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11 June 2024


Welcome back to our National Maritime Historical Society members and friends who share a love for naval history!

A Huzzah to Quartermaster 2nd Class Anthony Bentley of USS Farragut (DDG-99), who penned the winning submission to the annual New Year’s Eve Deck Log poetry contest that is overseen by the Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC). More on this story below, along with news that property has been acquired for the construction of a new Navy Museum.


Speaking of navy museums, this Saturday the National Museum of the Royal Navy will be hosting the annual meeting and dinner of the Society for Nautical Research. If a reader is attending, please report back on the Shepherd’s Pie Bon Bon! Also, this Saturday USS Slater will turn 80, with a commissioning anniversary celebration in Albany. Happy Birthday Slater! As we mentioned last week, National Maritime Historical Society chairman Jim Noone and his wife, Alice, traveled to Normandy in the wake of last week’s commemorations. His report is HERE.


This week Herb Gilliland critiques Dr. Robert Browning’s editorial work on a Civil War diary of Henry Willis Wells. Do check out our list. We are expecting new titles from Casemate next week!


Tuesday Tidings is compiled by Dr. David F. Winkler and Jessie Henderson as a benefit for members of the National Maritime Historical Society and friends of naval history.


As always, comments are welcome at nmhs@seahistory.org.

ITEMS OF IMMEDIATE INTEREST

12 June 2024 – Naval Order History Happenings: The Capture of U-505


With Bob McLaughlin


8–9 PM (EDT) (Zoom)



12 June 2024 – USNI Proceedings Podcast Recording, Annapolis

The Melting Point: High Command and War in the 21st Century


With Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie, USMC (Ret.)


1–2 PM (in person)


14 June 2024 – Mariners’ Museum Legacy Series: Newport News

Josiah Tattnall: Last CO of CSS Virginia


With John Quarstein


Noon–1 PM (in person/virtual)



15 June 2024 – Society of Nautical Research annual meeting and annual dinner (See announcement below)


2 PM and 5 PM, (BST)

Portsmouth, England



15 June 2024 WWII Discussion Forum

Supremacy at Sea: Task Force 58


With Eva Mawdsley


1–2 PM (EST) (Zoom)



15 June 2024 USS Slater 80th Anniversary Celebration, Albany, NY


5 PM (EDT) (In person)



20–22 June 2024  North American Society for Oceanic History/Canadian Nautical Research Society conference


St. Catharines, Ontario

FEATURED CONTENT

2024 New Year’s Day Deck Log Contest Winners Announced


By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jonathan Nelson

“The Conn, eyes forward and keen. Through the night, ensures no contact goes unseen. Dreams of holiday routine I’ll quickly shelve, for I must be up early for the 09-12. Happy New Year, to all from our tropical tour, we look forward to the yards all 2024,” wrote Quartermaster 2nd Class Anthony Bentley in the winning 2024 Midnight New Year’s Deck Log Poem. 


The tradition of the midnight New Year’s Day poem, which dates back to 1929, allows sailors to write the normally customary deck log entry in poetic style as a transition to the New Year. Naval History and Heritage Command encourages the preservation of this tradition through an annual New Year’s Day Deck Log Contest. 


NHHC is pleased to announce the 2024 New Year’s Day Deck Log Contest winners, which are as follows: 





  • Honorable Mention: Lt.j.g. Olivia Rozmus - USS Nebraska (SSBN 739)


  • Honorable Mention: Lt. Cmdr. Danielle “Mako” Tatchio - USS Nimitz (CVN 68)  


Over time, this poem has become a cherished tradition, with each ship putting its own unique spin on it. Sailors from across the fleet are encouraged to submit their most creative deck log poems to NHHC, turning the usually formal records of ship activities into vibrant and imaginative expressions of naval life. 


“Each year we are excited to receive numerous unique and creative deck log poems from across the fleet,” said NHHC Director Samuel J. Cox, US Navy rear admiral (retired). “The poetic entries invariably reflect great pride in their ship as well as pride in service to our nation, often at sea on the far side of the globe, protecting others who are enjoying a New Year’s holiday.


