text:
Title List: Each Letter as a Separate List
Al Qaeda: Statements and Evolving Ideology
Abbreviations Used for Navy Enlisted Ratings
"The Ablest Men"
Abolishing the Spirit Rations in the Navy
Account of the Battle of Iwo Jima
Account of the Operations of the American Navy in France During the War With Germany
Act providing a Naval Armament
Action Report, Battle of Okinawa at RP Station #1, 12 April 1945
Action Report USS LCS(L) (3) 57, Battle of Okinawa at RP Station #1, Apriil 12, 1945
Active Military Sonar and Marine Mammals
Advanced Intelligence Centers in the US Navy
Admiral Caperton in Haiti
Afghan Wars 1839-42 and 1878-80
Afghanistan: A Short Account by P.F. Walker
Afghanistan Casualties: Military Forces and Civilians
Afghanistan - Silver Star Presented Francis L. Toner IV
Africa Command
African Squadron
Agreement Between the United States and the Republic of Haiti
Alcohol in the Navy
The Aleutians Campaign
Allied Ships present in Tokyo Bay
American Naval Mission in the Adriatic, 1918-1921
American Naval Participation in the Great War (With Special Reference to the European Theater of Operations)
American Naval Planning Section London
American Ship Casualties of the World War
American War and Military Operations Casualties: Lists and Statistics
Amphibious Landings in Lingayen Gulf
Amphibious Operations: Capture of Iwo Jima
Amphibious Operations - The Planning Phase
Analysis of the Advantage of Speed and Changes of Course in Avoiding Attack by Submarine
Anchor of Resolve
Annual Reports of the Secretary of the Navy
Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy - 1821
Anomaly of the Enlisted Officer
Answering a Call in a Crisis
Antiaircraft Action Summary
Antiaircraft Action Summary COMINCH P-009
Antisubmarine Information, ONI No. 14, 1918
Antisubmarine Tactics, ONI No. 42, 1918
Antisubmarine Warfare, ONI No. 9, 1917
Anti-Suicide Action Summary
Are the Southern Privateersmen Pirates?
Arleigh Burke: The Last CNO
Armed Conflict in Syria: Overview and US Response - 2016
Armed Forces Expeditionary Medals
Army-Navy E Award
Articles for the Government of the United States Navy, 1930
Assault Landings on Leyte Island
Attack on Halifax and Adjacent Territory
Aviation Personnel Fatalities in World War II
Battenberg Cup Award
Battle Experience - Radar Pickets
Battle Instructions for the German Navy
Battle for Iwo Jima
Battle of Derna, 27 April 1805: Selected Naval Documents
Battle of Guadalcanal
Battle of Iwo Jima: US Navy and Marine Corps Personnel Awarded the Medal of Honor
Battle of Iwo Jima: US Navy and Marine Corps Personnel Awarded the Medal of Honor Justice M. Chambers, Lieutenant Colonel, USMCR
Battle of Jutland War Game
Battle of Lake Erie: Building the Fleet in the Wilderness
Battle of Manila Bay, 1 May 1898
Battle of Midway: Aerology and Naval Warfare
Battle of Midway: Army Air Forces
Battle of Midway: 3-6 June 1942 Combat Narrative
Battle of Midway: 4-7 June 1942
Battle of Midway, 4-7 June 1942: Combat Intelligence
Battle of Midway: 4-7 June 1942 SRH-230
Battle of Midway - Interrogation of Japanese Officials
Battle of Midway: Japanese Plans Chapter 5 of The Campaigns of the Pacific War
Battle of Midway: Preliminaries
Battle of Midway: U.S. Marine Corps
Battle of Mobile Bay
Battle of Mobile Bay: Selected Documents
Battle of Savo Island August 9th, 1942 Strategic and Tactical Analysis
Battle of the Atlantic Volume 3 German Naval Communication Intelligence
Battle of the Atlantic Volume 4 Technical Intelligence From Allied Communications Intelligence
Battle of the Coral Sea
Battle of the Coral Sea- Combat Narrative
Battle of the Nile
Battle of Tripoli Harbor, 3 August 1804: Selected Naval Documents
Battlecruisers in the United States and the United Kingdom, 1902-1922.
