Typhoon Bearing

Naval history is being made right now. The Houthi rebels in Yemen conducted a drone, cruise missile, and ballistic missile combined attack (with Iranian help) against a guarded convoy near the Bab al-Mandab Strait on January 9th, and just now the US and UK conducted a joint naval strike against the Houthi rebels in Yemen using planes and submarine-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles. Visit the Typho...

Mines! Torpedoes! Improvised Explosive Devices at sea! When the War of 1812 broke out there was no way that the United States could sustainably go toe-to-toe with the far larger royal Navy, and so Congress authorized “An Act to encourage the destruction of the armed vessels of war of the enemy.” The Torpedo Act promised one-half the value of any ship to any private citizen or groups who used “torp...

The poetic New Year's Day deck log entry is a uniquely American tradition which allows the Officer of the Deck to try their hand at poetry as the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve. This is a rare bit of fun in a legal document - but because it is a legal document all of the required midnight entry information must be incorporated into the poem as well! I read the 2023 New Year's Deck Log Co...

Six years after the First Sumatran Expedition, another attack on American pepper traders occurred. The US East India Station squadron responded with what can only be called a "vigorous" enforcement of American interests on the Sumatran coastline (aka we bombarded and burned the offending village of Muckie to the ground). Visit the Typhoon Bearing website: typhoonbearing.substack.com Support the sh...

The AUKUS pact between the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia aims to increase naval cooperation between the three countries in the face of a rising China. A major component involves the US and UK operating nuclear-powered submarines out of Australia by 2027, with plans to eventually transfer nuclear submarine technology to enable Australia to have its own nuclear submarine fleet. Togeth...

Why are we giving money and weapons to Ukraine? In light of the recent news that 48% of Americans think we are giving too much money to Ukraine, I discuss why, in fact, Ukraine aid is the single most cost-effective American foreign policy win since (at least) the end of the Cold War for a whole bunch of reasons: Aid to Ukraine allows the united States to focus on China. It destroys Russia's mi...

I talk with guest Sal Mercogliano about fuel logistics during World War Two in the Pacific theater. We discuss the Japanese decision not to target fuel tanks at Pearl Harbor, how the US Navy adapted to fuel shortages in the early years of the war, and compare World War Two naval logistics capabilities to those of the US and Chinese navies today. Sal's YouTube Channel Visit the Typhoon Bearing webs...

WWII naval aviation was miracle on many levels. The industrial output was immense. The technology evolved by leaps and bounds over the course of just a few years. The pilots got the glory, but the enlisted aviation maintenance rates were the men who kept the planes in the air. Before the war there was no real system to train these men, it was a small community of a few thousand men who learned on...

It has been an... exciting week in US Navy news and this episode breaks down the two big events: 1 - The USS Carney shot down 15 drones and 9 cruise missiles fired by Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen heading towards Israel. 2- The US currently has two carrier battle groups deployed in the Eastern Mediterranean in addition to other high end military assets to deter Iran from entering the broader confli...

In this episode I have on James Ellman, the author of “MacArthur Reconsidered,” for an exploration of General Douglas MacArthur's military prowess (or should I say- lack thereof). James challenges the prevailing notion of MacArthur as a military genius as we delve into pivotal moments in MacArthur's career, including WWII and the Korean War. We analyze MacArthur's battlefield performan...

Ok, so it's not American Naval History, but this episode is too interesting not to post. With Professor Bret Devereaux I discuss the essentially non-Mahanian nature of ancient naval warfare. Because galleys were both cheap to build (but expensive to maintain) and had very limited operational endurance, the missions they could perform and the strategic use of galley navies was extremely different t...

Ok, so it's not American Naval History, but this episode is too interesting not to post. With Professor Bret Devereaux I discuss the essentially non-Mahanian nature of ancient naval warfare. Because galleys were both cheap to build (but expensive to maintain) and had very limited operational endurance, the missions they could perform and the strategic use of galley navies was extremely different t...

