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30 July 2024
Welcome back to our National Maritime Historical Society members and friends who share a love for naval history!
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Today marks two significant anniversaries: in 1942 the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) was established and three years later, following a special mission to deliver the components of the atomic bomb to Tinian, the heavy cruiser Indianapolis was sunk in the Philippine Sea by Japanese submarine I-58. The “Navy History Matters” posting from the Naval History and Heritage Command compiled by Brent Hunt on the tragedy is posted below.
This week we feature for our Naval History Book Reviews we thank Dr. Diana Ahmed for a review of biography of a merchant skipper who served in the USN during World War I. If you have recently published a book on naval history and would like to have it reviewed, let us know!
Happy Birthday, US Coast Guard – You turn 234 this Saturday! Attached is the vision for the new Coast Guard Museum to open in 2026. About the new Coast Guard Museum - Opening in 2026 (cgmuseumassociation.org)
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 | |
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)
5 August 2024 – USS Constitution Museum Behind the Scenes Tour
“Vault to Vessel”
With Carl Herzog
2-4 pm (EDT)
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The Tragic Loss of Indianapolis | |
USS Indianapolis (CA-35) off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 10 July 1945, after her final overhaul and repair of combat damage. Photo: US National Archives. | |
Shortly after midnight on July 30, 1945, Japanese submarine I-58 sank USS Indianapolis (CA-35) northeast of Leyte with two torpedo strikes against the heavy cruiser’s starboard side forward. Ultimately, only 316 of its 1,195 crew survived the attack and the subsequent fight for survival in the open ocean. Due to communication and other errors, the loss of Indianapolis went unnoticed until survivors were spotted by a passing plane days later. Prior to its sinking, Indianapolis had just delivered atomic bomb components to Tinian, which would ultimately contribute to Japan’s surrender and end World War II in the Pacific. After the Portland-class heavy cruiser fell prey to Cmdr. Mochitsura Hashimoto’s submarine, fire and chaos ensued, and in the next 12 minutes, 330 of the crew went down with the ship as it quickly sank, while the rest, approximately 880 crewmembers, were left adrift in the Philippine Sea in the middle of the night. For the next few days, without food or water, suffering exposure, dehydration, drowning, and shark attacks, the crew battled the elements and clung to life as best they could before they were finally rescued. | |
USS Indianapolis (CA-35) survivors en route to a hospital following their rescue, August 1945. Photo: National Archives. | |
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When the ship did not reach Leyte on July 31 as scheduled, a report wasn’t made that it was overdue. This omission was due to a misunderstanding of the Movement Report System (used to monitor and track vessel movements). Thus, it was not until at 10:25 a.m. on Aug. 2 that the survivors were finally sighted, mostly kept afloat by life jackets, although there were a few rafts that had been cut loose before the ship went down. The pilot who discovered them immediately dropped a life raft and a radio transmitter. All air and surface units capable of rescue operations were dispatched to the scene at once, and the surrounding waters were thoroughly searched for survivors. Upon completion of rescue operations on Aug. 8, a radius of 100 miles had been searched by day and by night. Although he was initially court martialed, Capt. Charles B. McVay, commanding officer of Indianapolis, was deemed to be free from any blame resulting from the loss of his ship. All personnel involved in the failure to report the ship’s absence from Leyte were also exonerated, after all the evidence had been carefully weighed. Secretary of the Navy Gordon England ordered that a congressional letter exonerating McVay posthumously be placed in his official file in 2001.
Read full article>>
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NAVAL HISTORY BOOK REVIEWS | |
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From Whaler to Clipper Ship: Henry Gillespie, Down East Captain.
Michael Jay Mjelde, College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, (2023).
Reviewed by Diana L. Ahmad, Ph.D.
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 |  | ...The transition from sailing ships to steam ships to US Navy ships found Gillespie continually learning the details of each vessel and how to care for them. Much of Mjelde’s biography looks at Gillespie’s command of Glory of the Seas, even seeing her end her sailing career as a storage vessel. He devoted few pages to Gillespie’s time in the US Navy during World War I. He joined the Navy four days after the United States entered the war and was soon promoted to lieutenant commander of USS Standard Arrow, an oil tanker, and eventually made numerous round-trips between the United States and Europe during the war. Near the end of the war, he became seriously ill, likely with the Spanish flu, and left the service in 1919. After the war and his physical recovery, he returned to the sea and once again sailed the west coast of North and South America. Finally, in 1921, at the age of sixty-four, Gillespie retired after forty-seven years at sea. He passed away in 1937 and was buried with military honors at the Presidio.
Mjelde’s biography of Henry Gillespie’s life is generally well documented. In particular, he explained the care of ships in much detail. In many regards, Mjelde provided the reader equal portions of a biography of Gillespie and descriptions of the vessels he cared for over the years. Readers will learn how sailors were recruited, how ships were loaded, how Gillespie dealt with the owners of the vessels, and how the economic conditions in the United States (i.e., the Panic of 1893 and the burning of San Francisco) impacted the American merchant marine. Mjelde explained well that the duties of captains went far beyond simply sailing the ships. Mjelde includes thirty pages of illustrations, an excellent glossary, and detailed citations. The author said readers might not like Gillespie, but this reviewer, through Mjelde’s treatment, found him someone who grew up and learned how to manage his ships and men well.
Read full review>>
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NAVAL HISTORY BOOKS AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW | |
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Proceedings Podcast Episode 404: Seizing Saipan
12 July 2024
Host Eric Mills and Chris Hemler discuss the Battle of Saipan as a turning point in the Pacific Theater.
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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16–19 September 2024: Historic Naval Ship Association (HNSA) Symposium, USS Midway, San Diego
19 September 2024: Navy Memorial Lone Sailor Dinner, Washington, DC
28 September 2024: Coast Guard Ball, National Harbor, MD
16 October 2024: USS Constitution Museum Salute to Service Gala, Boston, MD
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
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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