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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
Archive of Older "What's New in the Online Library of
Selected Images?" --
Entries posted in January and February 2003
This page features the Online Library's January and February
2003 "What's New?" entries.
For the more recent entries, and links to previous years'
entries, see:
What's New in the Online Library
of Selected Images;
- For chewing up a lot of time there's nothing like shovelling
out after a heavy snow, restoring a seriously crashed computer,
and a variety of unexpected official diversions. These cut into
Online Library output to a painful degree last week, and explain
why this report covers two weeks' work, the great majority of
which was done before all the troubles commenced.
Anyway, the fortnight's output included multi-page presentations
on three ships: the World War II light cruiser Houston
(CL-81), whose torpedoing in October 1944 provides good lessons
in damage control and persistence; the cargo ship Capella
(AK-13); the 1890s gunboat Vicksburg
(Gunboat # 11), this one being a massively expanded revision
of an old October 1998 presentation; and the World War I patrol
boat Uncas (SP-689),
one of whose 1917 crewmen bequeathed a notable collection of
relevant photos to us in 1972. Not so individually massive, but
certainly adding bulk to the Online Library's ships' list, we
produced pages on the first four of the Navy's Bostons:
the Lake Champlain gondola
of 1776; the Revolutionary
War frigate; the frigate
of 1799-1814; and the sloop
of war of 1826-1846.
Other freshly-done subjects include the World War II submarine
Besugo (SS-321);
World War I patrol vessels Apache
(SP-729), Rutoma
(SP-78) and Sachem
(SP-192); and the Civil War gunboat Vicksburg.
24 February 2003
- Due to the coming home to roost of a good many administrative
"chickens", Online Library output suffered markedly
during February's first week. However, we do have a little progress
to report. Our monthly battleship made its debut, providing some
twenty images of USS Illinois
(Battleship # 7) for your viewing pleasure. Note that, in
the process of doing this ship we discovered an eight-decade
(and then some) image identification error involving Illinois
and her sister ship Alabama (Battleship # 8). This has
been duly fixed, with appropriate notations on the "whys
and wherefores" provided on the pages for both ships and
on the Picture Data sheets of the two images involved.
Other freshly posted ships include the World War II light cruiser
Vicksburg (CL-86);
the store ship Pastores
(AF-16), which served in both World Wars; and the big "frigate"
Niagara (1857-1885),
which had a very busy career during the later 1850s and the first
half of the 1860s.
10 February 2003
- In terms of numbers of images, the past week saw two major
presentations added to the Online Library. One, on the protected
cruiser Boston (1887-1946),
represents a massive revision and expansion of one of our early
subjects. The other adds another 1950s destroyer to our "fleet",
USS Hull (DD-945),
which during the later 1970s was the last active Navy ship to
carry an eight-inch gun.
New World War II ships this week include the submarine Flier
(SS-250), minesweeper Cardinal
(AM-67), and the German light cruiser Karlsruhe.
Completing our new postings are the First World War patrol craft
Russ (SP-1151)
and Anton Dohrn
(SP-1086), and the tug/minesweeper Roselle
(SP-350).
3 February 2003
- Continuing our efforts to present subjects related to Commodore Isaac Hull,
we have added coverage on the 1930s destroyer Hull
(DD-350), whose busy World War II career was cut short when
she was lost in a Western Pacific typhoon in December 1945. The
week also saw the posting of a lengthy presentation on the cruiser
Boston (CA-69, later
CAG-1), which became the Navy's first guided-missile cruiser
in the 1950s and served extensively as a bombardment ship off
Vietnam in 1967-69. Other World War II subjects that have just
joined the Online Library include the World War II submarine
Kete (SS-369),
her last Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander Edward
Ackerman, and two German warships -- the never-completed
heavy cruiser Seydlitz
and the light cruiser Köln.
We posted the usual modest number of World War I vessels, this
time including the transport Antigone
(ID # 3007), icebreaker Rogday
(ID # 3583) and river steamer Rosedale
(ID # 3079). Finally, coverage is now available on the Civil
War gunboat Clyde,
which had previously been a blockade runner.
27 January 2003
- We open this week's report with a new Online Library topic:
U.S. Navy Ships'
Insignia. Our holdings on this colorful subject are, as yet,
very incompletely represented, but the section will gradually
grow in the coming years to become quite large.
Our second major presentation is War of 1812 hero Commodore
Isaac Hull, as well as two of the ships the Navy has named
in his honor, the destroyers Hull
(Destroyer # 7) and Hull
(DD-330). Another ship that bore his name, the Civil War
gunboat Commodore Hull,
was posted three years ago, but its pictorial coverage has recently
been updated.
Other newly completed subjects include Lieutenant Commander Manning M. Kimmel and
the World War II submarine Robalo
(SS-273), which which was lost with all hands, including
Kimmel, her Commanding Officer, in mid-1944; the World War I
craft Anna B. Smith
(ID # 1458), Rickwood
(SP-597), and Riette
(SP-107); and the Civil War steamer Memphis.
20 January 2003
- The new year is off to a running start, with the addition
of more aircraft, people and ships in January's first full week.
The aircraft is the short-lived ZR-2
(British R-38), which would have been the U.S. Navy's first rigid
airship if it had survived long enough to be delivered.
Our new person is Admiral C.
Turner Joy, Commander Naval Forces, Far East, during the
Korean War's first two years. The destroyer Turner
Joy (DD-951), which played a role in starting and executing
the Vietnam War and is now a museum at Bremerton, Washington,
was named in his honor. Coverage has just been added on her,
as well.
Other new ships include the World War II light cruiser Biloxi
(CL-80); her contemporary, the attack cargo ship Sylvania
(AKA-44); the World War I cargo ship Aniwa
(ID # 3146) and patrol vessels Reposo
II (SP-198) and Rhebal
(SP-1195); Civil War steamer Lodona;
and the ship of the line Pennsylvania,
the largest sailing warship ever built for the U.S. Navy.
13 January 2003
- Whew! The holidays are behind us, new kitchen largely installed,
fatigue more or less under control, and we can finally make a
half-way decent "What's New" report on recent additions.
The past two weeks' major work concerns the first
airplane landing on a warship, on 18 January 1911; the man
who did it, pioneer aviator Eugene
B. Ely; and the ship that hosted the event, the armored cruiser
Pennsylvania (renamed
Pittsburgh later in her long career). All these represent
about a hundred images that are new to the Online Library.
In addition, we added another battleship, USS Alabama
(Battleship # 8), with coverage of her use as a bombing target
in 1921; a World War II landing craft, LCI(L)-191,
one of the few of her kind still in existence; another Civil
War steamer, USS Huntsville;
and a half-dozen World War I acquired ships and craft. The latter
are utility boats Anemone
IV (SP-1290) and Relief
(later YP-2); salvage tug Relief
(ID # 2170); and patrol boats Regis
II (SP-1083), St.
Sebastian (SP-470) and War
Bug (SP-1795).
6 January 2003
This page features the Online Library's January and February
2003 "What's New?" entries.
For the more recent entries, and links to previous years'
entries, see:
What's New in the Online Library
of Selected Images;
Return to Online Library listing.
Page made 3 March 2003