Battles of Savo Island and Eastern Solomons
Bayly's Navy
Beans, Bullets, and Black Oil
Bells on Ships
Bismarck, Sinking of
Blockade-running Between Europe and the Far East by Submarines, 1942-44
Bombing As a Policy Tool in Vietnam
Boxer Rebellion and the US Navy, 1900-1901
Selected Documents of the Boxer Rebellion
Bibliography on the Boxer Rebellion
Battle Streamer: China Relief Expedition 1900-1901
Navy Medal of Honor: Boxer Rebellion 1900
Brief History of Civilian Personnel in the US Navy Department
Brief History of Punishment by Flogging in the US Navy
Brief History of the Seagoing Marines
Brief Summary of the Perry Expedition to Japan, 1853
Bronze Guns (cannons) Glossary
Budget of the US Navy: 1794 to 2014
Building the Navy's Bases in World War II
Building the Navy's Bases, vol. I (part I)
Building the Navy's Bases, vol. I (part II)
Building the Navy's Bases, vol. 2 (part III)
Building the Navy's Bases, vol. 2 (part III, chapter 26)
Bull Ensign
Bunker Busters: Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator Issues
By Sea, Air, and Land
Chapter 1: The Early Years, 1950-1959
Chapter 2: The Era of Growing Conflict, 1959-1965
Chapter 3: The Years of Combat, 1965-1968
Chapter 4: Winding Down the War, 1968 - 1973
Chapter 5: The Final Curtain, 1973 - 1975
Medal of Honor Recipients of the U.S. Navy in Vietnam
Secretaries of the Navy and Key United States Naval Officers, 1950 - 1975
Aircraft Tailcodes
Enemy Aircraft Shot Down by Naval Aviators in Southeast Asia
Cannons of the Washington Navy Yard
No. 1 Austrian 6-pounder Howitzer with cutout
No. 1 Austrian 6-pounder Howitzer - Plaque
No. 2 French 4-pounder Smoothbore
No. 3 Austrian 6-pounder Howitzer
No. 4 Austrian 6-pounder Howitzer - Sight Cutaway
No. 5 Japanese Gun - Bore 6.875 inches
No. 6 4-pounder
No. 6 Austrian 4-pounder
No. 7 U.S. Army 24-pounder Howitzer
No. 8 Spanish 12-pounder
No. 9 Spanish 6-pounder
No. 9 Spanish 6-pounder - Arms
No. 10 Spanish 27 -pounder
No. 10 Spanish 27-pounder - Plaque
No.11 French 12-pounder
No. 11 French 12-pounder - Le Belliqueux
No. 11 French 12-pounder - Plaque
No. 11 French 12-pounder - Royal Arms
No. 12 French 12-pounder
No. 12 French 12-pounder - Le Vigoureux
No. 13 Spanish 27-pounder
No.14 Spanish 12-pounder
No. 19 Spanish 9-pounder
No. 19 Spanish 9-pounder - Plaque
No. 20 Spanish 9-pounder - Cambernon
No. 21 British Howitzer
No. 23 4.63-inch Howitzer
No. 23 4.63-inch Howitzer - 249
No. 24 6.5-inch Spanish Howitzer
No. 25 Venetian 5.75-inch Howitzer
No. 25 Venetian 5.75-inch Howitzers
Flagpole and Mortars
Flagpole and Mortars - Base
Flagpole and Mortars - Mortar
The Navy Museum
View Along Dahlgren Avenue
Captain Raphael Semmes and the C.S.S. Alabama
Captain Samuel Nicholson: A Monograph [pdf]
Capture of CSS Florida by USS Wachusett - Report of Commander Napoleon Collins
Capture of CSS Florida by USS Wachusett - Report of Lieutenant Morris
Capture of the Frigate USS Philadelphia
Caribbean Tempest: The Dominican Republic Intervention of 1965
Carrier Deployments During the Vietnam Conflict
Carrier Locations - Pearl Harbor Attack
Carrier Strikes on the China Coast
Case of the Somers' Mutiny 1843
Casualties: US Navy & Marine Corps Personnel
Casualties: US Navy and Marine Corps Personnel Killed and Injured in Selected Accidents and Other Incidents Not Directly the Result of Enemy Action