USS Farragut’s poem was written in the middle of its deployment to the US 4th Fleet and US Southern Command area of responsibility. During this deployment the ship, along with US Coast Guard partners, seized or disrupted an estimated 1,770 kilograms of cocaine, worth more than $44 million, and apprehended 18 suspected illicit drug runners.


Although the officer of the deck frequently pens these poems, it is not unusual for other crew members, particularly those gifted in poetry or creative writing, to join in or collaborate on crafting the New Year’s Day deck log poem. This tradition nurtures camaraderie and provides sailors with an opportunity to collectively commemorate the holiday in a distinctive and heartfelt manner.


This year’s winning entries were reviewed and selected by Under Secretary of the Navy Erik Raven.


“On behalf of the Secretary of the Navy, I would like to thank all the Sailors and Marines standing the watch,” said Raven. “The entries are part of our Naval history and like those who wrote them, are part of something greater than oneself,” Raven added. “I’m especially impressed by the sense of pride, ownership, creativity that’s reflected in the submissions, as well as good humor.”


The first place winner receives an engraved piece of copper sheathing from USS Constitution and a certificate. All winners will receive an NHHC commander’s coin. To read the winning entries, visit www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/archives/resources-for-the-fleet/deck-logs/new-years-contest.html

Land Swap Clears Way for New Navy Museum

 

Tuesday Tidings reports that on 31 May the Navy approved a land-swap arrangement with a Washington, DC, developer to acquire a plot of land along M Street SE adjacent to the Isaac Hull (6th Street) Gate of the current Washington Navy Yard. The M Street site had been identified as an ideal spot to relocate the National Museum of the United States Navy from its current location in the middle of the yard. That facility, which had annual visitation numbers averaging 900,000 in year prior to 9/11, became difficult to gain access to once stricter security measures were put in place following the 2001 terrorists attacks in New York and Washington. The M Street site along the periphery of the yard—a short hike from the Navy Yard Metro station—not only solves the accessibility issue for a new museum but also provides a buffer for Navy commands on the yard such as Naval Sea Systems Command, which faced the prospect of private development encroaching its security perimeters. Previous efforts to obtain the property through leasing or outright purchase had stumbled due to objections from Capitol Hill, so the concept of a property swap offered an alternative option to acquire the desired property without spending taxpayer dollars.


At the 2022 last annual meeting of the Naval Historical Foundation, the Director of Naval History, Rear Adm. Sam Cox, announced that the Navy had agreed in principle to a piece of property on the southwest quadrant of the Navy Yard that included the Catering and Conference Center, a parking garage, and the historic marine rail basin and ship model tow basin that had been converted to serve as the Cold War Gallery for the Navy Museum. For some in attendance, there was a sense of irony, in that the waterfront property could have been an ideal site for the Navy Museum. However, as illustrated below with this view of the Navy Yard in 1942, that quadrant is in a flood plain—something the developer will need to consider when designing mixed-use structures that will capitalize on the riverfront location. In contrast, the M Street location is fairly high and dry.        

In this photograph depicting flood waters in 1942, the lower right-hand corner area centered on the baseball field (current location of a multi-story parking garage) is the property that has been swapped for private development in exchange for a plot located on the left side of the photo astern of the steam power plant (see four stacks). The current Navy Museum is shown here as the long two-story white building in the center. (Photo courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command) 

During the two years since Rear Admiral Cox announced the proposed property swap, the terms of the deal had to undergo review within the Navy and local government agencies. In the interim, the Navy committed $39.5 million in funding to launch the project and the Naval History and Heritage Command has begun to assemble a talented team to develop exhibition concepts and survey the tens of thousands of artifacts and art in the Navy’s holdings that can be used to tell the Navy’s story. Last year, the Navy selected five architecture firms: Bjarke Ingels Group, DLR Group, Frank Gehry Partners, Perkins & Will, and Quinn Evans, to submit architectural concepts on what a new museum could look like. See: Five design ideas for new National Museum of the United States Navy (archpaper.com).

