• The past week brings a relatively modest number of new Online Library entries, most notably including comprehensive coverage of our holdings on USS Pueblo (AGER-2), an intelligence collection ship whose capture in January 1968 is recalled by recent events. Also relevant to the subject is the previously posted entry on USS Liberty (AGTR-5).
  Other new ships added recently include: the "Pre-dreadnought" battleship USS Minnesota, Civil War "Double-ender" gunboat Octorara, World War I patrol vessel Ionita, Confederate torpedo boat Saint Patrick and U.S. Army cargo vessels FP-343 and FP-344. Both subsequently had U.S. Navy service, the former as USNS AKL-34 and the latter as the previously-mentioned USS Pueblo.
  30 April 2001
  
  
  

  

• An airplane leads off the week's new offerings, with a fairly large presentation on the Curtiss SOC "Seagull" scout-observation aircraft which served for more than a decade, beginning in the mid-1930s. During World War II, the then rather-elderly SOC played an important role as a cruiser-based short-range scout and gunfire observation platform.
  Newly-posted ships include the aircraft carrier Shangri-La (CV/CVA/CVS-38), small seaplane tender Barataria (AVP-33), cargo ship Jupiter (AK-43, later AVS-8) and sailing patrol vessel Juniata (IX-77), all of World War II vintage. World War I vessels include the patrol craft Idaho (SP-545) and Hoqua (SP-142), plus the cargo ship Honolulu. The latest Civil War ships are all gunboats: Maumee, Mackinaw, Winona and Wissahickon.
  23 April 2001
  
  
  

  

• Pictures of several more ship of the past two centuries are now accessible through the Online Library. The largest vessels are the battleship New Hampshire (Battleship # 25) and the U.S. Navy's first escort carrier, USS Long Island (AVG-1, later ACV-1 & CVE-1). World War II is further represented by the British aircraft carrier Ark Royal of 1938-41 and the U.S. Navy cargo ships Hercules (AK-41) and Auriga (AK-98).
  The First World War offers the troop transport USS Powhatan and patrol vessels Halcyon II, Hippocampus and Hopestill.
  "New" 19th Century ships are the Civil "90-day gunboats" Sciota and Tahoma and the ill-fated brig Somers, which gained notoriety in 1842 when three of her crew were hanged for mutiny.
  16 April 2001
  
  
  

  

• The past week's postings add more ships and people to our offerings. New people include the Navy's eighth Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Harold R. Stark, who became Commander, U.S. Naval Forces in Europe after leaving the CNO billet and served in London from April 1942 until after the end of World War II. We also added another Civil War Sailor, Ordinary Seaman John Jones, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his role in rescuing survivors of USS Monitor.
  Among the Online Library's latest ships is the Essex-class aircraft carrier Bennington (CV-20, later CVA and CVS-20). We now have presentations "up" on 22 of the two-dozen ships of this very large class of fleet carriers, and should have them all in about a month.
  Our other ships include three each from World War I and the Civil War. The latter are the "90-day gunboats" Sagamore and Seneca, plus the former merchant steamer Rhode Island. From the "Great War", we have added the harbor tug Lucille Ross, the sailing patrol craft Laura Reed, and freighter Katrina Luckenbach.
  9 April 2001
  
  
  

  

• The most recent additions to the "Online Library" cover over a century, from the Civil War to the Cold War. The week's largest project is represented by several pages on the nuclear-powered submarine USS Thresher (SSN-593), whose tragic loss in 1963 led to extensive programs to improve submarine design safety and to give the Navy greater deep submergence capabilitities. A presentation was also posted on Thresher's last Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander John W. Harvey.
  Our work on battleships continued, with a page added on USS Mississippi (BB-23), which was sold to Greece in 1914 and became their Navy's Kilkis. We also completed a presentation on the Navy's final "pre-dreadnought" battleship class, the Mississippi class.
  Other newly posted ships include the oiler Cacapon (AO-52), research ship Mizar (T-AGOR-11, originally T-AK-272), World War I patrol craft Hyac and Hydraulic; and the Civil War gunboat Ottawa.
  2 April 2001
  
  
  

  