Change of Command Ceremony
Charles Morris A Man of Letters and Numbers
Chester Nimitz and the Development of Fueling at Sea
CIC [Combat Information Center] Manual (RADSIX)
CIC [Combat Information Center] Operation in an AGC
CIC [Combat Information Center] Yesterday and Today
CIC Operations On a Night Carrier
CINCPAC Glossary of Commonly Used Abbreviations and Short Titles
CinCPac Report - Pearl Harbor
Airplane Damage Report - Pearl Harbor
Ship Damage Report - Pearl Harbor
List of Narrative Reports - Commanding Officers
Circular September 13, 1839
Circular 17 July, 1869
Colored Persons in the Navy of the U.S. (1842)
Combined Operation Craft: Small Scale Drawings
COMINT [Communications Intelligence] Contributions [to] Submarine Warfare in WW II
Command and Control of Air Operations in the Vietnam War
Commander Task Force Seventeen Operation Plan 1-45
Commander's Handbook on the Law of Naval Operations
Comparison of Military and Civilian Equivalent Grades
Compilation of Enlisted Ratings and Apprentiships US Navy 1775-1969
Composition of Japanese Forces
Composition of US Forces
Computer Attack and Cyberterrorism
Condition of the Navy and Its Expenses 1821
Conduct of War at Sea
Conflict and Cooperation: The U.S. and Soviet Navies in the Cold War
Constitution Fighting Top
The Constitution Gun Deck
Constitution Sailors in the Battle of Lake Erie [pdf]
Continental Congress and the Navy
The Continental Navy: "I Have Not Yet Begun to Fight."
Copy of talk given by Captain B.E. Manseau, USN, before the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Society of Naval Architets and Marine Engineers
Cordon of Steel
The Corps' Salty Seadogs Have All But Come Ashore: Seagoing Traditions Founder as New Millennium Approaches
Costs of Major US Wars
Cruise Missile Inventories and NATO Attacks on Yugoslavia: Background Information
Cruise of the Great White Fleet
Cruising Fleets
Cruising in the Old Navy
Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962
Abeyance and Negotiation
Stand Down and Conclusion
Current Doctrine Submarines
Cursor scales for the VG [Plan Position Indicator (radar)
Customs and Traditions, Navy
D-Day, the Normandy Invasion: Combat Demolition Units
Dartmoor Prison
Decatur House and Its Distinguished Occupants
Declarations of War and Authorizations for the Use of Military Force
The Defense and Burning of Washington in 1814: Naval Documents of the War of 1812
Demolition Units of the Atlantic Theatre of Operations
Department of Defense Acronyms
Destroyers at Normandy
Destroyers for Bases Agreement, 1941
Destroyers transferred to Britain under Destroyers for Bases agreement
Destruction of CSS Albemarle - Report of A. F. WARLEY
Destruction of CSS Albemarle - Report of Lieutenant William Barker Cushing
The Development of Japanese Sea Power: "Know Your Enemy"! [CinCPOA Bulletin 93-45, 1945]
The Diary of Michael Shiner Relating to the History of the Washington Navy Yard 1813-1869
The Education of Michael Shiner
The Context of the Michael Shiner Diary
Digest Catalogue of Laws and Joint Resolutions: The Navy and the World War
Disaster at Savo Island, 1942
Disaster in the Pacific
Discipline in the U.S. Navy
Diversity, Inclusion, and Equal Opportunity in the Armed Services
Master Chief Boatswain's Mate Carl Maxie Brashear, USN (Ret.)
