"USS Olympia and the Shaping of the Modern Era"

Thursday, 27 January 2022 (1900 hrs Eastern Standard Time)

Peter S. Seibert

President & CEO, Independence Seaport Museum

Leading America to victory at the Battle of Manila Bay, Olympia is regarded by many as both the herald of American military and political presence in the Pacific and the birthplace of an independent Philippines. Olympia’s history includes carrying supplies to combat the Spanish Flu epidemic in the Adriatic, supporting American interests during the Russian Revolution, and honorably transporting the Unknown Solider of World War One back home.

Peter S. Seibert brings an award-winning, three-decade career from notable institutions including the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the Millicent Rogers Museum, the National Council for History Education, and the Buffalo Bill Center of the West.  He currently serves on the Board of Pennsylvania Museums and is a former Board member of the Demuth Foundation, the Pennsylvania Dutch Convention and Visitors Bureau and the National History Day Advisory Board.

"Second Chances at Sea"

Thursday, 24 February 2022 (1900 hrs Eastern Standard Time)

Lieutenant Garrett Richards, USN

Operating a Naval Warship on the high seas has long been a dangerous and difficult job. Accidents and mishaps have befallen many Captains and Junior Officers of America's sea services, including some of our Navy's most revered leaders. Before Alfred Thayer Mahan and Chester Nimitz were to redefine the legacy of the U.S. Navy, they both were involved in significant incidents that put America's ships and sailors at risk. As history reveals, these two men were offered a chance at redemption, however today's leaders are rarely afforded the same opportunity. This lecture explores the histories of Naval leaders.

Lieutenant Garrett Richards is a native of Hershey, PA, Garrett graduated from Vanderbilt University in 2017 with a degree in History and Latin American Studies. While at Vanderbilt he participated in the Naval ROTC program under a four-year scholarship and was commissioned as a Naval Officer upon graduation. Prior to his service on the USS Detroit, Garrett served as the Gunnery Officer onboard the USS Benfold, a Guided-Missile Destroyer forward-deployed to Yokosuka, Japan.

The World War Two Art Collection at Brown University Library.

Thursday, 24 March 2022 (1900 hrs Eastern Standard Time)

Peter Harrington, Curator, John Hay Library at Brown University

The talk will describe how the World War Two Art Collection, which is part of the Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection, was created over the last 25 years, and will include some of the highlights and a special focus on the Naval and Marine Corps artists represented.

Peter Harrington is an author, military historian, and archaeologist, who curates the Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection in the John Hay Library at Brown University where he has worked for over 37 years. A native of Manchester, England, he studied at London, Edinburgh, Simmons and Brown, and his research over the past three decades has focused on artists and images of war. For many years he taught a distance learning graduate course on the subject. His other area of research is Conflict Archaeology. He has authored and edited a number of books.

The Battle of Midway: Fresh Insights

Monday, 18 April 2022 (1900 hrs Eastern Standard Time)

Dale Jenkins, Author of the upcoming book:  Diplomats and Admirals

Japanese Admiral Yamamoto planned an attack on Midway Island to draw out and sink the Pacific Fleet carriers.  US cryptographers decoded the Japanese attack plan and Admiral Chester Nimitz planed a simultaneous concentration of force by the planes from Midway and the Pacific Fleet carrier planes.  The Japanese were almost ready to deliver a devastating attack against the Pacific Fleet carriers, but at 1025 the Enterprise air group commander led Enterprise dive bombers, supplemented by Yorktown planes, that destroyed the Japanese carriers in the last possible moments to win the Battle of Midway.

Dale A. Jenkins has had a lifelong interest in the Navy and international affairs.  He served for three years as an officer in the Navy, mostly on a destroyer in the Pacific.  During his active duty he was home-ported in Yokosuka, Japan, and Pacific Fleet commitments took him to the Philippines, Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore.  While on active duty was awarded the Navy/Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal.  As a result of his active duty experience and recent new revelations, Dale provides fresh insights into strategies and tactics of the Battle of Midway.

“The Navy’s Key Role in the Halsey-Doolittle Raid”

Wednesday, 18 May 2022 (1900 hrs Eastern Standard Time)

Dr. Dennis Okerstrom is Professor Emeritus at Park University

One of the best-known and feted events of World War II was the daring bombing raid on Tokyo and other Japanese cities by Army Air Corps fliers led by then-Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle.  Just four months after Pearl Harbor, this first-ever strike against the islands of Japan lifted the morale of Americans; it was featured during the war in films and books; it is credited with destroying the early illusion of invincibility of the Imperial Japanese Forces.  The response of Japanese military leaders to the raid resulted in what is often credited as the turning point in the Pacific war: the Battle of Midway.

Dr. Dennis Okerstrom is Professor Emeritus at Park University near Kansas City, Missouri, retiring in 2018 after 35 years of teaching; the Mary Barlow Professor of Language and Literature, he held posts as head of the Liberal Studies Department and chair of the English Department.

“Aircraft Carriers on the Great Lakes during World War II”

Thursday, 23 June 2022 (1900 hrs Eastern Standard Time)

Christopher N. Blaker

During the early twentieth century, scores of Americans sailed the Great Lakes on luxury excursion steamships that were built for speed, comfort, and extravagance. While all those ships provided passengers pleasant voyages between freshwater ports, two of their number— Seeandbee and Greater Buffalo—went on to serve an even higher purpose, being converted to the United States’ only freshwater aircraft carriers during World War II. To keep aircraft carrier pilots-to-be far from any combat area during their training and qualification, many were sent to the Great Lakes region to learn the ropes aboard these two training carriers, now named USS Wolverine (IX-64) and USS Sable (IX-81).

