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21 February 2023
Welcome back to our National Maritime Historical Society members and friends who share a love for naval history!
Congratulations to Sam Tangredi and Vincent P. O’Hara for bringing together 17 of America’s and Great Britain’s top naval history practitioners this past weekend for an engaging symposium on the aircraft carrier Midway in San Diego. Presentations ranged from papers on Rear Adm. Grace Murray Hopper, the evolution of American nuclear submarine design, and the 1923 disaster at Honda Point, to war gaming demonstrations on the Battle of the Philippine Sea and the Age of Sail, as well as workshops on posting presentations on YouTube and conducting oral history. For more on the Western Naval History Association, visit Home | Western Naval History Association (wnha.net).
Speaking of San Diego, the North American Society of Oceanic History will be hosting its annual conference there on 17–20 May, and the deadline for paper proposals is next Tuesday! (See Calls for Papers below.)
Our featured content focuses on the Naval War College Foundation’s effort to permanently endow the Professor John B. Hattendorf Prize to distinguished scholars in recognition of the quality and depth of their original research and scholarship over a long career. Given Dr. Hattendorf’s life-long passion to keep naval history relevant to contemporary leaders,
we strongly encourage support for this endeavor.
This week we offer a single review by a Navy chaplain on Mao’s Army Goes to Sea. Please do check our list of books available for review and reach out to Dr. Dave Winkler with your requests.
Tuesday Tidings is compiled by Dr. David F. Winkler and Jessie Henderson. As always, comments are welcome at nmhs@seahistory.org.
| THIS WEEK'S FEATURED IMAGE | |
African-American troops unloading a Landing Craft Mechanized (LCM) (John Turnball, Supplies Are Landed, 1945, oil on canvas, 28 X 36", Naval History and Heritage Command, Washington, DC).
For details on African-American service in the US Navy see: African American Sailors in the U.S. Navy Chronology
| ITEMS OF IMMEDIATE INTEREST | |
28 February
The Lasting Legacy of Doris Miller, Pearl Harbor Hero
12:00–1:00 PM
Free
National Museum of the US Navy
Washington Navy Yard, Washington, DC
Historian Talk: “The Lasting Legacy of Doris Miller, Pearl Harbor Hero.”
(navy.mil)
10 March
Civil War Lecture Series: Development of Confederate Ironclads
12:00-1:00 PM
Free to watch online; $1 for nonmembers to attend in person
Click here to sign up
Mariners’ Museum and Park
Newport News, VA
www.marinersmuseum.org
In Case You Missed It!
Naval Order History Happenings
Dr. Anna Holloway’s “More Tons – Less Huns” talk on World War I
Shipbuilding in Alexandria Virginia
https://www.navalorder.org/noushistoryhappenings
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Wreck site identified as WWII submarine USS Albacore (SS 218)
16 February 2023
Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) confirmed the identity of a wreck site off the coast of Hokkaido, Japan, as USS Albacore (SS 218) Feb. 16.
NHHC’s Underwater Archaeology Branch (UAB) used information and imagery provided by Dr. Tamaki Ura, from the University of Tokyo, to confirm the identity of Albacore, which was lost at sea 7 Nov. 1944.
“As the final resting place for Sailors who gave their life in defense of our nation, we sincerely thank and congratulate Dr. Ura and his team for their efforts in locating the wreck of Albacore,” said NHHC Director Samuel J. Cox, US Navy rear admiral (retired). “It is through their hard work and continued collaboration that we could confirm Albacore’s identity after being lost at sea for over 70 years.”
Japanese records originating from the Japan Center for Asian Historical Records (JACAR) covering the loss of an American submarine on 7 Nov. 1944 guided Dr. Ura’s missions. The location mentioned in the records matched a separate ongoing effort by UAB volunteers to establish the location of the shipwreck.
Dr. Ura’s team collected data using a Remotely Operated Vehicle to confirm the historical data. Strong currents, marine growth, and poor visibility on site made it challenging to fully document the wreck or obtain comprehensive images. However, several key features of a late 1944 Gato-class submarine were identified in the video.
Indications of documented modifications made to Albacore prior to her final patrol, such as the presence of an SJ Radar dish and mast, a row of vent holes along the top of the superstructure, and the absence of steel plates along the upper edge of the fairwater, allowed UAB to confirm the wreck site finding as Albacore.
Read full article>>
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NAVAL HISTORY BOOK REVIEWS | |
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Mao’s Army Goes to Sea: The Island Campaigns and the Founding of China’s Navy by Toshi Yoshihara. George Washington University Press, (2022).
