
The Navy Department Library
- A
- Abbreviations Used for Navy Enlisted Ratings
- "The Ablest Men"
- Abolishing the Spirit Rations in the Navy
- Account of the Battle of Iwo Jima
- Account of the Operations of the American Navy in France During the War With Germany
- Act providing a Naval Armament
- Action Report, Battle of Okinawa at RP Station #1, 12 April 1945
- Action Report USS LCS(L) (3) 57, Battle of Okinawa at RP Station #1, Apriil 12, 1945
- Advanced Intelligence Centers in the US Navy
- Admiral Caperton in Haiti
- Afghan Wars 1839-42 and 1878-80
- Afghanistan: A Short Account by P.F. Walker
- Afghanistan - Silver Star Presented Francis L. Toner IV
- African Squadron
- Agreement Between the United States and the Republic of Haiti
- Alcohol in the Navy
- The Aleutians Campaign
- Allied Ships present in Tokyo Bay
- Amelia Earhart
- American Naval Mission in the Adriatic, 1918-1921
- American Naval Participation in the Great War (With Special Reference to the European Theater of Operations)
- American Naval Planning Section London
- American Ship Casualties of the World War
- Amphibious Landings in Lingayen Gulf
- Amphibious Operations: Capture of Iwo Jima
- Amphibious Operations - The Planning Phase
- Analysis of the Advantage of Speed and Changes of Course in Avoiding Attack by Submarine
- Anchor of Resolve
- Annual Reports of the Secretary of the Navy
- Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy - 1821
- Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy - 1822
- Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy - 1823
- Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy - 1824
- Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy - 1825
- Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy - 1826
- Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy - 1827
- Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy - 1828
- Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy - 1829
- Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy - 1830
- Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy - 1831
- Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy - 1832
- Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy - 1833
- Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy - 1834
- Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy - 1835
- Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy - 1836
- Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy - 1837
- Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy - 1838
- Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy - 1839
- Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy - 1840
- Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy - 1841
- Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy - 1842
- Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy - 1843
- Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy - 1941
- Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy - 1845
- Anomaly of the Enlisted Officer
- Answering a Call in a Crisis
- Antiaircraft Action Summary
- Antiaircraft Action Summary COMINCH P-009
- Antisubmarine Information, ONI No. 14, 1918
- Antisubmarine Tactics, ONI No. 42, 1918
- Antisubmarine Warfare, ONI No. 9, 1917
- Anti-Suicide Action Summary
- Are the Southern Privateersmen Pirates?
- Arleigh Burke: The Last CNO
- Armed Forces Expeditionary Medals
- Army-Navy E Award
- Articles for the Government of the United States Navy, 1930
- Assault Landings on Leyte Island
- The Assault on Kwajalein and Majuro (Part One)
- Atlantis: The Legendary Island
- Attack on Halifax and Adjacent Territory
- Aviation Personnel Fatalities in World War II
- Awards Manual 1994
- B
- Battle of the Atlantic Volume 4 Technical Intelligence From Allied Communications Intelligence
- Battenberg Cup Award
- Battle Experience - Radar Pickets
- Battle Instructions for the German Navy
- Battle for Iwo Jima
- Battle of Derna, 27 April 1805: Selected Naval Documents
- Battle of Guadalcanal
- Battle of Jutland War Game
- Battle of Lake Erie: Building the Fleet in the Wilderness
- Battle of Manila Bay, 1 May 1898
- Battle of Midway: Aerology and Naval Warfare
- Battle of Midway: Army Air Forces
- Battle of Midway: 3-6 June 1942 Combat Narrative
- Battle of Midway: 4-7 June 1942
- Battle of Midway, 4-7 June 1942: Combat Intelligence
- Battle of Midway: 4-7 June 1942 SRH-230
- Battle of Midway - Interrogation of Japanese Officials
- Battle of Midway: Japanese Plans Chapter 5 of The Campaigns of the Pacific War
- Battle of Midway: Preliminaries
- Battle of Midway: U.S. Marine Corps
- Battle of Mobile Bay
- Battle of Mobile Bay: Selected Documents
- Battle of Savo Island August 9th, 1942 Strategic and Tactical Analysis
- Battle of the Atlantic Volume 3 German Naval Communication Intelligence
- Battle of the Atlantic Volume 4 Technical Intelligence From Allied Communications Intelligence
- Battle of the Coral Sea
- Battle of the Coral Sea- Combat Narrative
- Battle of the Nile
- Battle of Tripoli Harbor, 3 August 1804: Selected Naval Documents
- Battlecruisers in the United States and the United Kingdom, 1902-1922.
- The Battles of Cape Esperance 11 October 1942 and Santa Cruz Islands 26 October 1942
- Battles of Savo Island and Eastern Solomons
- Bayly's Navy
- Beans, Bullets, and Black Oil
- Bells on Ships
- Bismarck, Sinking of
- Boat Pool 15-1 Manila, P.I. Thanksgiving '22 Nov. 45
- Blockade-running Between Europe and the Far East by Submarines, 1942-44
- Bombing As a Policy Tool in Vietnam
- Boxer Rebellion and the US Navy, 1900-1901
- Brass Monkey
- Brief History of Civilian Personnel in the US Navy Department
- A Brief History of Naval Cryptanalysis
- Brief History of Punishment by Flogging in the US Navy
- Brief History of the Seagoing Marines
- Brief Summary of the Perry Expedition to Japan, 1853
- Bronze Guns (cannons) Glossary
- Budget of the US Navy: 1794 to 2014
- Building the Navy's Bases in World War II
- Bull Ensign
- Bunker Busters: Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator Issues
- By Sea, Air, and Land
- Foreword
- Chapter 1: The Early Years, 1950-1959
- Chapter 2: The Era of Growing Conflict, 1959-1965
- Chapter 3: The Years of Combat, 1965-1968
- Chapter 4: Winding Down the War, 1968 - 1973
- Chapter 5: The Final Curtain, 1973 - 1975
- Medal of Honor Recipients of the U.S. Navy in Vietnam
- Secretaries of the Navy and Key United States Naval Officers, 1950 - 1975
- Aircraft Tailcodes
- Enemy Aircraft Shot Down by Naval Aviators in Southeast Asia
- Bibliography
- Glossary
- C
- Cannons of the Washington Navy Yard
- No. 1 Austrian 6-pounder Howitzer with cutout
- No. 1 Austrian 6-pounder Howitzer - Plaque
- No. 2 French 4-pounder Smoothbore
- No. 3 Austrian 6-pounder Howitzer
- No. 4 Austrian 6-pounder Howitzer
- No. 4 Austrian 6-pounder Howitzer - Sight Cutaway
- No. 5 Japanese Gun - Bore 6.875 inches
- No. 6 4-pounder
- No. 6 Austrian 4-pounder
- No. 7 U.S. Army 24-pounder Howitzer
- No. 8 Spanish 12-pounder
- No. 9 Spanish 6-pounder
- No. 9 Spanish 6-pounder - Arms
- No. 10 Spanish 27 -pounder
- No. 10 Spanish 27-pounder - Plaque
- No.11 French 12-pounder
- No. 11 French 12-pounder - Le Belliqueux
- No. 11 French 12-pounder - Plaque
- No. 11 French 12-pounder - Royal Arms
- No. 12 French 12-pounder
- No. 12 French 12-pounder - Le Vigoureux
- No. 12 French 12-pounder - Plaque
- No. 13 Spanish 27-pounder
- No. 13 Spanish 27-pounder - Plaque
- No.14 Spanish 12-pounder
- No. 14 Spanish 12-pounder - Plaque
- No. 15 Spanish 12-pounder
- No. 15 Spanish 12-pounder - Plaque
- No. 16 Spanish 12-pounder
- No. 16 Spanish 12-pounder - Plaque
- No. 17 Spanish 12-pounder
- No. 17 Spanish 12-pounder - Plaque
- No. 18 Spanish 12-pounder
- No. 18 Spanish 12-pounder - Plaque
- No. 19 Spanish 9-pounder
- No. 19 Spanish 9-pounder - Plaque
- No. 20 Spanish 9-pounder
- No. 20 Spanish 9-pounder - Cambernon
- No. 20 Spanish 9-pounder - Plaque
- No. 21 British Howitzer
- No. 22 British Howitzer
- No. 23 4.63-inch Howitzer
- No. 23 4.63-inch Howitzer
- No. 23 4.63-inch Howitzer - 249
- No. 24 6.5-inch Spanish Howitzer
- No. 25 Venetian 5.75-inch Howitzer
- No. 25 Venetian 5.75-inch Howitzers
- No. 26 Venetian 5.75-inch Howitzer
- Flagpole and Mortars
- Flagpole and Mortars - Base
- Flagpole and Mortars - Mortar
- The Navy Museum
- View Along Dahlgren Avenue
- Captain Raphael Semmes and the C.S.S. Alabama
- Captain Samuel Nicholson: A Monograph [pdf]
- Capture of CSS Florida by USS Wachusett - Report of Commander Napoleon Collins
- Capture of CSS Florida by USS Wachusett - Report of Lieutenant Morris
- Capture of the Frigate USS Philadelphia
- Caribbean Tempest: The Dominican Republic Intervention of 1965
- Carrier Deployments During the Vietnam Conflict
- Carrier Locations - Pearl Harbor Attack
- Carrier Strikes on the China Coast
- Case of the Somers' Mutiny 1843
- Casualties: US Navy & Marine Corps Personnel
- Casualties: US Navy and Marine Corps Personnel Killed and Injured in Selected Accidents and Other Incidents Not Directly the Result of Enemy Action
- Change of Command and Retirement Ceremony of the Commandant Naval District, Washington, DC
- Change of Command Ceremony
- Charles Morris A Man of Letters and Numbers
- Chart Your Future As A Woman Officer
- Chester Nimitz and the Development of Fueling at Sea
- Christmas 1932 U.S. Naval Air Station San Diego California
- CIC [Combat Information Center] Manual (RADSIX)
- CIC [Combat Information Center] Operation in an AGC
- CIC [Combat Information Center] Yesterday and Today
- CIC Operations On a Night Carrier
- CINCPAC Glossary of Commonly Used Abbreviations and Short Titles
- CinCPac Report - Pearl Harbor
- Circular September 13, 1839
- Circular 17 July, 1869
- Colored Persons in the Navy of the U.S. (1842)
- Combined Operation Craft: Small Scale Drawings
- COMINT [Communications Intelligence] Contributions [to] Submarine Warfare in WW II
- Command and Control of Air Operations in the Vietnam War
- Commander Task Force Seventeen Operation Plan 1-45
- Commander's Handbook on the Law of Naval Operations
- Comparison of Military and Civilian Equivalent Grades
- Compilation of Enlisted Ratings and Apprentiships US Navy 1775-1969
- Composition of Japanese Forces
- Composition of US Forces
- Condition of the Navy and Its Expenses 1821
- Conduct of War at Sea
- Conflict and Cooperation: The U.S. and Soviet Navies in the Cold War
- Constitution Fighting Top
- The Constitution Gun Deck
- Constitution Sailors in the Battle of Lake Erie [pdf]
- Continental Congress and the Navy
- The Continental Navy: "I Have Not Yet Begun to Fight."
