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30 May 2023
Welcome back to our National Maritime Historical Society members and friends who share a love for naval history!
We hope everyone had a relaxing Memorial Day weekend and took at least a few moments to reflect on the service and sacrifices made by those who served in the armed forces throughout the nation’s history.
Appropriately, for our feature article we say farewell to the Destroyer Escort Sailors Association (DESA). Built in World War II to serve primarily as a convoy escort packed with ASW weapons for the Battle of the Atlantic where they helped to shepherd convoys through U-Boat wolfpacks, destroyer escorts also served in the Pacific and several, such as the Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413), would play heroic roles during the Battle for Leyte Gulf as immortalized by James Hornfischer in The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors. These plucky warships and their crews would serve in the Korean and Vietnam conflicts. In 1975, the US Navy redesignated destroyer escorts in service as Fast Frigates (FFs). Since the critical mass of DESA members hailed from the World War II generation, membership has been on the rapid decline over the past two decades. With Memorial Day having just passed, it’s timely to recognize DESA’s half century of work to preserve the history of what these ships and crews accomplished.
We would also like to highlight the recent identification of a wreck site off the coast of Okinawa, Japan, as the USS Mannert L. Abele (DD-733), the first US warship sunk by a Japanese Suicide Rocket Bomb on April 12, 1945.
Final call (Tomorrow) for the CNO Naval History Essay Contest. Thank you John Galluzzo for this week’s book review on Lieutenant General Edward A. Craig.
For our “In Case You Missed It” we offer the Tall Ship Providence “Tall Ship Tuesday” presentation on the history of “Mess Night.” Congratulations to President and CEO Clair Sassin and her team for putting together this series of nicely crafted videos.
Tuesday Tidings is compiled by Dr. David F. Winkler and Jessie Henderson. As always, comments are welcome at nmhs@seahistory.org.
| ITEMS OF IMMEDIATE INTEREST | |
3 June 2023 - USS Hornet Speaker Series Chuck Myers – consultant to movie Midway
USS Hornet, Alameda, CA
1 PM - 2 PM (PDT)
Battle of Midway Speaker Series Event June 3rd 2023 - USS Hornet Museum (uss-hornet.org)
4 June 2023 - Battle of Midway Commemoration Dinner, Arlington, VA
6–9 PM (EDT)
Visit: Battle of Midway Commemoration Dinner - June 4, 2023 (airtable.com)
6 June 2023 - Historian Talk – Finding a Permanent Place: Demobilization, Suburbia, Motherhood, and Women in the Navy with Dr. Heather Haley
Noon-1 PM (EDT)
National Museum of the U.S. Navy, Washington DC
Historian Talk – Finding a Permanent Place: Demobilization, Suburbia, Motherhood, and Women in the Navy
6 June 2023 - Discussion: The U.S. Navy’s Role at D-Day led by historian Joe Balkoski (In person)
11 AM-Noon (EDT)
USS Constitution Museum, Charlestown, MA
A Mighty Endeavor: Honoring the U.S. Navy’s Role on D-Day - USS Constitution Museum
7 June 2023 - Battle of Midway Commemoration
National Museum of the American Sailor, Great Lakes, Il.
10 AM-11AM (CDT)
Battle of Midway Commemoration (navy.mil)
9 June 2023 - Lecture -- Laird Brothers’ Rams (live and streaming)
Noon-1 PM (EDT)
Mariners Museum, Newport News, VA
Laird Brothers’ Rams - The Mariners' Museum and Park (marinersmuseum.org)
14 June 2023 - Naval Order of the U.S. Heritage Night
Navy Museum Director Dr. James C. Renfrow on Plans for the New Museum
8-9 PM (EDT)
History Happenings - Upcoming and On-going Events — Naval Order
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Escort veterans to say goodbye, but USS Slater will continue its mission
Courtesy SSHSA
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The Destroyer Escort Sailors Association will bid farewell following a 50th anniversary celebration in June, but the ship they worked to save and restore will live on as their legacy.
The organization was formed in 1973 by a group of World War II Navy veterans who had served aboard the “small but mighty” destroyer escorts. Membership grew quickly and resulted in 44 annual conferences, a streak that ended three years ago with the COVID-19 pandemic. Sadly, the group was unable to recover, and recently announced that it would disband because of declining
membership and reduced operating income.
