A Duet for Sailors and Pansies: Queer Archival Work and Male Same-Sex Dancing in Follow the Fleet (1936) and Other Depression-Era Films

This chapter explores a queer all-male dance lesson for partnered sailors in the Fred Astaire–Ginger Rogers musical Follow the Fleet (1936), using archival research (scripts, Production Code Administration records) and comparative textual and contextual analysis. It raises the queerness of Rogers and Astaire before exploring two intersecting axes. The association of sailors with queer behavior and effeminate “pansies” occurs in military scandals, paintings, and Depression-era Hollywood films, including Sailor’s Luck and Son of a Sailor (both 1933). The queerness of male same-sex dancing arises in ballet and in film, including Suicide Fleet (1931). Various institutions criticized or attempted to censor such representations, but they also found acceptance. The US Navy, for example, wanted the comical dance lesson removed from Fleet; instead, it was only rewritten, suggesting the inability to remove queerness from culture and its essential role in mass entertainment.

Great Britain, Blockades, and Neutral Rights: Royal Navy Operations during the Mexican- American War, 1846-1848

Although neutral during the Mexican American War (1846-8), Great Britain’s Royal Navy had to navigate the war’s naval component, particularly commerce raiding and blockades, as it sought to protect and promote trade and neutral rights. While able to use international pressure to limit privateering, handling the blockade proved more problematic. Although US policies largely mirrored British expectations in the Gulf of Mexico, along Mexico’s Pacific coast, inconsistent US Navy actions created tension. The professionalism of both American and British naval officers and a willingness of both governments to compromise effectively diffused any potential crises. Bien qu’elle soit restée neutre pendant la guerre américano-mexicaine (1846-1848), la Marine royale de la Grande-Bretagne a dû s’occuper de l’aspect naval de la guerre, en particulier les corsaires marchands et les blocus commerciaux, alors qu’elle cherchait à protéger et à promouvoir le commerce et la neutralité des droits. Pour limiter la course, la Marine pouvait recourir à des pressions exercées au niveau international, mais la gestion des blocus s’est révélée plus difficile. Bien que les politiques américaines aient reflété en grande partie les attentes britanniques dans le golfe du Mexique, les mesures incohérentes prises par la Marine américaine ont créé des tensions le long de la côte pacifique du Mexique. Le professionnalisme des officiers de marine américains et britanniques et la volonté des deux gouvernements de faire des compromis ont efficacement dissipé toute crise potentielle.

Inventors and Innovators: Naval Lighterage and Anglo-American Success in the Amphibious Invasions of German-Occupied Europe

The amphibious invasions of Sicily, Salerno, and Normandy all made ample use of US Navy landing pontoons. The simple steel box pontoons were the brainchild of civil engineer Captain John N. Laycock, who developed and perfected his inventive design on the eve of American entry into World War II. Once in the conflict, a Royal Navy reserve officer assigned to Combined Operations Headquarters, Captain Thomas A. Hussey, conceptualized innovative uses for the American pontoons for offensive amphibious operations. Working together, these men developed pontoon causeways and massive lighterage barges which ensured logistical success in the invasions of German-occupied Europe. Les invasions amphibies de la Sicile, de Salerne et de la Normandie ont toutes fait appel aux pontons de débarquement de la Marine américaine. Les simples pontons flottants en acier ont été créés par le capitaine John N. Laycock, ingénieur civil, qui a développé et perfectionné sa conception géniale à la veille de l’entrée des États-Unis dans la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Une fois le conflit déclenché, le capitaine Thomas A. Hussey, officier de réserve de la Marine royale affecté au quartier général des opérations combinées, a mis au point des utilisations novatrices des pontons américains pour les opérations amphibies offensives. La collaboration de ces deux hommes a permis de développer des chaussées de pontons et d’énormes barges de chalandage qui ont assuré le succès logistique des invasions de l’Europe occupée par les Allemands.

