Dazzle! USS Nebraska in Norfolk, 1918

The ship seen here is USS Nebraska (BB-14), painted in a common WWI paint scheme called “dazzle,” also known as “razzle dazzle.” The idea of this camouflage was not to hide the ship, but to try to make it hard for enemy ships or submarines to pinpoint the ship’s location, speed, or heading. In theory, this would prevent the ship from being accurately targeted by enemy guns or torpedoes. While not all paint jobs were quite as elaborate as this one, the dazzle scheme was a popular one for warships and merchant ships alike.

This particular picture was taken in April 1918, while Nebraska was in Norfolk for repairs. A participant in the Great White Fleet in 1908 (after joining the fleet in San Francisco), the obsolete battleship mostly conducted training during World War I, but also protected convoys in the last few months of the war.

(This blog post was written by HRNM Educator Elijah Palmer.)

Joint Women's Leadership Symposium, 2014

The following post comes from Naval Reserve Commander Colette Grail, who is helping us at HRNM by writing both blogs and articles for an upcoming issue of the Daybook. Thank you, Commander, for providing us with a good overview of this year's Joint Women's Leadership Symposium!

The 2014 Joint Women’s Leadership Symposium at the Waterside Marriott in Norfolk, VA, was standing room only. This year’s conference hosted by the Sea Service Leadership Association (SSLA) was framed by the question:  why do YOU serve? On hand to answer that question were members of the Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, and Army National Guard. Those attending ranked from junior Enlisted and Officers to senior Enlisted to Flag officers of most of the services. The keynote speaker was the Navy’s next four star – VADM Michelle Howard, whose inspiring talk ascribed the traits necessary to pioneer in any territory. VADM Howard recently left Hampton Roads after being deputy commander at US Fleet Forces in Norfolk.

VADM Michelle Howard

The first day of the conference was dedicated to joint issues shared by all the services, as well as appreciation of varied approaches to those issues. The day began with opening remarks from US Coast Guard Rear Admiral Cari Thomas and continued with US Coast Guard Rear Admiral (ret) Mary Landry. Master Gunnery Sergeant Rolanda Bailey, USMC, followed with a clever and intense discourse on her thoughts on “Why I Serve.”

For the second day, the Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard had separate tracks to focus on service-specific agendas.  For the Navy, the morning incorporated three breakout sessions with items from career management, to work-family relationships, to self-care for better resiliency and leadership. VADM Nora Tyson, the most recent deputy commander for US Fleet Forces, was also on hand to speak during a morning session.

The Chief of Naval Personnel, VADM William Moran, listened to Sailors’ concerns and provide guidance on Navy personnel matters. A Senior Leadership Panel consisting of three Navy Vice Admirals highlighted the afternoon.  VADM Nanette DeRenzi (42^nd Judge Advocate General), VADM Robin Braun (Chief of Naval Reserve), and VADM Jan Tighe (US Fleet Cyber Commander) shared personal experiences from their careers and answered questions from the audience. The Navy agenda wrapped up with a brief on Enlisted women in submarines and a uniform policy update.

The 2014 Joint Women’s Leadership Symposium was a very positive, upbeat conference that encouraged women and men of all ranks and all services to continue developing their leadership potential by promoting a command climate embedded in respect for all.

(This post was written by Commander Colette Grail.)

U.S. Navy Gunboats at Deep Bottom, James River, 1864

This is an Alfred Waud sketch of the Deep Bottom/Jones Neck section of the James River during the 1864 Bermuda Hundred Campaign. The sketch is currently in the collection of the Library of Congress. We are currently working on a major article about the U.S. Navy's role in the campaign for the next issue of the Daybook.

Shown in this sketch is one of the pontoon bridges constructed across the James River, set up to establish a communications and supply link between the Army of the Potomac, approaching from the north, and the Army of the James, which was approaching from the east. Soldiers forming the 2nd Division of the 10th Corps are crossing the bridge. In the center of the image stands Major General Robert Sandford Foster. At the time (the Army gave him many roles throughout the war), Foster was the 2nd Division's commanding officer.

In the upper right corner are USS Mendota and Mackinaw, two of the U.S. Navy's "double-ender" gunboats. The two ships are at anchor where Fourmile Creek (correctly spelled as one word) empties into the James, and they are keeping watch to the north for Confederate ground forces. The ships' presence in many ways represents the U.S. Navy's role in the campaign. While General Grant and his lieutenants tried to figure out how to defeat Robert E. Lee's ground forces, Acting Admiral Samuel Phillips Lee's units stood on alert ready to assist Union ground forces (in many cases, bailing them out of a tough fight). Lee wanted to use his ships more aggressively, but Grant worried about Confederate naval forces severing the Army's bridges and requested that the Navy play a more defensive role.

Did you notice that, on the left side of this sketch, Waud has drawn a man fishing near the gunboat? Even with all the activity going on, and both U.S. Naval and Army forces preparing for battle, one man apparently made his decision about he was going to spend the day. As Waud's sketches are considered to accurate and reliable depictions, there is no reason to think that the artist made up the subject.