 

However, as with the other service museums that have been constructed or expanded on in recent years, the majority of funding is expected to come from the private sector. The Navy Museum Development Foundation (NMDF), chaired by former Secretary of the Navy Kenneth J. Braithwaite and presided by Vice Adm. Albert H. Konetzni Jr., USN (Ret.), has been quietly lining up philanthropic and corporate support in recent months in anticipation of the completed land deal. Now that the property has been acquired, we can certainly anticipate fundraising progress reports in Tuesday Tidings as the project moves forward. If you have any questions or would like to seek information on support opportunities for the new museum, NMDF can be reached at: (844) 244-5033, support@nmdf.org

The Society of Nautical Research Annual Dinner on HMS Warrior

HMS Warrior. Photo courtesy of the National Museum of the Royal Navy

The Society’s Annual Dinner will be held after the Annual General Meeting on Saturday, 15 June 2024. The AGM will be held at 2:00 PM in the Princess Royal Gallery of the National Museum of the Royal Navy. It is expected to finish between 3:30 PM and 4:00 PM, and will be followed by a talk on the progress of the preservation of HMS Victory. Details and papers for the AGM will be sent nearer the time. There will then be time for people to either relax, return to hotels to change, or to see elements of the museum (entry for SNR Members).  

The evening will start with an optional private tour of HMS Warrior with a guide at 5:45 PM; this will cost an additional £10. For those wishing to take this option, please include in your response to the dinner and with your payment. The private tour will require 15 attendees to be viable.

The main event will start with a reception on the quarterdeck of HMS Warrior from 6:30 PM with canapes and some Pimm's (and soft drink alternatives); during this reception there will be the Victory Medal presentation. Shortly after 7:15 PM we will go below and sit down to a three-course dinner in the atmospheric gun deck. The price includes wine with the meal. The plan is for us to finish around 10:00 PM and leave the ship. 

Parking is available just outside the dockyard; even for disabled drivers, the spaces in the nearest public car parks are closer than you would be able to park in the Naval Dockyard. The train station and bus interchange are also just outside the entrance to the historic dockyard. 

The cost is £95 per person (plus the extra £10 for the tour if you wish to take that opportunity). You are of course welcome to bring guests. Rig is jacket and tie or appropriate equivalents, so no requirement to change after the AGM. 

To book your place at the dinner please email Kate Jamieson at events@snr.org.uk. The menu is below for your information, please let Kate know of any requirements for the vegetarian option (please note the starter and dessert are vegetarian) or other dietary requirements. No comment and it will be assumed you are happy with the duo of lamb.  

The menu is: 

  • Starter: Red Onion Tart Tatin, Rosary Goats Cheese with Rocket; Pine Nut Salad and Balsamic Syrup
  • Mains: either Duo of Lamb with Rump and Shepherd’s Pie Bon Bon or Ricotta Gnocchi with Wild Mushroom (vegetarian)
  • Dessert: Eton Mess with Berry Gel, Berries and Strawberry Meringue
  • Tea or Coffee and Petits Fours
  • Port


We look forward to welcoming you aboard,

Mark Barton, Hon Sec.

NAVAL HISTORY BOOK REVIEWS

I Am Fighting for the Union: The Civil War Letters of Naval Officer Henry Willis Wells By Robert M. Browning Jr. Ed. and Intro. The University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa. (2024).


Reviewed by Herb Gilliland

...Though the basic mission is always to interdict blockade runners, various other tasks arise. Wells participates in rescuing escaped slaves (“contrabands”), conveying wounded or paroled Union troops homeward, and bombarding Confederate targets ashore. Wells’s assignments from one ship to another take him progressively further south and up the southwest Florida coast, where the enemies are tedium, heat and mosquitoes. His final station is Key West. A competent, courageous and ambitious junior officer, Wells’s qualities are recognized by some of his captains to the extent that he becomes an acting ensign in command of his own small

vessel before the end of his too-brief career.


