American Sea Power In View

USS Cahaba (AO-82) refuels USS Iowa (BB-61) and aircraft carrier USS Shangri-La in the Pacific, 8 July 1945.

USS Cahaba (AO-82) refuels USS Iowa (BB-61) and aircraft carrier USS Shangri-La in the Pacific, 8 July 1945. The Iowa's Mk.37 Secondary Battery Directors are topped with Mk.4/22. On Spot 2 radar equipment Mk.8, a Main Battery Fire Control set. Iowa's mainmast with heavier legs is now topped by a new radar platform for the "SR", the first entirely new air search set since CXAM and similar in antenna size (15ft x 6ft) to SC-2, on the main topmast. The relocated after "SG" surface search antenna is flanked by fighting lights and "Ski-pole" IFF antennas. On the starboard yard is a TBS antenna. Her foremast still has the 17-foot square "SK" antenna for long range (100nm) aircraft detection with a height capability at that range of 10,000 feet  Behind it, on a topmast, the "DBA" radio direction finder flanked here port/starboard by two fighting lights. On the aft end of the foretop there is a new "SU", a higher resolution X-band surface search set with good range performance (20nm on a battleship). It's small dish shows a shorter wavelength and it is enclosed in a radome. There is an AS-56 antenna on the futtock brace of the foremast. Atop Spot 1 the Mk.8 Mod.3 Main Battery Fire Control set. On both yardarms are BK-7 and anemometers. Two "TDY" jammers port/starboard of her foretop are visible.

USS Iowa (BB-61) refuels from USS Cahaba (AO-82), in the Pacific, 8 July 1945.

Enlisted men of the Naval Air Station at Kaneohe, Hawaii, place leis on the graves of their comrades killed in the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.

The sole surviving Yorktown class vessel, USS Enterprise (CV-6), decommissioned and headed for scrapping in 1958.

Flight deck crew aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6) listening to instructions during the US Navy's Pacific Fleet maneuvers around Hawaii in 1940.

USS Langley (CVL-27) was an Independence-class light aircraft carrier named for the Navy’s first carrier which saw service across the Pacific during World War II.

On 24 August 1942, while operating off the coast of the Solomon Islands, the USS Enterprise suffered heavy attacks by Japanese bombers. Several direct hits on the flight deck killed 74 men. Some claim the photographer of this photo was killed but that is not correct; another photographer on the ship during the same attack was killed while taking a photo.

USS Sable (IX-81), 1943.

USS Sable (IX-81), 1943.

USS Sable (IX-81), 1944.

USS Sable (IX-81), 1944-45.

USS Sable (IX-81), 1944-45.

The U.S. Navy escort carrier USS Marcus Island (CVE-77) in a South Pacific port, 17 June 1944. The airplanes parked on her flight deck from amidships to the stern appear to be Interstate TDR-1 assault drones. She is probably delivering elements of Special Task Air Group One (STAG-1), which employed TDR-1s in Solomons area combat operations during September and October 1944. Other planes on board appear to be TBMs, which were used for drone control. The ship is painted in Camouflage Measure 32, Design 15A.

USS Massachusetts somewhere at sea during World War II.

USS Massachusetts resting at her last berth near Fall River, Massachusetts. Note her haze gray peacetime painting, large-sized pennant number, and SK-2 radar antenna on her tower mast.

USS Oklahoma during scrapping at Pearl Harbor.

This drawing shows the damage to the USS Oklahoma caused by the Japanese torpedoes. It also shows the Oklahoma capsizing, and how she came to rest.

USS South Dakota underway sometime during World War II.

Hull test model for the BB-57 (South Dakota) class battleships. Hull model number 3536, photographed at the Experimental Model Basin, Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C., in 1938. Note the widely spaced skegs, supporting the outboard propeller shafts, that were a unique feature of this battleship class.

USS Texas, view of Bofors and aft group of 356mm main caliber turrets.