- Copy of talk given by Captain B.E. Manseau, USN, before the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Society of Naval Architets and Marine Engineers
- Cordon of Steel
- The Corps' Salty Seadogs Have All But Come Ashore: Seagoing Traditions Founder as New Millennium Approaches
- Costs of Major US Wars
- Cruising Fleets
- Cruising in the Old Navy
- Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962
- Cuban Missile Crisis
- Current Doctrine Submarines
- Cursor scales for the VG [Plan Position Indicator (radar)
- Customs and Traditions, Navy
- Cannons of the Washington Navy Yard
- D
- D-Day, the Normandy Invasion: Combat Demolition Units
- Dartmoor Prison
- Decatur House and Its Distinguished Occupants
- Declarations of War and Authorizations for the Use of Military Force
- The Defense and Burning of Washington in 1814: Naval Documents of the War of 1812
- De Klerk Diary
- Demolition Units of the Atlantic Theatre of Operations
- Department of Defense Acronyms
- Destroyers at Normandy
- Destroyers for Bases Agreement, 1941
- Destroyers transferred to Britain under Destroyers for Bases agreement
- Destruction of CSS Albemarle - Report of A. F. WARLEY
- Destruction of CSS Albemarle - Report of Lieutenant William Barker Cushing
- The Development of Japanese Sea Power: "Know Your Enemy"! [CinCPOA Bulletin 93-45, 1945]
- The Diary of Michael Shiner Relating to the History of the Washington Navy Yard 1813-1869
- Digest Catalogue of Laws and Joint Resolutions: The Navy and the World War
- Disaster at Savo Island, 1942
- Disaster in the Pacific
- Discipline in the U.S. Navy
- Diving in the U.S. Navy: A Brief History
- Documents, Official and Unofficial, Relating to the Capture and Destruction of the Frigate Philadelphia at Tripoli - 1850
- Documents Related to the Resignation of the German Commander in Chief, Navy, Grand Admiral Raeder and to the Decommissioning of the German High Seas Fleet
- DoD Rules for Military Commissions - 2006
- Dominican Republic Intervention
- Doolittle Raid
- The DRVN Strategic Intelligence Service
- E
- Early Raids in the Pacific Ocean
- Elementary Map and Aerial Photograph Reading
- Emancipation Proclamation, Navy general Order No. 4, 1863
- Employment of Naval Forces
- Enlisted Uniforms
- Enlistment, Training, and Organization of Crews for Our New Ships
- Essay on Naval Battles of the Korean War
- Establishment of the Department of the Navy
- Establishment of the Navy
- Exercise Tiger
- Exorcizing the Devil's Triangle
- Expeditions, Diplomatic and Scientific Activity, and Operations Against Native Americans and Pirates
- Exploring the Antarctic 1840 - The Wilkes Expedition
- Eye-Witness Account of the Battle Between the U.S.S. Monitor and the C.S.S. Virginia Mar 9 1862
- Evolution of Naval Weapons
- F
- Far Eastern Sighting Guide [ONI-F-31 FE]
- Fifty Years of Naval District Development 1903-1953
- Filipinos in the United States Navy
- Final Contact: USS Indianapolis (CA-35) passes USS LST-779 29 July 1945
- The First Raid on Japan
- Fixing Wages and Salaries of Navy Civilian Employees
- Flag Sizes
- Fleet Air Wing Four Strikes
- Fleet Post Office, New York, New York
- Fleet Post Office, San Francisco, California
- "Forward ... From the Start": The U.S. Navy & Homeland Defense: 1775-2003
- Fourth of July Dinner the Spirit of '45
- French Indo-China PSIS 400-35
- Frocking
- From Dam Neck to Okinawa: A Memoir of Antiaircraft Training in World War II
- From the Sea to the Stars
- G
- GAF (German Air Force, Luftwaffe] and the Invasion of Normandy
- Gearing Up for Victory American Military and Industrial Mobilization in World War II
- Gedunk
- General Information for Employees - Washington Navy Yard - 1941
- General Instructions for Commanding Officers of Naval Armed Guards on Merchant Ships - 1944
- General Instructions for Sloops and Torpedo Craft
- General Mess Manual and Cook Book
- General Orders
- General Order (21 January 1834) Presents
- General Order (28 November 1838) Animals
- General Order (18 February 1846) Port and Starboard
- General Order (17 December 1850) Furnishing Vessels
- General Order (27 September 1851) Contracts of Enlistment Ending
- General Order (17 May 1858) Naval Academy Graduates Denied Letter
- General Order (22 April 1862) Officers Forbidden to Give Publicity to Any Hydrographical Knowledge
- General Order (12 December 1862) Rules for Naval Communication
- General Order (23 December 1862) Rules Corresponding with SecNav and Bureaus
- General Order No. 1 (1863) Rules to Disseminate General Orders
- General Order No. 4 (1863) Emancipation Proclamation
- General Order No. 9 (1863) Observance of Paroles
- General Order No. 51 (1865) Announcing Death President Abraham Lincoln
- General Order No. 73 (1866) Resolution of Thanks from Congress to Admiral Farragut for Mobile Bay Action
- General Order No. 81 (1866) Requirements of Guardians for Boy to Enlist
- General Order No. 83 (1867) Proclamation Issued by President Johnson
- General Order No. 90 (1869) Uniform Changes
- General Order No. 99 (1869) Authority Given to Fleet Officers
- General Order No. 105 (1869) North & South Pacific Squadrons Combined into Pacific Station
- General Order No. 110 (1869) Forbidding Applications for Duty Through Persons of Influence
- General Order No. 112 (1869) Sea Service of Officers to be Three Years
- General Order No. 123 (1869) Uniform Change for Masters, Ensigns & Midshipmen
- General Order No. 127 (1869) List of Types of Officers to Mess in Second Ward Room
- General Order No. 128 (1869) Exercises for Ships with Sails
- General Order No. 131 (1869) Economizing the Use of Coal
- General Order No. 175 (1872) Division of the Pacific Station into Two Stations
- General Order No. 226 (1877) Importance of Complete Reports and Logs
- General Order No. 230 (1877) Special Shore Service and Duty
- General Order No. 232 (1877) Working Hours at Navy Yards and Stations
- General Order No. 248 (1880) Correct and General Understanding of Signals
- General Order No. 250 (1880) Establishment of the Office of Judge Advocate General of the Navy
- General Order No. 252 (1880) Painting Schematic for Boats
- General Order No. 292 (1882) Establishment of the Office of Intelligence
- General Order No. 370 (1889) Copies of Books to the Navy Department Library
- General Order No. 372 (1889) Order for Official Communications
- General Order No. 544 (1900) Establishment of the General Board
- General Order No. 55 (1901) Decorations for Philippine Islands and Boxer Rebellion
- General Order No. 56 (1901) Puget Sound, Naval Station to Navy Yard
- General Order No. 128 (1903) Establishment of Naval Districts
- General Order No. 129 (1903) Surplus Provisions
- General Order No. 74 (1908) Establishing Ship Post Offices
- General Order No. 135 (1911) Definitions of Well-known Naval Terms
- General Order No. 30 (1913) Movement of the Rudder
- General Order No. 98 (1914) Movement of the Rudder
- General Order No. 99 (1914) Prohibition in the Navy
- General Order No. 132 (1915) Khaki Dye for White Undress Uniform
- General Order No. 258 (1917) SecNav Announces Death of Admiral Dewey
- General Order No. 259 (1917) Executive Order and Message on Death of Admiral Dewey
- General Order No. 294 (1917) Identification Tags ("Dog Tags")
- General Order No. 456 (1919) Observance of the Sabbath Day
- General Order No. 541 (1920) Standard Nomemclature for Naval Vessels
- General Order No. 244 [1934] Alcoholic Liquors
- General Order No. 47 (1935) Precedence of Forces in Parades
- General Orders 1921-1935
- General Orders for the Regulation of the Navy Yard Washington, D.C. - 1833-1850
- General Orders USS Independence 1815
- German Commanders Wilhelm Keitel and Alfred Jodl on the Invasion of Normandy in 1944
- German Defense of Berlin
- German Espionage and Sabotage
- German Report on the Allied Invasion of Normandy
- German Submarine Activities on the Atlantic Coast
- German Submarine Attacks
- German Submarines in Question and Answer
- Glossary of U.S. Naval Code Words (NAVEXOS P-474)
- Going back to civilian life facts you should know about
- going back to civilian life - a pamphlet
- Going South: U.S. Navy Officer Resignations & Dismissals On the Eve of the Civil War
- Grand Strategy Contending Contemporary Analyst Views & Implications for the US Navy
- The Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Naval Training Station Hampton Roads and the Norfolk Naval Hospital
- Greely Relief Expedition
- Grenada: Operation Urgent Fury
- Guadalcanal Campaign
- Guide to Command of Negro Naval Personnel NAVPERS-15092
- Guidelines: Naval Social Customs
- Guide to US Military Casualty Statistics
- The Guidebook for NAVAL RESERVE CHAPLAINS
- General Description of the Whitehead Torpedo
- H
- Haitian Campaign of 1915
- Haiti - US Navy Medal of Honor - 1915
- Halsey-Doolittle Raid
- Handbook of First Aid Treatment for Survivors of Disasters at Sea
- Head - Ship's Toilet
- Historical Approach to Warrant Officer Classifications
- The Historical Importance to Navigation of Nathaniel Bowditch's New American Practical Navigator
- History and Descriptive Guide of the US Navy Yard Washington, DC
- History of Convoy and Routing [1945]
- History of Flag Career of Rear Admiral W.B. Caperton
- History of Paul Jones, the Pirate
- History of the Bureau of Engineering During WWI
- History of the Chief Petty Officer
- History of the Dudley Knox Center for Naval History
- History of the Navy Department Library
- History of the Seabees
- History of the US Navy
- History of United States Naval Operations: Korea
- Foreword - History of US Naval Operations: Korea
- Preface - History of US Naval Operations: Korea
- List of Maps - History of US Naval Operations: Korea
- List of Tables - History of US Naval Operations: Korea
- Chapter 1: To Korea By Sea
- Chapter 2: Policy and Its Instruments
- Chapter 3: War Begins
- Chapter 4: Help on the Way
- Chapter 5: Into the Perimeter
- Chapter 6: Holding the Line
- Chapter 7: Back to the Parallel
- Chapter 8: On to the Border
- Chapter 9: Retreat to the South
- Chapter 10: The Second Six Months
- Chapter 11: Problems of a Policeman
- Chapter 12: Two More Years
- A Note on Source Materials
- Glossary of Naval Abbreviations
- History of US Navy Uniforms 1776 - 1981
- Honda (Pedernales) Point, California, Disaster, 8 September 1923
- Honda (Pedernales) Point, California, Disaster, 8 September 1923
- How the Navy Talks
- How to Fold Your Navy Uniform
- How to Mark Your Navy Uniform
- How to serve your country in the WAVES
- The Hungnam and Chinnampo Evacuations
- Hurricanes and the War of 1812
- History and aims of the Office of Naval Intelligence
- I
- I Was a Yeoman (F)
- Identification Tags - Dog Tags
- In Honor of Master Chief Britt K Slabinski: United States Navy, Retired: MEDAL OF HONOR - HALL OF HEROES INDUCTION CEREMONY- THE PENTAGON AUDITORIUM- 25 MAY 2018
- In Memory of CTIC(IW/EXW) Shannon M. Kent
- Incredible Alaska Overland Rescue
- Indians in the War 1945
- Influenza
- 1918 Influenza by Vice Admiral Albert Gleaves, Commander of Convoy Operations in the Atlantic, 1917-1919.
