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16 April 2024
Welcome back to our National Maritime Historical Society members and friends who share a love for naval history!
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This Thursday marks the 82nd anniversary of the Doolittle raid—an airstrike conducted by Army medium bombers against Japan launched from USS Hornet (CV 8). It also is the day of the National Maritime Awards Dinner at the National Press Club in the nation’s capital.
Congratulations to naval historian Dr. William S. Dudley, who will be presented with the 2024 NMHS David A. O’Neil Sheet Anchor Award for his twelve years of service as an NMHS Trustee and Trustee Liaison on the Editorial Advisory Committee for Sea History magazine. We also salute Major General Charles F. Bolden Jr., USMC (Ret.), and accomplished sailor Dawn Riley, who will be presented with the 2024 NMHS Distinguished Service Award.
Do you have a commute to work lasting at least a half hour, time in the morning during a power walk, or a few spare minutes savoring rid-rats before having to stand the mid-watch on the bridge? With the inauguration of its Anchored in History series, the Naval History and Heritage Command has expanded the number of naval history offerings that you can take advantage of. Check out our lead article on a recent posting below!
Last week we had a book review about the Navy’s first aircraft carrier, and thanks to Michael F. Solecki, we have a review about the relevancy of contemporary flattops. We still have a number of titles in our book-for-review opportunity list. Check it out!
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 | |
18 April 2024 - National Maritime Awards Dinner
6:00–9:30 PM (EDT) (In person) National Press Club, DC
18–21 April 2024 - Society For Military History Annual Conference
Arlington, VA
24 April 2024 - Warrior Women: Fighting to Serve, Serving to Fight
(Registration Deadline 9 April)
2:00–3:15 PM. (In person)
Jack C. Taylor Center, USNI, Annapolis
24–25 April 2024 - Council of American Maritime Museums Annual Conference
Constitution Museum, Boston, MA
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Podcasts have become a popular means for consuming educational content, and a number of agencies and non-profits have turned to them as an outreach method to grow audiences. Below are some recent updates on naval history podcast programs.
NHHC: Episode 2 of the Naval History and Heritage Command’s new Anchored in History podcast series is out on “Women's Naval History” featuring NHHC historian Heather Haley, PhD, Petty Officer First Class Abigayle Lutz, and host Cliff Davis covering roles and responsibilities women have had in the US Navy, from the Revolutionary War to Admiral Lisa Franchetti’s newest appointment as Chief of Naval Operations in 2023. You can listen here!
Preble Hall: While NHHC has completed its 2nd episode, the Naval Academy Museum’s Preble Hall series has passed the 200 episode mark continues to deliver quality content as two more episodes were posted, both with Dr. John Sherwood of NHHC interviewing Dr. Sarah Kirchberger, Germany’s leading expert on the history of the Chinese Navy. Listen here!
Proceedings Podcast: Down the block from Preble Hall, the 150-year-old US Naval Institute has nearly 400 episodes to its credit, with the last four focusing on naval history topics featuring Dr. Randy Goguen discussing her new book on women in the Navy, Dr. Nicholas Lambert explaining his new book interpreting A. T. Mahan, USMC Maj. Ryan Ratcliffe talking about his co-authored prize-winning CNO naval history contest essay, and Francis DuCoin, who discusses his recent Naval History article on the appearance of the Monitor.
EP. 387: From Yeomanettes to Fighter Jets (usni.org)
EP. 386: The Neptune Factor (usni.org)
EP. 385: When Deterrence Fails Warfighting Becomes Supreme
(usni.org)
EP. 384: USS Monitor: A New Look at an Old Icon (usni.org)
CIMSEC: Center for International Maritime Security also features two podcasts that often center on naval history topics: Sea Control (simplecast.com) is CIMSE’s flagship podcast that focuses on maritime security, history and all things naval, and The Bilge Pumps (simplecast.com) is a historically-informed maritime current events series.
The Unauthorized History of the Pacific War: The Unauthorized History of the Pacific War on Apple Podcasts is a podcast created by Seth Paridon and William Toti that focuses on World War II in the Pacific. Recent podcasts have focused of the Battle of Leyte Gulf featuring Jonathan Parshall and Tony Tully.
US Naval History Podcast: US Naval History Podcast on Apple Podcasts is currently focusing on the Penobscot Expedition dates back to September 2020 and is capably narrated/managed by Chase Dalton.
Voices of the Sea: The Navy League of the United States Voices of the Sea Podcast focuses on capturing contemporary stories of those serving in the fleet today.