Repair job. During the early phase of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the enemy torpedo planes launched their fish at the ships tied up in Battleship Row. Among those hit was the USS West Virginia. She sustained heavy damage and slowly settled in her berth. To put the West Virginia back in the fighting line involved a major salvage job. The repair parties worked night and day to float the West Virginia and return her to the fighting line. It was discovered that during the attack six to eight torpedoes hit her port side, and subsequently, it was decided that to float the ship would require a wooden side or blister placed over the holes made by the warheads of the Japanese torpedoes. Here are shown the caissons on the West Virginia’s port side six months after she was hit.

Setting broken bones. Another photo showing the port side of the USS West Virginia. To repair the damage the ship was fitted with a wooden side extending two-thirds the length of the hull and covering all the torpedo holes. This “blister” consisted of two sections, of which the forward part covered one torpedo hit and the after part the middle portion of the ship’s side, where she had suffered two hits on the armor, one above the armor, and possibly three below the armor. A hit in the stern took off her rudder. Each rectangular metal frame along the bottom of the blister held four tons of lead for sinking the section into place. Each section of the blister was 12 feet wide. It was by such indefatigable work as this giant repair job that the Navy finally got even with the Japanese.

Port side looking aft. After sections were built on the dock a large floating crane lowered them on to the USS West Virginia's side which rested in the mud. Since this work was done entirely under water, it called for considerable courage and ingenuity on the part of the divers and repair crew. This photo shows the middle section after the forward patch had been removed. Most of the after patch has been cut away except for the forward and after sections and the lower part which is located near the turn of the bilge. This was filled with cement and refused to come away. Finally, after months of effort, the job was completed, and the West Virginia sailed from Pearl Harbor to bring her power to bear against her arch enemy, the Imperial Japanese Navy, the culmination of months of work.

USS West Virginia (BB-48) during scrapping. All that is left is the bottom of her hull.

A U.S. Navy Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless of bombing squadron VB-16 flies an antisubmarine patrol low over the battleship USS Washington (BB-56) en route to the invasion of the Gilbert Islands, 12 November 1943. The ship in the background is USS Lexington (CV-16), the aircraft's home carrier. Note the depth charge below the SBD.

USS Astoria (CA-34) heavy cruiser heading for Pearl Harbor December 1941, during an operation to deliver carrier aircraft. The photo is taken from the heavy cruiser USS Portland (CA-33).

Heavy cruiser USS Astoria before upgrading in 1941.

Heavy cruiser USS Astoria before upgrading in 1941.

USS Indianapolis (CA-35), a Portland class cruiser.

USS Indianapolis (CA-35) underway in 1939.

Collapsed bow of the U.S. Navy light cruiser USS Honolulu (CL-48), after she was torpedoed in the Battle of Kolombangara on 13 July 1943. The photo was taken while she was under repair at Tulagi on 20 July 1943. Note the anchor chains and other foredeck details.

USS Houston (CA-30) at anchor during a cruise with President Roosevelt, July to August 1938.

USS Salt Lake City (CA-25), view taken 12 February 1943, at Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, looking forward along port side from atop turret. Note details of turret (at right); radars; 20 mm gun gallery (at left).

U.S. Navy light cruiser USS Marblehead at Tjilatjap, Java, in February 1942, after she had been damaged by a Japanese high-level bombing attack in the Java Sea on 4 February 1942 in the Battle of Makassar Strait. This view shows the effect of an enemy bomb which struck her stern.

USS San Francisco (CA-38) at Mare Island Navy Yard, circa mid-1930's.

Pensacola at Sand Island, Midway Atoll, disembarking Marine reinforcements, 25 June 1942; at the foreground was the lone surviving land-based Avenger of Midway battle.

A view of the USS New Orleans (CA-32) with her bow shot away after the 30 November 1942 Battle of Tassafaronga. On 7 March 1943 (after emergency repairs) she left Sydney for Puget Sound Navy Yard, sailing backward the entire voyage, where a new bow was fitted with the use of Minneapolis' No. 2 Turret. All battle damage was repaired and she was given a major refit.

USS New Orleans (CA-32) at Stockholm (center) with the twin coastal defense ships HSwMS Gustav V and HSwMS Sverige in the foreground, May 1934.

U.S. destroyer in very stormy South China Seas in January 1945 alongside USS Taluga (AO-62).

