Naval Training Center - Rudder Yearbook (Orlando, FL)

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The War between the States developed courageous fighting men in both the Union and Confederate Navies. David Dixon Porter became famous on the Mississippi River. Captain Raphael Semmes in the com- merce raider CSS ALABAMA captured sixty-nine Union ships before he was destroyed off Cherbourg, France, by Winslow in the USS KEARSARGE. Perhaps the outstanding Civil War naval hero was David Glasgow Farragut C'Damn the torpedoes, full speed aheadl l, whose fleets enforced the blockade of the Confederacy. One generation ol fighting men breeds its successors. Dewey and Sampson, our naval leaders in the Spanish-American War, were forerunners of the naval leaders of our next war. Wilson, Simms, Hart, Taussig, and many others next guided our Navy in the defeat of the German U-boat menace and convoyed our armies safely to France in the war with Germany during 1917 and 1918. Between the World Wars the Navy devoted its meager resources of manpower, ships, and funds to research and development in aviation and submarine warfare. Stricken at Pearl Harbor and the Philippines in 1941 and practically blockaded by German submarines operating ott our East Coast ports, the nation built, in three short years, the most powerful naval force in the history ol the world. The indomitable spirit of our carrier dive bomber and torpedo plane pilots turned the tide ol the war in the Pacific in the Battle of Midway, June 4, 1942. From that day on, naval power drove the Japanese imperial forces into their home waters. Powerful amphibious forces, protected by carrier air power and submarines, swept the Japanese armies off the Pacific islands. Our fast carrier task forces dealt destruction to the Japanese fleets. Possibly the greatest air battle ln naval annals was the Marianas Turkey Shoot in June 1944, in which carrier pilots ot Admiral Marc Mitcher's Task Force 58, along with anti- aircraft fire, accounted tor most of the 346 Japanese planes destroyed. Battle of Lake Champlain-11 Sept 1814 ,L , 1 Battle of New Orleans-24 Sept 1862 it 'B Qi if r A! it. 1 . 3 17, lm, W, , T -ravi V, ,4- W ,

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UNITED STATES From the days of wooden sailing ships with black-powder guns to today's nuclear powered combatants armed with missiles and jet air- craft, the heritage of our modern Navy has been established by courageous and dedicated seafaring men. Their individual maritime achievements are woven into a brilliant tapestry of collective ac- complishments which have made the United States Navy the vital in- strument ot national defense that it is today. To John Paul Jones went the honor of first hoisting the Stars and Stripes over an American man-of-war, the USS RANGER, and of first receiving a national salute in Quiberon Bay on February 14, 1778, from France. In command of BONHOMME RICHARD he defeated and cap- tured the British man-of-war SERAPIS off Flamborough Head, giving our Navy its famous retort to an invitation to surrender I have not yet begun to fight. NAVAL HERITAGE With such inspiration thousands of American sailors have followed in his wake, making individual courage the collective spirit of our Navy. Commodore Edward Preble likewise filled his officers and men with es- prit and fighting courage. Some ot PrebIe's boys became the great leaders ot the War of 1812, Stephen Decatur, James Lawrence, and Thomas MacDonough. Perry swept the British sea power off Lake Erie. Hull and Bainbridge in CONSTITUTION, along with Decatur in UNITED STATES, established American naval power on the high seas during the first year of the War of 1812. As our nation grew in stature in the world family, so did our naval officers grow in stature as diplomats. Typical of their exploits were Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry's negotiations with the Emperor of Japan in 1853-54. Bon Homme Richard vs Serapis-23 Sept 1779

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The exploits of our silent service , the men who fought under the sea in our submarines, were nothing short of spectacular. Flanging throughout the Pacific and into the very harbors of Japan itself our lighting submarines sank 214 Japanese naval vessels l577,626 torsl and 1178 merchant vessels 15,053,491 tonsj, a monument to the greatest submarine force in history. During this period the Atlantic Fleet was rapidly breaking the back of the German Navy by sweeping from the sea the greatest submarine menace ever to threaten this nation. Our convoys were supplying the Allied armies in Europe and our ships were conducting landings in Sicily, Italy, and finally Normandy. The greatest two ocean Navy in the world had played a large part in bringing victory to America and her allies. Under the illustrious leadership of such men as King, Nimitz, Halsey, Mitcher, McCain, Spruance, Lockwood, and Fletcher, over three million other officers and men served. And this war, like all wars, led to the development of new devices, techniques, and weapons conceived by American genius and perfected by men of vision. While industry was being welded into a mighty supply force, our Seabees, underwater demolition teams, amphibious sailors, marines, and supporting army divisions were being welded into a team that spelled victory at sea. But the victory warranted little relaxation of the vigil, as world ten- sion continued in what became known as the cold war. Hostilities in Korea demanded a return to war posture by the Navy, and a reaffirme- tion of the American sailor's dedication. Crises such as at Lebanon, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic proved anew the need for readiness lil?