Warships Pod: Warships Pod on Apple Podcasts aims to put a spotlight on the world’s navies and features warships past, present, and future. We’ll cover current defense issues alongside interviews and commentary on the Royal Navy, US Navy, and all other navies across the globe, as well as looking back at historical events. This is the podcast for WARSHIPS International Fleet Review, a monthly magazine.
Mariner’s Mirror Podcast: Mariner's Mirror Podcasts Archive - SNR is arguably the world’s No.1 podcast dedicated to all of maritime and naval history. With one foot in the present and one in the past, Mariner’s Mirror offers exciting and interesting current maritime projects worldwide, including excavations of shipwrecks, the restoration of historic ships, sailing classic yachts and tall ships, unprecedented behind the scenes access to exhibitions, museums and archives worldwide, primary sources and accounts that bring the maritime past alive as never before.Presented by Dr Sam Willis, supported by the Lloyds Register Foundation.
Australian Naval History Podcast: Australian Naval History Podcast on Apple Podcasts explores naval history in Australia. Each week, historians & veterans discuss a different aspect of Australian naval history. From deep discussions of particular battles, to the histories of submarine classes, the Australian Naval History Podcast is expert analysis & reflection on the storied past of Australia's military at sea. Produced by the Naval Studies Group at UNSW Canberra, in conjunction with the Submarine Institute of Australia, the Australian Naval Institute, Naval Historical Society & the Seapower Centre - Australia.
If you are aware of additional podcast creators that you would recommend for promotion do let us know!
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NAVAL HISTORY BOOK REVIEWS | |
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Questioning the Carrier: Opportunities in Fleet Design for the United States Navy By Jeffery Eric Vandenengel, Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, (2023).
Reviewed by: Michael F. Solecki
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The destroyer centric “Flex Fleet” is designed for the needs of the assignment whether as an attack fleet and/or as an escort for a specific mission type (i.e. amphibious assault, disaster
relief, resupply, etc.). The ship types could include corvettes, guided-missile frigates, attack submarines, the aforementioned escort carriers, and any mission-centric ship (i.e. supply ships such as oilers, ammunition ships, etc.). The defense ring around the central command ship are vessels with anti-ship, ASW and AAW capable frigates and/or corvettes depending on the expected situations. The supercarrier has not been eliminated in the earlier designs of this concept but the number of these should be kept at a three or four ship maximum level and can still be available for show of force, disaster/humanity relief, or warpower support for the smaller, more agile “flex fleets” working in the area.
I did a lot of research on current conflict, geopolitical and geographical situations before and during this book review. With a little imagination and thought, the practical/natural progression to the “Flex Fleet” as a near-future concept is well presented. The author identifies the oceanographic zone issues from littoral to blue water fit to this concept. The details of the fleet design are quite thorough, he introduces a few new ship design-concepts and adds a practical example scenario at the end to support his theory. The concept of a roving armed oiler and ammunition supply ship caught my attention and will have to be looked at in more detail than presented here. There are several figures/charts included to support the background information. It is my humble opinion that the “Flex Fleet” concept has merit and warrants consideration especially for the current and near-future geopolitical world. The book format is at a Naval academic level yet is still an easy read. This publication presents the concept well and worth a read especially by those in the Naval strategic, tactical and design fields.
Read review>>
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NAVAL HISTORY BOOKS AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW | |
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Doolittle Raid
18 April 1942
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Conceived in January 1942 in the wake of the devastating Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the “joint Army-Navy bombing project” was to bomb Japanese industrial centers, to inflict both “material and psychological” damage upon the enemy. Planners hoped that the former would include the destruction of specific targets “with ensuing confusion and retardation of production.” Those who planned the attacks on the Japanese homeland hoped to induce the enemy to recall “combat equipment from other theaters for home defense,” and incite a “fear complex in Japan.” Additionally, it was hoped that the prosecution of the raid would improve the United States’ relationships with its allies and receive a “favorable reaction [on the part] of the American people.”
Originally, the concept called for the use of US Army Air Force bombers to be launched from, and recovered by, an aircraft carrier. Research disclosed the North American B-25 Mitchell to be “best suited to the purpose,” the Martin B-26 Marauder possessing unsuitable handling characteristics and the Douglas B-23 Dragon having too great a wingspan to be comfortably operated from a carrier deck. Tests off the aircraft carrier Hornet (CV-8) off Norfolk, and ashore at Norfolk soon proved that although a B-25 could take off with comparative ease, “landing back on again would be extremely difficult.”