- Admiral William B. Caperton of the 1918 Influenza on Armored Cruiser No. 4, USS Pittsburgh
- A Forgotten Enemy: PHS's [Public Health Service] Fight Against the 1918 Influenza Pandemic
- Great Flu Crisis at Mare Island Navy Yard.
- Influenza at the United States Naval Hospital, Washington, D.C.
- The Influenza Epidemic of 1918 by Carla R. Morrisey, RN, BSN
- Influenza of 1918 (Spanish Flu) and the US Navy
- Influenza on a Naval Transport
- Influenza-Related Medical Terms
- The Pandemic of Influenza in 1918-1919
- Philadelphia, Nurses, and the Spanish Influenza Pandemic of 1918
- A Winding Sheet and a Wooden Box
- Information in Relation to the Naval Protection Afforded to The Commerce of the United States in the West India Islands, &c. &c.
- Injury and Destruction of Navy Vessels by Earthquakes, Dec. 1868
- Inquiry Into Occupation and Administration of Haiti and the Dominican Republic
- Instances of Use of US Armed Forces Abroad, 1798 - 2004
- Instructional Material for the Fight Against Enemy Propaganda
- Instructions for the examination and entry into United States Ports in time of war
- Instructions on Reception, Care and Training of Homing Pigeons
- Inter-Allied Naval Relations and the Birth of NATO
- Interrogation of General Alfred Jodl
- Interrogations of Japanese Officials - Vol. I & II
- Invasion of Sicily
- The Invasion of Southern France: Aerology and Amphibious Warfare
- Iran, Gulf Security, and U.S. Policy
- Iran Hostage - Rescue Mission Report
- Irregular Enemies and the Essence of Strategy
- Irregular Warfare Special Study
- Instructions for Painting and Cementing Vessels of the United States Navy
- J
- Japan's Struggle to End the War - 1946
- Japanese Interrogation Of Prisoners Of War
- Japanese Naval and Merchant Shipping Losses - WWII
- Japanese Naval Ground Forces
- Japanese Naval Shipbuilding
- Japanese Operational Aircraft CinCPOA 105-45
- Japanese Operational Aircraft CinCPOA 105-45 Revised
- Japanese Radio Communications and Radio Intelligence CinCPOA 5-45
- Japanese - Smithsonian War Background Study
- Japanese Story of the Battle of Midway
- Java Sea Campaign
- John Paul Jones
- John Paul Jones
- Journal of the Disasters in Afghanistan, 1841-2
- K
- L
- Lost of Flight 19 Official Accident Reports
- Landing Operations Doctrine, USN, FTP-167
- Law of Naval Warfare: NWIP 10-2, 1955
- Law of Naval Warfare: Chapters 1 - 6
- Appendix A: Convention For the Adaption to Maritime War of the Principles of the Geneva Convention - X Hague, 1907
- Appendix B: Convention Concerning the Rights and Duties of Neutral Powers in Maritime War - XIII Hague, 1907
- Appendix C: Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick
- Appendix D: Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded, Sick, and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea of August 12, 1949
- Appendix E: Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of August 12, 1949
- Appendix F: Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of August 12, 1949
- Appendix G-I
- Lend Lease Act, 11 March 1941
- Letter from President Harry S. Truman to Secretary of the Navy James V. Forrestal regarding the Five-Star Rank
- Lengthy Deployment: The Jeannette Expedition In Arctic Waters
- Letter to Mr. Ride
- Library Regulations - USS Pittsburgh
- Limited Duty Officer
- List of Authorized Abbreviations for Use in Bureau of Naval Personnel Messages (1958)
- List of Expeditions 1901-1929
- List of Patrol Squadron Deployments to Korea During the War
- Living Conditions in the 19th Century US Navy
- Log of the trip of the president to the Casablanca Conference 9-31 January, 1943
- The Logistics of Advance Bases
- Look at YOU in the United States NAVY
- Lookout Manual 1943
- Loss of Flight 19 Official Accident Reports
- Lost Patrol
- LSU Squadron Two Thanksgiving Dinner November 22 1951
- The Landings in North Africa
- M
- Magic Background of Pearl Harbor
- Magic Background of Pearl Harbor Vol. 2
- Magic Background of Pearl Harbor Vol. 2 Appendix
- Magic Background of Pearl Harbor Vol. 4
- Main Navy Building: Its Construction and Original Occupants
- Manual for Buglers, US Navy
- Manual of Commands and Orders, 1945
- Manual of Information Concerning Employments for the Panama Canal Service
- Marine Amphibious Landing in Korea, 1871
- Market Time (U) CRC 280
- Master File Drawings of German Naval Vessels
- Matthew Fontaine Maury: Benefactor of Mankind
- Menu Thanksgiving Day November 27, 1913
- Merchant Marines
- Merchant Ship Shapes
- Mers-el-Kebir Port Instructions for Merchant Vessels [1942]
- Mess Night Manual
- Midway in Retrospect: The Still Under Appreciated Victory
- Midway’s Operational Lesson: The Need For More Carriers
- Midway: Sheer Luck or Better Doctrine?
- Midway's Strategic Lessons
- Midway Plan of the Day Notes
- Military Sealift Command
- Military Service Records and Unit Histories
- Mine Sweeping Manual 1917
- Mine Warfare
- Mine Warfare in South Vietnam
- Miracle Harbor
- Miscellaneous Actions in the South Pacific
- More Bang for the Buck: U.S. Nuclear Strategy and Missile Development 1945-1965
- My days aboard U.S.S. Santa Fe
- N
- Naming of Streets, Facilities and Areas On Naval Installations
- Narrative of Captain W.S. Cunningham, US Navy Relative to events on Wake Island in December 1941, and subsequent related events
- Narrative of Joshua Davis an American Citizen 1811
- Narrative of the Capture, Sufferings and Escape of Capt. Barnabas Lincoln
- Narrative of the March and Operations of the Army of the Indus
- Narrative of the United States' Expedition to the River Jordan and the Dead Sea
- Navajo Code Talker Dictionary
- Navajo Code Talkers: World War II Fact Sheet
- Naval Anecdotes Relating to HMS Leopard Versus USS Chesapeake, 24 June 1807.
