From May 26 to Jun. 4, 1940, one of the largest evacuations in human history saved approximately 338,000 Allied troops and gave the Allies the strength to continue resisting Adolph Hitler’s Third Reich. The operation was more successful than the planners’ wildest dreams, partially because of the skill and bravery of boat crews and troops…
Category: Military Naval History
World War Two History: The Secret War Before Pearl Harbor
FDR ordered American military forces to ‘shoot on sight’ months before Pearl Harbor, just as Charles Lindbergh, the original America Firster, was about to address an anti-war rally. In 1941: Fighting the Shadow War: A Divided America in a World at War, historian Marc Wortman depicts how President Franklin Roosevelt led America into war long…
Military Naval History: Lessons From the Battle of Jutland
May 31st marks the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Jutland. There, off the Danish coast, British and German naval forces fought as the Royal Navy sought to bottle up the German battle fleet in the North Sea and the Germans aimed to cripple the Royal Navy. In The World Crisis, Winston Churchill’s eloquent and…
World War II History: Bomber Plane Missing for 72 Years Found in the Pacific
TBM-1 Project Recover discovered its sixth WWII bomber plane since 2012. World War II American bomber plane the US Navy TBM-1C Avenger, missing since July 1944, was found in waters surrounding the Pacific Island nation of Palau, according to multiple news reports. It was discovered 85 feet under water within a lagoon. The plane was…
Espionage Files: The Man Who Seduced the US Navy’s 7th Fleet
He tempted his targets with the high life; whiskey, cigars, prostitutes and cash. His moles fed him bundles of military secrets and law enforcement files. All so he could rip off the Navy on an industrial scale for years and years. Now, the depth of the corruption is being exposed as the investigation reaches into the highest…
World War I History: Did The Battle of Jutland Really Matter?
I have been breaking my WWII reading order lately with a couple of WWI History Books by Peter Hart which I wanted to tell you about. The First is The Somme: The Darkest Hours on the Western Front. This book is about one of the bloodiest and some would argue, the most senseless battle’s of…
Military History: The Amazing Legacy of Military Aviation Legend Chuck Meyers
Chuck Myers Was a ‘Fighter Mafia’ Legend He helped pioneer nimble air-superiority fighters, the A-10 Warthog and played a pivotol role in bringing back the battleship Charles E. “Chuck” Myers, a valued and colorful member of the military reform movement and “Fighter Mafia” co-conspirator, died on May 9 at the age of 91. He devoted…
Military Defense News: New Boomer Submarine Set to go to Sea in 2030?
Wow…14 years is a LONG time to build ONE missile boat. Maybe we should pick up the pace a tad considering the state of affairs right now with Russia and China? Just Sayin…-SF General Dynamics’ storied Electric Boat division is set to deliver its detailed design proposal for the new Ohio Replacement Program (ORP) ballistic…
World War II History: Los Angeles Examiner Publishes a Map in 1937 Predicting How Japan Could Attack America
On November 7, 1937, the Los Angeles Examiner published a prescient map predicting how Imperial Japan could attack the US during World War II. Created by Howard A. Burke, the map imagined a Japanese attack on the US that closely predicted the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor four years later on December 7, 1941. Burke…
U.S Naval Military History: The First Submarine Ever Built
The Connecticut River Museum in Essex holds a fully-functional replica of the “Turtle,” the first American submarine ever built. Little-known fact: the first submarine and underwater time bomb were created during the American Revolution–before electricity, and before Jules Verne. It was 100% human-operated (no engines just hand cranks and foot pedals) and used phosphorescent moss as…