The Bonhomme Richard was not designed as a warship, but Captain John Paul Jones made do with what he had. This episode features a double-sided model of the Bonhomme Richard, showing the renovations that Jones made to successfully lead his ship to victory in its battle against the HMS Serapis.

Did you know that the US Naval Academy holds 32 captured British battle ensigns from the War of 1812? It was decided by presidential executive order that the Superintendent of the Naval Academy be the caretaker of this collection of captured flags. Tune in to this episode to learn about this collection and how battle ensigns are used for communication and deception on the high seas.

While we often think of the attack on Pearl Harbor as the first incident between the Japanese and the US in the lead-up to World War II, a US gunboat was sunk on a Chinese river by Japanese aircraft four years earlier. The US Naval Academy Museum holds a collection of items from this sunken gunboat, including a blood-stained map, the ship's bell, and decorations from the men who served bravely aboard her.

Dedicated to the memory of four fallen midshipmen, the Mexican War Monument is the longest-standing monument on Naval Academy grounds. None of these midshipmen actually set foot on the then-new Annapolis campus, but their bravery and sacrifice was integral to saving the fledgling Naval Academy.

Admiral John Worden earned his recognition from his role in the first meeting of two ironclad ships, the Monitor and the Virginia. In honor of his contributions to the naval service, Worden Field at the Naval Academy is named after him. Join us for this episode to learn about the significance of drill and tradition at the US Naval Academy.

On this episode, we look at a sword made by tiffany co in the late 1800s.

Battleships ceded their primacy to aircraft in WWII, but they still played an important role. Today’s object comes from one of the more unusual ship to ship engagements during the war, that between the USS Massachusetts and the French battleship Jean Bart, in Casablanca as part of Operation Torch.

As the US prepared to strike back in Europe and the Pacific, the Navy prepared for the logistical challenge by creating construction battalions, the famous Seabees. Today's object chronicles the first time the Seabees went into combat at Guadalcanal.

As WWII raged, supply convoys from the United States and Canada faced off with the German U-boat "wolfpacks" throughout the Atlantic Ocean. Although the Wolfpacks nearly crippled the allied war effort early in 1941 and 1942, eventually the Allies were able to turn the tide, culminating in the devastation inflicted inflicted on the German submarine squadrons in 1943. May 1943 became known to the Germans as "Black May." Today's object was captured from a German submarine by American sailors one year later in a daring boarding of a sinking u-boat.

The development of wireless communication in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was quickly followed by the development of encryption for coded transmissions. The ability of the US to decipher these coded transmissions played an essential role in helping the US and her allies to victory in World War II. Today, we discuss an iconic World War II encryption tool, the German Enigma Machine.