“The finest young officer”
In this “Naval Speed Letter” of May 20, 1954, to the Chief of Naval Personnel, Commander Dudley S. Billett states that Lieutenant John K. Koelsch was not...
"The Navy Department deeply regrets to inform you…"
This telegram to Mrs. Edith Munro broke the news of her son's death during World War II. Signalman First Class Douglas Albert Munro was later posthumously awarded the...
The ship that welcomed the astronauts
Look at the second entry in this deck log from the U.S.S. Hornet, dated July 24, 1969. It documents the ship’s role in the recovery of the Apollo 11...
Torpedo boat, head on
This photograph, taken from the deck of the U.S. destroyer Maddox, shows a North Vietnamese P-4 torpedo boat closing in on the American vessel. Three of these...
Torpedoes away!
Three North Vietnamese P-4 torpedo boats attacked the U.S.S. Maddox, an American destroyer patrolling the Gulf of Tonkin, on August 2, 1964. This photograph,...
Unprovoked attack
On August 3, 1964, one day after receiving word of a possible attack on the U.S.S. Maddox, the State Department in Washington, DC, sent these instructions to...
Unterseeboot
During World War I, Germany used Unterseeboots, or U-boats, to sink enemy ships, including civilian merchant ships transporting supplies — and possibly weapons. The...