USS Johnston (DD-557), Fletcher class destroyer, 27 October 1943.

USS Mugford (DD-389), Bagley class destroyer, 1944.

USS Jenkins (DD-447), Fletcher class destroyer, 1943.

USS Hoel (DD-533), Fletcher class destroyer, 1943.

USS Chevalier (DD-451), Fletcher class destroyer, 1942.

USS Cowell (DD-167).

Survivors of a landing craft sinking are rescued at Normandy, June 6, 1944.

USS Wahoo (SS-238) off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, July 14, 1943.

The fleet submarine USS Tang, one of the most successful U.S. submarines. Tang was lost after being hit by one of her own torpedoes.

USS Cavalla (SS-244) was called “The Luckiest Ship in the Submarine Service” because of her outstanding performance during her short time at the end of World War II. Her greatest sinking, during six war patrols, was the Japanese aircraft carrier Shokaku that had participated in the attack on Pearl Harbor.

USS Bass (SS-164), outboard, and USS Bonita (SS-165) with civilian visitors on board, at San Francisco, California, May 1932.

USS Bonita (SS-165) underway, circa the middle 1930s. Note that her original 5"/51 deck gun has been replaced with a 3"/50.

USS Argonaut (SS-166).

Lieut. Comdr. W.M. Quigley, who is in command of the V-4. Washington Navy Yard, 1928. Renamed the USS Argonaut.

The V-4 (later USS Argonaut), Washington Navy Yard, 1928.

V4 (SS-164), reclassified as minelaying type SM1 and renamed the Argonaut. November 1928.

U.S. Navy submarine V5, renamed USS Narwhal (SS-167), underway 20 January 1931.

USS Narwhal (SS-167) (V5) half finished in Portsmouth Navy Yard, 1927.

USS V-5 (SC-1) crewman A. L. Rosenkotter exits the submarine’s escape hatch wearing the "Momsen Lung" emergency escape breathing device during the submarine’s sea trials in July 1930. The emergency breathing device was named for its inventor, U.S. Navy submarine rescue pioneer Cdr. Charles "Swede" Momsen. The submarine V-5 was later renamed USS Narwhal (SS-167).

USS Narwhal (SS-167): View taken on the bridge while underway, 24 July 1930, shows ship's Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander John H. Brown, Jr., USN (center).

The U.S. Navy submarine tender USS Holland (AS-3) with seven submarines alongside, in San Diego harbor, California, on 24 December 1934. The submarines are (from left to right): USS Cachalot (SS-170), USS Dolphin (SS-169), USS Barracuda (SS-163), USS Bass (SS-164), USS Bonita (SS-165), USS Nautilus (SS-168), USS Narwhal (SS-167).

Pearl Harbor attack, 7 December 1941, looking toward the Navy Yard from the Submarine Base during the attack. The submarine in the left foreground is USS Narwhal (SS-167). Visible directly behind Narwhal is the destroyer USS Bagley (DD-386). Moored to the right of Bagley are the cruisers USS Honolulu (CL-48), USS St. Louis (CL-49), USS San Francisco (CA-38) and USS New Orleans (CA-32). In the distance is 1010 Dock in the right center. Note the sailors in the center foreground, wearing web pistol belts with their white uniforms.

The U.S. Navy submarine N2 USS Nautilus (SS-168) underway in the early 1930s.

Cutaway of USS Nautilus (SS-168).

USS Nautilus (SS-168) off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 15 April 1942, following modernization.

USS Nautilus (SS-168) off Mare Island, 1 August 1943.

USS Dolphin (SS-169) underway, circa 1932.

USS Dolphin (SS-169), at the Underwater Sound School, Hawaii, circa 1940. Note motor boat aft of the sail.

USS Cachalot (SS-170) leaving the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine, for a 5000-mile endurance test, 7 March 1934.

V2 (SS-166), renamed the Bass. 23 August 1935.

USS Pike (SS-173) underway off New London, Connecticut, while serving as a training submarine, 5 May 1944.

USS Porpoise (SS-172) off the Mare Island Navy Yard, 13 October 1942.

USS Porpoise (SS-172). 17 August 1936.

