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8 October 2024
Welcome back to our National Maritime Historical Society members and friends who share a love for naval history!
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Happy Birthday to the US Naval Institute, turning 151 tomorrow! Next week on 17 October, USNI will be hosting an all-day conference Securing the Nation: Energy Security, Fortifying the Defense Industrial Base, and Strengthening Infrastructure Resilience | U.S. Naval Institute (usni.org) during which the Chief of Naval Operations will recognize the winners of the CNO’s History Essay Contest. The winners of the three categories are listed below in our lead feature. A Huzzah to all!
A Bravo Zulu also goes to the Naval Order of the United States, which concluded a productive congress last Saturday in Buffalo. A short summation is provided.
For this week’s Naval History Book Review, we feature Dr. Satterfield’s thoughts on a new Pen & Sword publication about an LCI named Empire Javelin that landed the Bedford Boys at Normandy. A note that Vice Adm. Bob Dunn observed last week’s review on a new Casemate publication on US battleships featured a dusk jacket with aircraft carriers! Oops! We meant to show this cover:
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Our list of books available for review has been updated with new titles.
Finally, this upcoming Sunday marks the 249th birthday of the US Navy! If you are in New Orleans the World War II Museum will offer FREE admission for all active-duty and reserve members, retirees, and veterans of the US Navy! On the other side of the pond, the Brits are preparing to celebrate the anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar. For the National Museum of the Royal Navy’s guidance on how to conduct a Trafalgar Night click HERE.
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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CNO Naval History Essay Contest Awards Ceremony to Kick Off Conference!
The US Naval Institute is pleased to announce that the Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Lisa Franchetti, USN, will be on hand at the Jack C. Taylor Center on the grounds of the US Naval Academy in Annapolis on the morning of 17 October to recognize the winners of the CNO Naval History Essay Contest from three categories (Professional Historian, Rising Historian, and Midshipmen and Cadets) during a special in person ceremony.
The ceremony will be followed by a day-long conference to address Securing the Nation: Energy Security, Fortifying the Defense Industrial Base, and Strengthening Infrastructure Resilience.
(Registration for in-person and virtual attendance and the full conference program is here.)
The recipients are as follows:
Professional Historian Winners
Second Prize: Sub-Lieutenant Joseph Reilly, Royal Navy
“‘The Carrier is Dead, Long Live the Carrier’: Historical Lessons on the Exercise of Sea Control”
First Prize: Lieutenant Commander Frederick “Andy” Cichon, USN (Ret.)
“Learn from the Fall of the Philippines and Prepare the Third Island Chain”
Rising Historian Winners
Third Prize: Lieutenant Jack Tribolet, USN
“Mapping the Messaging of Midway: Navigating Navalism in the 21st Century”
Second Prize: Commander J. Brandon Wilgus, USN (Ret.)
“The Shell Crisis: A Lesson from the First World War”
First Prize: Commander Chuck Ridgway, USN (Ret.)
“From Distant Shores: How the Experience of the Imperial German Navy's East Asia Squadron can Help Understand Chinese Overseas Naval Ambitions”
Midshipmen and Cadet winners
Third Prize: 2ndLt Quentin Zimmer, USMC
“We Mind the Mines: Lessons from the Tanker War for the Marine Corps”
Second Prize: Ensign Jack Montgomery, USNR, Holy Cross NROTC
“Training, TRAINING, and M-O-R-E T-R-A-I-N-I-N-G: Maintaining Warfighting Proficiency while Implementing Innovation”
First Prize: Midshipman 2/C Nathan Scherry Jr., US Naval Academy
“Lessons from Aviation in the Second Nicaraguan Campaign, 1926-1933”
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NOUS Hosts Productive Congress
Founded in 1890, the Naval Order of the United States (NOUS) was founded to preserve, promote, celebrate and enjoy our nation’s sea service history and heritage. NOUS conducts the following activities:
★Commemorate American sea service heroes and important historical events.
★Support the study of naval history through writing, speaking and educational events. ★Preserve sea service historical artifacts, documents and monuments.
★Promote camaraderie among our Companions and members of similar organizations.
This past week the NOUS held its annual congress in Buffalo, New York, where attending Companions received updates on a plethora of on going initiatives including NOUS participation in National History Day events at the state level, a new naval history essay competition for middle and high school students, the placement of markers at historic sites related to US Navy history within the US and overseas, sponsorships of dinners celebrating victory at Midway and commemorating Pearl Harbor, monthly online naval history presentations, and the creation of a speakers bureau. A Huzzah for a productive gathering that will reconvene in Philadelphia next year in time for the Navy’s 250th birthday.
