BM1 Vuylsteke upheld the high expectations of a CGC FIR crewmember’s unmatched endurance during this marking period. You commonly worked long hours on the buoy deck in the rain, wind, and even snow before reporting to the bridge ready to stand evening watches or performing other duties as small boat coxswain, OSL, and more such as working over 25 buoys in only 12 days of working ATON during the past six months. You often worked after the work day such as returning after the work day to reload the deck after it was discovered Grays Harbor 8 was sinking, so the ship could get underway the following Saturday and work a full week of buoys, including six buoys in only two days. The might of FIR’s deck force was also on display during the December
Captain Charles Sigsbee of the USS Maine, a battleship of the United State's Atlantic Fleet, was writing a letter to his wife about his hopefulness for the success of his mission in this foreign possession (Chidsey 54). Then it happened. Just as he sealed the envelope a small explosion shook the ship followed by a mammoth detonation that rocked her and the surrounding areas (Chidsey 57). Sigsbee ran for his life, collected what he could of his detachment and the rest of the crew, and moved to organize the ensuing chaos. The ship couldn't have been saved. Sigsbee was the last off as per naval tradition. He looked back as the ruined mass settled on the harbor floor (Chidsey 57). The call for war had arrived; now those who controlled the flow of information, the media, to have their way with it.
Canada's three primary Pacific destroyers were in varying states of readiness; The HMCS Cayuga being the senior ship was the best equipped at the time, followed closely by the HMCS Athabaskan, and lastly the HMCS Sioux who was in dry-dock at the time [1]. The Pacific fleet received its final orders on that day to begin their preparation and cancel all planned training and maintenance: “You are to sail “Cayuga,” “Sioux” and “Athabaskan” from Esquimalt at 16 knots to Pearl Harbor p.m. Wednesday 5 July, 1950...[1]”. As the operational requirements increased throughout the conflict more ships began to deploy for the Korean coast in rotations, including the Atlantic fleet: HMCS Haida, Huron, Iriquois, Nootka, & the HMCS Crusader from the Pacific fleet 1950-1955 [1].
In spring if 1942, Robert Love was taken out of reserve duty, and was made into deputy chief of staff of the American Ferry Command. He mentioned to Colonel William ...
Within the entire United states navy, the most secretive and threatening group is Seal Team 6. This special operations unit has been faced with many dangerous missions, the most famous of which being the raid on Osama Bin Laden. They spend much of their time in Afghan hunting Al Qaeda leaders and suspected militants. They receive criticism from both the public and united states allies about their missions, and methods of operation. Richard Marcinko was given only six weeks to put the team together, and all the applicants came from an underwater demolition team. Seal Team 6 is the navy’s most reliable group, they are called upon for the most dangerous missions, and they are often the most criticized military group shrouded in mystery.
The USS Monitor’s final order was to report to Beaufort, North Carolina to join “USS Passaic and USS Montauk for a joint Army-Navy expedition, where she would join the blockade off Charleston.” Aforementioned, the USS Monitor’s river combat features such as the low freeboard and its heavy revolving gun turret made the ironclad warship vulnerable to the high tides of the ocean. On an unfaithful day of 31 December 1862, the USS Monitor, towed by the USS Rhode Island, was taking in a copious amount of water during a heavy storm. Captain John Bankhead of the USS Monitor immediately sent a distressed signal to the USS Rhode Island, but the damage was already done. The USS Monitor, along with sixteen members of its crew, sank to the bottom of the ocean off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. With the sinking of the USS Monitor, a part of history went down with
torpedoes, one hitting on the starboard side and the other struck about frame 50, amidships below
Although you may know a lot about the background of the US Navy, there most likely are some very interesting facts you aren't aware of. Why not take some time to get to know some of those facts?
Shipboard rules were harsh in the 1800s. Captains were sometimes removed for not being aggressive enough to their crews. While others
In the thirty-eight years of the United States Naval Submarine Service no United States submarine had ever sunk an enemy vessel. With the ignition of the Second World War the poorly equipped and poorly trained Silent Service, nicknamed for the limited access of the media to the actions and achievements of the submarines, would be thrust into the position American submariners had longed for. The attack on Pearl Harbor left the United States Navy with few options for retribution. The three remaining aircraft carriers were to be “the last line of defense.” Commander Stuart S. Murray made the precarious situation clear to his skippers, captains, upon sending them on their first war patrol. He stressed the importance of smart sailing by warning them not “to go out there and win the Congressional Medal of Honor in one day. The submarines are all we have left.” We entered the war with 55 submarines, 27 at Pearl Harbor and 28 at Cavite in the Philippines. At first our submarine strategies lacked ingenuity and failed to use our subs to their full potential. United States subs were assigned to reconnaissance, transporting supplies, and lifeguard duty, picking up downed airmen and sailors. They were even, on occasion, sent to rescue high profile Americans on the run from the enemy or from islands under enemy siege. Although their ability was, unfortunately, wasted in our entrance to the Pacific Theater the Silent Service would soon gain the recognition its men yearned for.
