66 articles
Arleigh Burke
Arleigh Burke (1901–1996), "31-knot Burke," was a US Navy admiral, 15th Chief of Naval Operations 1955–1961, WWII Destroyer Squadron 23 commander, and head of the Polaris program; USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) is named for him.
Brett Crozier
Brett Crozier, US Navy captain, commanded USS Theodore Roosevelt until relieved April 2, 2020 after his leaked COVID-19 plea letter ('Sailors do not need to die'); never reinstated, barred from future command; acting Navy Secretary Modly resigned over the affair.
C. Wade McClusky
C. Wade McClusky (1902-1976), US Navy rear admiral and Enterprise Air Group commander, led 33 SBD dive bombers at Midway on 4 June 1942, following the destroyer Arashi to the Japanese carriers; Navy Cross recipient.
Carl Brashear
Carl Brashear (1931–2006), also Carl Maxie Brashear, was a U.S. Navy master chief boatswain's mate, first African American Master Diver (1970) and first amputee recertified as a Navy diver (1968) after losing his leg in the 1966 Palomares hydrogen-bomb recovery; subject of Men of Honor.
Charles B. McVay III
Charles Butler McVay III, US Navy captain of USS Indianapolis (CA-35), sunk 30 July 1945 by submarine I-58; only US Navy CO court-martialed for losing a ship to enemy action, convicted of failing to zigzag, exonerated by Congress in 2000.
Chester W. Nimitz
Chester W. Nimitz (1885–1966), Fleet Admiral, USN, commanded the Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas in World War II, signed the 1945 Japanese surrender, and served as Chief of Naval Operations 1945–1947.
Curt Renshaw
Curt Anthony Renshaw is a United States Navy vice admiral, surface warfare officer, and Commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, 5th Fleet, and Combined Maritime Forces since October 2025; previously commanded USS Independence, USS Robert Smalls, and Carrier Strike Group Eight.
David Farragut
David Glasgow Farragut (1801–1870), first admiral of the U.S. Navy, won Civil War victories at New Orleans (1862) and Mobile Bay (1864), source of the famous 'Damn the torpedoes' order.
David Porter (naval officer)
David Porter (1780–1843) was an American naval officer who led the frigate Essex on a Pacific raid against British whalers in the War of 1812.
Don Shipley (Navy SEAL)
Don Shipley (born 1962) is a retired U.S. Navy SEAL Senior Chief, BUD/S class 131, SEAL Teams ONE and TWO, who runs Extreme SEAL Experience and exposes fake Navy SEALs via his SEAL database.
Early life and military career of John McCain
Early life and Navy career of John McCain: born 1936 to two four-star admiral fathers' line, Annapolis class of 1958, A-4 pilot shot down over Hanoi in 1967, five and a half years as POW, retired captain 1981.
Edward Fitzgerald Beale
Edward Fitzgerald Beale (1822–1893), American naval officer, explorer, and diplomat; Mexican War courier with Kit Carson, first Superintendent of Indian Affairs for California and Nevada, leader of the 1857 camel wagon-road survey on the 35th parallel, and U.S. minister to Austria-Hungary.
Edwin T. Layton
Edwin T. Layton (1903–1984) was a U.S. Navy rear admiral and Fleet Intelligence Officer under Kimmel and Nimitz whose Japanese-language expertise produced the Midway attack forecast and the memoir And I Was There.
Elmo Zumwalt
Elmo R. "Bud" Zumwalt Jr. (1920–2000), 19th Chief of Naval Operations (1970–1974) and youngest ever, formerly Commander U.S. Naval Forces Vietnam and SEALORDS architect, known for Z-Gram personnel reforms, equal opportunity directives, and Trident, Perry-frigate, and F-14 programs.
Erik Prince
Erik Prince, American former Navy SEAL, founded Blackwater (later Xe) in 1997; his contractors were central to the 2004 Fallujah ambush and the 2007 killing of 17 Iraqi civilians, and he later proposed privatizing the Afghanistan war and building private forces in Ukraine and Haiti.
