Striking enemy ships with airborne munitions became a priority after World War I. While the challenges were monumental at the time, the rewards for success were too great to pass up. However, bombs and torpedoes dropped by early naval strike aircraft stood little chance against armored warships b...
The Navy accepted a newly manufactured C-130J-30 Super Hercules aircraft from Lockheed Martin during a ceremony in Marietta, Georgia, Oct. 15, marking the first step toward fielding the future E-130J Phoenix II. The aircraft will serve as the host platform for the Navy’s next-generation ...
The Japanese seized the Caroline Islands in Micronesia in 1914, and established a naval base on the island of Truk within it in 1939. As the primary anchorage for the Imperial Japanese Navy’s 4th Fleet, Truk was soon transformed into a fortress. Truk seemed the perfect spot. Offering a natural ...
MCLEAN, Va., Sept. 29, 2026 — HII (NYSE: HII), America’s largest military shipbuilder and the global leader in autonomous seapower, was awarded a contract by the U.S. Navy to build 10 ROMULUS unmanned surface vessels (USVs) for the Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel (MUSV) program. The award ...
In 1965, as the war in Vietnam continued to escalate, the U.S. Navy began joint operations in the south to stop the flow of supplies and interrupt communications to the Viet Cong via the Mekong Delta. The U.S. Navy began operating riverine forces throughout the Delta and launched Operation Game W...
“It was scary, you know? The damnedest thing…” The old Marine flicked at a bright yellow tie he was wearing. “We were ordered to take Atabrine to prevent malaria. Most of us did that but it tended to turn our eyes and skin a bright yellow. And then a rumor started that the stuff would Rea...
On April 24, 1933, a legend was born when Grumman test pilot Paul Hovgard flew the prototype Grumman J2F “Duck,” designated XJF-1, on its first flight, taking off from the factory’s grass strip at Farmingdale, New York. The flight marked the debut of one of the most versatile amphibious...
Steven Spielberg’s 1998 film Saving Private Ryan is pure Hollywood fiction, but it was inspired by the true – and all too tragic – story of the five Sullivan brothers. The siblings enlisted/re-enlisted in the U.S. Navy following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 and i...
In today’s review, Randall Wilson takes a look at the Bulova MIL-SHIPS watch. This is a precision timepiece with its origins tied to the U.S. Navy’s UDT divers. The watch reviewed here is personally owned by the author. There are times when a high-quality product is enhanced by a compelling h...
Welcome back, folks! Last time around we kicked off a four-part look at the Colt 1862 Police revolver, covering the design philosophy that produced it, the Civil War timing that hampered its sales, the factory fire that made things worse, and the conversion craze that ate up the majority of survi...