Today's post was written by David Langbart, archivist in Textual Reference at the National Archives in College Park, MD Noted aviator Charles E. (Chuck) Yeager died on December 7. He is best remembered for piloting the Bell X-1 rocket plane in 1947 when it became the first human-controlled aircraft to break the sound barrier. That … Continue reading Chuck Yeager – Evader, March 1944
January 1943, while on her fourth war patrol, the USS Growler (SS 215) from Brisbane, Australia, had been patrolling the sea lanes to Rabaul on the western end of New Ireland, she encountered a fatal missed opportunity. The area had been active and alerted to the presence of an American submarine prowling around. The Growler … Continue reading Prepare for Collision! The Ramming of the USS Growler and a Japanese Gunboat
Today’s post is by Claire Kluskens, Genealogy/Census Subject Matter Expert and Digital Projects Archivist at the National Archives in Washington, DC. Quartermaster officers are responsible for ensuring that the army has the equipment, materials, and supplies needed to support soldiers wherever they are located. The Spanish-American War (1898), China Relief Expedition (1898-1901), and Philippine Insurrection … Continue reading U.S. Army Quartermaster Officers in the Philippines, 1900-1901
Today’s post is written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives at College Park, MD. "Last Pass at Makah" by Michael J. Machat. US Air Force Collection (National Archives ID 6436075). The United States Government has had a long association with Neah Bay, Washington and its inhabitants, mostly members of the Makah … Continue reading A Front Line of Defense: The 758th Radar Squadron and the Makah Air Force Station, Neah Bay, Washington, 1950-1988
Today’s post is written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives at College Park, MD. Gen. Samuel C. Armstrong (NAID 167250430). At Benedict, Maryland, in command of U.S. Colored Troops, on December 17, 1863, Union Army Lt. Col. Samuel Chapman Armstrong wrote, “we are fighting for humanity and freedom, the South for … Continue reading Brevet Brigadier General Samuel Chapman Armstrong’s Civil War
Today’s post is written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives at College Park, MD. Background The discovery of the mineral wealth of Alaska led immediately to a large development of the coastwise trade along the northwestern seaboard of the United States, and particularly in Puget Sound. Navigators were then, as now, … Continue reading Assignment: Neah Bay, Washington, 1909; The United States Revenue-Cutter Service and the USRC Snohomish
Today’s post is written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives at College Park, MD. This is the second of two blog posts about John Barry Ryan, Capt. Washington I. Chambers, USN, Eugene B. Ely, and the USS Birmingham, November 14, 1910. While arrangements were being made for the flight off the … Continue reading The First Aeroplane Take Off from a Ship, November 14, 1910, Part II
Today’s post is written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives at College Park, MD. This is the first of two blog posts about John Barry Ryan, Capt. Washington I. Chambers, USN, Eugene B. Ely, and the USS Birmingham, November 14, 1910. At the beginning of 1909 the number of airplanes in … Continue reading The First Aeroplane Take Off from a Ship, November 14, 1910, Part I
Today’s post is by Joseph P. Keefe, Archives Specialist at the National Archives at Boston. The USS Braine was a twenty-one-ton Fletcher class destroyer which had been built and launched at the Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine in March of 1943. Following her participation in General Douglas MacArthur’s campaign to retake the Philippines, the … Continue reading The Kamikaze Attack on the USS Braine, May 27, 1945
Today’s post is by Joseph P. Keefe, Archives Specialist at the National Archives at Boston. When the American Civil War broke out on April 12, 1861, the newly formed Confederate States of America had no ships to speak of in its navy. In the months leading up to the war, the Confederate government sought the … Continue reading The United States vs the Ship Bat: A Civil War Prize Case