Christopher N. Blaker works for the U.S. Department of the Navy as an editor of scholarly books and journals at Marine Corps University Press in Quantico, Virginia. He is an American historian specializing primarily in Navy and Marine Corps activities during World War II and in the Great Lakes region. His articles have appeared in Marine Corps History, Leatherneck, and Michigan History, and he served as coeditor of the Marine Corps History Division anthology U.S. Marines in Afghanistan, 2010–2014 (2017). He holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Albion College and a master’s degree in American history from Oakland University. A native of Farmington, Michigan, he now lives in Alexandria, Virginia.

Torpedo Development During the 1920's

Thursday, 29 September 2022 (1930 hours)

Military Historian; currently curator of military history at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History 

Dr. Frank A. Blazich Jr.

In 1922, the Naval Torpedo Station in Newport, Rhode Island initiated Project G-53 to develop a magnetic influence torpedo exploder. Four years later, this effort produced a prototype suitable for live-fire testing. Refined and “perfected” by the late 1920s, the now-designated Mark 6 Mod 1 Exploder seemingly offered the Navy’s Submarine Service a “wonder weapon” capable of efficiently and effectively destroying targets. To complement the magnetic influencer, the Torpedo Station also included an impact detonator element in the complete Mark 6 exploder. 

In January 2017, Dr. Blazich assumed his current position as curator of modern military history at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. His first edited book, Bataan Survivor: A POW’s Account of Japanese Captivity in World War II, was published by the University of Missouri Press in February 2017. His second book, “An Honorable Place in American Air Power”: Civil Air Patrol Coastal Patrol Operations, 1943-1943, was published by Air University Press in December 2020.

Revenue Cutter Captain “Hell Roarin’” Mike Healy—tamer of America’s final frontier

Thursday, 27 October 2022 (1900 hours Eastern). Join us as we honor the USCG.

William H. Thiesen, PhD.  Atlantic Area Historian, US Coast Guard

Michael Healy made a lasting impression on American history as the first man of African-American heritage to receive a U.S. sea service commission and first to command a Federal ship. As a powerful law enforcement officer in Alaska Territory, he helped shape the history of this lawless maritime frontier. During Healy’s career in Alaska, he explored, policed, protected, nurtured, defended and helped preserve the humans and animals that survived in that forbidding land. This paper will explore the life and career of Captain Michael Healy, the most colorful and controversial officer in the history of the United States Coast Guard.

Dr. Thiesen serves as Atlantic Area Historian for the United States Coast Guard. Dr. Thiesen earned a master’s degree from East Carolina University’s Program in Maritime History, with a concentration in naval history; and a Ph.D. in University of Delaware’s Hagley Program in the History of Industrialization and Technology, with a specialization in maritime industries and technology. His books include Industrializing American Shipbuilding: The Transformation of Ship Design and Construction, 1820-1920 and Cruise of the Dashing Wave: Rounding Cape Horn in 1860. 

Mastering the Art of Command: A Reflection

Thursday, 17 November 2022 (1900 hours Eastern)

Mr. Trent Hone.  Naval Historian and Vice President, ICF International.

Admiral Chester Nimitz was one of the most effective military leaders of World War II. In his new book, Mastering the Art of Command: Admiral Chester W. Nimitz and Victory in the Pacific War, Trent Hone examines Admiral Nimitz's leadership and argues that Nimitz's effectiveness was based on an artistic approach that allowed him to maximize the potential of his command, wrest the initiative from the Japanese, and create the conditions for victory in the Pacific. In this talk, Mr. Hone will explore Nimitz's artistic approach in detail and highlight how core attributes of Nimitz's leadership allowed Nimitz and his subordinates to readily adapt and adjust to new information and maximize the effectiveness of their command and organizational structures. Mr. Hone will integrate command and operational history to describe the war as it appeared from Nimitz's headquarters and how Nimitz mastered the art of command. 

Trent Hone is an award-winning naval historian and Vice President with ICF International, based in Fairfax, Virginia. Mr. Hone's work is fueled by an interest in organizational learning and operational effectiveness. He consults with organizations to improve their art of practice, accelerate learning, and innovate more effectively.

Kerfuffle Over the Norwegian Sea

Thursday, 15 December 2022 (1900 hours Eastern)

Dr. James Tritten Author and retired National Security Department Chair, Naval Post Graduate School, Monterrey, CA.

Kerfuffle Over the Norwegian Sea is a true story that occurred on September 26, 1972, on a flight in an S-2G that originated aboard USS Intrepid (CV-11). Dr. James Tritten has written extensively about strategy, doctrine, nuclear issues, etc. but decided to focus one essay on the challenging events that occurred one day, on one flight, that would show the reader what really goes on in the cockpit when things go south.  Dr. James Tritten retired after a forty-four-year career with the Department of Defense, including duty as a carrier-based naval aviator. He holds advanced degrees from the University of Southern California and formerly served as a faculty member and National Security Affairs department chair at the Naval Postgraduate School. Dr. Tritten’s publications have won him sixty-three writing awards, including the Alfred Thayer Mahan Award from the Navy League of the U.S. He has published twelve books and over four hundred chapters, short stories, essays, articles, and government technical reports. Dr. Tritten was a frequent speaker at many military, arms control, and international conferences and has seen his work translated into Russian, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Thursday, February 16, 2023 (1900 Eastern Time)

Ms. Cinzi Lavin, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts

Award-winning musical dramatist Cinzi Lavin shares the humorous, poignant, and inspiring story of creating and producing a musical about Joshua James, widely known as the “Father of the U.S. Coast Guard.” James, the most highly decorated civilian lifesaving crew commander in United States history, personally saved over 600 individuals and took part in scores of life-threatening rescues at sea in Hull, Massachusetts. While researching his life and work, Lavin was awed by the magnitude of his heroism as she translated it into action and song for the stage. The technical, comical, and personal aspects of bringing the show to life are revealed in behind-the-scenes stories that only its creator/producer can provide, such as that of the musical number written just hours before opening night, or the excitement of a surprise cameo role.

