Naval History

Highlights from Naval History

Kaiser Wilhelm's Vessel Envy

By Lieutenant Commander Thomas J. Cutler, U.S. Navy (Retired)

April 2026

Had Wilhelm suppressed his envy and not attempted to build a fleet that rivaled his grandmother’s, he might have thrived in the early years of the 20th century.

EP. 490: A WAVES Officer’s Mission to Preserve Naval Memory

30 March 2026

Host Emily Abdow talks with archivist and historian Samuel Limneos about his article "Her Brother Went Down with the Edsall: A WAVES Officer’s Mission to Preserve Naval Memory" in the latest edition of Naval History.

EP. 489: An Alliance Forged at Scapa Flow

26 March 2026

Host Emily Abdow talks with author Thomas Sheppard about his article in the latest issue of Naval History.

Mark Bristol and the Challenges of Great Technological Change

By John T. Kuehn

April 2026

Bristol’s tenure at the NTS reminds historians that each generation works within its own cultural and technological contexts.

Admiral Russell Waesche: Mobilizer, Organizer, and World War Commandant

By William H. Thiesen

April 2026

Apart from the service’s founder Alexander Hamilton, Waesche did more to shape the Coast Guard than any individual in its history.

Remembering My Sea Daddies: Elmo Zumwalt

By the Honorable John F. Lehman Jr., U.S. Secretary of the Navy (Retired)

April 2026

Zumwalt restored the Navy's greatness.

Clogged Communication: The Battle of Kolombangara

By Leonard R. Heinz

April 2026

When Allied and Japanese forces clashed off the island of Kolombangara, two clogged pipes gave the Japanese a crucial advantage.

A Royal Navy Mess Night

By Captain Michael A. Lilly, U.S. Navy (Retired)

April 2026

The Mess Night tradition was older than the Royal Navy—its roots date back to the earliest Viking raids.

Her Brother Went Down with the Edsall: A WAVES Officer’s Mission to Preserve Naval Memory

By Samuel Limneos

April 2026

Barbara Gilmore spent 40 years creating the organizational system that still shapes how the Navy remembers its wars—starting with the one that took her brother.

Rear Admiral (soon to be Vice Admiral) William F. "Red" Raborn, director of the Polaris program, mans the controls of the Navy’s first ballistic-missile submarine, the USS George Washington (SSBN-598).

View Current Issue

Guiding Star

Clash of Fleets in the South China Sea

An Alliance Forged at Scapa Flow

The Curious Case of Opha May Johnson

Kaiser Wilhelm's Vessel Envy

EP. 490: A WAVES Officer’s Mission to Preserve Naval Memory

EP. 489: An Alliance Forged at Scapa Flow

Mark Bristol and the Challenges of Great Technological Change

Admiral Russell Waesche: Mobilizer, Organizer, and World War Commandant

Remembering My Sea Daddies: Elmo Zumwalt

Clogged Communication: The Battle of Kolombangara

A Royal Navy Mess Night

Her Brother Went Down with the Edsall: A WAVES Officer’s Mission to Preserve Naval Memory

On Our Scope

Recovery of the ‘Holy Grail of Shipwrecks’ Begins amid Decades-Long Legal Battle

More Than 100 Tons of Concrete Removed from the USS Arizona

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