But the DESA isn’t going out without one last celebration. The group is gathering together June 16-18 in Albany, New York, for a farewell reunion. The weekend will include tours of the
USS Slater, cruises, a DESA flag ceremony and a farewell banquet and cocktails. Click here for more information about the event.
The time spent aboard the Slater is poignant because the DESA was responsible for saving it from the scrapheap. The ship was awaiting disposal in Greece when the group began a year-long series of negotiations to acquire the vessel and then raised the $290,000 needed to bring the Ship to New York City. The group also planned for her long-term future by establishing the nonprofit Destroyer Escort Historical Museum to maintain and operate the historic ship, which it will continue to do even as the DESA sails off into the sunset.
Today, the Slater is the only destroyer escort still afloat in the United States. It was one of 563 such ships that battled Nazi U-boats on the Atlantic while protecting convoys of men and materials. They also defended troops in the Pacific from Japanese submarine and Kamikaze air attacks. She is open seasonally from April to November for guided tours, youth group overnight camping and other events. For more information on this spectacular ship, visit www.ussslater.org.
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Wreck Site Identified as World War II Destroyer USS Mannert L. Abele (DD-733) | |
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Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) confirmed the identity of a wreck site off the coast of Okinawa, Japan, as USS Mannert L. Abele (DD-733), May 25, 2023.
Location:
WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Abigayle Lutz
Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) confirmed the identity of a wreck site located in Japanese waters as USS Mannert L. Abele (DD-733) May 25.
An Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer, the ship was the first U.S. warship sunk by a Japanese Suicide Rocket Bomb April 12, 1945.
NHHC’s Underwater Archaeology Branch (UAB) used information provided by Tim Taylor, an ocean explorer and CEO of Tiburon Subsea, and Taylor’s “Lost 52 Project” team to confirm the identity of Mannert L. Abele.
“Mannert L. Abele is the final resting place for 84 American Sailors who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of their country,” said NHHC Director Samuel J. Cox, U.S. Navy rear admiral (retired). “My deepest thanks and congratulations to Tim Taylor and his team for discovering this wreck site. Its discovery allows some closure to the families of those lost, and provides us all another opportunity to remember and honor them.”
On April 12, 1945, Mannert L. Abele was operating 75 miles off the northern coast of Okinawa, when enemy aircraft appeared on radar. Mannert L. Abele engaged with, and damaged multiple enemy aircraft, until eventually an aircraft managed to crash abreast of the after fireroom on the starboard side, penetrating the after-engine room. A minute later, the ship was hit at the waterline by a Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka (Cherry Blossom) rocket-powered human-guided bomb, and the resulting explosion caused the ship’s bow and stern to buckle rapidly.
Read full article>>
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See Caroline’s Tall Ship Tuesday’s excellent presentation on the History of Mess Night | |
NAVAL HISTORY BOOK REVIEWS | |
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Lieutenant General Edward A. Craig: Warrior Six: Combat Leader in World War II and Korea By Colonel Richard D. Camp USMC (Ret.). Casemate Leadership in Action Series (2023).
Reviewed by John J. Galluzzo
...With the start of World War II, the book takes a sharp turn into much more familiar territories. Craig fights at Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Guam and Iwo Jima, for which as V Amphibious Corps’ Operations Officer he planned the attack. The reader can feel the difference between the smaller actions between the wars and grander magnitude of the war in the South Pacific. The days of Craig’s patrols with handfuls of soldiers to find bandits in the hills of the Dominican Republic, when a single gunshot could make a life and death difference, are drowned out by the cacophony of naval and aerial bombardment as American forces “softened” defenses for the arrival of the Marines ashore on Iwo Jima.
Craig’s story continues into the Korean War and ends abruptly during the conflict. Taken from the battlefields to headquarters in Washington, D.C., he is disgusted by the way leadership disregards the sacrifices being made by the men in combat. He retires, bitter.
Throughout this book we see the human side of a tried-and-true military man. One wonders how his parents received his multitudinous night-before-combat letters over the decades. He shares the story of his first wife, lost to tuberculosis during World War II, and how he received word of her death through friends. His commanding officer – soon relieved of his duty – denied Craig’s request to fly home to be with her when she died. We are reminded, through Craig’s story, that after action reports may capture the combat, but the diaries and letters capture the man.
