Miracle at Truk: Operation Hailstone

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 ...

By Will Dabbs, MD •

Rebel Monster: The Ironclad CSS Virginia

Rebuilt from the scuttled hull of the USS Merrimack, the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia steamed into Hampton Roads and changed naval warfare forever. Tom Laemlein details how this armored Civil War ram sank the USS Cumberland, destroyed the USS Congress, and spread panic through Washington D.C...

By Tom Laemlein •

Sailors Shape the Future of Navy Uniforms

Scientists, designers, engineers and textile experts from the Navy Exchange Service Command’s Navy Clothing and Textile Research Facility worked with nearly 80 female Sailors during a five-day fit evaluation Aug 17-21, 2026, onboard Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story and at NEX No...

By Eric G •

Service Khaki Slacks with Back Pockets Now Available to Female Sailors

Based on Sailor feedback, female Sailors can now purchase newly designed Service Khaki slacks with back pockets and modern fit sizing. Based on Sailor feedback, female Sailors can now purchase newly designed Service Khaki slacks with back pockets and modern fit sizing. Slacks will be available fo...

By Eric G •

Capt. Dale Dye: The Battle of Guadalcanal

“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...

By Capt. Dale Dye, USMC (Ret) •

Tragic WWII Story of the Sullivan Brothers

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...

By Peter Suciu •

POTD: M4 Drills on the Flight Deck - USS Fort Lauderdale

Not every range has a roof or a traditional backstop. Aboard San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD 28), a sailor assigned to the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group runs live-fire drills with an M4 carbine on the ship's flight deck while underway in the Caribbean S...

By Eric B •

USS Saratoga: WWII Carrier Sunk by an Atom Bomb

The USS Saratoga (CV-3) was one of just three United States Navy aircraft carriers—along with USS Ranger (CV-4) and USS Enterprise (CV-6)—to survive the entirety of the Second World War. Although outdated by 1943, as the newer and more capable Essex-cla...

By Peter Suciu •
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