long been a go-to source for Tidings content. NOUS took over the partnership with Tide-Mark when the NHF merged with the US Naval Institute in 2022.
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In his latest situation report, after extensive research, Age-of-Sail modeler Steven Myatt has changed the stern decoration from a standard eagle to a bust of Lafayette. He notes: “This jibes with every painting I've seen and it makes total sense. It explains the crossed cannons and the wreath spreading out from the central figure. This is not unheard of in the US sailing Navy. The sloop of war Decatur also sported a bust of its hero over the stern.”
Myatt is getting close to completing this project and is interested in finding a home for public viewing. His earlier model of the Ohio is featured at the Brooklyn Navy Yard Building 92 museum. If there is a non-profit entity interested in Brandywine, feel free to inquire at nmhs@seahistory.org.
| | NAVAL HISTORY BOOK REVIEWS | | |
The Unlikely Hero by Marc Leepson, Essex, CT: The Globe Pequot Publishing, (2024).
Reviewed by Intelligence Specialist Master Chief (AW) David A. Mattingly, US Navy (Retired)
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In 1967, when the story hit the newspapers in the United States, many readers wondered how a seaman assigned to a US Navy cruiser off North Vietnam was captured and placed in a prisoner of war (POW) camp in Hanoi. The Unlikely Hero recounts the story of Douglas Hegdahl, who joined the Navy when young men in the United States faced possible draft and service with the Army in Vietnam. The needs of the Navy had him bypass training as a postal clerk, and after boot camp, he reported to USS Canberra. On April 6, 1967, he found himself in the waters of the Tonkin Gulf and later in a POW cell in the prison known as the Hanoi Hilton. The Surface Navy Association recently inducted Postal Clerk Second Class Douglas Hegdahl into the 2025 Hall of Fame Class.
The exact circumstances of how Hegdahl was blown overboard are not known. Hegdahl is quoted by Leepson as saying, “I walked up on the deck, and they were firing; the next thing I recall, I was in the water.” He was not reported missing for several hours, and the ship made no effort to return to the operation area to search for the missing seaman. The ship’s crew mustered twice before a search of the ship was ordered, and after a 90-minute search, he was listed as having likely fallen overboard.
Hegdahl was an anomaly to both the North Vietnamese soldiers who ran the camp as well as the American officer aircrews that made up most of the POWs held in the small number of POW camps in the Hanoi area. At first, the North Vietnamese suspected that Hegdahl was a secret spy or commando. Hegdahl, though, played dumb, acting as though he did not know how to read or write, and he was soon dubbed the “incredibly dumb one.” However, fellow POW Navy Lt. Gerald Coffee said he was “dumb like a fox.”
Read full review>>
| | NAVAL HISTORY BOOKS AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW | | |
The Unauthorized History of the Pacific War Podcast
Click here for a glimpse of the series that has helped spark interest in the war in the Pacific.
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Maritime Communities Celebrating Milestones
SAVE THE DATES!
24–27 September 2025 • Buffalo, NY
We are delighted to be holding the 12th Maritime Heritage Conference in Buffalo in September 2025.
The conference brings together organizations and participants that engage in all aspects of maritime heritage. This includes maritime museums, historic lighthouses, tall ships for sail training and youth, small craft, marine art, sailing, naval and maritime scholars, advocacy, and more. It is also a gathering of the leadership of the maritime heritage community. Buffalo will host the first Maritime Heritage Conference to be held in the Great Lakes region.
The 12th Maritime Heritage Conference (MHC) will bring together nautical heritage organizations and individuals for an information-packed conference encompassing a broad array of topics on the banks of Lake Erie at historic Buffalo, New York. Following in the wake of the World Canal Conference, which concludes with a bicentennial celebration of the opening of the Erie Canal, the 12th MHC will use that historic milestone to open a three-day program that invites attendees to consider other historic nautical milestones worthy of broader public attention.
The MHC has earned a reputation for its high take-away value, networking opportunities, and camaraderie. The conference steering committee invites you to become involved as a presenter; both session and individual proposals are encouraged. Don’t miss this opportunity to gather with individuals from all segments of the maritime community.
Call for Papers & Session Proposals
Papers and session topics include, but are not limited to:
• Inland Water Commerce and Seaport Operations (Erie Canal bicentennial!)
• Maritime and Naval History (2025 marks USN/USMC 250th Birthday)
• Maritime Art, Literature, and Music
• Education and Preservation
• Underwater Archaeology
• Trade and Communications
• Maritime Libraries, Archives, and Museums
• Marine Science and Ocean Conservation
• Historic Vessel Restoration
• Maritime Heritage Grant Program
• Maritime Landscapes
• National Marine Sanctuaries
• Small Craft
• Shipbuilding
• Marine Protected Areas
Focus sessions include, but are not limited to:
• Non-Profit administration
• Event Management
• Fundraising
• Media and Publications
• Media and Social Media
Submissions
Individual paper and session proposals should include a 250–400 word abstract and a one-paragraph biography about each presenter.
Please e-mail proposals and other queries to Dr. David Winkler at: MHC@seahistory.org
Deadline for proposals for papers and sessions is 31 May 2025.
| | UPCOMING NAVAL & MARITIME HISTORY GATHERINGS | | PREBLE HALL NAVAL HISTORY PODCAST | |
A naval history podcast from Preble Hall – the United States Naval Academy Museum in Annapolis, Maryland. Preble Hall interviews 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: 245 - Brian Dickinson: Calm in the Chaos>>
Click here for all Preble Hall Podcasts >>
| DRACHINIFEL YOUTUBE CHANNEL | |
NAVY HISTORY MATTERS
Welcome to Navy History Matters, the 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>>
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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NAVAL HISTORY
The International Journal of Naval History (IJNH) is an independent, peer-reviewed forum for scholarly analysis of naval power in all periods and regions. Directed by an international editorial board, the journal fosters research and global dialogue among naval historians.
After a publishing pause, IJNH is back with a new edition and a new home at the new IJNH portal at the new IJNH portal on the NMHS website. This issue features articles on foreign navies (unless, of course, you happen to be British, Russian, or Dutch), plus six book reviews. The journal plans to publish two editions in 2025 and return to three annually in 2026.
Click here for the March 2025 edition and archived issues on the new 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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