Analyzing procurement fraud in the US Navy

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze an ongoing fraud case in the US Navy involving the procurement of ship-husbanding services. The fraud acts will be analyzed from three perspectives–contract life cycle, internal controls and fraud schemes. Design/methodology/approach A data search was conducted to collect publicly available documents issued by the US Department of Justice (DOJ). A content analysis was used to analyze the fraud acts by aligning them with the contracting phase, internal control component and fraud scheme category. Findings The majority of the fraud occurred in the contracting phases of contract administration, followed by procurement planning and then source selection. The majority of the fraud occurred because of internal control component weaknesses in the control environment followed by information and communications. The majority of the fraud was aligned with the fraud scheme of collusion, followed by billing, cost and pricing. Research limitations/implications Because this is an ongoing investigation, additional DOJ information will become available and provide additional insight on the contracting phase, internal control component and fraud scheme. Practical implications The analysis suggests that the Navy’s lack of trained personnel, capable processes and effective internal controls result in the increased vulnerability to procurement fraud in its husbanding support services program. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to analyze fraud through the lens of auditability theory, specifically by the contracting phase and internal control component. Public agencies can enhance fraud detection and deterrence efforts by understanding how weaknesses in contracting processes and internal controls may increase an organization’s vulnerabilities for fraudulent activities.

Tumblehome Ships - From Greek Triremes to the Zumwalt

After almost a century the US Navy has reintroduced tumblehome into the design of naval combatants. This paper discusses some of the reasons tumblehome was originally designed into ships and why it served it owners well for many centuries. The transition from sail to steam power a little over a century ago led to a variety of problems with the combatant ships designed with tumblehome where the lack of damage stability caused a major loss of life as these ships sank so quickly. During World War I ships designed with tumblehome fell out of favor and some of the ships were actually modified to remove the tumblehome from the design. These changes in the design of tumblehome ships are discussed in this paper.

THE ROLE OF THE US NAVY BLACK SEA FLOTILLA IN THE BOMBARDMENT OF SAMSUN BY THE GREEK NAVY IN 1922

The passage of US warships from the Turkish Straits to the Black Sea has been frequently discussed in the media and the public. Recent news regarding the additional military deployments made in Greece through the Alexandroupoli port has increased interest in this issue. According to announcement made by the US Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS), more than 300 pieces of equipment, including 10 helicopters, were offloaded there on May 5, 2021. The Black Sea region has been brought to the top of the international agenda with the emergence of an extremely tense environment in the region. The fact that the Black Sea region was brought to the top of the international agenda with the emergence of an extremely tense environment in the region due to Russia’s annexation of Crimea and oft-repeated naval exercises by naval forces in the region remind us of the developments regarding the bombardment of some of the Turkish ports in the Black Sea by the Greek navy during the establishment period of the Republic of Turkey following the end of the First World War. In this context, Greek warships made extensive bombardments on Ereğli on the Black Sea coast on 6 June, İnebolu on 30 June, and Trabzon on 20 July in the summer of 1921.. As to Samsun, the bombardment took place in the summer of 1922.The point that draws attention in this historical event is that, at the time when the Greek navy bombarded Samsun, the destroyers belonging to the US navy were also present in the port of Samsun. According to the information provided in various publications regarding this bombardment, including academic ones, these US navy warships were Clamsen class destroyers of USS Sands (DD-243), USS, McFarland (DD-237), and USS Sturtevant (DD-240).

The End of the War in the Pacific

The Allies were making plans to invade the Japanese main islands in late 1945 and spring 1946 when the Japanese government, following the dropping of the atomic bombs and the Soviet Union’s declaration of war on Japan, decided to bring the war to an end and the Emperor broadcast the decision on the radio on 15 August. On 27 August a fleet of Allied ships entered Tokyo Bay and the surrender ceremony took place on 2 September on board the battleship USS Missouri. On board the British battleship HMS King George V was a British naval officer who had learnt Japanese at the US Navy Japanese Language School: he acted as interpreter when a Japanese pilot came on board to guide the ship to its anchorage. Other surrender ceremonies took place in Hong Kong, Singapore and other places which had been captured by Japanese forces: on each occasion Allied linguists were present to act as interpreters.