Naval Review in Hampton Roads, 1957

The museum is remembering many events in June, like the Battle of Midway in 1942, and our own relocation to Nauticus in 1994. Not to be forgotten are the exciting weeks of June 1957 when an International Naval Review entertained the residents of Hampton Roads.

The program for the Naval Review, from HRNM's collection. Participating countries
included France, Canada, Columbia, Cuba, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, France,
Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom,
Uruguay, and Venezuela.     

Like the 1907 naval review, the 1957 review was tied to the anniversary of the 1607 Jamestown Colony. The State Department invited members of NATO and other countries thought to have an interest in celebrating the colonization of North America. The result, gushed the Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch, was “one of the mightiest peacetime armadas in history.” Thirty warships representing 17 countries joined 80-some U.S. naval vessels for review by Secretary of Defense Charles Wilson on June 12, 1957.

A searchlight display, open houses at naval installations, television specials, and ship visits comprised some of the festivities. Concerning the opportunity to visit foreign naval ships, the Virginian-Pilot newspaper quoted the advice of two local civilian women: “Don’t say ‘yes’ to anything.  You don’t know what they’re asking.”

Blimps ride herd over the International fleet on June 12. Admiral Claude V. Ricketts,
USN commander of Destroyer Flotilla Four, was the “traffic director” for the ships. 
He did his job from one of these aircraft.

Spectators viewed the parade of ships from the south end of a new bridge off of Willoughby Spit – part of the new Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel, which would open in November of 1957. These thousands of spectators probably did not imagine that sitting immobile on that bridge would become a regular feature of transportation in Hampton Roads for decades to come.

(This blog post was written by HRNM Curator Joe Judge.)

Pennsylvania House: The Naval Museum's First Home

While we are looking to the 20^th anniversary of our move to Nauticus, as historians we can’t help but look back from whence we came. In the case of the Hampton Roads Naval Museum, that place was the Pennsylvania House on Naval Station Norfolk.

Pennsylvania House at Naval Station Norfolk

The Pennsylvania House began life in 1907 as an exhibit hall for the state of Pennsylvania. It is a 2/3-scale replica of Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Its Navy life was varied. In World War I it served as an “Officer’s Material School,” a kind of Officer Candidate’s School. One candidate remembered his course of study as “seamanship, ordinance, regulations, and navigation,” with the day beginning at 5 a.m. and extending until lights out at 10 p.m.

It was in World War II and later that many fond memories were made as the old exhibit hall jumped with life as an Officers' Club, including the fabled “Green Room.” Time caught up with building in the 1970s and the Navy decided to focus on its history here in Hampton Roads.

The Naval Museum's original two staff members, Michael Curtin and Patricia Geeson. 

The Hampton Roads Naval Museum opened in 1979 with a staff of two, supplemented by sailors to man the front desk. It enjoyed fifteen years of service to the Navy’s history underneath the graceful clock tower. It was a rite of passage for new museum staff to climb into the tower and learn to change the light bulb in the electrical closet there. Other high (or low) lights included pigeon control in the tower, and cleaning the chandelier that lit the long staircase to the second floor. The first docent class to give tours of the newly-moved Naval Museum at Nauticus was trained in the Pennsylvania House.

(This blog post was written by Joe Judge, HRNM's Curator.)

Class Picture Day, James River, 1864

When the U.S. Navy made its way up the James River toward City Point, Virginia, as part of the Bermuda Hundred Campaign, several members of the Northern press accompanied the ships to document what they thought would be the final days of the Confederacy (it was not to be). Many ship's companies, particularly the wardroom, took advantage of the photographers present to get their pictures taken. The result is a disproportionate number of Civil War Navy photographs labeled "James River, 1864."

Naval historians are fortunate to have these images available. While the images do not tell us much about the campaign, they do give us a better understanding of shipboard life. In particular, one will notice the casual dress of the officers on the smaller ships commanded by volunteer officers, such as USS Hunchback. Compare this to officers aboard ships like the captured Confederate ironclad USS Atlanta, which were typically commanded by Naval Academy-trained officers.

An obviously staged action shot aboard USS Hunchback. Of more than 600 ships that served
in the U.S.  Navy during the Civil War, Hunchback is one of the most photographed.

An up-close shot of Hunchback's wardroom and some of the enlisted sailors.

Another image of Hunchback and one of the ship's 12-pounder Dahlgren boat howitzers.  Note the straw hats
and open coats of the officers, suggesting a more relaxed routine aboard ship. 

In contrast to Hunchback, the wardroom of the monitor USS Saugus is wearing
their formal uniforms.  This could be due to the weather (note the lack of leaves on the
trees, suggesting the picture was taken in Fall or Winter).

The wardroom of the ironclad USS Atlanta is also very formal in their
group picture, wearing full-length, buttoned coats.  However, like Saugus, this also
could be due to the time of year.