Documents, Official and Unofficial, Relating to the Capture and Destruction of the Frigate Philadelphia at Tripoli - 1850
Documents Related to the Resignation of the German Commander in Chief, Navy, Grand Admiral Raeder and to the Decommissioning of the German High Seas Fleet
DoD Rules for Military Commissions - 2006
Dominican Republic Intervention
Navy Unit Commendation
Doolittle Raid
The DRVN Strategic Intelligence Service
Early Raids in the Pacific Ocean
Elementary Map and Aerial Photograph Reading
Emancipation Proclamation, Navy general Order No. 4, 1863
Employment of Naval Forces
Enlisted Uniforms
Enlistment, Training, and Organization of Crews for Our New Ships
Essay on Naval Battles of the Korean War
Establishment of the Department of the Navy
Establishment of the Navy
Exorcizing the Devil's Triangle
Expeditions, Diplomatic and Scientific Activity, and Operations Against Native Americans and Pirates
Exploring the Antarctic 1840 - The Wilkes Expedition
Eye-Witness Account of the Battle Between the U.S.S. Monitor and the C.S.S. Virginia Mar 9 1862
Far Eastern Sighting Guide [ONI-F-31 FE]
Fifty Years of Naval District Development 1903-1953
Filipinos in the United States Navy
Final Contact: USS Indianapolis (CA-35) passes USS LST-779 29 July 1945
Fixing Wages and Salaries of Navy Civilian Employees
Flag Sizes
Fleet Air Wing Four Strikes
Fleet Post Office, New York, New York
Fleet Post Office, San Francisco, California
"Forward ... From the Start": The U.S. Navy & Homeland Defense: 1775-2003
French Indo-China PSIS 400-35
Frocking
From Dam Neck to Okinawa: A Memoir of Antiaircraft Training in World War II
From the Sea to the Stars
The First Raid on Japan
GAF (German Air Force, Luftwaffe] and the Invasion of Normandy
Gearing Up for Victory American Military and Industrial Mobilization in World War II
Gedunk
General Information for Employees - Washington Navy Yard - 1941
General Instructions for Commanding Officers of Naval Armed Guards on Merchant Ships - 1944
General Instructions for Sloops and Torpedo Craft
General Mess Manual and Cook Book
General Order (21 January 1834) Presents
General Order (28 November 1838) Animals
General Order (18 February 1846) Port and Starboard
General Order (17 December 1850) Furnishing Vessels
General Order (27 September 1851) Contracts of Enlistment Ending
General Order (17 May 1858) Naval Academy Graduates Denied Letter
General Order (22 April 1862) Officers Forbidden to Give Publicity to Any Hydrographical Knowledge
General Order (12 December 1862) Rules for Naval Communication
General Order (23 December 1862) Rules Corresponding with SecNav and Bureaus
General Order No. 1 (1863) Rules to Disseminate General Orders
General Order No. 4 (1863) Emancipation Proclamation
General Order No. 9 (1863) Observance of Paroles
General Order No. 51 (1865) Announcing Death President Abraham Lincoln
General Order No. 73 (1866) Resolution of Thanks from Congress to Admiral Farragut for Mobile Bay Action
General Order No. 81 (1866) Requirements of Guardians for Boy to Enlist
General Order No. 83 (1867) Proclamation Issued by President Johnson
General Order No. 90 (1869) Uniform Changes
General Order No. 99 (1869) Authority Given to Fleet Officers
General Order No. 105 (1869) North & South Pacific Squadrons Combined into Pacific Station
General Order No. 110 (1869) Forbidding Applications for Duty Through Persons of Influence
General Order No. 112 (1869) Sea Service of Officers to be Three Years
General Order No. 123 (1869) Uniform Change for Masters, Ensigns & Midshipmen
General Order No. 127 (1869) List of Types of Officers to Mess in Second Ward Room
General Order No. 128 (1869) Exercises for Ships with Sails