- Naval Armed Guard Service in World War II
- The Naval Bombing Experiments
- Naval District Manual 1927
- Naval Districts
- Naval Gun Factory (Washington Navy Yard) Facilities Data: World War II
- Naval Guns at Normandy
- Naval Memorial Service, Casting Flowers on the Sea in Honor of the Naval Dead
- The Naval Quarantine of Cuba
- Naval Yarns by Captain Bartlett [manuscript]
- The Navy by Michael A. Palmer
- Navy and Defense Reform: A Short History and Reference Chronology
- Navy and Marine Corps Awards Manual [Rev. 1953]
- Pt. 1 - Personal Decorations
- Pt. 2 - Unit Awards
- Pt. 3 - Special and Commemorative Medals
- Pt. 4 - Campaign and Service Medals
- Pt. 5 - Decorations Awarded By Foreign Governments
- Pt. 6 - Other Federal Decorations (non-military)
- Index
- Memo - Changes
- Ships & Other Units Eligible for the Korean Service Medal
- Navy at a Tipping Point - 2010
- Navy Civil War Chronology
- The Navy Department A brief history until 1945
- Navy Department Communiques 1-300 and Pertinent Press Releases
- Navy Department Communiques 301 to 600
- Navy Filing Manual 1941
- Navy Force Structure and Shipbuilding Plans - 2016
- The Navy in the Cold War Era, 1945-1991
- Navy Interdiction Korea Vol. II
- Navy Nurse Corps General Uniform Instructions 1917
- The Navy of the Republic of Vietnam
- Navy Records and [Navy Department] Library (E Branch)
- Navy Regulations, 1814
- Navy Ship Procurement: Alternative Funding Approaches
- Navy Ship Propulsion Technologies - 2006
- Navy Shipboard Lasers for Surface, Air, and Missile Defense
- Navy-Yard, Washington, History by Hibben
- The Navy's World War II-era Fleet Admirals
- Needs and Opportunities in the Modern History of the U.S. Navy
- Forward Presence in the Modern Navy: From the Cold War to a Future Tailored Force
- Historiography of Programming and Acquisition Management since 1950 - Hone
- Historiography of Technology Since 1950
- Naval Personnel since 1945: Areas for Historical Research
- Navy, Science, and Professional History
- The Social History of the U.S. Navy, 1945–Present
- U.S. Navy’s Role in National Strategy
- Writing U.S. Naval Operational History 1980–2010
- Negro in the Navy - 1947
- Negro in the Navy by Miller
- Neutrality Instructions US Navy 1940
- New Equation: Chinese Intervention into the Korean War
- A New Look at the Cuban Missile Crisis
- Nixon's Trident: Naval Power in Southeast Asia, 1968-1972 by John D. Sherwood
- Nomenclature of Decks
- Nomenclature of Naval Vessels
- Non-Discrimination in V-12 Program
- Northern Barrage and Other Mining Activities
- Northern Barrage: Taking Up Mines
- Northern Formosa, Pescadores
- Notes on Anti-submarine Defenses ONI Publication No. 8
- Notes on Writing Naval (not Navy) English
- O
- Occupation of Kiska
- Occupation of the Gilbert Islands
- The Offensive Navy Since World War II: How Big and Why, A Brief Summary
- Office of Naval Records and Library 1882-1946
- Officers and Key Personnel Attached to the Office of Naval Records and Library 1882-1946
- Officers of the Continental Navy and Marine Corps
- Officers of Navy Yards, Shore Stations, and Vessels, 1 January 1865
- Officers of the Continental and U.S. Navy and Marine Corps 1775-1900
- Marine Corps Officers: 1798-1900
- Continental Navy Officers: 1775-1785
- Continental Marine Corps Officers: 1775-1785
- Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (A)
- Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (B)
- Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (C)
- Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (D)
- Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (E)
- Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (F)
- Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (G)
- Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (H)
- Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (I)
- Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (J)
- Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (K)
- Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (L)
- Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (M)
- Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (N)
- Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (O)
- Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (P)
- Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (Q)
- Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (R)
- Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (S)
- Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (T)
- Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (U)
- Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (V)
- Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (W)
- Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (Y)
- Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (Z)
- "Official" USS Missouri Survival Guide
- Operation Crossroads
- Operation NEPTUNE - The Invasion of Normandy
- Table of Contents - Operation NEPTUNE
- Editor's Note - Operation Neptune
- Chapter 1: THE STRATEGIC BACKGROUND OF OVERLORD
- Chapter 2: PLANNING AND PREPARATION FOR CROSS-CHANNEL (OVERLORD) OPERATIONS
- Chapter 3: THE STRATEGIC BACKGROUND OF OVERLORD
- Chapter 4: NEPTUNE OPERATIONS PLANS
- Chapter 5: Naval Preparations for Cross-Channel Operations
- Chapter 6: The Operation Begins
- Chapter 7: Defensive Measures - NEPTUNE Operation
- Chapter 8: Bombardment and Other Defensive Operations Against Enemy Land Forces
- Chapter 9: The NEPTUNE Assaults
- Chapter 10: The Build-up for the Battle of France
- Operation NEPTUNE - Index
- Operation NEPTUNE Administrative History's Table of Contents
- Operation Neptune
- Operations of the Navy and Marine Corps in the Philippine Archipelago
- Operations of the Seventh Amphibious Force
- Operations of USS Don Juan de Austria
- OPNAV [Office of the Chief of Naval Operations] Acronyms
- Origin of Navy Terminology
- Our Vanishing History and Traditions - Knox
- Operation of the Admiral Scheer
- Our Navy at War
- P
- Pacific Typhoon, 18 December 1944
- Admiral Nimitz's Pacific Fleet Confidential Letter on Lessons of Damage in Typhoon
- List of Commands and Ships Involved
- Personnel Casualties Suffered by Third Fleet, 17-18 December 1944, Compiled from Official Sources
- Aircraft Losses Suffered by Third Fleet, 17-18 December 1944, Compiled From Official Sources
- Extracts Relating to the Typhoon from Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet Report
- Oral History
- Pacific Typhoon, June 1945 - Reports
- Pacific Typhoon October 1945 - Okinawa
- Peacekeeping and Related Stability Operations: Issues of U.S. Military Involvement
- The Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941 - Overview
- Pearl Harbor Navy Medical Activities
- "Pearl Harbor Revisited: USN Communications Intelligence"
- Pearl Harbor Salvage Report 1944
- Pearl Harbor Submarine Base 1918-1945
- Pearl Harbor: Survivor Reports
- USS Arizona - Reports by Survivors of Pearl Harbor Attack
- USS California- Reports by Survivors of Pearl Harbor Attack
- USS Maryland - Reports by Survivors of Pearl Harbor Attack
- USS Oklahoma - Reports by Survivors of Pearl Harbor Attack
- USS Tennessee - Report by Survivor of Pearl Harbor Attack
- USS West Virginia - Reports by Survivors of Pearl Harbor Attack
- Pearl Harbor: Why, How, Fleet Salvage and Final Appraisal
- Pentagon 9/11
- Personal Identification Tags or "Dog Tags"
- Perspectives on Enhanced Interrogation Techniques
- Philadelphia Experiment
- Phonetic Alphabet and Signal Flags
- The Pioneers - A Monograph on the First Two Black Chaplains in the Chaplains Corps of the United States Navy
- The Pivot Upon Which Everything Turned
- Plea in Favor of Maintaining Flogging in the Navy
- Pocket Guide to Japan
- Pocket Guide to Netherlands East Indies
- Pocket Guide to New Guinea and the Solomons
- Port Chicago, CA, Explosion
- Posse Comitatus Act and Related Matters: A Sketch
- Post Mortem CIC [Combat Information Center] Notes
- Post Mortems on Enemy Ships
- Potato Famine of 1847
- Precisely Appropriate for the Purpose
- Preserving an Honored Past
- Priceless Advantage by FD Parker
- Propaganda Foreign Military Studies 1952
- Public Law 333, 79th Congress
- Pacific Typhoon, 18 December 1944
- Q
- R
- Radio Intelligence Appreciations Concerning German U-Boat Activity in the Far East
- Radio Proximty (VT) Fuzes
- Ready Seapower: A History of the US Seventh Fleet by Edward J. Marolda [pdf]
- Recollections of Capture by the Germans, Imprisonment, and Escape of Lieutenant Edouard Victor Isaacs, U.S.N.
- Recollections of Ensign Leonard W. Tate
- Recollections of Lieutenant Commander William Leide
- Recollections of Lieutenant Wilton Wenker and Lieutenant Elby Concerning the Crossing of the Rhine River in 1945
- Recollections of USS Pampanito's rescue of prison ship survivors by Lieutenant Commander Landon Davis
- Recollections of Vice Admiral Alan G. Kirk Concerning the Crossing of the Rhine River in 1945
- Reestablishment of the Marine Corps
- Registers of the Navy
- Register of the Navy, 1812
- Register of the Navy, 1814
- Register of the Navy, 1815
- Register of the Navy, 1816
- Register of the Navy, 1818
- Register of the Navy, 1819
- Register of the Navy, 1820
- Register of the Navy, 1821
- Register of the Navy, 1822
- Register of the Navy, 1823
- Register of the Navy, 1824
- Register of the Navy, 1825
- Register of the Navy, 1826
- Register of the Navy, 1827
- Register of the Navy, 1829
- Register of the Navy, 1830
- Register of the Navy, 1831
- Register of the Navy, 1832
- Register of the Navy, 1833
- Register of the Navy, 1834
- Register of the Navy, 1836
- Register of Patients at Naval Hospital Washington DC 1814
- Register of USN & USMC Officer Personnel 1801-1807 [pdf]
- Regulation, December 7, 1841
- Regulations for the Information of Officers On Neutrality Duty in Connection With the Visits of Belligerent Vessels of War [1916]
- Regulations For Powder Magazines and Shell Houses 1874
- Regulations Governing the Uniform of Commissioned Officers 1897
- Reincarnation of John Paul Jones The Navy Discovers Its Professional Roots
- Religions of Vietnam
- Remarks on Protection of a Convoy by Extended Patrols
- Remarks on Submarine Tactics Against Convoys
- Reminiscences of Seattle Washington Territory and the U. S. Sloop-of-War Decatur
- Reminiscences of Seattle Washington Territory and the US Sloop-of-War Decatur During the Indian War of 1855-56
- Report by the Special Subcommittee on Disciplinary Problems in the US Navy
- Reports of Arica, Peru Earthquake from USS Powhatan and USS Wateree
- Republic of Korea Navy
- Resolution of the Continental Congress, 11 December 1775
- Resolution of the Continental Congress, 25 November 1775
- Hyman G. Rickover's Promotion to Admiral [H.A.S.C. 93-16]
- Ringle Report on Japanese Internment
- Riverine Warfare Manual [1971]
- Riverine Warfare: The US Navy's Operations on Inland Waters
- Rocks and Shoals: Articles for the Government of the U.S. Navy
- The Recruitment of African Americans in the US Navy 1839
- The Role of COMINT in the Battle of Midway
- The Role of the United States Navy in the Formation and Development of the Federal German Navy, 1945-1970
- Rommel and the Atlantic Wall
- Royal Works USS Lexington [Crossing the Line 1936]
- Rules for the Regulation of the Navy - 1775
- The Russian Navy Visits the United States
- S
- SACO
- Sailors as Infantry in the US Navy
- The Sailors Creed
- Samoan Hurricane
- A Sampling of U.S. Naval Humanitarian Operations
- Seabee History
- Secretary of the Navy's Report for 1900 on the China Relief Expedition
- Selected Documents of the Spanish American War
- Battle of Manila Bay
- Battle of Manila Bay: Miscellaneous Documents
- Olympia in Battle of Manila Bay
- Raleigh in Battle of Manila Bay
- Concord in Battle of Manila Bay
- Baltimore in Battle of Manila Bay
- Petrel in Battle of Manila Bay
- Boston in Battle of Manila Bay
- McCulloch in Battle of Manila Bay
- U.S. Consul at Manila
- Official Spanish Report on Battle of Manila Bay
- Selected Groups in the Republic of Vietnam
- Seventh Amphibious Force - Command History 1945
- Shelling of the Alaskan Native American Village of Angoon, October 1882
- Ship to Shore Movement
- Ship Shapes Anatomy and types of Naval Vessels
- Shipboard Ettiquette [Naval R. O. T. C. Pamphlet No. 16]
- Shiploading - A Picture Dictionary
- Ships named for Individual Sailors
- Ships Present at Pearl Harbor
- Ships Sunk and Damaged in Action during the Korean Conflict
- A Short Account of the Several General Duties of Officers, of Ships of War: From an Admiral, Down to the Most Inferior Officer
- Short Guide to Iraq
- The Sicilian Campaign, Operation 'Husky'
- Signals for the Use of the Navy of the Confederate States
- Sinking of C.S.S. Alabama by U.S.S. Kearsarge - 19 Jun 1864
- Sinking of the Bismarck
- Sinking of the USS Guitarro
- The Sinking of the USS Housatonic by the Submarine CSS H.L. Hunley
- Sinking of USS Indianapolis - Press Releases & Related Sources
- Skill in the Surf: A Landing Boat Manual
- Chapter I. Landing Boats Are Important!
