German U-123 Shook Florida by Attacking Ship in View of Beachgoers
The United States maintained formal neutrality during the first two years of World War II, only becoming a part of the war after the surprise…
Kamikaze Survivor: USS Bunker Hill CV-17 in 30 Photos
The Essex class aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill became part of the United States Navy’s inventory of ships in 1943. Named after the Battle of Bunker…
Futuristic Cannons of B-29 Superfortress: Ahead and Behind the Times
The Boeing 17 Flying Fortress bomber was meant to replace the need for a fighter escort for large, long-range bombing runs. Despite its impressive firepower…
Captured and Tortured by the Japanese She was Awarded “Hero of the Soviet Union”
In Vladivostok, on the territory of the main naval hospital of the Pacific Fleet, is a monument of a girl with a medicine bag on…
Destroyer From “Forgotten Battle” Finally Found Near Alaska
The U.S. Navy’s reaction to marine researchers recently finding the stern of a World War II ship was understandably, and appropriately, muted. Of course, finding…
WWII Dambusters Bomb Discovered at Beach
It is something that can only happen in Europe: a father and his son have a day at the beach and discover a bomb. James…
Soviet Invasion of Manchuria: Finishing the Japanese Army
In 1945, it became widely apparent that World War II would soon come to an end. With the surrender of Germany, the only opposition left…
Are We Erasing History?
Many have borrowed philosopher George Santayana’s famous phrase: “Those who do not remember history are doomed to repeat it,” but in our current political climate, some…
5 Messerschmitt Fighter Planes of WWII
During the 1930s and 1940s, Messerschmitt made some of the most advanced and effective fighter planes in German service. They played an important part in…
Rearming for WWII: Too Little Too Late
During the 1930s, the Nazi government began rearming Germany for what would become the Second World War. The response from Germany’s main opponents, Britain and…
Attack of the Fire Balloons – Japan’s Intercontinental Weapon
On November 3, 1944, Japan released “fūsen bakudan,” or balloon bombs, into the Pacific jet stream. They each carried four small bombs and one thirty-pound…
Early Drones – Radio Controlled Tanks of the USSR
In 1915, the French designers came up with a self-propelled engineering charge with remote control bearing the name “Torpille Terrestre“. It had a caterpillar mechanism…