Born in Manhattan and raised in Texas, Cinzi Lavin began studying piano at the age of five and was working regularly as a paid performer by age 16. She is the award-winning creator and producer of three full-length original musical dramas. In 2010, she performed by invitation at the White House. In 2020, she was honored with an award from the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) for her influence on American culture and has been voted into the National League of American Pen Women for distinction in both Letters and Music.

Commanding in the Last Frontier: A USCG Patrol Boat Skipper in Alaska 

March 30, 2023, Thursday, at 1900 hrs (Eastern Time)

LT Will Singletary, USCG, Commanding Officer, USCGC Naushon 

Join LT Will Singletary for a virtual tour of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter NAUSHON (WPB-1311) in Homer, Alaska. He provides an overview of the Cutter’s characteristics, crew, spaces, and life onboard. Moreover, he offers a glimpse of serving in the austere Alaskan environment, for those who have not sailed her waters. The USCG’s 110 ft, Island Class Patrol Boats have served with distinction since 1986, with only 7 remaining in Commissioned Service. As skipper of one of the “last of the fleet” LT Singletary pays homage to their service and briefly touches on the future of Patrol Boats in the Coast Guard. LT Singletary looks forward to the lecture and engaging with the audience.

Col James Holman, USMC (ret.): "The A6A Intruder: Up, Close & Personal"

May 25, 2023, Thursday, at 1900 hrs (Eastern Time)

This presentation reveals the A6A Intruder as the author "remembers it”! The operational capabilities made it unique and one of the few aircraft designed for a specific mission! All Weather, All Attack! First, the presentation will detail the impressive combat capability! Then, Col. Homan will apply those capabilities to missions he flew in Vietnam and Laos: Close Air Support (CAS), Beacon, Armed Reconnaissance (AR), Mining Operations, Tactical Interdiction,

Commando Bolt, Landing Zone Prep, and wild weasel simulation!

Colonel James Homan joined the Marine Corps as part of the Platoon Leader Commission (PLC) Program in 1965. He was commissioned a 2nd Lt upon graduation from Creighton University with a Bachelor’s Degree in History & Economics in June 1967. He earned his Naval Flight Officer (NFO) Wings in 1968 and flew 250 Combat Missions as an A6A Intruder Bombardier/Navigator (BN) with VMA (AW) 225 out of DaNang RVN over ICorps and Laos1969-70. He earned 16 Air Medals and claims responsibility for expending 3 Million Lbs 500, 1000 & 2000 Lb bombs. He left active duty in 1971 but remained in the Marine Corps Reserves until 1997 in various aviation command and control billets, most importantly as USPACOM Deputy Director Crisis Action (DDCA) during Desert Shield/Desert Storm. Colonel resides with his wife of 55 years in Northern Illinois and has 3 children and 12 grandchildren!

"Cold War Termination"

June 29, 2023, Thursday, at 1900 hrs (Eastern Time)

Sarah C. M. Paine, William S. Sims University Professor of History and Grand Strategy, Strategy & Policy Department, U.S. Naval War College

There is much dispute how and why the Cold War ended when it did. I will present differing internal, external, and overarching explanations. The five external explanations are: Ronald Reagan crushed them, the Helsinki Accords undermined them, Nixon’s China card played them, cumulative presidential effects overwhelmed them, or submarines cornered them. The four internal explanations are: imperial overextension, sick satellites, economic decline, or flawed leadership ruined them. The two umbrella explanations are: either any of the above (i.e. the outcome was inevitable) or all of the above plus careful coordination between President Bush and Chancellor Kohl (i.e. the West barely won).

Professor Paine, William S. Sims University Professor of History and Grand Strategy, has taught at the U.S. Naval War College since 2000. She lectures on geopolitics, Mao Zedong, World War II, the Chinese Civil War, and the Russo-Japanese, Korean, Vietnam and Cold wars. She has spent over eight years overseas, with multiple yearlong stints in Taiwan and Japan, and a year each in China, Russia, and Australia.

"Did the Spanish Discover Hawaii before Captain Cook?"

July 21, 2023, Thursday, at 1900 hrs (Eastern Time)

Captain Michael A. Lily, USN (ret.). Author and past Attorney General of Hawaii.

The conventional wisdom is that Captain James Cook was the first European to “discover” Hawaii in 1778. As a teenager, however, Capt. Michael A. Lilly read an account that Gaetano, a Spanish navigator, first recorded the discovery of Hawaii in 1542. Lilly believes it was not possible for these galleons to miss seeing the 13,000-foot mountains of the big island of Hawaii, from which smoke from lava eruptions sometimes rose high above. In 1743, a British ship captured a Spanish galleon that had charts showing a group of islands in the general location and exact latitude of Hawaii. He also will present Hawaiian legends of white men landing in Hawaii long before Cook.

Captain Lilly, USN (Ret.) had a distinguished career as Hawaii's Attorney General and as a trial attorney. He is a founding director emeritus of the USS Missouri Memorial Association, which operates the Missouri as a memorial and tourist attraction. He authored Nimitz at Ease, relating how his grandparents helped Nimitz cope with the stresses of command and win the Pacific war. He retired as a surface warfare captain after 30 years of service, active and reserve.

"Practical Solutions for the US Merchant Marine"

August 24, 2023, Thursday, at 1900 hrs (Eastern Time)

Kempton Baldridge, licensed 1600 Ton Master and 2nd Mate of Unlimited Tonnage.