Bombardment of Kamaishi, Japan, 14 July 1945: Battleships and heavy cruisers steam in column off Kamaishi, at the time they bombarded the iron works there, as seen from USS South Dakota (BB-57). USS Indiana (BB-58) is the nearest ship, followed by USS Massachusetts (BB-59). Cruisers USS Chicago (CA-136) and USS Quincy (CA-71) bring up the rear.

Aerial photo of Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard taken 10 December 1941 showing the intact dry docks (center), repair shops (lower right) and a portion of the oil storage facilities (lower left).

USS Huntington (CL-107), USS Dayton (CL-105) and USS South Dakota (listed from left to right). Laid up in reserve at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Pennsylvania, 24 August 1961.

The American ship Robert Rowan explodes after being attacked by a German Henschel Hs 293 off the coast of Gela, Sicily on July 11, 1943.

An American cargo ship hit by German dive bombers during the invasion of Sicily. Fire started by bombs dropped amidships spread rapidly to the ship's munitions supply.

USS Tennessee providing direct fire support with her 14-inch main battery as Marine LVTs head towards Okinawa on April 1st 1945.

Brig.Gen. Asa N. Duncan (ARU(F)-4), formerly the Liberty Ship SS Richard O'Brien, moored to a buoy at Guam, May 1945. The ship was one of six Aircraft Repair Units (Floating) commissioned to serve in the Pacific during World War II.

U.S. Navy escort carrier USS Long Island (CVE-1) underway in San Francisco Bay. She has 21 Grumman F6F Hellcat fighters, 20 Douglas SBD Dauntless scout bombers and two Grumman J2F Duck utility planes parked on her flight deck, 10 June 1944.

USS Saratoga on 8 March 1922, after her construction had been suspended. Her battlecruiser origin here seen in the barbettes on her deck for the main guns.

USS Reno (DD-303) circa late 1930's.

USS Washington (BB-56) underway, 28 May 1944.

National Park Service survey of USS Arizona (BB-39) wreck.

USS Saratoga (CV-3) and USS Lexington (CV-2) anchored off Honolulu, February 2, 1933. Diamond Head can be seen in the background. Sara is easily identified at this time by her large funnel stripe.

Wickes-class destroyer, USS Jacob Jones (DD-130) sometime during the 1930s.

Japanese bomber brought down near an American baby flattop.

United States Coast Guard-manned LST beaching at Cape Gloucester, New Britain, Bismarck Islands, December 1943.

LCI landing craft in the wake of a USCG-manned LST en route to Cape Sansapor, New Guinea, mid-1944.

USS Missouri, BB-63, Tokyo Bay, September 2, 1945.

USS Indiana. Still working on painting the stern on 8 September 1942 at Hampton Roads, Virginia.

USS Massachusetts, BB-59.

Missouri riding high at anchor off New York Naval Shipyard one month after her commissioning, July 1944. She is already camouflaged according to Measure 12. When commissioned she was equipped with the SK-2 radar antenna seen on her foremast. Note the aircraft handling crane in its lowered position.

A model of the Missouri. This instructive photograph allows a comparison with the New Jersey's detailed view showing the latter's forward funnel/bridge section. The Missouri carries the SK-2 antenna on her mast. The Mk 38 rangefinder is still linked with the older Mk 8 fire control radar whereas the Mk 37 control gear is equipped with a Mk 22/12 fire control radar. There are visual target finders for the 40mm anti-aircraft guns, the 20mm and 40mm anti-aircraft gun stations, and a ladder attached to the funnel.

Missouri, right, transferring men to Iowa while en route to the landings in Japan, August 1945.

Missouri with all hands on deck celebrating the fourth anniversary in 1949 of Japan's surrender, which was signed aboard this ship. Note the wide base of her citadel and the 40mm anti-aircraft gun station atop B turret. Four life rafts are attached to either side of the turret. Each of the 16-inch gun turrets is equipped with its own rangefinder.

Missouri mothballed at Bremerton, Washington. Note the large-sized pennant number and the funnel caps painted gray. The dome-shaped coverings of the 40mm anti-aircraft gun stations show that the guns have been mothballed too. All of her electronics equipment, however, was removed beforehand. The bridge windows are closed by blinds. Of all the battleships of this class the Missouri was paid off only once.