- Chapter II. Landing Craft From Troy to Tokio
- Chapter III. Know Your Boat!
- Chapter IV. Know Your Job!
- Chapter V. Keep It Running!
- Chapter VI. The Coxswain Takes Over
- Chapter VII. Learning the Ropes
- Chapter VIII. The Salvage Boat
- Chapter IX. Where Sea Meets Land
- Chapter X. Hit That Beach!
- Chapter XI. Information, Please!
- Appendix A
- Appendix B
- Appendix C
- Appendix D
- Appendix E
- Appendix F
- Appendix G
- Appendix H
- Appendix I
- Appendix J
- Skunks, Bogies, Silent Hounds, and the Flying Fish
- Slapton Sands: The Cover-up That Never Was
- Small Wars Their Principles and Practice
- Smith, Melancton Rear Admiral USN A Memoir
- Smoker Sat., July 27, 1918 U.S.S. Arizona
- So You are Going to the South Pacific?
- Soldier's Guide Bosnia-Herzegovina
- Solomon Islands Campaign: I The Landing in the Solomons
- Solomon Islands Campaign: II Savo Island & III Eastern Solomons
- Solomon Islands Campaign: IV Battle of Cape Esperance
- Solomon Islands Campaign VII Battle Tassafaronga
- Solomon Islands Campaign IX Bombardments of Munda and Vila-Stanmore
- Solomon Islands Campaign: X Operations in the New Georgia Area 21 June-5 August 1943
- Solomon Islands Campaign: XI Kolombangara and Vella Lavella 6 August - 7 October 1943
- Solomon Islands Campaign XII The Bougainville Landing and the Battle od Empress Augusta Bay, 27 October - 2 November 1943
- Some Experiences Reported by the Crew of the USS Pueblo and American Prisoners of War from Vietnam
- Some Memorandums Construction of Ships Frederick Tudor
- Somers, essay on legal aspects of Somers Affair
- Sources on US Naval History by State
- Spanish American War
- Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 1898 Part 1
- Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 1898 Part 2
- Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 1898 Part 3
- Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 1898 Part 4
- Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 1898 Part 5
- Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 1898 Part 6
- Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 1898 Part 7
- Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 1898 Part 8
- Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 1898 Part 9
- Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 1898 Part 10
- Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 1898 Part 11
- Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 1898 Part 12
- Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 1898 Part 13
- Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 1898 Part 14
- Spanish-American War; War Plans and Impact on U.S. Navy
- Special Order 1865 April 17 Assemblage of Officers to Attend
- Special Order 1865 April 17 Navy Department Closure
- Special Order 1865 April 17 Officers to Attend Funeral
- Special Order 1865 April 20 List of Officers to Accompany Remains
- Special Order No. 73 - 1905 April 18 Travel Pay
- Specifications for Ship and Motor Boat Bells
- Sports in the Navy: 1775 to 1963
- Stalin's Cold War Military Machine: A New Evaluation
- Statement Regarding Winds Message
- The Story Of The Confederate States' Ship Virginia
- Strait Comparison: Lessons Learned from the 1915 Dardanelles Campaign
- Strategic Concepts of the U.S. Navy (NWP 1 A)
- Striking the Flag
- Structural Repairs in Forward Areas During WWII
- Study of the General Board of the U.S. Navy, 1929-1933
- Submarine Activities Connected with Guerrilla Organizations
- Submarine Sighting Guide ONI 31-2A
- Submarine Sighting Guide ONI 31SS-Rev. 1
- Submarine Silhouette Book No. 1
- Submarine Turtle Naval Documents
- Surprised at Tet: U.S. Naval Forces in Vietnam, 1968
- Survey of the Amazon- Selfridge
- Survival of the Collection of the Navy Department Library
- Syria's Chemical Weapons: Issues for Congress
- T
- Tactical Lessons of Midway
- Target Information From CIC [Combat Information Center]
- Terminology and Nomenclature
- Terrorism in Southeast Asia
- Terrorism: Some Legal Restrictions on Military Assistance
- Tet: The Turning Point in Vietnam
- This is Ann - Malaria
- Time of Change: National Strategy in the Early Postwar Era
- Titanic Disaster: Report of Navy Hydrographic Office
- Tokyo a Study in Jap Flak Defense
- Tokyo Bay: The Formal Surrender of the Empire of Japan
- Tonkin Gulf Crisis
- Tonkin Gulf Crisis, August 1964 - Summary
- Formerly Classified Documents from 2 August - 4 August 1964
- Formerly Classified Documents Subsequent to 4 August 1964
- Publicly Released Information
- Gulf of Tonkin the 1964 Incidents
- Gulf of Tonkin the 1964 Incidents [Part II]
- Acronyms, Abbreviations, and Code Words
- Tonkin Gulf Crisis Select Bibliography
- Torpedo War - Rodgers - Fulton
- Training Ships
- The Trial of Admiral Doenitz
- Tsunami (Tidal Wave) Disasters
- 20th Century Warriors: Native American Participation in the United States Military
- Typhoons and Hurricanes: The Effects of Cyclonic Winds on US Naval Operations
- Typhoons and Hurricanes: The Storm at Apia, Samoa, 15-16 March 1889
- U
- U-2s, UFOs, and Operation Blue Book
- U-94 Sunk By USN PBY Plane and HMCS Oakville 8-27-42
- U-162 Sunk By HM Ships Pathfinder, Vimy, and Quentin 9-3-42
- U-210 Sunk By HMCS Assiniboine 7-6-42
- U-352 Sunk By U.S.C.G. Icarus 5-9-42
- U-505 Sinking
- U-571, World War II German Submarine
- U-595 Scuttled and Sunk Off Cape Khamis, Algeria 11-14-42
- U-701 Sunk By US Army Attack Bomber No. 9-29-322, Unit 296 B.S. 7-7-42
- U-Boat War in the Caribbean: Opportunities Lost
- Ultra and the Campaign Against U-boats in World War II
- Underwater earthquake disasters and the U.S. Navy
- Uniform Regulations, 1797
- Uniform Regulations, 1802
- Uniform Regulations, 1814
- Uniform Regulations, 1833
- Uniform Regulations, 1841
- Uniform Regulations, 1852
- Uniform Regulations, 1864
- General Regulations: Full Dress, Undress, Service Dress
- Coats, Overcoats, Jackets
- Cuff and Sleeve Ornaments
- Pantaloons, Vests
- Part 1: Rear Admiral to Ensign
- Part 2: Engineer Corps
- Part 3: Professors, Secretaries
- Part 4: Medical Corps
- Part 5: Chaplains, Paymasters
- Part 6: Naval Constructors
- Part 7: Regulations for Wearing Shoulder Straps
- Cap and Cap Ornaments
- Straw Hats, Sword and Scabbard, Sword-Belt, Sword-Knot, Buttons, Cravat
- Dress for Petty Officers and Crew
- Uniform Regulations, 1866
- Uniform Regulations, 1869
- Uniform Regulations, Women's Reserve, USNR, 1943
- Uniforms of the US Navy
- Aiguillettes
- Uniform-Buttons
- Chief Petty Officers' Uniforms U.S. Navy
- Cold-Weather/Foul-Weather Wear
- Gas Masks and Breathing Apparatus U.S. Navy Uniform
- Hats/Caps
- Uniform and Dress of the Navy of the Confederate States
- Insignias U.S. Navy Uniform
- Maintenance/Care of Uniforms
- Men's Uniforms
- Pants/Bell-Bottoms
- Personal Appearance
- Seabags
- Navy Seabags
- Shirts/Jumpers
- Shoes
- Swords
- Naval Uniforms, misc.
