War at Sea

Learn about ww2 naval warfare with these old magazine article. Find information concerning WW II at sea

The War On U-Boats
(Coronet Magazine, 1943)

Read the story of the CAMPBELL, a U.S. Coast Guard Cutter – she sank six German U-boats in twelve hours during one of the nastier moments that made up the Battle of the Atlantic.


CLICK HERE to read about the women of the U.S. Coast Guard during the Second World War.

Assessing the U.S. Navy in W.W. II
(Pathfinder Magazine, 1945)

Some four months after VJ-Day U.S. Fleet Admiral Ernest King (1878 – 1956) gave a post-game summary of the Navy’s performance in his third and final report for the Department of War:


• Biggest factor in this victory was the perfection of amphibious landings


• Hardest Pacific battle: Okinawa invasion


• American subs sank at least 275 warships of all types


• Of the 323 Japanese warships lost, the U.S. Navy claimed 257 (figure disputed by Army Air Corps)


Read an article about the many faults of the
German Navy during the Second World War…

James Forrestal: Secretary of the Navy
(Collier’s Magazine, 1944)

It was a clear day on a fast track for James Forrestal (1892 – 1949) when the U.S. Congress passed the Two Ocean Navy Bill during the Summer of 1940. At that time both Europe and Asia were engulfed in war and it seemed certain to many that the U.S was not going to be able to avoid it. Serving as the Under Secretary of the Navy, with Frank Knox (1874 – 1944) presiding as his senior, Forrestal was charged with the duty of building the U.S. Navy into something far more dangerous than it already was, and build it he did.

The Navy Training Film that Won A Naval Engagement
(Coronet Magazine, 1959)

This three page reminiscence provides an example of the persuasive power of film and it tells the tale of an important event at a small industrial building in Hollywood, California, that housed the Navy Film Services Depot between 1942 and 1945.

Taking the Offensive was the name given to this small, low budget training film that was produced on that dusty sun-bleached street and it didn’t appear to be anything terribly special to the NCOs who produced it at the time – but they learned later that their film provided a badly needed shot in the arm to the then untested officers and men of one particular heavy cruiser that was destined to tangle with three Japanese ships the next day.


Click here to read about the Battle of the Coral Sea

‘I Rode A German Raider”
(Collier’s Magazine, 1944)

Frank Vicovari, veteran ambulance driver, was en route to North Africa on a neutral passenger ship called Zam Zam. He was traveling with numerous other men who would serve under his command; there were 21 top of the line ambulances in the hold that would be put to use by Free French forces when they landed. Zam Zam also carried some 200 American missionaries off to spread the good news south of the equator. This article is Vicovari’s account of his life onboard a Nazi raiding vessel after it sank Zam Zam in the South Atlantic. He eloquently describes how efficiently the crew fired upon other non-combatant vessels and, on one occasion, machine-gunned lifeboats.

U.S. Sailors Wore Earrings?
(Pathfinder Magazine, 1944)

A short notice from a May, 1944, issue of The Pathfinder reported that there was a fashion among the American sea-going men of the enlisted variety to wear a particular style of earring in their left ear if they’d experienced combat. Don’t take our word for it, read on…

Taking the War to Japan’s Doorstep
(Yank Magazine, 1945)

The last flight was coming home. The planes circled through the thick mist toward the stern of the Essex-class carrier. One by one they hit the deck: Hellcats, Corsairs and EBMs, with names like ‘Hydraulic Bess’, ‘Miss Fortune’, ‘Sweater Girl’ and ‘Kansas City Kitty’…When the air-crewmen came back from their low low-level raids, the thing they talked about most was the lack of Jap opposition.


Click here to read an interview with a Kamikaze pilot.

Scroll to Top