The U.S. Navy battleship USS Missouri (BB-63) anchored in port during her shakedown cruise, circa August 1944. She is wearing camouflage Measure 32 Design 22D. A K-type blimp is overhead.

USS Saratoga at dawn as the crew prepares to launch air strikes against Rabaul.

USAT Willard A. Holbrook under way circa 1941, looking like a recruiting poster for the Army. At this time she still retained the name President Taft from her previous service with the American President Line, Originally designated AP-44 by the Navy but handed over to and operated by the Army. USAT Willard A. Holbrook, one of seven transports and cargo vessels that were sent to reinforce MacArthur’s forces in the Philippines in November 1941.

USAT Willard A. Holbrook arriving at Brisbane, 22 December 1941. Note the numerous small lifeboats indicate that she was not fitted as a combat-loaded transport.

USS Edsall (DD-219) escorting USAT Willard A. Holbrook, as both are under way, 15 February 1942.

USAT Willard A. Holbrook at Fremantle, Australia, 17 May 1942. She was part of a convoy which brought troops of the Australian Imperial Force from the Middle East to Australia. Note the Curtiss SOC Seagull on the catapult of the U.S. Navy light cruiser USS Phoenix (CL-46) in the foreground.

Aerial starboard side view of the US Army transport Willard A. Holbrook which brought US troops to Australia as part of the Pensacola convoy in 1941-12. She carried US troops to Darwin in January 1942 and repatriated Australian troops from the Middle East as part of Convoy SU.4, a component of the STEPSISTER movement in May 1942.

USCGC Icarus (WPC-110) arrives at Charleston Navy Yard on 10 May 1942 to deliver prisoners from U-352.

USCGC Icarus disembarking surviving U-352 crew members at the Charleston Navy Yard in Charleston, South Carolina.

USCGC Icarus (WPC-110), probably immediate post-war.

USCGC Icarus (WPC-110), 1932-1946 (1942 configuration).

Wisconsin (BB-64) emerges from the morning fog as she enters San Francisco Bay on 15 October 1945. Note the Homeward-Bound Pennant.

Wisconsin (BB-64) in company with the Mertz (DD-691) are shown firing against Kamikazes. The photo, taken 9 April 1945, shows the Mertz firing her #2- 5" gun mount, while the Wisconsin's 20mm and 40mm light anti-aircraft weapons throw up a pall of fire and smoke.

Pearl Harbor attack, December 7, 1941: USS Shaw (DD373) lies in drydock YFD-2 after being hit by three bombs which exploded her forward magazine. Part of the drydock at right is under water while the other side is listing heavily.

Submarine Base, Midway.

Supply ship SS Nira Luckenbach, submarine tenders Bushnell and Sperry, and submarines Sunfish, Haddock, Tarpon, Seahorse, and Swordfish at the submarine base piers on Sand Island, Midway Atoll, 29 Sep 1943.

Submarines in the submarine basin and at the submarine piers at Midway, May 1945.

Submarine basin and the submarine piers at Midway, 1945.

Submarine tender USS Griffin with unidentified submarines (possibly USS Carp, USS Kingfish, USS Paddle, USS Hoe, USS Pogy, or USS Jack), Midway Atoll, 26 Aug-1 Sep 1945.

Submarine tender USS Proteus with submarines Bang, Pintado, and Pilotfish at Midway Atoll, 15 May 1944.

Large landing craft convoy crosses the English Channel on 6 June 1944.

Many factors, including technological advances and rapid ship production, enabled the Allies to win the Battle of the Atlantic, but the most important was adoption of the convoy system.

Adm. William F. “Bull” Halsey, USN, and Adm. Raymond A. Spruance, USN, aboard the battleship USS New Mexico (BB-40) at Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands, April 27, 1945.

Lieutenant Commander Dudley Morton (right) and Lieutenant Commander Dick O’ Kane (left).

The helm on the Higgins boats was mahogany and brass.  The bottom handle pivoted up 90 degrees when they needed a "suicide knob".