The decline in the US merchant fleet and the number of available merchant mariners have been reported numerous times since 2000. Combined with the modern dilemma of life becoming more polarized and politicized, the detached sense of reality in the modern digital age, and a clash between conflicting generation’s work ethics, there is a very real crisis deserving of a rational, apolitical solution drawing resources and insight from private and public institutions.

Baldridge spent much of his childhood in Delaware but lived in Belgium during his formative years. He has also lived in the Marshall Islands, Kentucky, Michigan, and Saipan. Baldridge earned a BA in History from Johns Hopkins in 2010, where he was nominated for the Kougell Prize in History for his Senior Thesis, Guadalcanal: The Decisive Campaign. He also earned his BS in Maritime Technology from Great Lakes Maritime Academy in 2017. When not sailing, Kempton Baldrige lives in Baltimore, MD, contributing research to Eric Wertheim’s Proceedings column, Combat Fleets of the World.

Professor Marco Tabili, Member of the Naval Order of the United States and a member of the Accademia dei Cavalieri di Santo Stefano of Pisa 

The maritime republics (Italian: repubbliche marinare), also called merchant republics (Italian: repubbliche mercantili), were Italian thalassocratic port cities which, starting from the Middle Ages, enjoyed political autonomy and economic prosperity brought about by their maritime activities. The term, coined during the 19th century, generally refers to four Italian cities, whose coats of arms have been shown since 1947 on the flags of the Italian Navy and the Italian Merchant Navy: Amalfi, Genoa, Pisa, and Venice. In addition to the four best known cities, Ancona, Gaeta, Noli, and, in Dalmatia, Ragusa, are also considered maritime republics; in certain historical periods, they had no secondary importance compared to some of the better known cities.

Uniformly scattered across the Italian peninsula, the maritime republics were important not only for the history of navigation and commerce: in addition to precious goods otherwise unobtainable in Europe, new artistic ideas and news concerning distant countries also spread. From the 10th century, they built fleets of ships both for their own protection and to support extensive trade networks across the Mediterranean, giving them an essential role in reestablishing contacts between Europe, Asia, and Africa, which had been interrupted during the early Middle Ages. They also had an essential role in the Crusades and produced renowned explorers and navigators such as Marco Polo and Cristopher Columbus.

BIRTH OF A NAVY: Samuel Rhoads Fisher - 

First Secretary of the Navy for the Republic of Texas 

Adm. Dallam Masterson, Ph.D., Texas Navy. Member, Sons of the Texas Republic. 

Samuel Rhoads Fisher met Moses and Stephen F. Austin in Missouri in 1819, and in 1830, decided to move his shipping business from Philadelphia to Austin’s colony in Mexican Texas. The 1832 house that ships’ carpenters built for Fisher’s family in Matagorda has survived several major hurricanes and is one of the oldest homes in Texas. Fisher was instrumental in creating the Texas Navy in November 1835, beginning with acquiring the first Navy schooner William Robbins (renamed Liberty) that captured Mexican supplies and diverted them to the Texian army to ensure their victory at San Jacinto in April 1836. Fisher signed the Texas Declaration of Independence and was appointed the first Secretary of the Navy for the Republic of Texas by President Sam Houston. When Mexico threatened the survival of the young Republic with a naval blockade of the Texas coast in 1837, Secretary Fisher ordered the Texas Navy on a diversionary cruise to Yucatán that broke the blockade. President Houston was not pleased that Fisher volunteered for the Yucatán cruise on leave and fired him when he returned to a hero’s welcome in Texas. Fisher was cleared of all Houston’s charges by the Texas Senate, and in his farewell letter, Fisher closed with “God prosper Texas! and to you, my friends and fellow citizens, happiness and thanks.” 

Speaker: Dallam Masterson is a 7th-generation Texan, an Admiral in the Texas Navy, and a member of The Sons of the Republic of Texas. He is a retired geologist with degrees from Yale University, the University of Texas at Austin, and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Dallas. His 4th great-grandfather was Samuel Rhoads Fisher, the first Secretary of the Navy for the Republic of Texas.

"Operation Stress Control: Mindfulness for Stress Reduction and Prevention"

 LCDR Aroon Seeda

In today's demanding environment, stress is an ever-present challenge that can significantly impact our mental and physical well-being. "Operation Stress Control" is a transformative workshop to equip individuals with mindfulness techniques to reduce stress and prevent its harmful effects on their lives. Through mindfulness, participants will develop awareness, presence, and self-compassion, allowing them to handle life's challenges better. This interactive workshop will guide attendees through mindfulness practices, including the single-breath return to resting point meditation technique, breath work, and body scans, to build a strong foundation for stress reduction. Participants will also explore the science behind stress and the benefits of mindfulness, helping them to recognize their personal stress patterns and triggers. Armed with this knowledge, they can create tailored stress management plans that promote resilience and balance in their lives.

Lieutenant Commander Aroon Seeda, a native of Thailand, is a certified mindfulness instructor and a highly experienced Navy Chaplain. With a background in Buddhist studies and a Master’s of Divinity from the University of the West, Rosemead, California, LCDR Seeda creates a safe and supportive environment for participants to explore and learn, ensuring that everyone leaves the workshop with practical tools to manage stress and lead a balanced life.

"Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941 – The Long Road to War"

 Stephen Cross - December 21, 2023

Amidst a flurry of diplomacy and code-breaking efforts, U.S. Armed Forces preparations struggled to gain momentum, facing a two-ocean challenge of Germany and Axis powers Japan and Italy and the rising specter of Japan’s superior Army and Navy in the Pacific.  Preparations in Hawaii rested with the Navy, Army Air Corps, and regular Army leaders, all taking orders from Washington, DC. The U.S. population was primarily opposed to entering foreign wars, struggling with the effects of the great depression and the disturbing influences of the American Communist Party and the American Nazi movement. Diplomatic talks were not productive. U.S. intelligence and code-breaking were partitioned into units that produced helpful information that was valuable but unshared with fellow crypto analysts.  The Pacific Fleet received a “war warning “message from ADM Harold Stark on November 27, 1941, to reinforce previous messages. December arrived; there was no update from the silent Japanese fleet.  Commanders wondered, “What next?” A look at the road to war and the events that provide thoughtful review to naval officers.