The attack planners decided upon a carrier transporting the B-25s to a point east of Tokyo, whereupon it would launch one pathfinder to proceed ahead and drop incendiaries to blaze a trail for the other bombers that would follow. The planes would then proceed to either the east coast of China or to Vladivostok in the Soviet Union. However, Soviet reluctance to allow the use of Vladivostok as a terminus and the Stalin regime’s unwillingness to its neutrality with Japan compelled the selection of Chinese landing sites. At a secret conference at San Francisco, Lieutenant Colonel James H. Doolittle, USAAF, who would lead the attack personally, met with Vice Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr., who would command the task force that would take Doolittle’s aircraft to the very gates of the Japanese empire. They agreed upon a launch point some 600 miles due east from Tokyo, but, if discovered, Task Force 16 (TF-16) would launch planes at the respective point and retire.
Read full article>>
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NH 97502 Doolittle Raid on Japan, April 1942
Lieutenant Colonel James H. Doolittle, USAAF, (center) with members of his flight crew and Chinese officials in China after the 18 April 1942 attack on Japan. Those present are (from left to right): Staff Sergeant Fred A. Braemer, Bombardier; Staff Sergeant Paul J. Leonard, Flight Engineer/Gunner; General Ho, director of the Branch Government of Western Chekiang Province; Lieutenant Richard E. Cole, Copilot; Lt.Col. Doolittle, Pilot and mission commander; Henry H. Shen, bank manager; Lieutenant Henry A. Potter, Navigator; Chao Foo Ki, secretary of the Western Chekiang Province Branch Government. Official US Army Air Forces Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command.
See more information here>>
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80-G-41197 Doolittle Raid on Japan, April 1942
USS Hornet (CV-8) launches Army Air Force B-25B bombers, at the start of the first US air raid on the Japanese home islands, 18 April 1942. Official US Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.
See more information here>>
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Last week’s Naval Order History Happenings program on Tailships with Capt. John Rodgaard discussing his latest book about deploying aboard a frigate in the early 1970s that carried towed-arrayed sonars (hence “tailship”) that could listen for Soviet submarines in the Mediterranean below the thermo-layer.
Watch here>>
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Kings Maritime History Seminars
25 April 2024 – Ship of State? Regionalism and Cold War soft power aboard La France
Claire O’Mahony, University of Oxford
9 May 2024 – The Ordered Sea: Naval diplomacy in the Mediterranean, 1815–1911
Erik de Lange, King’s College London
23 May 20 23 May 2024 – The Post-Napoleonic Employment of Former Warships in the British Southern Whale Fishery, 1815–1845
Julie Papworth and Roger Dence, King’s College London
Seminars for 2023–24 will continue as hybrid events, which means that they may be attended in person or online (with the exception of the entirely online event on the 21st of March). As always, attendance is free and open to all. To take part, you must register by visiting the KCL School of Security Studies Events page. Those of you attending online will receive instructions shortly before the event, by email, about how to join. Otherwise, we will meet in person, as usual, in the Dockrill Room, K6.07, at King’s College London. Papers will begin at 17:15 GMT. The King’s Maritime History Seminar is hosted by the Laughton Naval Unit and the Sir Michael Howard Centre for the History of War in the Department of War Studies, King’s College London. It is organized by the British Commission for Maritime History in association with the Society for Nautical Research. For further information contact Dr. Alan James, War Studies, KCL, WC2R 2LS.
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International Maritime History Association - Frank Broeze Prize for Outstanding Doctoral Thesis in Maritime History
Professor Frank Broeze was one of the leading maritime historians of his generation. In his honor, the International Maritime History Association has instituted the Frank Broeze Prize to be awarded to the author of a doctoral thesis which, in the opinion of the panel, makes the most outstanding contribution to the study of maritime history.
As befitting Frank’s visionary approach to the field, maritime history encompasses all aspects of the historical interaction of human societies and the sea. The panel of judges will therefore consider works that focus on the maritime dimensions of economic, social, cultural, political, technological and environmental history.
The Frank Broeze Prize carries with it a cash award of €500 and reimbursement of the registration fee at the Ninth International Congress of Maritime History in Busan, South Korea, August 2024.
To be considered for this prestigious award, those who have completed a doctoral thesis between 1 September 2019 and 31 August 2023 are invited to submit a copy of their thesis for consideration. If the thesis is written in a language other than English, the entrant should provide a summary of their work (minimum 10,000 words) in English.