Editor Robert Browning Jr., retired Chief Historian of the Coast Guard, has expertly edited Wells’s correspondence. Browning wisely and deftly chooses to correct Wells’s text lightly, retaining the basic flavor of his writing while providing clarification that makes the reading effortless, or nearly so. Errors of spelling, capitalization and grammar are retained as long as they are understandable for a modern reader. Notes follow the same general theory of clarification without clutter. At times the reader may share with Wells a desire to know more of the wider picture, but doing so would distance us from the immediacy of Wells’s experience. Four maps are very helpful. This book is a good read for anyone with a general interest in the Civil War and makes a fresh and lasting contribution to the naval literature of the period.

 

Read review>>

NAVAL HISTORY BOOKS AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW

See the current List of Naval History Books Available for Review >>

 

Reviewers, authors, and publishers can also see our Guidelines for Naval History Book Reviews >>

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Proceedings Podcasts


Eric Mill’s interviews Dr. Dave Winkler about his recent Naval Institute Press book on USS Langley.


Listen here>>

CALLS FOR PAPERS

The Society for Military History announces a call for papers for its 90th Annual Meeting in Mobile, Alabama, 27–30 March 2025, at the Battle House Renaissance Mobile Hotel and the

Renaissance Mobile Riverview Plaza Hotel.


The Program Committee’s objective is to create a slate of panels that represent the breadth of expertise and interests as well as the overall diversity of the Society’s wide-ranging membership. Individual paper and panel proposals on all facets of military history broadly defined will be considered for inclusion. Members in the academic community, the armed forces and governmental agencies, museums and archives, and independent scholars, as well as international members are encouraged to participate.


Priority will be given to individual paper and panel submissions that highlight the presentation of original research, new interpretations, topics of immediate interest to our membership, and cutting-edge trends and subject matter. Submission of Roundtables is encouraged, but preference will be given to panels that present new, original research.


All submissions will be judged on their merit using the above criteria.


Submission Instructions:


Individual paper proposals must include a 250-word abstract of the paper, and a one-page vita with contact information and email address. If selected, individual papers will be assigned by the program committee to an appropriate panel with a chair/commentator.


Panel proposals must include a panel title and 250-word abstract summarizing the theme of the panel; paper titles and a 250-word abstract for each paper proposed; and a one-page curriculum vitae for each panelist (including the chair and commentator) that includes institutional affiliation, email address, and other contact information.


Roundtable proposals must include a roundtable title, the full name and institutional affiliation of each participant, a 250-word abstract summarizing the roundtable’s themes and significance, and a one-page curriculum vitae for each participant.


Members who wish to volunteer to serve as chairs and commentators should send a one-page curriculum vitae.


Send all materials to the Program Committee Chair before October 18, 2024 at smhconferences@gmail.com.

For The Trafalgar Chronicle


Publication Date: FALL 2025


Theme: Naval Leadership in the Georgian Era


For the 2025 edition of The Trafalgar Chronicle, the editors seek carefully researched, scholarly articles on “Naval Leadership in the Georgian Era.” We invite essays that provide examples of exemplary and questionable leadership in the predominant navies of the Georgian maritime era (1714–1837). We are interested to know about unique and far-reaching ways in which naval officers and administrators made crucial decisions and took significant actions affecting their futures, men, fleets, enemies, combat tactics and strategies, ships, policies and regulations, and naval doctrine itself. Additional topics: We also seek general-interest articles with unique perspectives on the maritime and naval history of the Georgian era. We invite biographical portraits, articles about battles at sea, maritime economics, exploration of foreign shores, foreign relations, politics, etc. We also welcome well-documented reports on preservation efforts regarding the artifacts, graves, memorials, and monuments of the Nelson era. Proposal Submission Guidelines: Please submit a proposal/abstract of no more than 500 words and a paragraph about your background (a biographical sketch). Proposals are due by 1 September 2024. Applicants will be notified of acceptance status by 1 October 2024. Submit all proposals and inquiries to tc.editor@1805Club.org.