USS Chenango (CVE-28), Seattle, January 1945.

A submarine officer peers through the periscope of a U.S. Navy submarine during World War II.

Omaha Beach secured shortly after D-Day, dozens of ships unload hundreds of vehicles and thousands of troops, June 1944.

USS Arkansas BB-33, April 1944.

Okinawa invasion, 1945.

Pennsylvania (1915) leading battleship Colorado (1921) and cruisers Louisville (1930), Portland (1932), and Columbia (1941) into Lingayen Gulf, Philippines, January 1945.

New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York, March 9, 1944.

Lookouts on an unidentified U.S. Navy warship.

Lookout on a unidentified U.S. Navy warship.

Battleship Row at Pearl Harbor on December 10, 1941.

West Virginia (BB-48) as flagship for the Commander, Battleship Divisions, Battle Fleet, followed by other battleships steaming in line ahead during the middle through later 1920s. Note SOC floatplanes on the catapults. The four leading ships behind her are (in no particular order) Colorado (BB-45), Maryland (BB-46), California (BB-44) Tennessee (BB-43).

USS Langley (CV-1) with aircraft on deck, June 1927.

USS Jupiter, 16 October 1913, the collier, before conversion to Langley, the aircraft carrier.

USS Langley (CV-1) under conversion from a collier to an aircraft carrier at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Virginia, in May 1921.

Ships of the U.S. Fleet pictured at anchor at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, during winter exercises in 1927. Visible amidst about 15 battleships at the top of the photograph is the aircraft carrier USS Langley (CV-1). Also visible are two Omaha-class cruisers, at least 17 destroyers, and two submarine tenders in the foreground with about 10 smaller and two large submarines. The peninsula in the right foreground is South Toro Cay, where the drydock is still visible that was begun in 1904, but cancelled two years later.

Aircraft Carrier USS Langley (CV-1) underway off San Diego, California, 1928, with Vought VE-7 aircraft on her flight deck. USS Somers (DD-301) is in the background.

The U.S. aircraft carriers USS Lexington (CV-2) (top), USS Saratoga (CV-3) (middle), and USS Langley (CV-1) (bottom) moored at Bremerton, Washington, in 1929.

Langley (CV-1) with the forward part of her flight deck removed served as a seaplane carrier from 1936 and an aircraft transport.

The first U.S. aircraft carrier USS Langley (CV-1) after conversion into a seaplane tender, designated USS Langley (AV-3), in 1937.

The U.S. seaplane tender USS Langley (AV-3) is torpedoed following fatal bomb damage from Japanese dive bombers, south of Java, 27 February 1942. The photo was taken from the destroyer USS Whipple (DD-217).

About 350 miles from the Japanese mainland, U.S. invasion forces establish a beachhead on Okinawa island. Pouring out war supplies and military equipment, the landing crafts fill the sea to the horizon, where stand the battleships of the U.S. fleet. April 13, 1945.

Flak fills the sky as U.S. anti-aircraft guns fight off a Japanese attack during the invasion of Saipan, Mariana Islands. July 27, 1944.

A cross section view of the Mark XIV torpedo showing the location of interior mechanisms. The magnetic trigger caused many problems for U.S. Navy submariners during the early years of World War II.

Vice Adm. Charles A. Lockwood, Commander, Submarines, Pacific Fleet, comes aboard the USS Missouri (BB-63) for the surrender ceremonies in Tokyo Bay, Japan, Sept. 2, 1945. As a rear admiral, Lockwood waged a battle with the Bureau of Ordnance to have the problems with the Mark XIV torpedoes corrected.

USS Ranger (CV-4) transits through the Panama Canal in 1945.

The crew of PT-109, commanded by Lt. (j.g.) John F. Kennedy in 1943. Kennedy on the far right.

USS Iowa (BB-61) in 1943. This photograph has been retouched to censor radars.

South Dakota class battleship (BB 49-54). This class was a victim of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, by F. Muller.

USS West Virginia (BB-48) at anchor, circa 1934.

The USS Ranger (CV-4) being launched at the Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Company in Virginia on February 25, 1933.

USS Stewart (DD-224) likely in the early 1920's.