- Women's Uniforms
- Petty Officer Rating Badge Locations and Eagle Designs
- Uniform Changes
- Historical Surveys of the Evolution of US Navy Uniforms
- Uniform Regulations
- History of US Navy Uniforms, 1776-1981
- Identification Tags ("Dog Tags")
- United States Atlantic Fleet Organization 1942
- United States Pacific Fleet Organization, 1 May 1945
- United States Naval Hospital Ships
- United States Naval Railway Batteries in France
- United States Navy and the Persian Gulf
- United States Navy and World War I: 1914–1922
- United States Navy's World of Work
- United States Submarine Losses World War II
- Notes to US Submarine Losses in World War II
- Introduction
- Albacore (SS 218)
- Amberjack (SS 219)
- Argonaut (SS 166)
- Barbel (SS 316)
- Bonefish (SS 223)
- Bullhead (SS 332)
- Capelin (SS 289)
- Cisco (SS 290)
- Corvina (SS 226)
- Darter (SS 227)
- Dorado (SS 248)
- Escolar (SS 294)
- Flier (SS 250)
- Golet (SS 361)
- Grampus (SS 207)
- Grayback (SS 208)
- Grayling (SS 209)
- Grenadier (SS 210)
- Growler (SS 215)
- Grunion (SS 216)
- Gudgeon (SS 211)
- Harder (SS 257)
- Herring (SS 233)
- Kete (SS 369)
- Lagarto (SS 371)
- Perch (SS 176)
- Pickerel (SS 177)
- Pompano (SS 181)
- R-12 (SS 89)
- Robalo (SS 273)
- Runner (SS 275)
- S-26 (SS 131)
- S-27 (SS 132)
- S-28 (SS 133)
- S-36 (SS 141)
- S-39 (SS 144)
- S-44 (SS 155)
- Scamp (SS 277)
- Scorpion (SS 278)
- Sculpin (SS 191)
- Sealion (SS 195)
- Seawolf (SS 197)
- Shark I* (SS 174)
- Shark 2* (SS 314)
- Snook (SS 279)
- Swordfish (SS 193)
- Tang (SS 306)
- Trigger (SS 237)
- Triton (SS 201)
- Trout (SS 202)
- Tullibee (SS 284)
- Wahoo (SS 238)
- German U-Boat Casualties in World War Two
- Italian Submarine Casualties in World War Two
- Japanese Submarine Casualties in World War Two (I and RO Boats)
- Unmanned Vehicles for U.S. Naval Forces: Background and Issues for Congress
- US Democracy Promotion Policy in the Middle East
- US-Greek Naval Relations Begin
- US Marines at Pearl Harbor
- US Mining and Mine Clearance in North Vietnam
- US Naval Detachment in Turkish Waters, 1919-1924
- US Naval Forces in Northern Russia 1918-1919
- US Naval Plans for War with the United Kingdom in the 1890s
- US Naval Port Officers in the Bordeaux Region, 1917-1919
- US Navy Abbreviations of World War II
- US Navy and Hawaii-A Historical Summary
- US Navy at War Second Official Report
- US Navy at War Final Official Report
- US Navy Capstone Strategies and Concepts (1970-1980)
- US Navy Capstone Strategies and Concepts (1974-2005)
- US Navy Capstone Strategies and Concepts (1981-1990)
- US Navy Capstone Strategies and Concepts (1991-2000)
- US Navy Capstone Strategies and Concepts (2001-2010)
- US Navy Capstone Strategy, Policy, Vision and Concept Documents
- US Navy Code Words of World War II
- US Navy Congo River Expedition of 1885
- US Navy Forward Deployment 1801-2001
- US Navy in Desert Shield/Desert Storm
- Executive Summary
- Overview: Desert Storm - The Role of the Navy
- The Gathering Storm
- A Common Goal - Joint Ops
- Bullets, Bandages and Beans - Logistic Ops
- Thunder and Lightning - The war with Iraq
- Epilogue
- Lessons Learned
- Appendix B: Participating Naval Units
- Appendix A: Chronology - August 1990
- Appendix A: Chronology - September 1990
- Appendix A: Chronology - October 1990
- Appendix A: Chronology - November 1990
- Appendix A: Chronology - December 1990
- Appendix A: Chronology - January 1991
- Appendix A: Chronology - January 1991 cont.
- Appendix A: Chronology - February 1991
- Appendix A: Chronology - March 1991
- Appendix A: Chronology - April 1991
- Appendix C: Allied Participation and Contributions
- Appendix D: Aircraft Sortie Count
- Appendix E: Aircraft Readiness Rates
- Appendix F: Aircraft and Personnel Losses
- Appendix G: Naval Gunfire Support
- Appendix H: Surface Warfare
- Appendix I: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
- Appendix K: Sealift
- Appendix L: Airlift
- US Navy in the World (2001-2010)
- US Navy instruction for the destruction of signal books, 1863
- US Navy Interviewer's Classification Guide
- US Navy Libraries
- US Navy Libraries: Historic Documents
- US Navy Motor Torpedo Boat Operational Losses
- US Navy Nurse Corps General Uniform Instructions, 1917
- US Navy in Operation Enduring Freedom, 2001-2002
- US Navy Personnel in World War II: Service and Casualty Statistics
- US Navy Personnel Strength, 1775 to Present
- US Navy Sailors Operating Ashore as Artillerymen Roth
- US Navy Ships Lost in Selected Storm/Weather Related Incidents
- US Navy Special Operations in the Korean War
- US Navy Submarines Losses, Selected Accidents, and Selected Incidents of Damage Resulting from Enemy Action, Chronological
- US Occupation Assistance: Iraq, Germany and Japan Compared
- US Occupation of Haiti, 1915-1934
- US Prisoners of War and Civilian American Citizens Captured
- US Radar: Operational Characteristics of Radar Classified by Tactical Application
- Use of Naval Forces in the Post-War Era
- U.S.S. Colorado BB-45 Diary
- U.S.S. Searaven S.S. 196 4 July 1945
- USS Constitution's Battle Record
- USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) Memorial Ceremony
- USS Kearsarge Rescues Soviet Soldiers, 1960
- USS Monitor Versus CSS Virginia and the Battle for Hampton Roads
- USS Pirate; Selected documents on the Salvage of USS Pirate and USS Pledge
- USS Vega, Report of Pearl Harbor Attack
- USS West Virgina, Report of Salvage, Pearl Harbor
- The U.S. Navy Enlistment, Instruction, Pay and Advancement
- V
- W
- War Damage Reports
- Destroyer Report - Gunfire, Bomb and Kamikaze Damage
- Destroyer Report - Torpedo and Mine Damage and Loss in Action
- Submarine Report - Vol. 1, War Damage Report No. 58
- Summary of War Damage to U. S. Battleships, Carriers, Cruisers and Destroyers 17 October, 1941 to 7 December, 1942
- USS Birmingham CL62 War Damage Report No. 48
- USS Boise CL47 War Damage Report No. 24
- USS Canberra CA70 War Damage Report No. 54
- USS Capella AK13 & USS Alhena AKA9 War Damage Report No. 27
- USS Chincoteague AVP24 War Damage Report No. 47
- USS Enterprise CV6 War History 1941 - 1945
- USS Franklin CV-13 War Damage Report No. 56
- USS Helena CL50 War Damage Report No. 43
- USS Honolulu CL48 War Damge Report No. 1
- USS Houston CL81 War Damage Report No. 53
- USS Independence CVL22 & USS Denver CL58 War Damage Report No. 52
- [USS] Joseph Hewes APA22 War Damage Report No. 32
- USS Lexington CV2 War Damage Report No. 16
- USS Liscome Bay CVE56 War Damage Report No. 45
- USS New Orleans CA32 War Damage Report No. 38
- USS North Carolina BB55 War Damage Report No. 61
- USS Northampton CA26 War Damage Report No. 41
- USS O'Brien DD415 War Damage Report No. 28
- USS Princeton CVL23 War Damage Report No. 62
- USS Quincy CA39, Astoria CA34 & Vincennes CA44 War Damage Report No. 29
- USS San Francisco CA38 War Damage Report No. 26
- USS Saratoga CV3 War Damage Report No. 19
- USS South Dakota BB57 War Damage Report No. 57
- War Instructions United States Navy 1944
- Wardroom NavPers 10002-A
- Wartime Diversion of US Navy Forces in Response to Public Demands for Augmented Coastal Defense-CNA
- Wartime Instructions for United States Merchant Vessels 1942
- Washington Navy Yard: History of the Naval Gun Factory, 1883-1939
- Washington Navy Yard - Pay Roll of Mechanics and Labourers, c1819-1820
- WAVE QUARTERS D STATION RULES FOR LIFE AT D
- WAVE QTRS. D
- [UPDATED] Washington Navy Yard Station Log November 1822 - December 1889
- We Will Stand in Viet-Nam
- Who Will Do What With What
- Why is the Colonel Called "Kernal"?
- With a View to Publication
- Women in the Navy
- Women's Uniform Regulations, Yeoman (F), US Naval Reserve Force, 1918
- Women's Winter Uniform Regulations, Yeoman (F), US Naval Reserve Force, 1919
- World War I British and German Naval Messages (1918)
- World War II Casualties
- World War II Invasion of Normandy 1944 Interrogation of Generalleutnant Rudolf Schmetzer
- What is CORDS
- War Damage Reports
- X
- Y
- Z
- List of Z-grams
- Z-Gram 1
- Z-Gram 2
- Z-Gram 3
- Z-Gram 4
- Z-Gram 5
- Z-Gram 6
- Z-Gram 7
- Z-Gram 8
- Z-Gram 9
- Z-Gram 10
- Z-Gram 11
- Z-Gram 12
- Z-Gram 13
- Z-Gram 14
- Z-Gram 15
- Z-Gram 16
- Z-Gram 17
- Z-Gram 18
- Z-Gram 19
- Z-Gram 20
- Z-Gram 21
- Z-Gram 22
- Z-Gram 23
- Z-Gram 24
- Z-Gram 25
- Z-gram 26
- Z-Gram 27
- Z-Gram 28
- Z-Gram 29
- Z-Gram 30
- Z-Gram 31
- Z-Gram 32
- Z-Gram 33
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Final Contact:
USS Indianapolis (CA-35) Passes USS LST-779, 29 July 1945
On Sunday, 29 July 1945, the tank landing ship LST-779 steamed toward Samar, Philippine Islands, along Convoy Route Peddie, loaded with cargo and with four pontoon barges secured to her flat sides, on a logistical assignment that offered a respite for her crew after the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.[i] She had arrived off the coast of Iwo Jima the morning of the assault and unloaded cargo under fire. At 1600 the following day she was the first LST to beach on the invasion beachhead. The American flag raised over Mount Suribachi on 23 February 1945 captured on film by War Correspondent Joe Rosenthal and Staff Sergeant William H. Genaust, USMC, came from LST-779. When she left Iwo Jima, mattresses and pillows filled the holes above her waterline—makeshift repairs to the damage suffered during combat operations.[ii] After repairs at Saipan, she had supported the landings at Okinawa, so a simple cargo mission in late July provided needed relief. At 1300 on 29 July, Lieutenant Joseph A. Hopkins, USNR, her commanding officer, ordered LST-779 to set course for the waters north of Convoy Route Peddie, called his crew to general quarters, and began antiaircraft defense exercises. Sometime after making the northward turn, LST-779 spotted a large ship approaching and made visual contact with her. Discovering that she was the decorated heavy cruiser Indianapolis (CA-35), Hopkins warned her that they were about to conduct firing exercises. As Indianapolis passed out of sight, bound also for the Philippines, none of the crew of LST-779 realized that their ship would be the last American vessel to see her.
Until now, it has not been realized that the location of that encounter at sea sheds new light on where Indianapolis was lost. That information, and more, emerged from a reevaluation of the evidence regarding the loss of Indianapolis that the Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) staff undertook. What follows is a summary of the historical literature, along with new information gleaned from archival research.