Detailed author guidelines are available upon request. Article Guidelines: Articles should be 3,000 to 5,000 words long in MSWORD (unprotected) following the New Oxford Style Manual. Please include three to six high-resolution illustrations, each in a separate file (jpeg, pdf, or tiff). Articles are due 1 February 2025, at which point they will be edited and, in some cases, submitted to peer review. Articles will be returned to authors for revisions by 1 April 2025.


Revisions are due by 1 May 2025. Publication will be Fall/Autumn 2025. While we do not pay our contributors, each author will receive a copy of The Trafalgar Chronicle upon publication. Non-members of the 1805 Club will receive a free one-year membership. All authors will also receive a PDF of their published article for their portfolio. Authors retain copyright of their articles. Our Contributors: We welcome articles from 1805 Club members and anyone with an interest in the history of the Georgian Navy and other navies of the period. Our articles have come from writers of varied backgrounds: historians, journalists, university students, military personnel, preservationists, and novelists. Contact tc.editor@1805Club.org for additional information. The Trafalgar Chronicle is the scholarly flagship publication of the 1805 Club, a charity registered in England and Wales (number1202272) with an international membership of scholars and enthusiasts of the Georgian maritime era. The 1805 Club takes its name from the iconic Battle of Trafalgar that gave Nelson his place in history and confirmed the role of the Royal Navy in asserting Britain’s sea power. Seaforth Publishing is our publisher.

UPCOMING NAVAL & MARITIME HISTORY GATHERINGS

19–21 July 2024: National Maritime Historical Society Annual Meeting, Peekskill, New York



16–19 September 2024: Historic Naval Ship Association (HNSA) Symposium, USS Midway, San Diego



9 November 2024: Steamship Society of America, Queen Mary, Long Beach, CA



27–30 March 2025: Society for Military History (SMH) Annual Meeting, Mobile, AL



9–11 April 2025: Council of American Maritime Museums Annual Meeting, Pensacola, FL



24–28 September 2025: 12th Maritime Heritage Conference, Buffalo, NY

PREBLE HALL NAVAL HISTORY PODCAST

A naval history podcast from Preble Hall – the United States Naval Academy Museum in Annapolis, Maryland. Preble Hall will interview historians, practitioners, military personnel, and other experts on a variety of naval history topics from ancient history to more current events.


Click here for the latest episode: 233: David Patraeus on CONFLICT>>


Click here for all Preble Hall Podcasts >>

DRACHINIFEL YOUTUBE CHANNEL

Click here for the latest episode: 301: The Drydock>>



Click here for the YouTube channel>>

NAVY HISTORY MATTERS

Welcome to Navy History Matters, Naval History and Heritage Command’s biweekly compilation of articles, commentaries, and blogs related to history and heritage. Every other week, they gather the top-interest items from a variety of media and social media sources that link to related content at NHHC’s website, your authoritative source for Navy history.


Click here for most recent article>>

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NAVAL HISTORY

The International Journal of Naval History (IJNH) provides a preeminent forum for works of naval history, researched and written to demonstrable academic standards, with the goal of stimulating and promoting research into naval history and fostering communication among naval historians at an international level. IJNH welcomes any scholarly historical analysis, focused on any period or geographic region, that explores naval power in its national or cultural context. The journal is independent of any institution and operates under the direction of an international editorial board that represents various genres of naval history.



Click here to read the February 2023 edition and archived issues on the IJNH website >>

SUPPORTING US NAVAL HISTORY & HERITAGE

With the 250th anniversary of the US Navy on the horizon, NMHS seeks your support as we plan to honor those who have provided for our maritime security.


Click here to donate today >>


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