USS Missouri (BB-63) (at left) transferring personnel to USS Iowa (BB-61), in advance of the surrender ceremony planned for 2 September, while operating off Japan on 20 August 1945.

General Kenney and Vice Adm. Kincaid, Philippines, June 1945.

Sailors in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii listen to radio and cheer as Tokyo radio states Japan has accepted the Potsdam surrender terms on August 15, 1945.

The scene aboard the battleship Missouri as the Japanese surrender documents were signed in Tokyo Bay, on September 2, 1945. Here, General Yoshijiro Umezu signs the Instrument of Surrender on behalf of the Armed Forces of Japan, Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu (behind him, in top hat) had earlier signed on behalf of the government. Both men were later tried and convicted of war crimes. Umezu died while in prison, Shigemitsu was paroled in 1950, and served in the Japanese government until his death in 1957.

Dozens of F4U Corsair and F6F Hellcat fighter planes fly in formation over the USS Missouri, while the surrender ceremonies to end World War II take place aboard the U.S. Navy battleship, on September 2, 1945.

A test nuclear explosion codenamed “Baker”, part of Operation Crossroads, at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, on July 25, 1946. The 40 kiloton atomic bomb was detonated by the U.S. at a depth of 27 meters below the ocean surface, 3.5 miles from the atoll. The purpose of the tests was to study the effects of nuclear explosions on ships. 73 ships were gathered to the spot — both obsolete American and captured ships, including the Japanese battleship “Nagato”.

Forrestal, center, as Secretary of the Navy with his subordinate officers.

Fleet Admirals King and Nimitz with Secretary of the Navy Forrestal, November 1945.

Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal with Admiral William F. Halsey.

Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz playing horseshoes outside of his command in Makalapa, while sailors observed. The Admiral was under tremendous stress during the Pacific war while stationed in Hawaii, but was able to find time to engage in recreation, such as tennis, horseshoes, swimming, and relaxing with his close island friends, the Walkers.

Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz.

Admiral William Halsey.

Admiral Alan Goodrich Kirk.

Admiral Chester W. Nimitz arrives on Okinawa to congratulate the troops after the campaign.

Aftermath of the Port Chicago naval magazine (which is in San Francisco Bay) explosion. July 17, 1944, 320 dead and 390 wounded. A mutiny of the naval personnel assigned to handle high explosives took place soon afterwards. All of them were African-Americans and they revolted because of the complete lack of training they had.

Lieutenant Commander Seki, IJNAF, about to crash his D3A1 on the bridge of the USS Hornet, Battle of Santa Cruz, 26 October 1942.

American destroyerman scans the sky, seeking new targets.

An American destroyer escort depth charges a Japanese submarine. The kill in this attack was confirmed by the sighting of two dead Japanese submariners.

Ernest Borgnine as Lieutenant Commander McHale in "McHale's Navy" in 1963. Borgnine joined the United States Navy in October 1935, after graduation from high school, until he was honorably discharged in October of 1941. In January 1942, he reenlisted in the Navy after the attack on Pearl Harbor. During World War II, he patrolled the Atlantic Coast on an antisubmarine warfare ship, the USS Sylph (PY-12).

Henry Fonda (1905-1982) Lt. jg U.S. Navy 1943-45 World War II. Fonda was already a movie star when he enlisted saying, "I don't want to be in a fake war in a studio." Fonda served as a Quartermaster 3rd Class on the destroyer USS Satterlee. He was later commissioned as a Lieutenant jg in Air Combat Intelligence in the Pacific and was awarded the Bronze Star. He was in 106 films and won an Oscar for On Golden Pond.

The 24th Surgeon General of the Navy, RADM Clifford A. Swanson, then Captain, served his duty at sea during World War II aboard the battleship USS Iowa (BB-61) from 1943 to 1944. He subsequently advanced to the rank of Rear Admiral, 2 December 1946 for temporary service while serving as Surgeon General and Chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery from 1946 to 1951.