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Naval History and Heritage Command Feature on USN Birthday
Compiled by Brent A. Hunt, Naval History and Heritage Command Communication and Outreach Division
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US Navy’s 249th birthday logo. | |
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Navy’s 249th Birthday
On 13 Oct. 1775 a resolution to commission a vessel of war by the Continental Congress established the foundation for what is now the United States Navy: “a swift sailing vessel, to carry ten carriage guns, and a proportional number of swivels, with eighty men, be fitted, with all possible dispatch, for a cruise of three months.” Following the American Revolution and after nearly two decades of debate, the US Constitution empowered Congress “to provide and maintain a navy.” Acting on this authority, the Department of the Navy was established on 30 April 1798. In 1972, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr. officially authorized 13 Oct. as the Navy’s birthday to “enhance a greater appreciation of our Navy heritage, and to provide a positive influence toward pride and professionalism in the naval service.” The central theme of this year’s celebration, “Warfighting Strength and Readiness,” highlights our navy’s focus that everything we do and have done is through a warfighting lens, to deliver decisive combat power.
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“Sterett boards Tripoli.” Lt. Andrew Sterett leaving schooner Enterprise to board Barbary pirate ship Tripoli, 1 Aug. 1801. Painting by Rodolfo Claudu. From the United States Naval Academy Museum Collection, PD. | |
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After the colonies gained their independence, the Continental Navy was deemed irrelevant and thought to be too expensive to maintain. The 13 colonies had a loose arrangement of sovereignty, and the central government did not have the taxation powers to fund something as expensive as building new ships and training sailors. In addition, peace with England gave no real reason for a new American navy. Nevertheless, danger continued on the high seas. In 1785, Barbary pirates seized an American merchant vessel—the first of many—and tried to ransom the passengers and crew. American merchant ships were considered helpless against foreign attacks. In addition, volatile relations among the United States, Great Britain, and France further complicated the issue of security for free trade among sovereign nations. Over the course of the French Revolutionary Wars, which quickly spilled out in the Atlantic, American neutrality became somewhat difficult to uphold. American merchants pressed Congress for a standing naval force that could defend them against ships of war and pirates. Furthermore, when France and Britain began to wage economic warfare on each other, the British government blocked American ships from the West Indies, a crucial source of sugar and other commodities. To complicate matters further, British ships harassed and attacked American merchants in an effort to choke the economy of France and diminish French war-making capabilities. President George Washington and Secretary of State Edmund Randolph implored Congress to take action for the sake of America’s neutrality status.
Read full article>>
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NAVAL HISTORY BOOK REVIEWS | |
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Empire Javelin: D-Day Assault Ship: The British Vessel That Landed the US 116th Infantry on Omaha Beach By Philip Kay-Bujak, Yorkshire, UK: Pen and Sword Books Ltd. (2024)
Reviewed by John R. Satterfield, EdD.
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This book examines an unexplored aspect of the well-known story of the Bedford Boys, a company of American National Guard troops from the small town of Bedford, VA, that were in the first assault wave on Omaha Beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944.
Thirty-four of the 200 men in Company A, 116th Regiment, 1st Battalion, 29th Infantry Division, were from Bedford. They came ashore in seven assault landing craft on Dog Green sector, the rightmost section of Omaha Beach. Company A’s target was a draw, designated D-1, in the sand dunes next to the village of Vierville. The landing craft hit the beach about four hundred yards from a low sea wall. A veteran German division that had served on the Eastern Front defended the area with pre-sighted artillery, buried tank turrets, mortars, MG-42 machine guns, and infantry rifles. Only “Rommel’s asparagus,” angled wooden poles for tearing the bottoms out landing craft, provided any cover. Within minutes, nineteen of the thirty-four Bedford Boys lay dead on the beach, in the surf, on in landing craft. Three more Bedford men were killed days later. Today, Bedford is the fitting home of the National D-Day Memorial.
Kay-Bujak, a graduate in Modern European History from the University of East Anglia and former Territorial Army officer and boarding school housemaster/headmaster, is now a full-time author. This volume is not, however, about the Bedford Boys. Instead, the ship in the title, SS Empire Javelin, was a Landing Ship, Infantry (Large) (LSI (L)) that carried the 116th Regiment and other troops to Omaha Beach. The vessel was one of several C1-S-AY1 Class transports that Consolidated Steel Corporation laid down in its Wilmington, CA, shipyard in May 1943. Originally christened SS Cape Lobos, she was transferred under Lend-Lease to Great Britain, renamed, and fitted with anti-aircraft guns and eighteen British-built Landing Craft Assault (LCAs). After arriving in Plymouth, England, in February 1944, British Merchant Marine ship handlers and Royal Navy gunners and landing craft crews manned her. These men remained with the ship throughout its service. The 116th Regiment boarded the vessel in May 1944 for intense practice of their assigned D-Day assault roles.
