F-YEAH HISTORY

Allied prisoners of war cheering their rescuers, and waving the flags of the United States, Great Britain and The Netherlands as the U.S. Navy arrives at the Aomori prison camp, near Yokohama, Japan, on 29 August 1945

The U.S. Navy battleship USS South Dakota (BB-57) firing her anti-aircraft guns at attacking Japanese planes during the Battle of Santa Cruz, 26 October 1942. A Japanese Type 97 Nakajima B5N2 torpedo plane ("Kate") is visible at right, apparently leaving the area after having dropped its torpedo

Admiral Harold R. Stark, circa 1945 During World War II, Pennsylvania was represented in the U.S. Navy by five admirals, seven vice admirals, seventeen rear admirals, and four commodores. The Chief of Naval Operations since 1939, Admiral Harold Rainsford Stark (1880-1972) oversaw the great expansion of the Navy during 1940-41 and the undeclared war against German submarines in the Atlantic. In 1942, he was sent to England in to become Commander of U.S. Naval Forces in Europe. There, he supervised the U.S. Navy's role in the Normandy invasion of June 1944, and the Allied invasion of northwest Europe. The Normandy invasion was the largest naval invasion in history, with nearly three million troops crossing the English Channel to regain an Allied foothold in Europe. Born in Wilkes-Barre, PA, Stark died at the age of 92 in 1972.

Credit: The Pennsylvania State Archives

World War II pin honouring Pearl Harbour hero  Doris "Dorie" Miller (October 12, 1919 – November 24, 1943) was a cook in the United States Navy noted for his bravery during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. He was the first African American to be awarded the Navy Cross, the third highest honor awarded by the U.S. Navy at the time, after the Medal of Honor and the Navy Distinguished Service Medal (today the Navy Cross precedes the Navy Distinguished Service Medal). Miller took over a machine gun aboard the USS West Virginia and was officially credited with downing two Japanese planes. He was honored as one of the first heroes of World War II, and six months after the attack was given the Navy Cross by Admiral Chester Nimitz.

USS Delaware (BB-28) USS Delaware (BB-28) was a dreadnought battleship of the United States Navy, the lead ship of her class. She was laid down at Newport News Shipbuilding in November 1907, launched in January 1909, and completed in April 1910. The sixth ship to be named for the First State, Delaware was armed with a main battery of ten 12 in (300 mm) guns all on the centerline, making her the most powerful battleship in the world at the time of her construction. She was also the first battleship of the US Navy to be capable of steaming for 24 continuous hours without suffering a breakdown.

Battleship Division Nine arriving at Scapa Flow, 7 December 1917 United States Battleship Division Nine was a division of four, later five, dreadnought battleships of the United States Navy's Atlantic Fleet that constituted the American contribution to the British Grand Fleet during World War I. Although the U.S. entered the war on 6 April 1917, hesitation among senior officers of the U.S. Navy as to the wisdom of dividing the American battle fleet prevented the immediate dispatch of any capital ships for service in the war zone. Following a direct request from the British Admiralty and a series of high level staff meetings, American opinion changed, and Battleship Division Nine joined the Grand Fleet on 7 December 1917. Within that organization, the Division served as the Sixth Battle Squadron.

US military propaganda poster from 1942/43 for Thirteenth Naval District, United States Navy US military propaganda poster showing a rat representing Japan, approaching a mousetrap labeled "Army - Navy - Civilian", on a background map of the Alaska Territory, referred to as future "Death-Trap For The Jap".