Reviewed by Lt. E. J. Prevoznak, CHC, USN.
Toshi Yoshihara’s historical survey of the founding of the Chinese navy is brief but packed with crucial knowledge and is a must-read for any China scholar or military strategist who has an eye on the Western Pacific. Chapter by chapter, Yoshihara gives the reader valuable insight into the motivation behind the CCP pursing its agenda to ultimately defeat the Nationalists and secure its own sovereignty, all within the naval and maritime context. Most Westerners see this motivation as merely history and do not truly appreciate the viewpoint of the CCP. To ensure we do everything we can to protect our friends, allies, and interests around the world to maintain the status quo, we must first understand the motivation and history, and Yoshihara gives us a tool to do this. Yoshihara writes that the early CCP learned from the US strategy in World War II to successfully complete its own island-hopping campaigns to defeat the Nationalists. Now it is our turn to learn from it, so that we can accomplish keeping the peace for as long as possible.
Read the full review >>
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NAVAL HISTORY BOOKS AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW | |
NAVAL NEWS FROM THE FLEET | |
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NHHC remembers USS Maine at Arlington National Cemetery
15 February 2023
Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) Director Samuel Cox laid a wreath at the USS Maine Memorial on 15 Feb., commemorating the 125th anniversary of the explosion and sinking of the US battleship in Havana Harbor that resulted in the loss of 266 of its officers and crew.
“Today we honor the extraordinary sacrifice and service of the Maine Sailors,” said Cox. “We remember not just the Maine, but her crew.”
Maine was sent to Havana, Cuba, in January 1898, to protect American interests during the long-standing revolt of the Cubans against the Spanish government. During the evening of 15 Feb., Maine sank when its forward gunpowder magazines exploded, killing nearly three-quarters of the battleship's crew.
Read full article>>
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NAVAL NEWS FROM MARITIME WORLD | |
The NMHS Zoom Seminar Series Presents Adventures of an Eclipse Chaser
with Meteorologist Joe Rao on Saturday, 25 February 2023 at 11 AM ET
Join the National Maritime Historical Society on Saturday, 25 February at 11 AM EST for the NMHS Zoom Seminar Series featuring meteorologist, science editor and Hayden Planetarium associate Joe Rao as he presents Adventures of an Eclipse Chaser.
To witness a total eclipse of the Sun is a privilege that comes to a few—many live and die without ever beholding one. Once seen, however, it is a phenomenon never to be forgotten. The incredible panoply of phenomena that occur when the Sun becomes completely covered by the Moon—the radiance of the pearly corona of the Sun which can be seen at no other time; the scarlet tongues of hydrogen gas rising from the surface of the Moon darkened to heights of many thousands of miles; the unaccustomed presence of the brighter stars and planets in the daytime; the darkness of twilight and sudden fall of temperature—all remain indelibly planted in our memory for a lifetime. Expeditions and tours have been sent halfway around the world to observe total eclipses. On 8 April 2024, those who live in the Northeastern United States will have one delivered to their doors.
You won't want to miss this exciting seminar with Joe Rao, who was the chief meteorologist and science editor at News 12 Westchester, and who over the last 50 years has chased 13 eclipses around the globe by land, sea, and air. A fabulous storyteller, he will detail the interesting, funny, and poignant occurrences that he has experienced in his efforts to briefly bask in the shadow of the Moon.
Register for the Zoom Seminar >>
$10 Seminar Guest Donation >>
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NAVAL HISTORY CALLS FOR PAPERS | |
UPCOMING NAVAL & MARITIME HISTORY GATHERINGS | |
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18 March: Carrier Con 2023 – USS Hornet, Alameda, CA
23–26 March 2023: Society for Military History, Hilton San Diego Bayfront, San Diego, CA
14–16 April 2023: National Maritime Historical Society 60th Annual Meeting, The Mariners' Museum and Park, Newport News, VA
9 May 2023: National Maritime Awards Dinner, National Press Club, Washington, DC
17–20 May 2023: North American Society for Oceanic History Conference, Maritime Museum of San Diego, CA
21–22 September 2023: McMullen Naval History Symposium, US Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD
September 2023: Historic Naval Ships Association Conference
17–22 October 2023: Naval Order of the United States Congress, San Diego, CA
| 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: EP175: Remembering the Maine: 125 Years >>
Click here for all Preble Hall Podcasts >>
| NAVAL HISTORY & HERITAGE COMMAND H-GRAMS | |
H-Gram 076: 20 December 2022 >> There Are No Headstones at Sea: The Search for Wasp and Hornet (Reprise)
| 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 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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