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27 February 2024
Today marks the 82nd anniversary of the Battle of the Java Sea. James D. Hornfischer raised public awareness about the battle in his 2006 bestseller Ship of Ghosts, which focused on USS Houston and that cruiser’s crew. Naval History and Heritage Command is currently highlighting the battle on the front page of its website: Battles of Java Sea and Sunda Strait (navy.mil).
Speaking of the NHHC website, Anchored in History is a new podcast being offered by the Navy History and Heritage Command. Episode 1 looks at Navy Deck Logs and Sailor Poetry, featuring archivist Alexis Van Pool and Fleet Historian Anna Holloway, who discuss the Navy’s use of deck logs and command operations reports (CORs), and how sailors have had a unique opportunity to express themselves while standing the New Year’s Eve watch, writing the first watch of the year in poetic verse. Check it out at Ep. 1 - Navy Deck Logs and Sailor Poetry.
Finally, it seems that the NHHC is getting the lion’s share of attention this week as its former director, Dr. William S. Dudley, is being honored this coming 18 April at the National Press Club. His well-deserved recognition is this week’s feature story!
Vice Adm. Robert F. Dunn provides this week’s Naval History Book Review on a book featuring an aircraft—the A-4 Skyhawk—that that he spent thousands of hours piloting in the service of his country. Some new books have arrived for review and the book list for those interested in writing reviews has been updated.
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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 | |
National Maritime Historical Society to Recognize Former Director of Naval Historical Center | |
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Long-standing practitioners within the naval history enterprise, to include not only historians but curators, archivists, underwater archaeologists, librarians, art conservators and other scholars, will have the opportunity to honor an individual who, in the words of his chief subordinate for nine years at the Naval Historical Center, Dr. Edward J. Marolda: “is one of America’s most respected champions of the history of the United States Navy and America’s maritime heritage.” NMHS has announced that Dr. William S. Dudley will be presented with its prestigious David A. O’Neil Sheet Anchor Award in recognition for his twelve years of service as an NMHS trustee and trustee liaison on the Editorial Advisory Committee for Sea History magazine. Dr. Jennifer London, chair of the Navy League Foundation board of directors, will present the award.
Though Dr. Dudley’s NMHS colleagues will certainly be on hand to honor him for his work with the society, the dinner also offers a great venue for a reunion of those who worked with him in government service and associated colleagues during the years preceding and during his tenure as the Director of Naval History for the US Navy. Having served in the Navy as a commissioned officer, Dudley left active duty to eventually earn his PhD at Columbia University. After a few years teaching at Southern Methodist University, he became a supervisory historian at the Naval Historical Center in Washington, DC, in 1977 and progressed from head of the Center’s Early History Branch through senior historian by 1994. Three decades later, Dr. Marolda reflected:
I observed a leader and scholar dedicated to preserving the Navy’s 200-plus years of history, especially that of the naval service in the Age of Sail. Truly praiseworthy was his sponsorship and editing of The Naval War of 1812: A Documentary History, oversight of the multi-volume and highly regarded Naval Documents of the American Revolution, and post-retirement naval and maritime histories of the Navy and his Maryland home. Over the years, Bill Dudley had been an inspiration to me and to his legions of friends and colleagues.
The scope of his academic scholarship can be found HERE.
Dr. Dudley’s tenure as the Director of Naval History from 1995 to 2004 proved challenging as his command sent reservists to document ongoing naval operations in the Balkans and the Middle East in the latter 90’s and following 9/11, US naval operations to support the global war on terrorism. Under his leadership, Task Force History was set up to study how the Navy could better capture this history in a digital age. Under his prompting, the Naval Historical Foundation took on the role of designing and fund-raising for a Cold War Gallery addition to the Navy Museum. Finally, he initiated a study from an outside consultant group, History Associates Inc., that reviewed how history was produced and consumed within the Navy. That resultant study, “History and Heritage in the US Navy” led to recommendations to reorganize the naval history enterprise into what eventually became the Naval History and Heritage Command.
Former deputy director of the Naval Historical Center, former Naval Historical Foundation executive director, and retired Navy captain Todd Creekman reflected on his nearly three decades of work for and with Bill Dudley:
I worked for Bill when he was NHC director for my last tour at the end of a 30-year active-duty career, and he taught me to love naval history and embrace the challenge of both preserving our proud heritage and promoting that legacy with strong educational and outreach programs. That led me directly to a 17-year second career running the nonprofit Naval Historical Foundation in support of the Navy's history programs and museums, fostering Bill's vision across the Navy and the nation.
Dr. Dudley is a past president of the North American Society for Oceanic History (NASOH) and the Society for History in the Federal Government. He is former chair of the Maritime Committee of the Maryland Historical Society, 2005–2011. He is a former Historian General of the Naval Order of the United States, a past member of the board of directors of the Naval Historical Foundation, and the board of governors of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. He currently serves on the board of trustees of the National Maritime Historical Society.
