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The technological face of United States naval power carried its own risks, even in peacetime. On May 23rd, 1939, the submarine USS Squalus submerged for a test dive off the New Hampshire coast and suffered a catastrophic failure in one of its main air and water systems. Seawater flooded aft compartments, sending the boat to the bottom in cold, dark water with part of the crew trapped inside.
At the dawn of a new century, American forces operating far from home faced a different kind of threat.
At Groton, Connecticut, the United States Navy stepped into a new era when USS Nautilus, the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine, was commissioned on September 30th, 1954.
Off the New England coast, the nuclear-powered submarine USS Thresher was conducting deep-diving tests when something went catastrophically wrong. Communications suggested trouble with systems and attempts to surface as the boat descended beyond its safe limits. Moments later, contact was lost, and later analysis pointed to flooding and a reactor shutdown that left the submarine unable to recover.
Lead ship of the Iowa class, with service in World War II, Korea, and the renewed battleship program of the 1980s.
On a winter day on the Potomac River in 1844, the brand-new steam warship USS Princeton hosted Washington dignitaries for a demonstration cruise. The pride of the ship was a massive naval gun nicknamed “Peacemaker,” intended to showcase the Navy’s technical skill and the promise of long-range, heavy artillery at sea.
USS Texas served from the Veracruz crisis through two world wars, fired in support of major amphibious operations, and survived as one of the most important preserved dreadnoughts.
August Kauss — Corporal U.S. Army Civil War Five Forks, Virginia, USA
Charles L. Russell — Corporal U.S. Army Civil War Spotsylvania, Virginia, USA
Edward G. Allen — Boatswain's Mate First Class U.S. Navy China Relief Expedition (Boxer Rebellion) China
Edwin Nelson Appleton — Corporal U.S. Marine Corps China Relief Expedition (Boxer Rebellion) Tientsin, China
James A Smith — Landsman U.S. Navy China Relief Expedition Near Tientsin, China
James Barnum — Boatswain's Mate U.S. Navy Civil War Fort Fisher, North Carolina, USA
Thomas Robinson — Captain of the Afterguard U.S. Navy Interim 1865 - 1870 Off New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
The New York class introduced the 14-inch gun to American battleships and carried two ships from the dreadnought race through both world wars.
USS Arizona served in the U.S. battle fleet for twenty-five years before her destruction at Pearl Harbor. Her wreck and memorial now connect an individual ship, its crew, and the national memory of 7 December 1941.
USS Monitor served for only ten months, but her rotating turret, battle with CSS Virginia, loss at sea, and continuing archaeological conservation made her one of the most consequential warships of the nineteenth century.
A story of nuclear propulsion, undersea endurance, and how one boat reshaped the Cold War at sea.