Read full review>>
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NAVAL HISTORY BOOKS AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW | |
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The Mariner’s Mirror Podcast: Black Mariners in the Royal Navy
Listen here>>
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The Society for Military History
Distinguished Book Awards for 2025
Background: The Society for Military History is soliciting nominations for its annual Distinguished Book Awards for 2025. Established in 1933, the Society is devoted to stimulating and advancing the study of military history. Its membership (today more than 2,600) includes many of the most prominent scholars, soldiers, and citizens interested in military history. The Society encourages research and publication across the whole range of military history (ancient, medieval, and modern, including related popular studies). The Society publishes The Journal of Military History, the leading international scholarly journal of military history.
The Distinguished Book Awards: For the 2025 awards, books published (copyright date) in 2023 and 2024 are eligible. Works previously nominated for the Society’s book awards may be resubmitted provided they were published in 2023. Nominated books should be assigned to one of the following prize categories:
Distinguished Book (two awards)
- Edited and reference works contain collections of information, such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, atlases, handbooks, and diagnostic manuals.
- Biography and memoirs—works that examine the life of a single individual or the lives of multiple individuals, or first-person accounts of lived experiences, in the context of war and/or the military
- First book—works that represent a single author’s first monograph)
The committee will make its selections for awards by January 30, 2025. The Society will give the awards at its annual meeting in Mobile, Alabama on 27–30 March 2025. The author of each prize-winning book will receive recognition at the Society’s annual awards presentation, an award plaque, and a $1,000 prize.
The committee must receive books for consideration for the 2025 awards by 7 October 2024. Publishers must follow this process for each volume they intend to submit:
Please send a copy of each book for consideration with a letter specifying consideration for the SMH Book Awards to each committee member at the addresses listed below. Books must be submitted in physical copy, and electronic versions will not be considered. The committee recognizes the expense to authors and publishers associated with submitting five copies of each nominated book and therefore encourages serious submissions only. Please note that books will not be returned and that only award winners will be notified of selection.
At the discretion of the committee, submissions which are received after 7 October 2024 may be deferred for consideration in the 2026 awards.
Sincerely,
Debra J. Sheffer, PhD
Chair SMH Book Awards Committee
Email: debra.sheffer@park.edu
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INVITATION
To Members and Friends of the Society for Nautical Research and the 1805 Club
To Our Annual Wreath-laying Ceremony
at the Tomb of Admiral Lord Nelson
St. Paul’s Cathedral
St. Paul’s Churchyard, London EC4M 8AD
10:30 for 11:00, Monday 21 October 2024
The Officer and Council of the Society for Nautical Research and the Trustees of The 1805 Club invite members and friends, and their guests, to the annual wreath-laying ceremony at the tomb of Admiral Lord Nelson in the Crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral. Wreaths are laid on behalf of the Society, the Club and other organizations.
The service takes place immediately adjacent to Nelson’s tomb in the Crypt, and will begin at 1100 sharp. Your advised arrival time is 1030. Please enter the Cathedral by the North Door (left-hand side of the building when looking at it from the front).
There is no charge for attending the ceremony, but donations towards the upkeep of the Cathedral may be made on the day. Donations to one or both of our organizations are also welcome.
Bags will be searched on entry. To assist the Cathedral’s preparations, please email the secretary of the 1805 Club of your intention to attend, via secretary@1805club.org, with the subject line WREATH2024.
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SMH 2025 Book Awards
Committee Member Addresses
Marion Dorsey, PhD
Department of History
University of New Hampshire
14 Fogg Drive
Durham, NH 03824
Ian Beckett, PhD
School of History
University of Kent, Canterbury
Tides, Trewelloe Road, Praa Sands, Penzance
Cornwall, TR20 9SU, UK
Tarak Barkawi, PhD
Department of Political Science
Johns Hopkins University
1102 Bryn Mawr Road
Baltimore, MD 21210
Matthew Neufeld, PhD
Department of History
University of Saskatchewan
Room 619, Arts Tower
9 Campus Drive
Saskatoon SK S7N 5A5
Canada
Debra Sheffer, PhD
Park University
9002 N. Camden Ave.
Kansas City, MO 64154
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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.
