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Naval History & Heritage Command The OFFICIAL page of Naval History & Heritage Command, The History Program of The Department of the Navy - www.history.navy.mil. Navy.

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: did you know that in early years of the U.S. Navy, gun crews named their guns? Today, the replica 24-pound long guns ...
10/13/2026

: did you know that in early years of the U.S. Navy, gun crews named their guns? Today, the replica 24-pound long guns on USS Constitution's gun deck carry names recorded from the near sister ships United States, President and Chesapeake. The gun names represented early 19th popular culture figures, military heroes and battles of the American Revolution, and others from American history. While Constitution itself has survived into the 21st century, only one of its gun names has come down to us today, a long gun known as “Big Will”.

Gunner John Lord, assigned to from 1824 to 1828, owned a powder horn decorated with several military images. Lord’s choice of motifs for the horn’s decoration is indicative of his duties as a gunner, as well as the symbolic power of Constitution as a War of 1812 icon. Inscribed beneath an image of a ship’s gun are the words “Big Will". The powder horn is now in the collections of the USS Constitution Museum.

The workers of the Charlestown Navy Yard rebuilt USS Constitution for its 1927-1931 restoration in the Yard’s 1833 Dry D...
10/12/2026

The workers of the Charlestown Navy Yard rebuilt USS Constitution for its 1927-1931 restoration in the Yard’s 1833 Dry Dock 1. Today’s NHHC Detachment Boston staff are the inheritors of Constitution’s long-term preservation from those early 20th century Navy Yard carpenters and riggers.


📸: in Dry Dock 1, Charleston Navy Yard during the 1927-1931 restoration.
📸: Constitution's spar (upper) deck being restored on April 1, 1929
📸: Constitition entering Dry Dock 1 in on May 18, 2015
📸: A new 40-foot white oak hull plank, is lifted by crane onto Constitution, April 21, 2016.

From the archives: this is a partially printed plumbing bill receipt for work done on Constitution dated 14 August 1798,...
10/11/2026

From the archives: this is a partially printed plumbing bill receipt for work done on Constitution dated 14 August 1798, Boston. For payment received of Henry Jackson, Naval Agent.

If this work cost $749.18 in 1798, what would it cost now?

USS Constitution ensures that the legacy of the Sailors who built, sailed, and fought on its decks continue to inspire future generations.

đź“ŁAttention Active duty Sailors!đź“ŁNaval History and Heritage Command's Navy Art Branch is starting a yearly competition to...
10/10/2026

đź“ŁAttention Active duty Sailors!đź“Ł

Naval History and Heritage Command's Navy Art Branch is starting a yearly competition to find the best new artwork produced by active duty sailors and officers!

Three winners will be selected to have their artwork accepted into the Navy Art Collection, receive a letter of Commendation for their success, and will have it featured on the Naval History and Heritage Command website.

For details regarding eligability, rules, and deadlines, visit:
https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/art/navy-art-contest.html

The U.S. Navy Blue Angels take to the San Francisco skies this weekend! Established in 1946 by order of Chief of Naval ...
10/09/2026

The U.S. Navy Blue Angels take to the San Francisco skies this weekend! Established in 1946 by order of Chief of Naval Operations Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, the Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron has inspired generations for 80 years. Their first aircraft: the Grumman F6F Hellcat.

Precision. Focus. Confidence. That’s the Blue Angels — and that’s the Navy. Catch the San Francisco Fleet Week Air Show today through Sunday, 9–11 Oct, along the northern waterfront and Marina Green.

How well do you know Blue Angels history? Visit www.history.navy.mil to learn more.

This is our piece of for , titled "Boarders Capturing French armed Ship,/harbour of Port Platte [sic], by Isaac Hul...
10/09/2026

This is our piece of for , titled "Boarders Capturing French armed Ship,/harbour of Port Platte [sic], by Isaac Hull, first/Lieutenant, Frigate Constitution, Commodore Talbot, 1800.”