The David A. O’Neil Sheet Anchor Award is his most recent accolade. He has previously been recognized with the US Navy Superior Civilian Public Service Award, Navy Department, 2004; NASOH’s K. Jack Bauer Award for Scholarship and Service, 2004; Maryland Historical Trust’s Outstanding Heritage Book Award and the NASOH John Lyman Award for Best US Maritime History Book, Maritime Maryland: A History, 2011; and the Dudley W. Knox Naval History Lifetime Achievement Medal, presented by the Naval Historical Foundation, 2014.
In addition to recognizing Dr. Dudley, NMHS will present Major General Charles F. Bolden Jr., USMC (Ret.), with its Distinguished Service Award in recognition of his remarkable career as a US Marine aviator, astronaut, and NASA administrator. Admiral Michael G. Mullen, USN (Ret.), 17th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will present the award. Also, Dawn Riley will be presented with a Distinguished Service Award in recognition of her remarkable sailing career, particularly her role as mentor and educator, training premier-level American sailors for future Olympic, America’s Cup, and world-class sailing competitions. Gary Jobson, America’s Ambassador of Sailing, will present the award.
A small committee of those who have been associated with Dr. Dudley is working to populate tables at the 18 April event with former colleagues and associates. If you are one of those individuals who may have an interest in attending or may know of the whereabouts of former colleagues, contact Capt. Todd Creekman, USN (Ret.), at ccreekman@verizon.net, or Dr. David Winkler at winkler58@msn.com. For more about the National Maritime Awards Dinner visit: https://seahistory.org/washington2024/.
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Black History Month Celebrated on Preble Hall Podcast!
Dr. John Sherwood of the Naval History and Heritage Command interviews Dr. Cameron McCoy. Dr. McCoy is the author of the new book, Contested Valor: African American Marines in the Age of Power, Protest, and Tokenism (2023). He holds a PhD in history from the University of Texas at Austin. He’s also a Marine lieutenant colonel and a student in the advanced strategist program here at the Naval War College. Part I of this interview will explore the history of African American Marines during World War II and Korea, and Part II will focus on the post Korean War period and Vietnam. Preble Hall Podcast :: Museum :: USNA
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NHHC Remembers Operation FLINTLOCK
23 February 2024
From MC1 Jonathan Nelson
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WASHINGTON NAVY YARD – February 2024 marks a significant period of US history—the 80th anniversary of the end the invasion of the Marshall Islands and Operation FLINTLOCK. On Feb. 5, Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) Senior Historian Timothy L. Francis participated in a ceremony held by US Army Garrison Kwajalein Atoll (USAG-KA) in Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands, to honor those who served and assisted in liberating the Marshall Islands during World War II.
Operation FLINTLOCK was a pivotal invasion during World War II in the Marshall Islands. It represented the largest amphibious assault at that time and significantly contributed to the Allied victory over the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy in the Pacific. The invasion commenced with pre-invasion attacks starting in November 1943, followed by D-Day on 31 January 1944. Soldiers quickly seized key islands, facilitating the establishment of fire support bases and providing access to the atoll's interior waters for rapid buildup of combat power.
“As a historian, I was honored to assist US Army Garrison - Kwajalein Atoll commemorate the 80th anniversary of Operation Flintlock,” said Francis. “Being able to explain the complexities, difficulties and significance of the operation to staff and their families was a wonderful experience. In light of their struggles after the wave damage last month, the events also allowed me to emphasize the continued importance of the Marshall Islands to contemporary DoD operations as well as possible future naval logistics in the central Pacific.”
A massive bombardment preceded the assault, decimating Japanese defenses on Kwajalein. Lead elements of two Regimental Combat Teams then landed, facing resistance from entrenched defenders. Despite obstacles, troops moved inland with support from armored amphibian tractors and tanks. Intensive training in Hawaii prior to deployment proved vital in efficiently neutralizing enemy bunkers and strongpoints. Over the next days, the assault progressed, culminating in the island's capture on 4 February 1944, with minimal casualties for US forces compared to heavy losses for the Japanese.
Read full article>>
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NAVAL HISTORY BOOK REVIEWS | |
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THE SKYHAWK YEARS: The A-4 Skyhawk in Australian Service, 1968–1984
By Peter Greenfield and David Prest, Kent Town; South Australia, Avanmore Books, (2023).
Reviewed by Vice Adm. Robert F. Dunn, USN (Ret.)
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...Unfortunately, 1979 turned out to be not so good for the Australian Skyhawk fleet, losing three aircraft. The Skyhawk Years tells the stories of those mishaps in detail. Add to that, Melbourne was decommissioned in May of 1982 and Australia’s remaining Skyhawks were transferred to New Zealand.