Typically held every four years, 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 May 31, 2025.
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PD, via Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives. | |
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Naval Dockyards Society 29th Annual Conference
To be held at the University of Greenwich
One Saturday March/April 2025
Dockyard and Shipyard support for the Battle of the Atlantic
in the Second World War
Churchill named the Battle of the Atlantic (1939–45) the longest continuous military campaign in the Second World War. British, Canadian and US navies and air forces protected essential convoys, carrying the million tons of imported material Britain required each week to endure and fight.
What logistical challenges were faced? What was the long-term impact?
Please see Call for Papers here
Please send your title, a 300-word synopsis and a 100-word biography by 31 October 2024 or earlier to Roger Bendall, roger@rogerbendall.com,and Dr. Ann Coats, avcoatsndschair@gmail.com. N.B. The proposal should present original research.
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The Society for Military History | |
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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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Society for Nautical Research Winter Lecture Series 2024–25
The Society for Nautical Research is delighted to announce the schedule for the forthcoming winter lecture series. These online talks will highlight new and ongoing research being undertaken by members of the society and its affiliations. The series aims to promote research into economic, social, political, military and environmental aspects of nautical history, drawing on British, European and international experience.
The 12-part lecture series will be held fortnightly on Wednesday evenings at 6:30PM (UK) between October 2024 to March 2025. Lectures will only be available online (via zoom) and be FREE to Paying Members of the SNR.
Not yet a member?
Sign up now from as little as £22.50 a year. Get access to exclusive events and talks, quarterly editions of the Mariner’s Mirror, and discounts at affiliated museums and gift shops! https://snr.org.uk/become-a-member/
Dates for your calendar …
9th October 2024: Dr. Catherine Scheybler (King’s College London), “The Spanish Ship of the Line: Its origins and development before 1752.”
23rd October 2024: Dr. Rodrigo Pacheco-Ruiz (National Museum of the Royal Navy), Managing archaeological data for HMS Victory’s restoration. (full title TBC)
6th November 2024: Dr. James Davy (University of Exeter), “Tempest; The Royal Navy and the Age of Revolution.”
20th November 2024: Associate Professor Evan Wilson (Hattendorf Historical Centre), “The Horrible Peace; British Veterans and the End of the Napoleonic Wars.”
4th December 2024: Sarah Mott, (Lloyd’s Register Foundation) “Rewriting Women into Maritime History; the SHE_SEES exhibition.”
18th December 2024: Bill Lindsay (independent scholar), “William Schaw Lindsay; Victorian Entrepreneur.”
Christmas Break
15th January 2025: Prof. Rodrigo Pérez Fernández (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid), “The past, present and future of shipbuilding.”
29th January 2025: Dr. Alan James (King’s College London), (full title TBC)
12th February 2025: Dr. Matthew Heaslip (University of Portsmouth), (full title TBC)
26th February 2025: Dr. Michael Roberts (University of Bangor), Archaeological exploration of historical shipwrecks in the Irish Sea. (full title TBC)
12th March 2025: Dr. Jo Stanley (independent scholar), “Diversity at Sea: How sharing historical research can make a difference to the present and future of the maritime industry and public understanding.”
19th March 2025: Dr. Cathryn Pearce (University of Portsmouth), “‘Bandied about for a place of refuge’: Extreme Weather, Coastal Shipping, and the Loss of Lord Nelson, 1840”
How to attend the lectures?
Zoom details will be circulated prior to each of the lectures but details can also be found in the “events” section of the members area of the SNR website (Click Here).
For any questions or queries please contact the convener (daisy.turnbull@myport.ac.uk).
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UPCOMING NAVAL & MARITIME HISTORY GATHERINGS | |
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16 October 2024: USS Constitution Museum Salute to Service Gala, Boston, MA
19 October 2024: US Navy Birthday Ball, Arlington. VA
24 October 2024: National Maritime Historical Society Annual Awards Dinner, New York, NY
1 November 2024: Marine Birthday Ball, Albany, GA
2 November 2024: Marine Birthday Ball; Orlando, Fl.
2 November 2024: Marine Birthday Ball, San Francisco, CA
4 November 2024: Morison Book Award Presentation New York
8 November 2024: Sentinel of the Sea Award Gala New York
9 November 2024: Steamship Historical Society of America Annual Meeting, Queen Mary, Long Beach, CA
31 January–2 February 2025: Western Naval History Association Symposium (WNHA), San Diego, 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: 239: Marine General Kenneth F. “Frank” McKenzie Jr., Ret.>>
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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