G’day PHG fans, today I’m happy to announce we have unveiled our new location at #PacificHistoryGuide! Come on down to #Australia and let us know what you think. Announcement in the blog: www.pacifichistoryguide.com/post/watch-f...

Thank you for the live-action shot of me at #McMullen2025, Mark! hope everyone who attended—standing room only!!—enjoyed our panel on damage control. I plan to do *something* with The [Twenty] Tragedies of Scuttlebum: The Navy’s Damage Control Caricature, so stay tuned!

Fascinating indication of the influence of American ‘scientifiction’ on European sf. Wells’ somewhat genteel ‘scientific romance’ reimagined as a pulpy ‘monsters from Mars‘ story. Great bit of social history

btw

Help RAF historian @danellin.bsky.social out - is this HMS Courageous or HMS Glorious? There must be someone out there with expertise in British interwar aircraft carriers converted from (large) light cruisers who can tell us which this is.

Putting "Sea" in the name makes any aircraft better 😊 (Not a serious statement - many conversions like this actually were a bit rough) - bumping to the #NavalHistory feed, and click through for an interesting thread on the Gladiator (mostly not-sea, but who's judging?) more broadly 😊

On this day in 1888, the Spanish submarine Peral was launched. She was the first submarine to be powered by electricity, carried one torpedo tube with two torpedoes, and had a top underwater speed of 3 knots. Her range was limited only by her batteries. #NavalHistory

Jon Parshall’ VJ80 presentation at the National Museum of the Pacific War. @alanallport.bsky.social @armouredcarriers.bsky.social @navalairhistory.com @marcusfaulkner.bsky.social youtu.be/4Xvzc37tVJc

A fascinating look at the plot rooms that won the Battle of Britain youtu.be/RGwUn07EHmg

We are delighted to announce that Fighting Admiral: The Life of Admiral of the Fleet Sir James Somerville is out now! This biography is essential reading for anyone interested in the naval history of the Second World War. Get it here: getbook.at/FightingAdmi... #WorldWarTwo #NavalHistory

Well, #YouTube says these memories from the crews of HMS Canberra and US destroyers at the Battle of Savo Island are too violent, racist and/or controversial for advertising. I call it history. What do you think? #history #maritimehistory #navalhistory #ww2 #USNavy youtu.be/o-h9KiEcI8Q

A Fairey Firefly fly's over the Canadian manned escort aircraft carrier, HMS PUNCHER in June 1945. @RLitwiller #RCNavy Photo Collection. See MORE zurl.co/lBEmW

They thought AI would be able to replace astronaut jobs on the mission to Jupiter to investigate those monolith signals and look how that turned out

On 22 August 1940, the Italian navy tried for the first time to raid Alexandria. The Fleet Air Arm threw a spanner into the works. @navalairhistory.com @jamiemctrusty.bsky.social @armouredcarriers.bsky.social @cedricmas.bsky.social @rgpoulussen.bsky.social @marcusfaulkner.bsky.social #navalhistory

#OTD 22/8/1944 #RememberRCN -HMS NABOB torp by U354, in Barents Sea killing 21 sailors. Effective damage control by Cdn ship's company saves the escort aircraft carrier. In a heroic display of seamanship NABOB launches aircraft to repel 2nd U-boat attack & steams to Scapa Flow under her own power.

Thanks, Chris, a great read. By coincidence, I recently listened to ‘The Convoy’ by Angus Konstam, which covers the build up to, and battle around, Convoy HG-76. It’s well worth a look if you haven’t already!

This week’s feature is an overview of the raiding career of the raider Kormoran and includes the eventual battle with HMAS Sydney. #navalhistory #ww2 #history jerijerod14.substack.com/p/the-voyage...

Aviation wisdom: “If it looks right, it flies right” Meanwhile, at Fairey… @navalairhistory.com #navalhistory

Every time I hear this, I feel like crying. Not because of Udagaki's death. But because of the 22 young men he took with him. He knew they would lose the war. That's why they didn't need to die. okinawa-senshi.boy.jp/last-kamikaz...

As this is the official #VJDay 80 let's not forget the so-called 'Forgotten Fleet' & its part. Here's a photo of sailors of the British Pacific Fleet - led by & mainly Royal Navy units - on the flight-deck of one carrier studying a vista containing two others. #ww2 #history #navy #naval #JVDay80

Fascinating. The crew has done this before. #WW2 #HISTORY

Some findings in here relevant to Australia's understanding of its #NavalHistory as well (which is, perhaps unsurprisingly, not great, despite us being an island).

Found it on the Reddit here (other interesting photos can be found here as well): www.reddit.com/r/ImperialJa...

