Stephen Phillips

Huzzah! Her sides are made of iron!

OTD - August 19, 1812, USS Constitution met HMS Guerriere off the coast of Nova Scotia and, under Captain Isaac Hull, won a decisive frigate action in about half an hour.

When a British shot bounced off Constitution’s thick oak hull, a crewmember cried out “Huzzah! Her sides are made of iron!” This with a decisive victory created Constitutions nickname “Old Ironsides.”

For the young U.S. Navy in the War of 1812, this was more than a dramatic duel at sea. Victory in the first action against the Royal Navy was a major morale boost at a crucial moment.

In episode 55 of Talk a Little, Learn a Lot, the American Society of Naval Engineers (ASNE) podcast, VADM David Lewis, ASNE’s president, discusses with host Dr. Stephen Phillips the state of the society as described in his talk and report entitled “Progress into Performance.”

https://talk-a-little-learn-a-lot.transistor.fm/55

Join ASNE and learn more about its publications and events here: https://www.navalengineers.org/

Hosted by transistor, Talk a Little, Learn a Lot can also be found on Spotify, iTunes, YouTube, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, Pocket Casts and many other podcast platforms. Listeners can add it to their favorite podcast platform by using the RSS feed: https://feeds.transistor.fm/talk-a-little-learn-a-lot

Please give the podcast a “like,” rate it, and provide a review. If you have a suggested topic, guest, or just want to ensure your comment gets through, contact Dr. Phillips at [email protected].

Fellow King's College London alum, Dr. James W.E Smith reviewed "A Poisoned Chalice." I'm both honored by and appreciative of the kind words.

"Phillip’s attention to detail, accuracy and analysis is the very best and rooted in skill, which he communicates through the text in an accessible manner. Presented as a historical analysis, this work offers a rigorously technical examination of pivotal naval operations within a contested period of US military history. It is a meticulously documented historical analysis of US naval operations during the final phase of the Iran-Iraq War’s contested maritime dimension (1986–1988)."

Read the whole review here:
https://www.naval-review.com/book-reviews/a-poisoned-chalice-the-u-s-navy-in-the-persian-gulf-1987-1988/

In the latest episode of the Preble Hall podcast, Captain James B. Bryant, USN (Ret.) and his Volunteer Research Team discuss Bryant's upcoming book Rush to Disaster: The Loss of USS Thresher with USNA Museum's Education Specialist, Sondra Duplantis.

https://preble-hall.transistor.fm/episodes/captain-james-bryant-co-rush-to-disaster-loss-of-the-thresher

Rush to Disaster reexamines the 1963 loss of USS Thresher—the deadliest nuclear submarine disaster in history—using thousands of pages of newly declassified Naval Court of Inquiry (NCOI) records released through a landmark Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit. Written by a former nuclear commander, the book reveals how Cold War urgency, flawed assumptions, and institutional pressure combined to produce a catastrophe that reshaped submarine safety.

Father of the American Navy!

OTD – John Paul Jones, Father of the U.S. Navy, died in Paris at the age of 45.
The American Revolution was primarily a war at sea. More men fought and died at sea than ashore.

John Paul Jones was one of the leading officers of the Continental Navy. A sailor who was relatively new to the colonies at the war’s outbreak, he sailed into British territorial waters that were known to him. Jones’ exploits in attacking British at home was strategic, affecting the British mindset and economy. His campaigns that included a raid at Whitehaven and capture of HMS Serapis contributed to British shipping insurance rates rising to 23% of the cargo’s value. British merchants then lobbied their representatives in parliament to end the war due to its high cost.

When he died, Jones was preserved in alcohol and buried in a lead coffin. The location of his remains became lost during the French Revolution. Jones was found in 1905 after an exhaustive search and identified in part with a bust, a sculpture that revealed he had a minor deformity on one of his earlobes that matched the preserved body.

Captured!

Originally built as a merchant vessel in 1799 by Henry Spencer on Maryland's Eastern Shore, Nautilus was purchased by the U.S. Navy in May 1803 and commissioned under Lt. Richard Somers.

By the outbreak of the War of 1812, Nautilus was converted into a brig. OTD - July 16, 1812, under the command of Lt. William Crane, she became the first U.S. Navy warship lost in the conflict, captured off the New Jersey–New York coast by HMS Africa and the frigates HMS Ae**us and HMS Shannon.

A small ship—but an important chapter in U.S. naval history.

First Admiral!

OTD...July 16, 1862: Congress reorganized the U.S. Navy’s rank structure—creating the ranks of rear admiral, commodore, and lieutenant commander—and set force levels for the grades: 9 rear admirals; 18 commodores; 36 captains; 72 commanders; and 144 officers in the remaining grades through ensign.

David G. Farragut was the first officer promoted to rear admiral.

In 1863, Farragut wrote to Gustavus Fox, the first Assistant Secretary of the Navy to make suggestions on denoting the rank in a distinctive manner.

In Preble Hall Episode 262 LCDR Thomas J. Cutler, USN (Ret.) discusses his book Give Me a Fast Ship: The Heroic Actions of Ernest Evans and the Crew of USS Johnston with Sondra Duplantis, U. S. Naval Academy Museum's Education Specialist. LCDR Cutler is a retired lieutenant commander and former gunner’s mate second class who served in patrol craft, cruisers, destroyers, and aircraft carriers. Cutler is the winner of the Alfred Thayer Mahan Award for Naval Literature, the U.S. Naval Institute Press Author of the Year, and the Commodore Dudley W. Knox Naval History Lifetime Achievement Award.

https://preble-hall.transistor.fm/episodes/thomas-cutler-give-me-a-fast-ship-the-heroic-actions-of-ernest-evans-and-the-crew-of-uss-johnston