My dream history lesson includes a tropical Pacific island where I step off a beautiful boat soaked in sunshine the warm Micronesian waters and descend on a coral covered ship that was part of World War II. This dream and these ships came to life for me during a recent trip aboard the MV Odyssey…
In 1938, Germany had only 3 “pocket” battleships, 6 light cruisers, 7 destroyers, 12 torpedo boats, and 36 submarines—many of which were unfit for ocean service[1]. The British Home Fleet alone had: 15 battleships, 62 cruisers, 7 aircraft carriers, 178 destroyers, and 56 submarines[2]. As the war drew closer, German naval planners were convened by…
The USS Saratoga (CV-3), commissioned in 1927, was an Lexington-class American Aircraft carrier measuring 268 meters (880 ft.) in length and weighting 39,000 tons. Originally she was designed as a battlecruiser, but was later converted into one of the Navy’s first aircraft carriers during construction to comply with the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922. During her World…
Beautiful Wildlife on the Shinkoku Maru. (Credits: Argunners) My favorite wreck in the Lagoon, the Shinkoku Maru, has become a fantastically beautiful artificial reef. Pink and purple anemones can be found all over the top deck and schools of fish, big and small, have populated the ship. Sitting between 9 and 40m (30-135ft) the 152m (500ft) Commercial tanker…
USS Saratoga (CV-3), commissioned in 1927, was an Lexington-class American Aircraft carrier measuring 268 meters (880 ft.) in length and weighting 39,000 tons. Originally she was designed as a battlecruiser, but was later converted into one of the Navy’s first aircraft carriers during construction to comply with the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922. During her World War…
Staff Sgt. Rocco Moretto (left) with Tech Sgt. Bob Wright (later killed in action) at Bütgenbach, Belgium in December 1944. (Credits: Robert F. Dorr) When Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945, Staff Sgt. Rocco J. “Rocky” Moretto was one of only two men in his infantry company who’d landed on D-Day and fought through to…
During December 1941 and September 1945, the U.S. Navy lost hundreds of warships and patrol craft due enemy contact, natural disasters and various incidents. We have compiled some of the more notable losses in the following list (version 1). The USS Arizona was a 31,400 ton Pennsylvania class battleship built at the New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York…
USS Oakland (CL-95) in San Francisco Bay, California, with the San Francisco waterfront in the background, 2 August 1943. (Credits: US Navy) The Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus has announced today that the next Independence variant littoral combat ship will be named the USS Oakland (LCS 24). The ship will be named to honor…
Satellite photographs from the Chuuk Islands. (Credits: NASA) My dream history lesson includes a tropical Pacific island where I step off a beautiful boat soaked in sunshine the warm Micronesian waters and descend on a coral covered ship that was part of World War II. This dream and these ships came to life for me…
To all our loyal readers, To commemorate the Doolittle Raid of 18 April 1942, which was an air raid by the United States on the Japanese capital Tokyo and other places on Honshu island during World War II, and the first air raid to strike the Japanese Home Islands. It demonstrated that Japan itself was vulnerable to…
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