The judges will apply the following criteria in deciding the winner of the prize:
• Contribution to knowledge and understanding of the maritime past;
• Originality of approach, source material and/or findings;
• Depth and coherence of argument;
• Choice and application of methodology;
• Presentational and stylistic quality.
Eligible candidates should submit their entries, including a letter of support from their supervisor, via e-mail attachment to Prof. Ingo Heidbrink (iheidbri@odu.edu) president of the IMHA, no later than 15 May 2024. The prize will be awarded at the Congress in Busan.
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2024 CNO Naval History Essay Contest
The Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) announces the 2024 CNO Naval History Essay Contest and calls for the submission of papers no later than 30 April 2024. The Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) is the lead for the contest, and the US Naval Institute (which has been sponsoring essay contests since 1878) is supporting.
The Challenge
The CNO invites entrants to submit essays that apply lessons from throughout naval history to solving today's Navy challenges. Entrants should consider that today’s era is marked by:
a. Determined and increasingly aggressive efforts by China and Russia to coordinate their respective instruments of power (e.g., economic, political, and military) to compete for commercial, geostrategic, political, and military advantage and access.
b. Chinese and Russian expansion across the spectrum of military operations (competition, crisis, and contingency) and domains (sea, air, land, space, cyberspace, and electromagnetic spectrum).
c. The rise of China as an economic and maritime power and the importance of the maritime domain as well as the need for the US to integrate Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard operations and multi-domain operational concepts and capabilities.
d. The increased importance of navies, sea control, and allies and partners in a globalized world where 90 percent of world trade (by volume) and information travels via the seas or undersea cables.
e. The proliferation of advanced weaponry and the erosion of key US technological advantages that make it difficult for the US to project power to manage crises, deter aggression, and reassure allies and partners.
f. Fundamental strategic and technological shifts and advances that promise to change the character and conduct of naval warfare and challenge the Navy’s ability to adapt conceptually and materially.
The contest seeks submissions from professional historians, midshipmen and cadets, and rising historians. Guidelines for each group below.
2024 CNO Naval History Essay Contest - Professional Historian | US Naval Institute (usni.org)
2024 CNO Naval History Essay Contest - Midshipmen and Cadets | US Naval Institute (usni.org)
2024 CNO Naval History Essay Contest - Rising Historian | US Naval Institute (usni.org)
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The Australian Naval Institute Commodore Sam Bateman Book Prize | |
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Inaugurated in 2021, the Commodore Sam Bateman Book Prize is awarded annually by the ANI to recognise excellence in books making a major contribution to the study and understanding of naval and maritime matters. The Prize is sponsored by the National Shipbuilding College.
The Prize is named after Commodore Sam Bateman AM RAN (1938–2020), a former ANI Councillor and strategic thinker in recognition of his efforts to raise greater awareness of naval and/or maritime matters and progressing the understanding and value of navies in society.
Award of the Prize
The winner of the ANI Commodore Sam Bateman Book Prize is announced on the second Wednesday of each December. It is awarded in a ceremony in Canberra in March the following the year where the author will be asked to deliver the Commodore Sam Bateman Book Prize Lecture.
Entries are now being received for the 2024 Sam Bateman Book Prize
Entries are to be in the English language and will:
- Raise the understanding of naval and/or maritime affairs,
- Have been published from 2 November 2023 to 1 November 2024 and received between 1 April and 1 November 2024, and
- Be of high literary quality and style
Books can be nominated for consideration by either ANI book reviewers or publishers.
For further information or to submit a book first email books@navalinstitute.com.au for dispatch details.
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UPCOMING NAVAL & MARITIME HISTORY GATHERINGS | |
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8 May 2024: US Naval Institute Annual Meeting, Jack C. Taylor Center, Annapolis, MD
18 May 2024: Naval Dockyards Society 28th Annual Conference
From Yards to Hards: Preparing Allied naval forces for the 1944 Normandy Landing
The D-Day Story, Portsmouth - Partner and Venue: Clarence Esplanade, Southsea, Portsmouth PO5 3NT
23–26 May 2024: 75th Annual Conference of the Company of Military Historians, Augusta, ME
3–5 June 2024: Warships Resting in Peace, Suomenlinna, Helsinki, Finland
20–23 June 2024: Joint NASOH/CNRS Conference, St. Catharines, Ontario
16–19 September 2024: Historic Naval Ship Association (HNSA) Symposium, USS Midway, San Diego
24–28 September 2025: 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: 227: Peters, Bruns, and the Institute for Security Policy Kiel>>
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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