Using a 36-foot motor launch, the 18 sailors, led by Lieutenant Commander John Morrill began their 2,000-mile journey through Japanese infested waters. With only a watch, compass, homemade sextant and a few maps it was an incredible feat of navigation. Their story is one of great audacity, where the generosity and bravery of the Filipino people, along with sheer luck played an integral role in the...

Right after the Barbary Wars finished up, a new threat to American commerce emerged, this time around the world in Southeast Asia. This is the story of the expedition that was sent more than 12,000 miles across the Atlantic and Indian Oceans to conduct America's first military expedition in Asia to avenge the capture of the Friendship and slaughter of her crew. Visit the Typhoon Bearing website: t...

In this episode of the U.S. Naval History Podcast, we tell the story of the sinking of the USS Memphis (/ Tennessee !), recounting the tragic events leading to the ship's demise as it was dashed against the rocks of the Dominican Republic by rogue waves. Heroic acts by the crew saved most aboard, and this episode highlights the three sailors who earned Medals of Honor for their actions that day. R...

For a brief, glorious moment, the US Navy in 1865 was the biggest and most advanced in the world. It was an inflection moment in the history of naval shipbuilding. Sails were out, steam power, armor, and modern gunnery was in. But post-war, the United States took a 20-year innovation hiatus allowing the rest of the world to pass us by during this technological inflection point, only to begin to ro...

Join us on the U.S. Naval History Podcast as we explore the lesser-known prelude to World War Two in the North Atlantic. The not-so-neutral "neutrality patrols" in the North Atlantic were the United States Navy's prelude to WWII. They resulted in an escalating but undeclared shooting war with the German Kriegsmarine before the attack on Pearl Harbor. We talk about the strategic decis...

On 29 July 1967, the USS Forrestal experienced a severe fire while operating on Yankee Station off the coast of North Vietnam that killed 134 Sailors, injured 161 more, and destroyed 21 aircraft. This was (and remains) the second worst loss of life on a U.S. Navy ship since World War II. The disaster resulted in a very long list of lessons learned -many of which can be better classified as “lesson...

In this episode I answer a few questions that someone sent me via email on the concept of "unsinkable aircraft carriers" in the context of both WWII and China's artificial islands in the South China Sea. I elaborate on the parallels with WWII, explore how Japan's strategy of using islands as unsinkable carriers ultimately failed due to logistical challenges and limited plane prod...

RADM Mike Studeman, the the Commander of the Office of Naval Intelligence and the Director of the National Maritime Intelligence Integration Office talks about China’s grand plan for the South China Sea, Xi Jinping and the psychology of authoritarian states, how the Chinese military may have been the tail wagging the dog in China’s recent border skirmishes with India, who would/would not side with...

In this episode of the US Naval History podcast's South China Sea miniseries, we delve into the Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPs) and China's illegal maritime claims. I dissect the misleading claims made by the China Global Television Network and explore the significance of different maritime features, such as islands, rocks, and low tide elevations, and the rights they grant to co...

What force wears uniforms, has their boats built by the government, are paid by the government, and attacks an enemy's boats and ships? No...not the Navy. We're talking about China's Maritime Militia in the South China Sea. The maritime militia is inextricably aligned with Xi Jinping's rise to power and assertion of China's "rights" to all of the territory inside of t...

The South China Sea is home to numerous disputed islands, reefs, and shoals, which have been the subject of territorial claims and military standoffs between China and its neighboring countries, including Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Malaysia. In this episode, we will delve into the complex history of the South China Sea conflict, exploring its origins, key events, and the current state o...

This is an breaking news podcast episode giving my brief thoughts and fears about the news that China will begin to inspect ships in Taiwan Strait. Taiwan says won't cooperate as this would be a major sovereignty violation. This has ling been my feared most-likely scenario for the beginnings of a US/China hot war over the Taiwan Strait. I really hope this is not the start of something hot, but...

In  this episode I talk with Rear Admiral Terry McKnight about his time combating Somali piracy off the Gulf of Aden. Admiral McKnight was the first commander of CTF 151, the multinational naval task force set up to combat the threat of piracy for the first time since almost two centuries. We talk about the causes of piracy in Somalia, the strategies used to combat it, international politics surro...