Stephen Cross was raised in Wyoming, experiencing rural ranch life in North Central Wyoming and city life in Casper, Wyoming. He received a scholarship to Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO, where he graduated with a degree in Economics.

After graduation, he worked for a large bank in Los Angeles.  With the banks’ support, he applied and was accepted to the Navy OCS 16-week program.  His first orders were to Naval Intelligence, where he was awarded the Navy Unit and Meritorious Unit commendations.  In late 1966, Stephen was ordered to the newly repaired USS FRANK KNOX DDR-742 as an ASW officer.  In December 1968, Stephen returned to his job with a central bank.  He completed additional degrees in finance and investments.

In retirement, he volunteers in Rotary, at the USS MIDWAY Aircraft Carrier Museum, and La Jolla’s historic Coast Walk Trail. At USS MIDWAY, he worked as a Docent, was a library volunteer, and served as Chairman of the Docent Council.

"All Hands": Yankee Whaling and the U.S. Navy

January 18, 2024 (Thursday, 1900 EST)

Michael P. Dyer, Curator of Maritime History, Mystic Seaport Museum

First conceived as a scholarly book, the culture surrounding this subject was so intensely strong and interesting that the project morphed into an exhibition of the same name, opening at the New Bedford Whaling Museum on September 1, 2023. Subsequent publishing of the show catalog included contributions from prominent scholars including Gordon Calhoun, Mary K. Bercaw-Edwards, Robert Madison, and Greg Gibson.

The intersection of these two sea services, the Navy and the whale fishery, offers a fresh interpretation of an important theme in American maritime history. The Navy and the whaling fleet together enabled important advancements in geopolitics, oceanography, cartography, and national self-awareness and were pillars of American maritime culture.

"All Hands" turns to objects in museum collections, such as patriotic scrimshaw, logbooks and journals, sea charts, navigating instruments, and other significant pieces, to tell a story stretching from the War of 1812 to the First World War. It documents the willing participation by whalemen in the Navy including author Herman Melville, artist Robert Weir, and Medal of Honor recipient Joaquim Pease. Likewise, the Navy relied upon whalemen as a nursery for seamen, as well as information gatherers, constructing important building blocks in a growing nineteenth-century American global influence.

Attached images include a view of the cover of the catalog, manuscript notation on the flyleaf of NBWM/KWM #43, journal kept by Oliver Wilcox onboard the ship Canton of New Bedford, 1834-1838, indicating that Capt. Daniel McKenzie had transcribed the journal for Lieut. Matthew Fontain Maury and the U.S. Naval Observatory, a U.S. government-issued poster requesting the loan of navigating instruments from merchant mariners for use in the Naval operations of World War I.

Women on Aircraft Carriers – Has it Really Been 20 Years?

February 22, 2024

Captain Valerie Ormond, USN (ret.), Founder, Veteran Writing Services LLC

Secretary of Defense Les Aspin made life-changing history in 1993 when lifted the combat exclusion policy permitting women to serve on U.S. Navy aircraft carriers. By 1994, the first American female aviators flew combat missions launched from the deck of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. Navy women then had career opportunities previously unavailable to them. But was it all smooth sailing? As one of the first women on a combat deployment onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, retired Navy Captain Valerie Ormond shares personal perspectives on this pivotal period of time.

Valerie Ormond retired as a Navy Captain after a 25-year career as an intelligence officer and founded her own business, Veteran Writing Services, LLC. She provides companies and organizations professional writing, editing, and consulting services. Valerie has authored three novels centered around a military family, Believing In Horses, Believing In Horses, Too, and Believing In Horses Out West, which have won fourteen national and international awards. Her fiction and non-fiction stories and poems have been published in books of multiple genres, and her articles have appeared in magazines, newspapers, and blogs. She is the Vice President of the Military Writers Society of America, is on the board of the Virginia Press Women Foundation, and is a member of numerous equine, writing, and veteran organizations.

A Short History of Submarine Technology From Bushnell’s TURTLE to a VIRGINIA Class SSN

March 21, 2024

Commander George Wallace, USN (ret.)

The story of submarines has been a story of men and technology fighting the sea. We will explore submarine technology, its advantages and limitations, over the history of the US Navy.

Commander George Wallace USN (ret.) served in the US Navy for twenty-two years as an officer on nuclear submarines. After receiving his commission through Naval ROTC and a degree in Engineering at The Ohio State University, he served on USS JOHN ADAMS (SSBN 620) and the USS WOODROW WILSON (SSBN 624). He commanded the USS HOUSTON (SSN 713) from February 1990 to August 1992 and completed his active duty career as Assistant Chief of Staff, Submarine Group Five. 

George and Don Keith teamed up to write the best-selling novel Final Bearing and then Firing Point, which was adapted to become the major motion picture Hunter-Killer. Their other submarine thriller novels include Dangerous Grounds, Cuban Deep, Fast Attack, Arabian Storm, Warshot, Silent Running, and Snapshot. Their latest story, Southern Cross, will be released in May. Independently, he is the author of Operation Golden Dawn. George holds an MBA from the University of Phoenix and a degree in International Studies from the Naval War College. In addition to numerous technical papers and articles, he holds two patents from the US Patent and Trademark Office. George recently retired from NTT Data Federal Systems, where he was Vice President – Navy Business, overseeing all of NTT Data’s Navy work.