This is the ship's company of the double-ender gunboat USS Mendota. 
Uniform historians take note: the enlisted sailors are wearing white covered hats. 

The monitor USS Lehigh provides us with a happy medium.
The wardroom is far more relaxed; however, the uniform is still more formal
than that worn aboard the wooden gunboats.

Lehigh also gives us an image of the ship's company of engineers and enlisted sailors. The engineers are the men with open jackets on the sides. Note that they are not included with the officers. This type of image
is valued by historians because it shows the makeup of the company in terms of age and ethnicity.

USS Texas's Role in the D-Day Landings

Three American battleships supported the Allied landings at Omaha and Utah Beaches on June 6, 1944. One of them was the Newport News-built USS Texas (BB-35). An old “battle wagon” commissioned in 1914, Texas was the flagship for Rear Admiral Carleton F. Bryant’s group of battleships and cruisers supporting the American beaches.

USS Texas (BB-35)

All along Hitler’s Atlantic Wall, the Germans constructed gun emplacements. At Pointe du Hoc, six large 155mm guns capable of covering both Omaha and Utah Beaches made it a prime target. As part of the preparations for D-Day, the Allies bombed Pointe du Hoc in April 1944. Unsure of the results of this bombing and regarding the guns as a great threat, the Allies assigned the US 2^nd Ranger Battalion to secure them on D-Day. Before the Rangers went in, however, Texas would get her chance to knock out these cannon. 

Guns on Hitler's Atlantic Wall

Beginning at 5:50 A.M. on June 6, Texas fired over two hundred 14” shells at Pointe du Hoc. This fire gouged craters into the landscape, turning it into something resembling the surface of the moon.  The shells hit several gun emplacements, but there was no return fire from these positions. When the Rangers captured Pointe du Hoc, they found the emplacements empty. They later discovered the guns in a field and destroyed several of them.

Pointe du Hoc. Note the crater-like surface of the land.

Two minutes after the first barrage, Texas' main guns shifted to targets at the western edge of Omaha Beach. The ship's secondary guns targeted key areas defending the beach exits, including trying to destroy the anti-tank wall. Just past noon, Texas came closer to shore (about 3,000 yards out) and added her firepower to the fight around exit D-1.

USS Texas stayed on station for most of the next two weeks, providing fire support until the main fighting moved beyond the range of her guns. Although she did not destroy all the gun emplacements, this naval vessel and others helped clear obstacles, kept the enemy seeking cover, and helped get the Allied soldiers off the beach.

(Note: This blog post was written by HRNM Educator Elijah Palmer.)

The Destroyers that Supported the D-Day Invasion

By Elijah Palmer
Hampton Roads Naval Museum Educator

During the Allied landings at Normandy on June 6, 1944, fire support from naval ships provided cover for the troops. Due to the failure of the initial Allied bombing of the beaches, the fortifications and obstacles were still largely in place on the morning of June 6. In addition, many of the amphibious Sherman tanks who were tasked with helping the soldiers get off the beach were swamped or otherwise lost on the approach to the beaches. It was up to the Navy to try to silence most of the guns in this part of Hitler’s Atlantic Wall, as well as opening up exits off the beach.

The Germans placed large guns like this one in fortifications along the Atlantic Wall.

The Navy's small destroyers took position on the front line of this fire support. With their shallow draft, they were able to come closer to shore than the heavier battleships and cruisers. Two of these destroyers, USS Herndon (DD-638) and USS Shubrick (DD-639), were built within months of each other at the Norfolk Navy Yard during the early part of the war. They were assigned to the same destroyer squadron and would fight near each other during the D-Day invasion. 

Herndon and Shubrick being built at the Norfolk Navy Yard.

Omaha and Utah beaches were assigned to the Americans. The plan of assault called for the destroyers to come in close to the beach for fire support, flanking the small landing craft. Shubrick was on the western end of Utah Beach during the invasion. The ship soon engaged a gun battery near Grandcamp (near Pointe du Hoc), and dueled with it for nearly 25 minutes before silencing the guns. The men fired on batteries, machine gun nests, and other positions. In just a few hours, the ship’s four 5-inch guns fired 440 shells. In addition to being shelled by shore batteries, Shubrick was attacked by a German plane, but the bomb missed as the plane was pounced upon by British Spitfires.  

USS Herndon (DD-638)

 During this action, Herndon stayed nearby, also shelling the fortifications. There seems to be some confusion over the exact location of the ship during this morning, as some say it was off Omaha Beach and some say Utah Beach. Regardless of the ship’s specific location, Herndon provided effective counter-fire on German positions near Grandcamp that were threatening the soldiers on Utah with accurate fire.

Both these ships, as well as dozens of others throughout the whole operation, assisted the landings by helping knock out strongholds and allowing the men to get off the beaches. Let us not forget the men in the “tin cans” who did their part in securing a victory at D-Day.