“He (the governor of Virginia, Alexander Spotswood) decided that the time had come to stop Blackbeard once and for all. He spent several weeks planning Blackbeard’s capture” (Kirkpatrick). Kirkpatrick explains Blackbeard's capture; Spotswood sent two sloops, commanded by Lieutenant Robert Maynard of the Royal Navy. Once they saw the navy's sails, Blackbeard knew he was trapped. Only sandbars lay between them and the navy. By morning, the tide would rise, and the Navy would clear sandbars, and the attack the pirate ship. In the morning Blackbeard didn't try to outrun the navy sloops. Instead he waited at his ship's wheel... Finally, when Maynard's sloops started moving toward the pirates, Blackbeard ordered his crew to set sail. He seemed to be steering the ship directly toward the beach. But then Blackbeard eased the pirate ship through a narrow channel between the beach and a barely visible sandbar. Chasing the pirates, the navy sloops crashed into the sandbar. The pirates blasted the stranded sloops with cannons. Thundering explosions shook the waters. Then the pirate ship lurched backward—and became stuck on a sandbar. One navy ship lay destroyed. Maynard's sloop was battered. Maynard ordered his men to hide below decks with pistols and swords ready. Blackbeard's men hurled grenades onto the seemingly deserted navy sloop. The pirates boarded the ship easily. Suddenly, Maynard's men rushed the
...naged to break Maynard’s sword. Against intense training and numbers the pirates were drawn back towards the front of the ship. Cornered Blackbeard desperately tried to attack but one of Maynard’s men stepped forward and slashed Teach across the neck badly wounded 7 more of Maynard’s crew stepped in and killed him the remaining pirates the surrendered. Those left on Blackbeard’s ship were captured by Maynard’s crew including the pirate that was planning to blow up the powder room and destroy the ship. Maynard reported that 8 of his men and 12 pirates were killed.
British Naval Documents 1204-1960, 548-50; Shipboard Life and Organisation, 1731-1815, ed. B. Lavery (NRS, Vol. 138, 1998), 377-9, 391-409.
Looking around me, I felt reassured seeing the confused expressions on my teammates' faces. Even though I was stuck in a tiny inflatable boat with six potential lunatics, I at least knew that I was not the only one being affected by the exercise. Hell week. I had been through some incarnation of it during each year of my life, ever since peewee football. But no previous "hell" could compare to the punishment that the United States Navy dishes out during Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL Training (BUD/S). Hell week marks the sixth week of BUD/S, and is a six-day celebration of misery designed to eliminate weak candidates. Only the strong can survive it.
The ship Californian called into the Titanic warned Harold Bride the second operator that there were three icebergs. But the Harold Bride didn’t bother to take the message down or think it was serious enough. They were more concerned about setting a record time with an unsinkable ship. Captain Smith ordered to “Send the call for assistance.” The blue spark danced “CQD-CQD-CQD-CQ-.” The Carpathia was 58 miles away from the Titanic. At 12:30 the word was passed get into the boats women and children
Edgar Allen Poe’s short story The Black Cat immerses the reader into the mind of a murdering alcoholic. Poe himself suffered from alcoholism and often showed erratic behavior with violent outburst. Poe is famous for his American Gothic horror tales such as the Tell-Tale Heart and the Fall of the House of Usher. “The Black Cat is Poe’s second psychological study of domestic violence and guilt. He added a new element to aid in evoking the dark side of the narrator, and that is the supernatural world.” (Womack). Poe uses many of the American Gothic characteristics such as emotional intensity, superstition, extremes in violence, the focus on a certain object and foreshadowing lead the reader through a series of events that are horrifying and grotesque. “The Black Cat is one of the most powerful of Poe’s stories, and the horror stops short of the wavering line of disgust” (Quinn).