It's a story that's a bit better known now, helped by books like Will Iredale's 'The Kamikaze Hunters' and Tim Hillier-Graves' 'Heaven High, Ocean Deep' - both recommended - but I hope to add my chap's recollections to that in due course

I haven't properly written up the interviews yet unfortunately, life and my own inefficiency keeps getting in the way. Parts of his recollections from the Battle of the Atlantic have been published in my Swordfish books but I haven't got to his Pacific service yet

When they heard the war was over, quite naturally there was a party. Totally against regulation, flares were set off in celebration

The fleet came under attack from 'Kamikaze' on numerous occasions and HMS Formidable, where my interviewee was stationed, was hit. He said his main recollection was the noise

Losses were pretty heavy and it was difficult to do much lasting damage. The target itself was somewhat incidental to the main advance on Japan because the US Navy was resistant to including the British. Later the situation improved somewhat

I should probably say something about VJ Day. A few years ago I spent many hours interviewing one of the last surviving Fleet Air Air aircrew from the British Pacific Fleet. They were sent off to attack the Sakishima Gunto islands where 'Kamikaze' aircraft were refuelled

9th August 1945: Victoria Cross action of Lt Robert Hampton ‘Hammy’ Gray. Piloting a 1841 Squadron Corsair during a sortie against shipping in Onagawa Bay, Japan, he singled out the escort vessel IJN Amakusa. As Gray closed in, he came under intense anti-aircraft fire. #NavalHistory 🧵1/4

Eric Mills talks with maritime archaeologist James P. Delgado about the groundbreaking discovery of the USS Yorktown (CV-5)—the U.S. carrier sunk at the Battle of Midway—and a wealth of new details discovered during the robotic exploration inside the wreck. youtu.be/Y7dgI3Yxxrk...

Learn from #history to build the future with the Naval Institute #archive – 150+ years of oral histories, rare #photographs, and Proceedings articles. Join today to explore: bit.ly/3IOg47j

11 Aug 1942 // Aircraft carrier HMS Eagle was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U.73 south of Cape Salinas, Majorca. She was taking part in Operation Pedestal, the convoying of supplies to Malta. 131 men died and 929 were rescued. (Imperial War Museum image A 7840) #RoyalNavy #WW2 #NavalHistory

9th August 1942: Battle of Savo Island. In the early hours of the morning, a Japanese task force of seven cruisers and a destroyer under Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa entered the waters around Guadalcanal. Their intention was to destroy the Allied fleet landing troops on the island. 🧵1/7

Today in 1945, in the British Royal Navy light cruiser HMS Belfast, Instructor Lieutenant Robert Jones gives one of the world's first lectures about nuclear fission and the workings of the atomic bomb. #Hiroshima80 He told this story to IWM in 2004:

Anyway, for those wondering, Mogami is just the name of a river and I'm sure there's absolutely nothing that will go wrong with the Australian's latest procurement efforts. Nothing at all. Absolutely straightforward stuff...

You can read more details on IJN CV elevator covers in this thread below: bsky.app/profile/euge...

🐾#InternationalCatDay Feature: Tiddles the Ship’s Cat! 🐱⚓️ You’ve heard of Trim and Red Lead… but have you met Tiddles? Born at Camp X in 1943, Tiddles became the beloved mascot of HMAS Gympie — sailing into hearts and wartime naval history. 📸 Explore more feline legends

509 Brewster Buffalo fighters were produced between 1938 and 1941. They served in the US Navy and Marine Corps, with the RAF and RAAF, and the Dutch East Indies and Finnish air forces. There is only one survivor, a Finnish model 239 which crashed into a lake in 1942 and was salvaged. #NavalHistory

Armoured Carriers docs are wonderful to watch - so rare to hear the story in the words of those that were there. Thank you for your work.

The history of marine chronometers, and the problem of longitude they aimed to solve, is an incredibly fascinating and surprisingly politically dramatic subject. If any of you would like to see me tackle it, let me know! #marine #maritime #nautical #boats #ships #history #navy #naval

I'm supposed to be sleeping but I recently started a new book ("The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder" by David Grann) and in my reading I was led to musing about marine chronometers. Like look at the jump from the first major iteration by John Harrison to his last (1735 to 1772).

The Japanese Type 93 torpedo was never called Long Lance during the war. Samuel Elliot Morrison invented the name because he felt something so fierce needed a equivalent moniker better than Type 93.

OTD in 1941: The Royal Navy was inventing carrier operations as it went along. The raids on Petsano/Kirkeness are usually forgotten or ignored. But they were among the first carrier strikes of World War II. The Albacore were chewed up. But lessons were learned. #NavalHistory youtu.be/SRZ1H7sxnVU

I found some accounts from participants of this largely forgotten / ignored raid. This is a shame. It's context is usually overlooked - one of the first aircraft carrier strikes of World War II. Thus, it was a steep learning curve. #NavalHistory youtu.be/SRZ1H7sxnVU

30/7/41: Operation EF, the Fleet Air Arm raid on Kirkenes (Norway) and Petsamo (Finland). Following the German invasion of the Soviet Union, with Finland supporting their offensive operations towards Murmansk, Britain had come under pressure to launch an attack on supply bases in the area. 🧵1/10

Despite extensive research into alternatives, harvesting the caviar from Liquefied Natural Gas carriers still requires the death of the ship

TODAY IN HISTORY: July 29, 1967 One rocket misfired. One jet exploded. The USS Forrestal burned—and 134 lives were lost. This was no enemy strike. #TodayInHistory #USSForrestal #NavyHistory #Brewminate

Footage was upside down *and* reversed. It shows Chateau de Trevarez, a rest facility for U-Boat crews, under attack by Mosquitos from 613 Squadron, #OTD in 1944. #WW2 #HISTORY

Navy, we’re doing a navy today on @newsofthewar.bsky.social Listen to @merrynwalters.uk and I as we dispense highly knowledgable guff about BIG BOATS such as HMS Illustrious and HMS Ark Royal. Taranto, Cape Spartivento and other tales of woe for the Italian Navy. linktr.ee/NewsOfTheWar