Read full review>>
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NAVAL HISTORY BOOKS AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW | |
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One of Japan’s main goals during World War II was to remove the United States as a Pacific power in order to gain territory in east Asia and the southwest Pacific islands. Japan hoped to defeat the US Pacific Fleet and use Midway as a base to attack Pearl Harbor, securing dominance in the region and then forcing a negotiated peace.
BREAKING THE CODE
The United States was aware that the Japanese were planning an attack in the Pacific (on a location the Japanese code-named “AF”) because Navy cryptanalysts had begun breaking Japanese communication codes in early 1942. The attack location and time were confirmed when the American base at Midway sent out a false message that it was short of fresh water. Japan then sent a message that “AF” was short of fresh water, confirming that the location for the attack was the base at Midway. Station Hypo (where the cryptanalysts were based in Hawaii) was able to also give the date (June 4 or 5) and the order of battle of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
THE BATTLE
Early on the morning of June 4, aircraft from four Japanese aircraft carriers attacked and severely damaged the US base on Midway. Unbeknownst to the Japanese, the US carrier forces were just to the east of the island and ready for battle. After their initial attacks, the Japanese aircraft headed back to their carriers to rearm and refuel. While the aircraft were returning, the Japanese navy became aware of the presence of US naval forces in the area.
Read full article>>
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Battle of Midway Tactical Overview – World War II | History | |
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The International Gun
By John L. Morris
Photos by author
The 23 May edition of Tuesday Tidings included: “For this week’s “In Case You Missed It” article we offer a link to a May 11th presentation given by an-up-and-coming naval historian working at the Naval History and Heritage Command, Emily Abdow. Her monograph The Boxer Rebellion: Bluejackets and Marines in China, 1900-1901 (navy.mil) is her first of what we are sure will be many. Congratulations Emily!” My congratulations as well, and the comment that her monograph is fascinating and well-worth your time. I’ve been interested in the Boxer Rebellion ever since watching the Allied Artists’ film “55 Days at Peking” when released in 1963. The movie was certainly entertaining but was in no way a documentary.
One interesting aspect of the US Navy/Marine Corps role in the defense of the International Legation compound in Peking was construction and employment of “The International Gun.” From Emily Abdow’s book, pp. vii: “On the night of 13 August 1900, Gunner's Mate First Class Joseph Mitchell fired his improvised cannon into Chinese imperial troops mounting their strongest assault on the Legation Quarter in Beijing (then Peking). The Legation Quarter was home to diplomats from 11 foreign powers, including the United States. For 55 days, an ad hoc multinational guard of 407 sailors and marines had protected its shrinking perimeter from attacks by an enemy possessing superior strength and firepower. Mitchell's makeshift cannon, christened the "International Gun,” was an innovation born of desperation. Fashioned from a bronze barrel unearthed in the Legation Quarter, mounted on an Italian gun carriage, and firing Russian shells, the crude but mostly effective invention was symbolic of the collaboration between the besieged nations. It was not a well-oiled machine- in fact, it emitted a cloud of smoke every time it fired- but it got the job done.”
See full article>>
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NAVAL HISTORY CALLS FOR PAPERS | |
UPCOMING NAVAL & MARITIME HISTORY GATHERINGS | |
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16–18 June 2023: Farewell DESA Reunion, Albany NY
23–24 June: North Carolina Naval History in the Age of Sail and Steam Symposium, Kinston, NC (See here for more details
18–21 September 2023: Historic Naval Ship Association Conference aboard USS Slater
21 September 2023: Navy Memorial Lone Sailor Award Dinner, National Building Museum, Washington, DC
21–22 September 2023: McMullen Naval History Symposium, US Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD
9 October: U.S. Naval Institute 150th Celebration
17–22 October 2023: Naval Order of the United States Congress, San Diego
25 October 2023: US Naval Institute Conference – Critical Thinking – Our Greatest Weapon to Winning Tomorrow’s War
| Click here to watch Dr. Michael A. Verney’s presentation of his book: A Great and Rising Nation: Naval Exploration and Global Empire in the Early US Republic. | 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: 190: Craig Symonds: Nimitz at War>>
Click here for all Preble Hall Podcasts >>
| NAVAL HISTORY & HERITAGE COMMAND H-GRAMS | |
H-Gram 078: 20 March 2023 >> The Revolt of the Admirals, Ship Renaming
| DRACHINIFEL YOUTUBE CHANNEL | 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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