Naval History and Heritage Command

USNI NEWS Video: USS Constitution is Getting a Mast Makeover

USS Constitution moored in Boston on Aug. 7, 2023. USNI News Photo

ABOARD FRIGATE USS CONSTITUTION – The oldest warship afloat looked skeletal moored in the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston with no sails.
A ship without sails is common for the modern Navy, but for USS Constitution, the sheets of advanced polyester designed to look like flax cloth are a crucial part of the 226-year-old frigate’s structure.

The reason for the bare look is Old Ironsides is going through a major repair, Constitution...

https://news.usni.org/2023/08/16/usni-news-video-uss-constitution-is-getting-a-mast-makeover

VIDEO: Famed WWII Destroyer USS Johnston Discovered 4 Miles Down

Bow of USS Johnston. Victor Vescovo Photo

A team of ocean explorers has found the wreck of World War II Fletcher-class destroyer USS Johnston (DD-557) which played a critical role at the Battle off Samar, Navy History and Heritage Command said on Thursday.

Victor Vescovo, explorer and retired Navy officer, in the manned submersible Limiting Factor located Johnston‘s bow further down a cliff face at 21,180 feet. He said he is committed to respecting the final resting place for many of its crew,...

https://news.usni.org/2021/04/01/video-famed-wwii-destroyer-uss-johnston-discovered-4-miles-down

VIDEO: Navy Celebrates 60th Anniversary of Trieste Dive

Trieste. US Navy photo

WASHINGTON NAVY YARD – The Navy officer who took a manned submersible to the deepest part of the ocean in 1960 said it would have been impossible without the steady financial support by the Office of Naval Research for oceanographic research.

“ONR was generous to a fault [and] is underappreciated for this whole thing,” with the command buying the bathyscaph Trieste from Swiss inventor and scientist Auguste Piccard in 1957 and staying with the project over the years, Capt....

https://news.usni.org/2020/01/24/navy-celebrates-60th-anniversary-of-trieste-dive

Wreck of Famed WWII Destroyer USS Johnston May Have Been Found

Wreckage of a Fletcher-class destroyer believed to be USS Johnston (DD-557). Photo released by R/V Petrel

A few days past the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Samar, researchers from Vulcan Inc.’s research vessel R/V Petrel believe they’ve found wreckage from the engagement’s famed Fletcher-class destroyer, USS Johnston (DD-557).

Images of twisted metal, a destroyed deck gun, a propeller shaft and other less recognizable debris were posted to Petrel’s Facebook page Wednesday, with a video...

https://news.usni.org/2019/10/30/wreck-of-famed-wwii-destroyer-uss-johnston-may-have-been-found

VIDEO: Wreck Discovered of WWII Japanese Carrier Key to Pearl Harbor Attack

Wreck Imperial Japanese Navy Carrier Kaga on Oct. 17. Vulcan Image

Researchers have discovered the wreck of the Imperial Japanese Navy carrier that was key to the attack on Pearl Harbor and that sank at the Battle of Midway, U.S. officials confirmed to USNI News on Friday.

IJN Kaga was found in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument off the Midway Atoll by the crew of R/V Petrel, the lead ship in the ongoing expedition funded by late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen to find ships and...

https://news.usni.org/2019/10/18/video-wreck-discovered-of-wwii-japanese-carrier-key-to-pearl-harbor-attack

U.K. Firm Claims it Found Famed U.S. Warship Bonhomme Richard; Experts Aren’t So Sure

John Paul Jones, USS Bonhomme Richard and a satellite image of the U.K.

A British raconteur says he found the wreckage of Capt. John Paul Jones’ flagship, USS Bonhomme Richard, but across the Atlantic historians and Navy officials aren’t as certain.

In November, a five-person team at Merlin Burrows, an English satellite imagery firm, announced they had pinpointed the wreck of Bonhomme Richard close to the Yorkshire shore.

Combining data from historical accounts of Bonhomme Richard’s Sept. 23,...

https://news.usni.org/2019/03/29/u-k-firm-claims-found-famed-u-s-warship-bonhomme-richard-experts-arent-sure

Wreckage Of World War II-Era Carrier USS Wasp Discovered

Wreckage of USS Wasp (CV-7). Photo released by R/V Petrel.

The late Paul Allen’s research team announced they found the wreckage of the World War II-era aircraft carrier USS Wasp (CV-7) in the Coral Sea.

The team aboard R/V Petrel found the Wasp wreck nearly 14,000 feet below the sea’s surface. Petrel is a research and exploration vessel used by Allen’s researchers to locate historically significant shipwrecks and explore underwater ecosystems. Wasp was found in January, but the discovery was not...

https://news.usni.org/2019/03/13/wreckage-of-wwii-era-carrier-wasp-discovered

Ensign Keeps New Year’s Day Rhyming Deck Log Tradition Alive

EAST CHINA SEA (Dec. 31, 2018) Ens. Lauren Larar writes the New Years deck log entry while underway in the East China Sea aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell (DDG 85). U.S. Navy photo.

According to almost a century of Navy tradition, the year’s first deck log entry on a U.S. warship must be written in rhyme. The tradition is a tricky one since the entry must still include all the required information about a ship’s location, propulsion and operations.

On Jan. 1,...

https://news.usni.org/2019/01/02/middle-watch-rhyming-in-the-new-year

Investigation Confirms WWI Cruiser USS San Diego Was Sunk by U-boat Mine

USS San Diego sinking off Fire Island, New York on July 19,1918. US Navy Painting by Francis Muller

Steaming to New York with a belly full of coal, the armored cruiser USS San Diego (ACR-6) struck a mine deployed by a German U-boat on July 19, 1918. 

The mine exploded along the cruiser’s aft port side, near compartments filled with coal and one of the ship’s four tall stacks. Within 25 minutes, despite initial efforts by the crew to keep the ship steaming ahead as water rushed into its spaces, San...

https://news.usni.org/2018/12/11/investigation-confirms-wwi-cruiser-uss-san-diego-sunk-u-boat-mine

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