Of interest to American readers, a number of US Navy Skyhawk pilots flew with the Australians off Melbourne, including now-former Blue Angel lead Bob Stumpf. He recalled, “It was a tiny ship with a mirror landing system with the only stabilization a guy sitting next to the mirror with a gunsight and handcranks. The deck motion was something else with those big Pacific rollers. The meatball would often go off the top or bottom with the waves.”
The Skyhawk Years is an outstanding review of the Royal Australian Air Force’s experience with the Skyhawk. There are few, if any downsides in the narrative, but the reader’s life would have been made a bit easier had the editor chosen a larger font in some of the more explanatory paragraphs.
Read full review>>
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NAVAL HISTORY BOOKS AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW | |
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Dr. David Kohnen
The Last British Invasion of America: The Beatles in the Global Maritime Arena
Watch here>>
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NAVAL HISTORY CALLS FOR PAPERS | |
Canadian Nautical Research Society Call for Papers 2023 | |
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Shaped by the Sea: The Maritime World as Transformative for Work, Culture, Ideas, Networks
St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, 17–18 August 2023
Historians have long emphasized the significance of the maritime as a transportation vector between global regions, between metropole and colony, and between networks of commodity extraction and production sites. The 2023 meeting of the Canadian Nautical Research Society seeks papers with a focus on the maritime world as transformative, shaping the objects, ideas, and people who travelled by sea. Maritime workers, vessels, and the ports that connected ship to shore left indelible impressions upon the people and objects that passed through their midst, reshaping ideas on land but also impacting the maritime world itself.
The 2023 CNRS Conference will take place in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, on 17–18 August. A vibrant port and a region of significant maritime transformation as a military station, fishery, and a gateway to the North Atlantic and Arctic, Newfoundland and Labrador continues to be shaped by the proximity of its peoples to the sea.
The Conference will be a hybrid meeting, hosted in-person at the site of one of the British Empire’s largest archives of working men’s documents, Memorial University of Newfoundland’s Maritime History Archive. The MHA’s collection includes the bulk of Britain’s crew agreements created between 1863 and 1972, as well as important collections of maritime documents and photographs from Newfoundland and Labrador.
Proposals on other maritime topics from all time periods are also welcome. We invite interdisciplinary and inter-professional proposals from speakers who will contribute to the diversity of our discussions and community. Presenters must be members of the CNRS/Scrn by the time of the conference. Memberships are available at rates starting at $30 CAD, $25 CAD for students and early career researchers. Please visit https://www.cnrs-scrn.org/membership/index_e.html.
New scholars are encouraged to apply for the Gerry Panting Award for New Scholars to assist with expenses associated with travelling to the 2023 CNRS Conference in St. John’s, NL. Details for this award are available at: https://www.cnrs-scrn.org/books_and_awards/panting_e.html.
Submissions should be sent to Dr. Meaghan Walker, conference moderator, at mwalker@mun.ca, and should include the presenter’s name, institutional or professional affiliation (optional), title of the presentation, an abstract of 250 words or less, and a biographical note of 100 words or less. The deadline for submissions is 31 March 2023.
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CONTEST SUBMISSION DEADLINE | |
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Charles Dana Gibson Award
For the best article on North American maritime history published in a peer-reviewed journal in 2023
Honorarium: $1,000
Closing date for entries/nominations: 1 March 2024
Send copy and complete citation for the article to: NASOHGibsonaward@gmail.com
Selection: Articles will be evaluated by a three-person committee of NASOH members
Announcement of award recipient: TBD.
***The Recipient must be present at the NASOH conference to receive the award.****
NASOH presents the Charles Dana Gibson Award annually to the author of the most significant article on any aspect of North American maritime history published in a refereed journal during the previous year.
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Kings Maritime History Seminars
22 February 2024 – Rewriting Women into Maritime History: Visibilising diverse histories and futures, 1700–2023.
Jo Stanley, Blaydes Maritime Centre, University of Hull
7 March 2024 – Interplay of Empires: The quest for influence in the nineteenth-century Mediterranean
Cemal Atabaş, Marmara University, Istanbul
21 March 2024 – The Coal Black Sea: Winston Churchill and the biggest naval catastrophe of the First World War
Stuart Heaver, journalist and author
Note: This session will be delivered entirely online.
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 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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UPCOMING NAVAL & MARITIME HISTORY GATHERINGS | |
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29 February–1 March 2024: Women’s History Symposium, National World War II Museum, New Orleans
18–21 April 2024: Society For Military History Annual Conference Arlington, VA
24–25 April 2024: Council of American Maritime Museums, Constitution Museum, Boston, MA
18 May 2024: Naval Dockyards Society 28th Annual Conference
From Yards to Hards: Preparing Allied naval forces for the 1944 Normandy Landings 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. Catherines, Ontario
September (TBD): Historic Naval Ship Association (HNSA) Symposium
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: 223: Interview with Dr. Cameron McCoy, Part 2>>
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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