HMS Dreadnought (inset) was the showpiece of British naval supremacy—the perfect target for six friends hoping to prank the Royal Navy.

The Dreadnought Hoax

How a gang of merry pranksters dressed up as comic-opera “Abyssinian royals” and bamboozled the Royal Navy into a red-carpet tour of the pride of the fleet.

Andrew K. Blackley
June 2024
F6F Hellcats warm up on the flight deck of the USS Cowpens in early 1944. From 1943 on, she would fight in nearly every carrier battle until the end of the war and garner 12 battle stars—the most of any of the Independence-class light carriers.

The Mighty Moo at the Battle of the Philippine Sea

The story of the iconic carrier battle of the Pacific war, viewed from the crowded flight deck of the USS Cowpens, one of the Independence-class “forgotten flattops” of the great ...

Nathan Canestaro
June 2024
Facing stiff resistance, U.S. Marines inch forward into the maw of battle on Saipan, June 1944. The conquest of the Marianas has begun.

Seizing Saipan

Eighty years ago, Operation Forager—the invasion of the Marianas—was launched with the Battle of Saipan, a brutal struggle that deftly coordinated U.S. land, sea, and air elements on the path ...

Chris K. Hemler
June 2024
U.S. destroyers move into dangerous shoal waters to pump salvos of 5-inch shells into stubborn German emplacements along Omaha Beach on D-Day, 6 June 1944. American forces fought all day for this particular stretch—the same one described by Ernest Hemingway in his famous article “Voyage to Victory.”

The Invasion Fleet that Liberated Europe

An 80th-anniversary tribute to Operation Neptune, the naval component of the Normandy invasion, which hit France’s shores with the largest amphibious assault in world history.

Ed Offley
June 2024
A pair of F4F-3 Wildcat fighters of Marine Aircraft Group (MAG) 22 head toward the enemy’s formation of Midway-bound bombers early on 4 June 1942. Of MAG-22’s 26 fighter pilots who took off that morning, 14 later would be missing in action.

Marine Air’s Dark Day at Midway

It was one of the U.S. Navy’s finest victories, but it was a very bad day for Marine aviation. From the experience came crucial lessons to be learned—lessons still relevant ...

Lieutenant Colonel Peter F. Owen, U.S. Marine Corps (Retired)
June 2024
New Year’s Day 1956 found the ships of Operation Deep Freeze moored to the ice edge at the outer entrance of McMurdo Sound. Fine weather prevailed, affording pleasant hours for leisure groups out on the ice.

The Coast Guard’s Ice Mission

The world’s polar regions are gaining in maritime importance; for a century and a half, the U.S. Coast Guard and its ancestor, the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, have been already ...

William H. Thiesen
June 2024
Italian Navy Underwater Operations Group personnel conduct reclamation operations.

International Commanders Respond

This year, Proceedings asked the commanders of the world’s navies how they are addressing recruiting and retention challenges.

May 2024
U.S. Marines train with a member of the Ghana armed forces in marksmanship near Daboya, Ghana, during African Lion 23. Headquartering AfriCom in Africa would enhance its ability to support and cooperate with African nations.

AfriCom Belongs in Africa

Headquartering AfriCom in Africa would enhance U.S. ability to support and cooperate with African nations.

First Lieutenant Alexander Dragone, U.S. Marine Corps
May 2024