Erik S. Kristensen
Erik S. Kristensen, Navy SEAL lieutenant commander, SEAL Team 10 task unit commander in Afghanistan, led the ill-fated June 28, 2005 rescue during Operation Red Wings, killed when his MH-47 was shot down; Naval Academy 1995 graduate, BUD/S class 233.
Esek Hopkins
Esek Hopkins (1718–1802), Rhode Island sea captain and brother of Stephen Hopkins, was the first commander in chief of the Continental Navy, led the 1776 New Providence raid, commanded the slave ship Sally, was censured and dismissed by Congress, and later served in Rhode Island politics.
Frank Friday Fletcher
Frank Friday Fletcher (1855–1928), USNA class of 1875, was a U.S. Navy rear admiral who led the 1914 Veracruz landing and won the Medal of Honor; uncle of Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher and namesake of USS Fletcher (DD-445).
Frank Jack Fletcher
Frank Jack Fletcher (April 1885–1973), American admiral, Medal of Honor recipient at Veracruz 1914, commanded Task Force 17 at Coral Sea, Midway, and Eastern Solomons, the first three carrier battles; reputation later rehabilitated by Lundstrom.
Frank Wead
Frank Wilber "Spig" Wead (1895–1947) was a U.S. Navy aviator, test pilot, and Schneider Cup racer who, after a paralyzing 1927 fall, became a Hollywood screenwriter promoting naval aviation; John Wayne played him in The Wings of Eagles (1957).
Franklin Buchanan
Franklin Buchanan (1800–1874), first superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy, resigned in 1861 to join the Confederate Navy, commanded CSS Virginia at Hampton Roads and CSS Tennessee at Mobile Bay, and became the Confederacy's ranking naval officer.
George Dewey
George Dewey (1837-1917), American naval officer and Admiral of the Navy; victor of the Battle of Manila Bay, 1 May 1898, destroying the Spanish Pacific fleet without losing a man or ship; later led the General Board of the Navy.
George Stephen Morrison
George Stephen Morrison (1919–2008), U.S. Navy rear admiral from Rome, Georgia, father of Doors singer Jim Morrison; Naval Academy 1941, Pearl Harbor survivor aboard USS Pruitt, Bon Homme Richard captain during the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident, Guam refugee commander in 1975.
Harry B. Harris Jr.
Harry B. Harris Jr., retired U.S. Navy four-star admiral and diplomat; first Asian-American four-star in the Navy, 24th commander of U.S. Pacific Command (2015–2018), and U.S. ambassador to South Korea (2018–2021).
Hunter Davidson
Hunter Davidson (1826-1913), US, Confederate, and Argentine naval officer; first commander of Maryland's Oyster Navy (1868), target of Gus Rice's 1871 murder attempt, author of the 1870 oyster management report.
Husband E. Kimmel
Husband E. Kimmel (1882–1968), American admiral, Commander in Chief of the U.S. Fleet and Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941; relieved, retired as rear admiral, and spent decades contesting the dereliction-of-duty charge.
Hyman G. Rickover
Hyman G. Rickover (Chaim Gdala Rykower, 1900–1986), American admiral called the Father of the Nuclear Navy; directed Naval Reactors 1949–1982, built USS Nautilus, served 63 years, won two Congressional Gold Medals.
Isaac C. Kidd
Isaac C. Kidd (Isaac Campbell Kidd Sr., 1884–1941), US Navy rear admiral killed on the bridge of USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941; first Navy flag officer to die in World War II; posthumous Medal of Honor; namesake of three destroyers.
James G. Stavridis
James G. Stavridis (born 1955) is a retired U.S. Navy four-star admiral, 16th NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe (2009-2013), first naval officer in that post, former SOUTHCOM commander, 12th Fletcher School dean, and Carlyle vice chairman.
James Lawrence
James Lawrence (1781-1813), U.S. Navy captain of USS Chesapeake, mortally wounded by HMS Shannon off Boston on 1 June 1813; his dying command "Don't give up the ship" became Perry's Battle of Lake Erie battle flag.