On 25 May 1952 the battleship USS Iowa (BB 61) arrived off the coast of Chongjin, Korea to bombard enemy targets ashore. This image of Iowa firing her 16-inch guns at enemy coastal defenses at Koje, Korea, was taken in October 1952, at the end of Iowa‘s Korean War combat operations. NHHC image NH 92213.
On 24 May 1918 the cruiser USS Olympia (C 6) anchored at Kola Inlet, Murmansk, Russia, to protect refugees during the Russian Revolution. Olympia, shown in this image at right, is now a museum ship on the Philadelphia waterfront.
BOOK REVIEW – The U.S. Navy Seabee Alaskan Oil Expedition 1944, With Additional WWII Alaskan History
By Kenneth E. Bingham., Seabee Books, Binghamus Press, (2011).
Reviewed by Charles H. Bogart
The author has divided this book into six sections. Over half of the book is a reprint of Construction Battalion Detachment 1058′s cruise book covering its tour of duty at Barrow, Alaska, during 1944-1945. The author provides a 5-page introduction into the Navy’s decision in 1944 to explore Naval Petroleum Reserve Number Four. This reserve covered 35,000 square miles at Barrow, the most northern tip of Alaska. The 183 pages following the book’s introduction is a direct reprint of the 1945 cruise book.
On 23 May 1943 the battleship USS New Jersey (BB 62) was commissioned. In this image, Commanding Officer Captain Carl F. Holden speaks during the ceremony at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. National Archives image 80-G-K-895.
On May 23 1939 the submarine USS Squalus (SS 192) sank during a test dive off Portsmouth, NH, and settled on the bottom, 243 feet deep. 26 sailors drowned, but 33 survived in a watertight forward compartment. Navy divers led by Commander Charles B. Momsen rescued the survivors with a diving bell brought to the site, the McCann Rescue Chamber. Squalus was salvaged and repaired, renamed Sailfish, and recommissioned in May 1940.
2013 Beach Award Presented to USNA Midshipman
The 2013 award was presented to Midshipman First Class Daniel Ziminski. In addition to a plaque and a copy of the recently published Foundation book In Their Own Words: The Navy Fights the War of 1812 (authored by Vice Admiral George Emery, USN (Ret)), Ziminski was awarded a Lifetime Membership in the Naval Historical Foundation. Accompanying Captain Creekman and presenting a copy of her husband’s autobiography Salt and Steel to Ziminski was Mrs. Ingrid Beach, widow of Captain Beach.
On 22 May 1968 the nuclear submarine USS Scorpion (SSN 589) was lost with all hands 400 miles southwest of the Azores. In late October 1968, her remains were found on the sea floor over 10,000 feet below the surface.
New Interpretation Planned for Vietnam POW Artifacts on Display in Cold War Gallery
With the support of the Naval Historical Foundation, valuable contextual interpretation is being developed for artifact display cases located in the South Hall of the Cold War Gallery of the National Museum of the United States Navy. On display within these glass cases are Vietnam Prisoner of War artifacts including boxer shorts dotted with red hearts, a shoulder board, sandals, a chess set, cigarettes, soap, toothpaste, a toothbrush, and textbooks.
Naval Historical Foundation Used Book Sale at the Washington Navy Yard May 29-30
The time has come again for another Museum Store Used Book Sale. Museum Store Manager Frank Arre has been hard at work gathering books and we think you will be impressed with the selection he has acquired. It includes many Vietnam era and World War II books. In addition to books, he will be selling picture frames and photos. The book sale will be held May 29 and 30 from 0900 – 1400. It will be located in the Museum Education Center, located in the rear of the Navy Museum (Building 76). Doors will open at 0900, so be sure to get there early for the best selection – popular titles go very quickly!
On 21 May 1944 during preparations for the invasion of Saipan, an accidental ordnance blast on LST 353 set off cataclysmic ammunition explosions at West Loch, Pearl Harbor, killing 163 and injuring 396. Six tank landing ships (LST 39, LST 43, LST 69, LST 179, LST 353, LST 480), three tank landing craft (LCT 961, LCT 963, LCT 983), and 17 track landing vehicles (LVTs) were destroyed in the resulting explosions and fires. In this photo, some LSTs are manuevering in the foreground, leaving the vicinity of the explosions and fire, while other ships have yet to get underway. National Archives image 80-G-276907.