The Marines Who Raised the Flag on Mt. Suribachi: Correcting the Record

April 25, 2024

Colonel Keil Gentry, USMC (ret.)

Vice President for Business Affairs, Marine Corps University

Acting Director, National Museum of the Marine Corps

Correcting the historical record spanned 70 years; however, when the Marine Corps first associated names with the faceless figures in Rosenthal’s photograph in April 1945, it assumed a responsibility to get it right. General Vandegrift, Commandant of the Marine Corps, articulated that duty in a letter to Sergeant Hansen’s father following the del Valle Board’s positive identification of Corporal Block in the position previously assigned to Sergeant Hansen. He wrote, “…I hope you will agree that, in fairness to all parties, the Marine Corps was obligated to correct the mistaken identification.”   That sentiment was true in 2016 when the Huly Board partially corrected the identifications. The mandate for historical accuracy and integrity asserted itself again two years later when additional evidence was brought to the attention of the Marine Corps. This brief outlines the research efforts leading to and the conclusions of the Bowers Board.

Col. Gentry served in the Marine Corps for over 30 years in various billets.  Spending most of his career in operational billets, he commanded at the battery, battalion, and regimental levels.  Additionally, he served as the Head of National Plans for the Marine Corps, Deputy Legislative Assistant to the Commandant of the Marine Corps, and Director of the Marine Corps War College.  He retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in 2016.

He currently serves as the Vice President for Business Affairs for Marine Corps University/Education Command. Col. Gentry also participated in multiple named contingency operations, including PROVIDE COMFORT, PROVIDE PROMISE, JOINT ENDEAVOR, ASSURED RESPONSE, QUICK RESPONSE, IRAQI FREEDOM, AL FAJR, and TOMODACHI.

Energy Security is National Security

May 16, 2024

VADM Fritz Roegge, USN (ret.)

President of Holtec Government Services (HGS) 

Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of HGS’ corporate parent, Holtec International 

VADM Roegge's provocative and well-reasoned presentation leverages many years of pertinent experience as a nuclear-trained submarine officer to highlight the Navy’s contributions to national security.  His new career leverages his nuclear experience in developing clean energy projects for commercial and government customers.  VADM Roegge’s presentation will focus on the nexus of those careers/experiences by discussing how energy security and national security are inseparable, particularly as domestic and global demand for energy (and especially clean energy) outpaces generation. 

A career submarine officer and Navy nuclear propulsion engineer, VADM Fritz Roegge, USN (ret.) led organizations of progressively increasing size, budget, and complexity ranging from command of a single US nuclear-powered submarine to command of the entire US Pacific Submarine Force, and culminating as a three-star Admiral as President of the National Defense University. VADM Roegge's experience also includes service as technical assistant to the Director of the Navy Nuclear Propulsion Program; legislative liaison to the US House of Representatives for the Secretary of the Navy; director of US Navy military personnel policy responsible for professional development, human capital and talent management, and diversity, equity and inclusion programs and policy initiatives; and significant senior responsibilities outside of the Navy with joint and coalition organizations.

VADM Roegge was a fellow of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Seminar XXI program for national security leaders and of the Harvard University Kennedy School National Security Executive Program. He has also benefitted from executive education programs at the Center for Creative Leadership, Colorado Springs CO; the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey CA; and the University of Virginia Darden School, Charlottesville VA.

VADM Roegge is a certified professional business coach; serves as a Director on the Board of Oak Ridge Technologies, Oak Ridge TN; has served as a Board Member of the United States Institute of Peace, Washington, DC and of the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area, Washington DC; and as a member of the Council on Competitiveness, University Leadership Forum, Washington, DC.

Nimitz at Ease: How a Honolulu Couple Helped Nimitz Cope with the Stresses of Command

June 27, 2024 (Thursday, 1900 EST)

Captain Michael A, Lilly, USN (ret.)

Former Hawaii Attorney General and Author of Nimitz at Ease 

and If You Die Tomorrow

CAPT Michael A. Lilly, USN (ret), author of Nimitz at Ease, will discuss unique insights into the Fleet Admiral never before published. About the book: The day after taking command, the press asked Nimitz what he was going to do with his fleet underwater. In response, Nimitz said he was a Kama‘aina and replied with a Hawaiian word - ho`omanawanui. Where did he learn that word, and what did he mean?

Lilly’s grandparents and old friends of the Fleet Admiral, Una and Henry A. “Sandy” Walker, gave Nimitz time, space and a place away from the enormous stresses of command which in a small but meaningful way helped him cope with and win the Pacific War. With his grandmother’s diary and hundreds of unpublished letters, memorabilia, and unpublished photos with Nimitz, his aide, and other subordinate admirals and Nimitz’s digitized 4,023-page command log, the Graybook, Lilly was able to track Nimitz’s daily activities in war and peace. What emerges is the story of how the Walkers freed Nimitz from the horrors of war. Nimitz agonized over issuing commands that resulted in death or injury to tens of thousands of service members. “You killed my son on Tarawa,” a bitter mother painfully wrote.

Along with beautiful images of Hawaii, Lilly takes us on a journey to the past, to old Hawaii and the war in the Pacific. The story will include anecdotes and photos, showing how a tough guy with a difficult command spent his days “at ease”. He also explains Nimitz’s use of the Hawaiian word ho`omanawanui.

The Coast Guard with the Marines in the Pacific World War II

July 25, 2024 (Thursday, 1900 EST)

ISCM (AW) David Mattingly, USN (ret.)

Docent at the National Museum of the US Marine Corps

When the Coast Guard transitioned to the Department of the Navy in 1940, it seamlessly continued its assigned duties, such as manning lifeboat stations, coastal security, and marine inspections. Additionally, the Navy capitalized on the Coast Guard's experience with small boats working in coastal waters. When the shipyards began producing the amphibious ships and boats needed in the European and Pacific Theaters of Operation, many were commanded and crewed by Coasties.