Much has been written about the circumstances surrounding the sinking of Indianapolis, the tragic loss of life due to a delayed rescue, and the controversial court martial of Captain Charles B. McVay III, her last commanding officer. Most historical treatments of the sinking focus on establishing accountability for both the sinking and the failure of the U.S. Navy to initiate a rescue mission immediately. Central questions repeat themselves. Did the Navy withhold intelligence of Japanese submarine movements from Indianapolis that might have prevented the sinking? Was Indianapolis ordered to travel unescorted between Guam and Leyte through areas with known Japanese submarine activity? Did Captain McVay recklessly endanger his ship by not zigzagging in weather conditions where regulations required such defensive maneuvers? Did Lieutenant Commander Mochitsura Hashimoto, commanding officer of the Japanese submarine I-58, deploy manned Kaiten suicide torpedoes along with standard Type 95 weapons? Did the radiomen on board Indianapolis manage to transmit a distress signal providing their location, and if so, was that message received but dismissed? Why was the failure of Indianapolis to arrive at Leyte on schedule not reported, leaving some 800 sailors adrift for four days in the Philippine Sea? Should Captain McVay have been court-martialed and convicted for the sinking? Swift action from the U.S. Navy to assign blame for the loss, distance itself from responsibility, and close the book on the tragedy only increased public interest in the story, occurring as it did shortly before the end of World War II in the Pacific.
The 70th anniversary of the sinking on 30 July 2015 brought renewed public interest in Indianapolis. In the summer of 2016, the movie USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage, directed by Mario Van Peebles, will be released with Nicolas Cage portraying Captain McVay. Reportedly, Robert Downey Jr. is producing a film on Indianapolis focusing on both the sinking and 11-year-old amateur historian Hunter Scott’s efforts in the late 1990s to exonerate McVay. Heightened focus on Indianapolis led historians at NHHC to revisit what is considered one of the most disastrous events in the 240-year history of the United States Navy. It is NHHC’s intent to make available to the public documents that tell an accurate story of the loss of Indianapolis—both the good and the bad. NHHC staff historians have also endeavored to break new ground in the account of the actual sinking—where was Indianapolis when she went down and how did her crew react after the torpedo hits? Answers to those questions led down unexpected paths.
The Navy’s account of the loss of Indianapolis began on 3 August 1945, when the high speed transport Ringness (APD-100) picked up 37 Indianapolis survivors, including Captain McVay. After being adrift in a life raft for almost five days and unaware if any of his crew survived outside of the handful in his immediate vicinity, McVay was lifted on board Ringness. One of his first statements to rescuers was conveyed in a message from Ringness to the headquarters of Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, CinCPac, “ship hit 0015 Sank 0030 zone minus nine one half thirty July. Position on track exactly as routed PD Guam. Speed 17 not zigzagging. Hit forward by what is believed to be two torpedoes or mine followed by magazine explosion.”[iii]
Captain McVay’s initial statement provided the information that apparently had not been transmitted in the quarter-hour it took his ship to sink five days earlier. He was also ensuring that his superiors knew that he was following his routing instructions exactly when his ship was sunk, and taking accountability for not zigzagging— a decision that would haunt him for the remainder of his life.
The official assessment of the men lost with Indianapolis was dreadful. Of the 1,196 on board, only 316 survived. Eight-hundred-eighty of those lost perished at sea, the vast majority while waiting for a rescue only initiated four days after the sinking when a twin-engine Lockheed PV-1 Ventura on submarine patrol spotted an oil slick and followed it to the largest group of 150 survivors.[iv] The official U.S. Navy position for where Indianapolis went down, likely a dead reckoning position based on McVay’s statement that he was exactly where his routing instructions put him, was 12°02'N, 134°48'E—right on the prescribed track of Convoy Route Peddie.[v] He reported that his ship remained afloat for no more than fifteen minutes after being struck by two torpedoes on the starboard side just forward of frame 70, and that she went down in over 1,200 fathoms of water.[vi] The position recorded by Ringness for Captain McVay’s rescue (11°35'N, 133°21'E) placed him over 100 miles (distances calculated in standard miles) west of where he supposedly entered the water.
While the location given by the Navy for the sinking of Indianapolis is seemingly one of the more reliable pieces of the story, it is uncertain how exactly the Navy determined that position other than McVay’s testimony that his ship was exactly where she was supposed to be. Historical records specifying the sinking location do not exist, as no distress signal providing the location of Indianapolis was received. Allied intelligence recovered I-58’s message to Tokyo confirming the kill, but failed to identify a specific ship or recover the position given by the Japanese. The rapidity with which Indianapolis went down must also be considered.
I-58’s torpedo hits took place just minutes after midnight and took the crew of Indianapolis completely by surprise; subsequent explosions rocked the ship. Damage from the torpedoes to the forward engine room stopped engines No. 1 and No. 4. Lieutenant Richard B. Redmayne, the Chief Engineer, reached the after engine room and ordered the failing No. 2 engine shut down. Unable to communicate with the bridge, Redmayne made the decision to increase the only functioning engine, No. 3, to full speed. Unfortunately the acceleration caused by that engine allowed the ship to plow ahead, water pouring into her wrecked bow. Within twelve minutes, the ship listed 90 degrees on her starboard side and began her unchecked descent into some of the deepest water on Earth. The ship’s logs went down with her, and sailors who sent out the distress signal failed to recollect the exact latitude and longitude they attempted to send. Survivors, many of them severely injured, spent nearly five days adrift without supplies and tormented by sharks. The focus, once the rescue began, was on where the men in the water were, not the point from which they originated.
One piece of the Indianapolis story capable of providing a better idea of the ship’s location when sunk has been present in accounts of the sinking and historical treatments, but mentioned only as a side note. Captain McVay revealed in an oral history that approximately twelve hours before the attack, Indianapolis passed an American tank landing ship (LST). He described the event on 29 July as follows:
We had no incidents whatsoever [on July 29th]. We passed an LST headed toward Leyte as we were also, on Sunday, and talked to them. They were north of us and they were preparing to go further north in order to get out of our area to do some anti-aircraft shooting.[vii]
Indianapolis chroniclers Richard Newcomb and Thomas Helm both mentioned the encounter in their respective books on the sinking. Both placed the encounter around midday on the 29th, stated that the LST was moving north, referenced a brief radio conversation between the two ships, and indicated the LST’s intent to move further north for antiaircraft firing training.[viii] An after action report from the Peleliu Command dated 6 August 1945 prepared using survivor accounts addressed the passing as well, minus radio contact:
Radio silence had not been broken prior to the attack, but an LST had been spoken visually at about 1400 (-9 ½) on Sunday 29 July. The Indianapolis had passed this vessel on approximately the same course.[ix]
Such an encounter at sea on a heavily traveled convoy route would generally be considered routine. The fact that that LST was the last American ship to see Indianapolis afloat, however, and that the encounter took place on the day of the attack makes it a significant piece of the Indianapolis story. In the 71 years since the sinking, the identification of that LST was either lost or its importance overlooked. The Navy Department’s 1945 Ship’s Data U.S. Naval Vessels lists over 800 tank landing ships in commission for the final year of WWII. The large number of those vessels made it nearly impossible to search all deck logs systematically and narrow down the identity of the LST encountered by Indianapolis on her final voyage.
Information posted online, however, has recently helped identify the LST in question. Aaron Murdick’s Fudge Shop in Mackinaw City, Michigan, wrote a blog post entitled, “Francis G. Murdick—My Father,” accompanied by a WWII era photograph of a smiling young sailor. Moved to commemorate his father’s naval service on Memorial Day 2015, the blog’s author recounted a story his father told him about being aboard an LST bound for Leyte in July 1945 and getting passed by Indianapolis. The young sailor did not find out until much later that Indianapolis was sunk on that voyage. His son was thankful his father’s ship did not suffer a similar fate in the same dangerous waters.[x] Historians at NHHC obtained access to the service records of Francis G. Murdick to see if the story might offer a lead in identifying the LST. The historical record confirmed the memory; personnel files for Seaman First Class Francis Murdick listed him as a passenger on board LST-779 when she departed Guam on 27 July 1945—one day before Indianapolis sailed, a discovery that merited further research in the U.S. Navy’s World War II deck logs held by the National Archives and Records Administration in College Park, Maryland.
Deck logs for LST-779 indicated that she left Port Apra Harbor, Guam, at 1500 on Friday, 27 July en route to Samar, Philippines.[xi] She would follow Convoy Route Peddie to her destination. Indianapolis cleared the same harbor at 0910 the next day (28 July) en route to Leyte Gulf.[xii] Around mid-day on the 29th the two ships passed. LST-779 did not specifically mention her encounter with Indianapolis in her deck log that day, but the log did recount exactly what McVay remembered from the meeting. At 1300, LST-779 held general quarters to conduct firing exercises and began moving north of Peddie. At 1324, she released eight target balloons and shot five down. The crew secured from gunnery practice at 1353. With firing exercises completed, crew secured from general quarters at 1410 and the ship resumed her regular route. A reason for the omission of the encounter with Indianapolis or the exchange of signals between the two ships in the LST’s deck logs is unknown. Nevertheless, the timing of LST-779’s antiaircraft training and her movement northward from Peddie fits exactly with historic accounts of Indianapolis’ passing an LST on the cruiser’s final voyage. There is little doubt that LST-779 is the anonymous ship from the Indianapolis story. As the tank landing ship moved north for their firing exercises, those who may have caught a glimpse of the cruiser were the last Americans to do so. In approximately eleven hours, the cruiser would be in the sights of a Japanese submarine.
That fateful meeting of LST-779 and Indianapolis provides critical information regarding the Indianapolis sinking, namely, that the cruiser was ahead of schedule on Route Peddie and slightly south of it. The encounter offers a previously unknown data point along Route Peddie the day of the sinking that helps establish the location of Indianapolis. Additionally, LST-779’s deck logs are the closest thing to the missing Indianapolis deck logs that will ever be found. LST-779 traversed the same waters at the same time, recording specific information about weather and sea conditions. The deck logs make it possible to better understand exactly what natural circumstances Indianapolis encountered— new data that can help researchers better determine where Indianapolis would have been when torpedoed and how survivors in the water would have been at the mercy of the movement of the sea. Additionally, LST-779’s being unable to see any survivors or wreckage as she passed where the sinking was on Peddie the following morning, and an absence of survivors’ recollections of seeing a ship the first morning in the water, indicates that neither were in the other’s line-of-sight—another indicator of the location of Indianapolis.
