I have passed on Sam Cox’s account of his participation in the successful search for sunken ships that have rested under the waves since 1942. It was an interesting moment to hear that the last of the Doolittle Raiders, first to strike Japan after Pearl Harbor and launched from the carrier Hornet, had passed. I […]

(The Mount Pony facility in the Cold War. From the real estate flyer advertising its sale). I am still down at the Farm, luxuriating in the return of green growth and a certain warmth in the early Spring air. Windows are wonderful things. It has been a blessed relief to have the kinds of material […]

Three hours after nightfall on Sept. 15, 1942, the U.S.S. Wasp, a United States Navy aircraft carrier, slipped beneath the waves 350 miles southeast of Guadalcanal. Hit by two or possibly three torpedoes from a Japanese submarine, the crippled ship was abandoned, then torpedoed by an American destroyer to send it to the bottom, approximately […]

“Washington called. My head of Underwater Archaeology, Bob Neyland, boarded R/V PETREL after I disembarked. PETREL then went out and found HORNET on the first dive, so no drama for Bob. CBS broke the story on HORNET first, even though she had been found after WASP. (IJN Heie. Photo USN via IJN) PETREL would then […]

The struggle for Guadalacanal was deadly and desperate- running gun battles in a narrow strait; Marines ashore, in contact with Imperial Japanese forces struggling over Henderson Field, the major strategic position on the island. RDML Sam Cox, commander of the Naval History and Heritage Command, visited the late Paul Allen’s unique exploration ship R/V Petrel […]

(RDML SAM COX, USN- RET., Director of the Navy History and Heritage Command. He takes a hands-on approach to the missing sailors and ships, worldwide. His account of operations on Iron Bottom Sound, so named for the ships that lie below). “Upon arrival on board PETREL, I got reacquainted with Mr. Robert Kraft, the head […]

What an interesting week- not that they are not all interesting these days. There are subpoenas flying around Capitol Hill, and, OK, so Uncle Joe is a little more touchy-feely than society appears to be comfortable with at the moment. He is a Delaware politician, for goodness sake, and his larger crime appears to be […]

From Sam Cox, Director of the Naval History and Heritage Command: “Upon arrival on board PETREL, I reacquainted with Mr. Robert Kraft, the head of PETREL’s “A.T.U.” Unit (“All Things Underwater,”) Mr. Paul Mayer, senior researcher and jack of many trades, and Ms. Janet Greenlee, their superb public outreach leader. Onboard with me were also […]