• Our postings this week include another airplane type and several more ships. The plane is the Brewser F2A "Buffalo", a fighter that had little success in its very limited U.S. combat employment.
  U.S. Navy ships include an aircraft carrier, two small seaplane tenders, three World War I vessels and one Civil War gunboat. The carrier is USS Hancock (CV/CVA-19), whose long career extended from the last year of World War II to the end of the Vietnam conflict in 1975. Small seaplane tenders Unimak (AVP-31) and Yakutat (AVP-32) represent further progress in a project to place all ships of that type on the "WEB".
  Our World War I offerings include a moderately large transport, USS Martha Washington (ID # 3019), the tug Asher J. Hudson (SP-3104), and the motor boat Hurst (SP-3156). The week's Civil War ship is the "90-day gunboat" Pembina.
  Finally, we added another German warship to our listings, the battleship Schlesien.
  26 March 2001
  
  
  

  

• This week's efforts consist exclusively of "a lotta ships", of which by far the largest presentation is on the German Second World War battleship Scharnhorst, including many views from the album of a sailor who served on her in 1939-40. Other German ships posted, all with either the name or views in common with Scharnhorst include the armored cruiser Scharnhorst, which was sunk in action in December 1914, the old battleship Hessen and the famous World War II submarine U-47.
  The U.S. Navy had one battleship and a bunch of smaller vessels. The big one is USS Idaho (Battleship # 24), which was sold to Greece in 1914 and subsequently served as the Greek Navy's Lemnos. There are also a World War II motor torpedo boat (the Online Library's first), PT-564; the Civil War gunboats Muscoota and Nipsic; and the minor First World War vessels Ellen (SP-1209), Hetman (SP-1150), Hiawatha (SP-183), Hiawatha (ID # 2892), Inca (SP-1212) and Needle (SP-649).
  19 March 2001
  
  
  

  

• Our main feature of the week is the 18 April 1942 Doolittle Raid on Japan, a joint Navy-Army Air Forces operation that gave U.S. and allied moral an important lift during the dark early months of the Pacific War, and encouraged the Japanese to make plans that would lead them to disaster at the 4-6 June 1942 Battle of Midway.
  As is usually the case, there are several new ships to visit on the Online Library. The fortnightly aircraft carrier is USS Wasp (CV/CVA/CVS-18). Other World War II era vessels include destroyer Hobson (DD-464, later DMS-26), small seaplane tenders Rockaway (AVP-29) and San Pablo (AVP/AGS-30), cargo ship Pleiades (AK-46), and motor gunboats PGM-7 and PGM-12.
  The "Great War" is represented by two small patrol vessels, Herreshoff # 306 (SP-1841) and Herreshoff # 309 (SP-1218); while our coverage of Civil War gunboats is now increased by four: Marblehead, Massasoit, Mendota and Metacomet.
  There are two new people: Harold E. Stassen, a World War II reserve officer and long-time political figure who passed away last week, and Quartermaster James Miller, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his conduct on Christmas Day, 1863.
  12 March 2001
  
  
  

  

• Leading off the week's new presentations is one of World War II's most significant Naval Aviators, Admiral Marc A. Mitscher. A second newly added notable officer is Air Force General James H. Doolittle. Taken together, their arrival on the Online Library probably hints at things to come.
  The biggest ship posted this week is the battleship South Carolina (BB-26), along with a page on South Carolina Class Battleships. These were the first "all-big-gun" battleships in the U.S. Navy, and mark the completion of our project on USN battleships of the "dreadnought" era. We now enter the era of so-called "pre-dreadnoughts", which should keep us busy for awhile.
  Other recently added ships include the motor gunboat PGM-6, the World War I patrol vessel Hermes and the Civil War gunboats Kennebec, Kineo, Kansas, Mohongo, Paul Jones and Pinola.
  4 March 2001
  
  
  

This page features March & April 2001 entries from the Online Library's "What's New?" section.

For the more recent entries, and links to previous years' entries, see:

What's New in the Online Library of Selected Images;

For earlier entries from the year 2001, see:

What's New in the Online Library of Selected Images? -- Entries posted in January & February 2001

If you want higher resolution reproductions than the Online Library's digital images, see: How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions.

Return to Online Library listing.

Page made 6 May 2001