During World War II, Dr. Clifford Anders Swanson was senior medical officer on battleship USS Iowa (BB-61). As an operating surgeon at the National Naval Medical Center, Doctor Swanson performed pioneering eye surgery. He accompanied President Roosevelt to the Tehran Conference and was with the Congressional Committee that inspected the Pacific War area. He became Surgeon General in 1946. During his tenure he sponsored legislation that made the Nurse Corps a permanent staff Corps, and established the Medical Service Corps.

In 1941-44, Captain McCann led two submarine squadrons, served in important positions at the Navy Department and was commanding officer of the battleship USS Iowa (BB-61) from August-November 1944. After promotion to the rank of Rear Admiral, he was Chief of Staff to Commander, Tenth Fleet, served with the Atlantic Fleet and Commanded Task Force 68, which escorted President Harry S. Truman to and from the Potsdam Conference.

Captain James Lemuel Holloway, Jr. assumed command of the battleship USS Iowa (BB-61), flagship of Battleship Division 7, in November 1944. Under his command, Iowa took part in attacks on Luzon later that month, shooting down many enemy aircraft, and participated in strikes on the Japanese homeland from March to July 1945. For commanding Iowa during these operations, he received a Gold Star in lieu of a second Legion of Merit, with the following citation: “With his vessel operating as flagship of several important striking and covering forces...Holloway rendered distinguished service throughout the intensive actions and, by his brilliant leadership and outstanding skill, contributed materially to the extensive and costly damage inflicted on the enemy.” Holloway operated his battleship with characteristic flair, recalled Rear Admiral Ralph Kirk James, who had been the maintenance officer responsible for repair work on damaged ships at Manus when Iowa arrived at that base to fix shafting problems on 25 December 1944. “Jimmy Holloway was charging up the harbor with this big battleship, the biggest I’d seen, and I was getting more and more nervous.” Alarmed, James warned Holloway to reduce his speed before entering the drydock. “‘Oh no,’ [Holloway] said...He got the ship just about halfway into the dry dock when he ordered full speed astern. The Iowa shook like a damned destroyer and stopped just where she was supposed to be.” Unfortunately, the backwash from the engine reversal swept away the drydock support blocks from underneath the ship, and James and his crew had to spend an extra three hours resetting the blocks before Iowa could dock. Afterward, James discovered a grey streak in his hair. “I can tell you the moment it was born: when Holloway pulled his high-speed throttle-jockey stunt on me.”

Postal cover from the USS Alaska, dated July 11, 1944.

Signalmen on the USS Enterprise (CV-6).

20mm gun crew, USS Wisconsin, 1945.

Cover of the V-J Day Booklet issued for the USS Iowa (BB-61) on 2 September 1945.

Whether a destroyerman gets wet all over or just gets wet feet may depend on his ability to dart across a deck before an onrushing wave swamps it with white water. This destroyerman, shown making a run for it, is aboard the USS Helm as she rolls through heavy seas while en route from the Palm Islands to Sydney, Australia.

U.S. Navy repair ship anchored at a Pacific island.

Seabees monument completed in 1974 in Arlington, Virginia.

U.S. landing craft at beachhead on Guadalcanal.

A quad 40-mm gun position in action on an American ship during a kamikaze attack.

Peleliu, D-day. Smoke bombardment hiding the beach.

Peleliu, D-day. The inferno on the beach before they started in.

LVTs are heading for shore.

The floating dock at Le Havre, 1945.

U.S. warships in Reykjavik harbor, Iceland, as viewed through barbed wire entanglements.

U.S. warships in the Admiralties.

Transport USS West Point.

USS West Point with airship providing cover.

PT-237, a.k.a. “Pistol Packin’ Mama,” on 10 March 1944 just before it was transferred from Squadron 19 to Squadron 20 in the Southwest Pacific.

Southeast end of the Slot, looking west. Cape Esperance, Guadalcanal, is at the extreme left; Savo Island in the center. The Florida Islands lie just out of the picture to the right. Later known as Iron Bottom Sound, this was the scene of the opening battles in the struggle for the Solomons.

Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox at his desk in 1940.

Pacific Fleet Combat Camera Group insignia.

USS Hornet, Norfolk Navy Yard, 28 February 1942, looking forward from island along starboard side of flight deck with Grumman F4F fighters and Curtiss SBC dive bombers.