Instructions for Indianapolis established seven routing positions along Route Peddie. A chart with positions and times for which Indianapolis passed each up until the sinking was presented at the court of inquiry to determine if McVay would face court-martial. That chart indicated that Indianapolis reached the third point on her route, CFL (12°30'N, 138°00'E), at 1200 on 29 July.[xiii] The deck logs for LST-779, however, tell a different story. At 1200 on 29 July LST-779 recorded a position of 12°22'N, 137°23'E, approximately 43 miles south-southwest of point CFL. Between 1200 and the initiation of maneuvers for antiaircraft firing practice at 1300, logs for LST-779 indicate that the ship moved at full speed.[xiv] When Indianapolis made first contact with LST-779, the tank landing ship was reportedly beginning to move northward for practice. That meant that the meeting likely took place shortly after 1300 and even further south-southwest of point CFL than LST-779’s noon position. During that daytime meeting, Indianapolis was zigzagging at approximately 15 knots. Sometime between 1930 and 2000 Captain McVay determined that the visibility post-sunset was poor enough for Indianapolis to cease zigzagging and increase speed to 17 knots. That increased speed for the ship’s final four hours would move her even further ahead of schedule on Route Peddie. Unfortunately, it also appears that Captain McVay likely maintained his route slightly south of Peddie while Lieutenant Hopkins definitely kept LST-779 slightly north of Peddie following his ship’s gunnery evolutions. When LST-779 traveled past where the Indianapolis survivors would have been in the water at 0800 the morning after the sinking, she was much too far north—about 10 miles—to have any possibility of spotting them.
Those new findings indicate that Indianapolis was, in all probability, ahead of schedule and not exactly on Route Peddie, information that does not merit further indictment of Captain McVay. To the commander of a combatant ship the U.S. Navy left much discretion. McVay was given the option of leaving Guam on Friday, 27 July, steaming at 24–25 knots to arrive at Leyte on the morning of Monday, 30 July. That was unsatisfactory because McVay felt that the engines of Indianapolis needed a rest after the high speed run transporting atomic bomb components from San Francisco to Tinian between 16–26 July. He opted instead for the routing instructions that called for a slower speed and put him at Leyte Gulf one morning later. McVay was so adamant about a morning arrival in Leyte Gulf because Indianapolis had a large contingent of untested crewmen in the ship’s company and he wanted to arrive at dawn so that the ship could conduct antiaircraft firing practice in the final stretch of the voyage. The war was not yet over, and McVay, anticipating that his ship would take part in the invasion of the Japanese home islands, did not want to take an untrained crew into a critical phase of the war. McVay’s eagerness to arrive at Leyte in time to squeeze in precious training perhaps enticed him to keep slightly ahead of schedule early in the voyage to mitigate unknown factors that might slow him down later. It is an unfortunate circumstance that Indianapolis’s track placed her in the path of submarine I-58.
With a better understanding of Indianapolis’s position when sunk, NHHC historians endeavored to look deeper into the operations of submarine I-58. Dr. Jun Kimura of Tokai University, a cultural affairs liaison who has helped NHHC in the past, looked at the few primary source records from I-58 at the National Institute for Defense Studies in Tokyo. It is well documented that all of the charts and records from that boat were destroyed by her crew, as ordered, before she was surrendered to U.S. forces and that the Japanese perspective of the attack on Indianapolis came from Hashimoto’s recollection of the event.
Fortunately, the Japanese archives contains an early account from Commander Hashimoto, written for the Allies in his native language shortly after the war, in which he provides a more detailed explanation of the sinking than previously realized. While the Japanese language record does not give cause for a major reevaluation of the sinking, it does help reconstruct the attack from the perspective of the attacker.
According to the Japanese account, at 2226 [all times adjusted to Indianapolis ship time], the moon had risen and Hashimoto looked through his periscope and determined that visibility was too poor for I-58 to surface. The submarine finally surfaced at 2335 and identified through binoculars what was thought to be a surfaced enemy submarine to the east at a distance of 10,000 meters. I-58 submerged and acquired the target in her night periscope perfectly silhouetted by the moon. Three minutes later, and still unaware of the exact identity of his target, Lieutenant Commander Hashimoto ordered his crew to prepare six Type 95 torpedoes with Type 2 Mod. 1 warheads for attack and also prepared to man the Kaiten. According to Hashimoto’s hand-drawn sketch, by 2348 I-58 was prepared to attack and was within 3,000 meters of her target’s starboard side, completely undetected. Hashimoto, within 1,500 meters, fired the first of his Type 95 torpedoes with a solution of 11 knots (not the actual 17 the Indianapolis was travelling) at 2356—all were on their way by 0002.
The first torpedo hit directly in front of Turret I at 0003, causing a large explosion. Three water pillars followed. The target reportedly came to a stop at 0004 when a fourth explosion took place. The apparent success of the Type 95 torpedoes caused Hashimoto not to deploy his eager Kaiten crews on an unnecessary suicide mission. After 18 minutes from the first hit, the lights flickered at the center of Indianapolis and ten loud explosions were heard—several making much more noise than the torpedo hits.[xv] I-58 then turned away from the ship and distanced herself from her target in anticipation of a counter-attack. At 0030, all explosions had ceased and I-58 returned to the location finding no signs of any ship. Hashimoto surfaced and moved through area at 0100 and found enough flotsam to determine that his crew had succeeded in sinking the enemy ship. At 0145 he submitted his report of a successful sinking of one Idaho-class battleship with three torpedo hits at 0003 30 July.[xvi]
The situation described by then-Commander Hashimoto (who had been promoted upon his return to Japan) confirms what he related in his testimony at Captain McVay’s court martial at the Washington Navy Yard in December 1945—that zigzagging would have not saved Indianapolis. The clouds overhead parted and allowed the moonlight to break through. With a large target backlit by the moon and at such a close distance any competent submarine captain could have hit his mark with a spread of six torpedoes. The middle of the night between 29 and 30 July 1945, in the waters of the Philippine Sea, I-58 was at the right place and Indianapolis was not. A temporary change in weather conditions heightened the good and bad fortune of each.
The new information regarding Indianapolis’ progress on Route Peddie does not fundamentally change any of the questions about accountability; it does, however, provide new intelligence for exploration to identify a new search area. Teams have tried to find Indianapolis in the past, but failed, partly because she is over two miles down, but also because they were looking in the wrong place. Depending on the condition of the wreck, researchers might be able to determine how many of I-58’s torpedoes—two or three—actually hit. Finding the wreck of Indianapolis could perhaps bring some closure to one of the Navy’s most tragic events. The wreck is not only the tomb for several hundred U.S. Sailors and Marines, but an iconic symbol of the American sea power that won the war in the Pacific—and a solemn reminder that even the most powerful military in the world is capable of a tragic mistake.

-Endnotes-
[i] “Ship’s History for LST-779,” 5 April 1946, Naval History and Heritage Command Archives, Washington Navy Yard.
[ii] Ibid. And “Action Report, Invasion of Iwo Jima, 19-18 February 1945, USS LST 779,” 17 March 1945, RG 38, Box 1205, NARA II, College Park.
[iii] Naval Message, Ringness (APD-100) to CINPAC ADV HED, 3 August 1945, Pacific Dispatches, 1 July-15 August 1945, RG 38, Box 83, NARA II, College Park.
[iv] “Survivors of the USS Indianapolis,” from Indianapolis Ship’s History, NHHC Archives, WNY.
[v] “After Action Report of Captain McVay,” 12 August 1945, from Indianapolis Files, NHHC Archives, WNY.
[vi] Ibid. Based on an analysis of the location from Google Earth it appears more likely that depth of the wreck approaches 1,700 fathoms (10,300 feet).
[vii] McVay’s Oral History, available at http://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/oral-histories/wwii/sinking-of-the-uss-indianapolis-capt-charles-mcvay.html.
[viii] Thomas Helm, Ordeal by Sea: The Tragedy of the U.S.S. Indianapolis (New York: Don, Mead & Co., 1963), 21. Richard F. Newcomb, Abandon Ship: The Saga of the U.S.S. Indianapolis, the Navy’s Greatest Disaster (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1958/2001), 46-47.
[ix] “Island Commander Peleliu: Loss of the USS Indianapolis, Forwards List of Survivors of Cruiser USS Indianapolis, Torpedoed and Sunk 30 July 1945; Also Forwards a Summary of Information Available in Regard to the Sinking, Based on Interrogations of the Survivors,” 6 August 1945, Action Reports, RG 38, Box 70, NARA II, College Park.
[x] John Murdick, “Francis G. Murdick: My Father,” 26 May 2015. Posted on Murdick’s Fudge Blog, at http://aaronmurdicksfudge.com/francis-g-murdick-my-father-by-john-f-murdick/. Last accessed 4 April 2016.
[xi] LST-779 Deck Logs, 27 July 1945, LST-779 July/August 1945 Deck Logs, RG 24, NARA II, College Park.
[xii] Raymond Lech, All the Drowned Sailors (Briarcliff Manor, NY: Scarborough House, 1982), 25.
[xiii] “Court of Inquiry Exhibit,” CINPAC 1945 Flag Files, RG 38, Box 45, NARA II, College Park.
[xiv] LST-779 Deck Logs, 27 July 1945, LST-779 July/August 1945 Deck Logs, RG 24, NARA II, College Park.
[xv] In Hashimoto’s recollection, the sinking took around 18 minutes. That is close to McVay’s original message that his ship went down in fifteen. Twelve minutes was the time officially settled on by the U.S. Navy. Also note that, based on Redmayne’s assertion that the No. 3 engine was running, Indianapolis would not have been completely stopped.
[xvi] Mochitsura Hashimoto, “Documents Related to I-58 Submarine between the Showa 19 and 20 Periods,” accession date 9 October 1958, reference code 04 Sensuikan 58, Military History Research Center, National Institute for Defense Studies, Tokyo, Japan, assisted by historian Kiyoshi Yamada. The document, prepared shortly after the war, was processed into the archives in 1958. Document translated by Commander Daniel Fillion, USN, Special Assistant, Chairman’s Action Group.
-Dr. Richard Allen Hulver, NHHC Histories and Archives Division
[END]
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