Douglas Munro immigrated from Canada to Washington as a child. He grew up in rural America doing what boys did in the 1930s, including playing in the Sons of the American Legion Drum and Bugle Corps. He was a natural athlete at his high school. After graduating from high school, he attended Central Washington College of Education, a local college, for one year before getting the urge to see the world.

With the events unfolding in Europe, Munro discussed the possibility of being drafted into the military, as compulsory military service was being debated in Congress. Munro researched each branch, talked to local veterans at the American Legion post, and decided to enlist in one of the sea services. He eventually enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard because their multi-mission included helping others and saving lives! However, the Coast Guard had few opportunities for new recruits. The Coast Guard had not taken a recruit in seven years due to cutbacks after World War I and the Depression. Eventually, there were a small number of openings, and he reported to the induction center. While processing, he met Ray Evans, whom he would serve with throughout his short career, and Evans would be with him when he was killed.

David Mattingly entered the Navy in 1973. After completing recruit and Photographic Intelligenceman training, he reported to his first command.  In June 1974, he reported to the only foreign-homeported aircraft carrier, USS Midway CV-41, and was assigned to the Carrier Intelligence Center (CVIC).  In 1975, the USS Midway participated in Operation Frequent Wind, evacuating US citizens and refugees from Saigon. During his career, he has served in numerous intelligence and operational commands as a Navy Intelligence Specialist.  He obtained the rank of Master Chief Intelligence Specialist (E-9) and served as a Command Master Chief. He retired after nearly 33 years of service. He is a contributing book reviewer for US Naval Institute Proceedings and Naval History journals, Naval Intelligence Professionals Readbook, Naval Order of the United States, and other journals. He volunteers at the National Museum of the Marine Corps.

Part II - NAVAL BATTLE OF PUNGDO, 1884 SINO-JAPANESE WAR: Diplomatic Obfuscation as Strategy 

October 17, 2024 (Thursday, 1900 EST)

CAPT Roger Crossland, USN (ret.)

This is part II of the presentation on the Naval Battle of Pungdo, 1894, recently presented by CAPT Roger Crossland, USN (Ret.)

In 1894, the Donghak peasant rebellion broke out in the Kingdom of Korea. it was fomented by Japanese unfair trade and other subversive practices. Korea requested Chinese assistance under the terms of its tribute agreement. Beginning with 1868 Meiji Accession. Japan and China would engage in several violent disputes over Korea, the last had ending a Japanese coupe d’etat attempt upon the Korean royal family.

The last truce, known as the Convention of Tientsin, required China to give Japan notice of any troop movements into Korea. China sent Japan notice that it was sending troops to Korea to address the Donghak issue. Japan unintelligibly rejected the notice and began sending its own troops to Korea for a purpose that was unclear. Two months later, Japan attacked an unaware British transport carrying 1,100 Chinese troops, and its escorts to Korea. This Japanese attack will result in the demise of 800 Chinese soldiers and sailors, and 47 British crewmen. This surprise attack will being a half-century pattern of undeclared, or at least obfuscated, Japanese war ignitions.

Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962: “One Minute to Midnight”

November 21, 2024 (Thursday, 1900 EST)

John Landry, Docent USS Midway Museum

It was the time when the world faced the imminent threat of thermonuclear war. After WW2, the United States and Russia entered into “Existential Combat” with each party intending to destroy the “Ideology” of the other. For seventeen years, between 1945 and 1962, the world watched the U.S. and Russia engage in a dangerous game of “Diplomatic Brinkmanship”. And ... in 1962 the game turns deadly with a showdown in Cuba. The U.S. is threatened with Russian Nuclear Missiles installed in Cuba just 100 miles South of Miami, FL. In October 1962, the U.S. and Russia entered into a “HOT” Cold War, and Khrushchev, Castro, and Kennedy played up to the very edge of the thermonuclear abyss. 

The author had a front-row seat to the conflict as a Division officer and Qualified officer of the deck aboard the USS Wren (DD-568), a crucial element of the US blockade strategy. Unintended thermonuclear catastrophe was present in every aspect of the decision-making throughout the conflict. Arthur Schlesinger Jr., a historian and special advisor to President Kennedy, said of the crisis ... "this was THE MOST DANGEROUS MOMENT IN HUMAN HISTORY”. Kennedy and Khrushchev narrowly averted disaster as the clock approached..."One Minute to Midnight."

"Naval Battle of Pungdo, Part III: The Kowshing Incident and Aftermath”

December 19, 2024 (Thursday, 1900 EST)

CAPT Roger Crossland, USN (ret.)

In 1894, the Donghak peasant rebellion broke out in the Kingdom of Korea, fomented by Japanese unfair trade and other subversive practices. The Korea monarchy requested Chinese assistance under the terms of its tribute agreement.

The last truce between China and Japan, known as the Convention of Tientsin, is about to be ripped to tatters. At Pungdo, the first naval battle of the First Sino-Japanese is underway. Japan has attacked two Chinese warships uncertain of Japan's intentions, and within a couple hours is about to attack an unaware, unarmed, neutral British transport “Kowshing” carrying 1,100 Chinese troops bound for Korea to put down the Donghak Rebellion .

Britain is neutral and China is at war with the Donghak peasant rebels, not Japan. This Japanese attack will result in the demise of 800 Chinese soldiers, two hundred Chinese sailors, and 47 British merchant crewmen, a massacre which will be carried by every English-speaking newspaper in the world. The destruction of the "screw" steam-transport's coat bunkers with 10+" guns will turn the mid-day sky black. This veiled surprise will initiate a half-century series of undeclared Japanese attacks.