The painting depicts the first joint U.S. Marines and U.S. Navy land and sea capture of the armed fort at Puerto Plata, Hispaniola (St. Domingo) and the French privateer Sandwich on May 11, 1800, during the undeclared war between the U.S. and France, known as the Quasi-War with France.

that during USS Constitution's first dry docking in 1833, wood and copper sheathing scraps were made into items like w...
10/08/2026

that during USS Constitution's first dry docking in 1833, wood and copper sheathing scraps were made into items like walking sticks, s***f boxes, and a variety of covered urns, vases, bowls, and boxes? Because Constitution was recognized as a national symbol after the War of 1812, materials and objects from Constitution or its crew were collected, cherished, and handed down through generations.

This six-inch utilitarian box with interior compartments was made from Constitution wood removed during the 1833 rebuild. A handwritten label inside confirms the material used: “Old Ironsides/The famous frigate Constitution (This box is made from her) . . .” The silver plate on the box lid is engraved: “Miss Elizabeth Pelham by Daniel Briggs Boston Sept. 21, 1835.”

Check out this artifact - and 250 others - in the publication, "America's Navy at 250: The Historic Collections of NHHC" found here: https://www.dvidshub.net/publication/issues/77304

From world’s fair to wartime gateway. Treasure Island was built by the Army Corps of Engineers for the 1939 Golden Gate ...
10/08/2026

From world’s fair to wartime gateway. Treasure Island was built by the Army Corps of Engineers for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition. When war came, it became a vital naval station — training and processing tens of thousands of Sailors bound for the Pacific. The Twelfth Naval District, headquartered in San Francisco, coordinated much of the West Coast effort. For more than a century, the Bay has been a crossroads of naval power and public connection — just like San Francisco Fleet Week today.

Know someone who passed through Treasure Island or the 12th ND? Tag them!

NHHC serves as the institutional memory for the fleet—from deck plate Sailors to the CNO—ensuring lessons learned in past conflicts directly inform modern strategy.
📸: Panoramic of Naval Training Station Treasure Island, CA, circa 1918-1920

It was built here. It fought for us. It still stands watch over the Golden Gate Bridge. USS San Francisco (CA 38) — cons...
10/07/2026

It was built here. It fought for us. It still stands watch over the Golden Gate Bridge. USS San Francisco (CA 38) — constructed at Mare Island — earned 17 battle stars in World War II. At Guadalcanal it absorbed 45 enemy shells and a disabled plane that struck the ship yet remained in the fight. Today the ship's battle-damaged navigating bridge forms the heart of the USS San Francisco Memorial at Land’s End. A San Francisco ship for a San Francisco city. Honor the vessel this week at San Francisco Fleet Week.

American Sailors’ individual stories are woven into the fabric of our nation. Through NHHC’s collection of 1 million historic photos and oral histories, their legacy remains alive for future generations.

📸: USS San Francisco (CA-38) off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, following overhaul, 13 October 1944. Her camouflage is Measure 33, Design 13d.
(Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives)

The U.S. Navy’s Pacific story began on the shores of San Francisco Bay. In 1854, Mare Island Naval Shipyard opened as th...
10/06/2026

The U.S. Navy’s Pacific story began on the shores of San Francisco Bay. In 1854, Mare Island Naval Shipyard opened as the first Navy yard on the West Coast. For 142 years it built, repaired, and overhauled the ships that projected American sea power — including USS California (BB 44), USS San Francisco (CA 38), and countless others that steamed through the Golden Gate. This San Francisco Fleet Week, we honor that legacy.

The Bay Area did not just host the fleet… it built it. What’s a Navy site in California that means something to you? Tell us below.

NHHC considers it a sacred duty to keep faith with veterans and their families by preserving the physical and written legacy of their service.

📸: USS California (BB-44) sliding down the building ways during her launching, at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 20 November 1919.

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