Two hundred years ago the Navy Act of 1794 essentially gave birth to the U.S. Navy as we know it. In that vein, a former skipper of the USS Constitution teams with a maritime artist to reveal how naval architect Joshua Humphreys inverted an old barn design to frame “Old Ironsides.” Until now, the full story has never been told.
A military history writer recounts an alleged mutiny incited by a midshipman in the brig Somers and the execution at sea of him and his coconspirators. In this telling, the testimony of an obscure witness resurfaces—150 years later.
In this issue we also salute the role of women in World War II, look at an ironclad ram built after her time, fly with an airborne early-warning squadron during the Cold War, learn the ropes with unsung Reserve Midshipmen, go back 75 years searching for the history of World War I, and preview a new book on the Normandy Invasion. Look for much more on Normandy in the next Naval History.