Captain John Rodgaard, USN (Ret.)

“TailShips”

23 January 2025 (Thursday, 1900 EST) 

This is the story of three US Navy destroyer escorts (DEs) and their crews, comprising Escort Squadron 8, during the height of the Cold War – specifically the Cold War below, on, and above the Mediterranean Sea. Obsolete, except for the experimental anti-submarine warfare (ASW) sensor that each ship carried, the USS Hammerberg (DE-1015), USS Courtney (DE-1021) and USS Lester (DE-1022) were ordered to the Mediterranean Sea to demonstrate the potential of a sensor – a technology relying on a passive towed array detection sensor system of microphones or hydrophones that the Navy officially designated as the Interim Towed Array Surveillance System, or ITASS. However, the crews of the ships simply called them ‘Noodles’ or ‘Tails’.

These ‘tailships’ entered Mare Nostrum in the autumn of 1970, and it was during this period in the long maritime history of the inland sea that the US and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) navies saw an operational environment characterized by the most intense concentration of Soviet submarines and surface ships outside of Soviet home waters. In fact, the years between 1970 and 1973 saw the tailships and the ships of the Sixth Fleet operating against the largest Soviet naval presence outside of its home waters in the history of the Soviet Navy or its Czarist predecessor, whose navy periodically operated in the Mediterranean during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Mediterranean became the focal point in the great naval rivalry of the United States and its NATO allies against the Soviet Union’s Voyenno-morskoi flot.

Captain John Rodgaard, USN (Ret.) has over 41 years of U.S. naval service, with 29 years of commissioned service as a naval intelligence officer. He co-authored A Call To The Sea: Captain Charles Stewart of The USS Constitution (2005); author of A Hard Fought Ship: The Story of HMS Venomous (2010 & 2017), and the co-author/editor of From Across the Sea: North Americans In Nelson’s Navy (2020). He is the recipient of the Naval Institute’s History Author of the Year for the year 1999. He has contributed to Naval History Magazine, the Mariner’s Mirror, and the Naval History Foundation’s Naval History Book Reviews. As the chairman of The 1805 Club (www.1805club.org), he is the co-editor of the Club’s annual The Trafalgar Chronicle. Captain Rodgaard holds an A.B. in History and Political Science; an M.A. in Political Science, and a 1994 graduate of the Naval War College.

Japan's Doomed Plans to Invada and Occupy Hawaii

February 27, 2025 (Thursday, 1900 EST)

CAPT Michael A. Lilly, USN (ret.), former Hawaii Attorney General

Japan’s greatest blunder of World War II, and perhaps the worst strategic military mistake in history, was its attack on Pearl Harbor. But could it have saved that blunder by invading and occupying Hawaii? Indeed, Capt Lilly asks the question – was its failure to do so another strategic mistake? Japan had had its eye on Hawaii since the 1870s and even started arguing about invading the islands in the 1890s. Part of the reason Hawaii was hastily annexed was America’s concerns about Japan’s intentions. Throughout the 20 th century up to 1943, the idea of Japan invading and occupying Hawaii were debated and advocated in novels, war games, and Japanese strategic thinking. Yamamoto, the architect of Pearl Harbor, argued in 1928 that in any future war Japan should invade Hawaii. Three U.S. war games in the 1930s, called Fleet Problems, demonstrated conclusively that Japan would have succeeded in attacking Pearl Harbor (and perhaps invading Hawaii).

Midway was to be the opening gambit of encirclement and invasion of Hawaii. Was the invasion feasible? Could Japan have held Hawaii and conducted its operations in Southeast Asia? Historian and retired Navy Captain Lilly explores these issues in his compelling PowerPoint presentation.

Captain Michael A. Lilly, USN (Ret.) had a distinguished career as Hawaii's Attorney General and as a trial attorney. He is a founding director emeritus of the USS Missouri Memorial Association, which operates the Missouri as a memorial and tourist attraction. He authored Nimitz at Ease, relating how his grandparents helped Nimitz cope with the stresses of command and win the Pacific war. A Vietnam War combat veteran, his personal decorations include the Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, and two Meritorious Service Medals. He retired as a surface warfare captain after 30 years of service, active and reserve.

Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962: “One Minute to Midnight” Part II

March 20, 2025 (Thursday, 1900 EST)

John Landry, Docent USS Midway Museum

It was the time when the world faced the imminent threat of thermonuclear war. After WW2, the United States and Russia entered into “Existential Combat” with each party intending to destroy the “Ideology” of the other. For seventeen years, between 1945 and 1962, the world watched the U.S. and Russia engage in a dangerous game of “Diplomatic Brinkmanship”. And ... in 1962 the game turns deadly with a showdown in Cuba. The U.S. is threatened with Russian Nuclear Missiles installed in Cuba just 100 miles South of Miami, FL. In October 1962, the U.S. and Russia entered into a “HOT” Cold War, and Khrushchev, Castro, and Kennedy played up to the very edge of the thermonuclear abyss. Part I, presented in November 2024 (Cuban Missile Crisis "One Minute to Midnight") covered the early stages of the "Crisis." In Part II, Mr. Landry will discuss, with raw intensity, the subsequent moments of danger.

The author had a front-row seat to the conflict as a Division officer and Qualified officer of the deck aboard the USS Wren (DD-568), a crucial element of the US blockade strategy. Unintended thermonuclear catastrophe was present in every aspect of the decision-making throughout the conflict. Arthur Schlesinger Jr., a historian and special advisor to President Kennedy, said of the crisis ... "this was THE MOST DANGEROUS MOMENT IN HUMAN HISTORY”. Kennedy and Khrushchev narrowly averted disaster as the clock approached..."One Minute to Midnight."