General Order No. 131 (1869) Economizing the Use of Coal
General Order No. 175 (1872) Division of the Pacific Station into Two Stations
General Order No. 226 (1877) Importance of Complete Reports and Logs
General Order No. 230 (1877) Special Shore Service and Duty
General Order No. 232 (1877) Working Hours at Navy Yards and Stations
General Order No. 248 (1880) Correct and General Understanding of Signals
General Order No. 250 (1880) Establishment of the Office of Judge Advocate General of the Navy
General Order No. 252 (1880) Painting Schematic for Boats
General Order No. 292 (1882) Establishment of the Office of Intelligence
General Order No. 370 (1889) Copies of Books to the Navy Department Library
General Order No. 372 (1889) Order for Official Communications
General Order No. 544 (1900) Establishment of the General Board
General Order No. 55 (1901) Decorations for Philippine Islands and Boxer Rebellion
General Order No. 56 (1901) Puget Sound, Naval Station to Navy Yard
General Order No. 128 (1903) Establishment of Naval Districts
General Order No. 129 (1903) Surplus Provisions
General Order No. 74 (1908) Establishing Ship Post Offices
General Order No. 135 (1911) Definitions of Well-known Naval Terms
General Order No. 30 (1913) Movement of the Rudder
General Order No. 99 (1914) Prohibition in the Navy
General Order No. 132 (1915) Khaki Dye for White Undress Uniform
General Order No. 258 (1917) SecNav Announces Death of Admiral Dewey
General Order No. 259 (1917) Executive Order and Message on Death of Admiral Dewey
General Order No. 294 (1917) Identification Tags ("Dog Tags")
General Order No. 456 (1919) Observance of the Sabbath Day
General Order No. 541 (1920) Standard Nomemclature for Naval Vessels
General Order No. 244 [1934] Alcoholic Liquors
General Order No. 47 (1935) Precedence of Forces in Parades
General Orders 1921-1935
General Orders for the Regulation of the Navy Yard Washington, D.C. - 1833-1850
General Orders USS Independence 1815
German Commanders Wilhelm Keitel and Alfred Jodl on the Invasion of Normandy in 1944
German Defense of Berlin
German Espionage and Sabotage
George John Dasch and the Nazi Saboteurs
Eastern Sea Frontier War Diary
German B.d.U. War Diary
German Report on the Allied Invasion of Normandy
German Submarine Activities on the Atlantic Coast
German Submarine Attacks
German Submarines in Question and Answer
Glossary of U.S. Naval Code Words (NAVEXOS P-474)
Going South: U.S. Navy Officer Resignations & Dismissals On the Eve of the Civil War
Grand Strategy Contending Contemporary Analyst Views & Implications for the US Navy
Greely Relief Expedition
Grenada: Operation Urgent Fury
List of U.S. Navy Ships Participating
Guadalcanal Campaign
Guide to Command of Negro Naval Personnel NAVPERS-15092
Guidelines: Naval Social Customs
Guide to US Military Casualty Statistics
Haitian Campaign of 1915
Haiti - US Navy Medal of Honor - 1915
Halsey-Doolittle Raid
Handbook of First Aid Treatment for Survivors of Disasters at Sea
Head - Ship's Toilet
High Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse and High Power Microwave Devices: Threat Assessments
Historical Approach to Warrant Officer Classifications
The Historical Importance to Navigation of Nathaniel Bowditch's New American Practical Navigator
History and Descriptive Guide of the US Navy Yard Washington, DC
History of Convoy and Routing [1945]
History of Flag Career of Rear Admiral W.B. Caperton
History of Paul Jones, the Pirate
History of the Bureau of Engineering During WWI
History of the Chief Petty Officer
History of the Dudley Knox Center for Naval History
History of the Navy Department Library
History of the Seabees
Seabees in Southeast Asia
After Vietnam
Desert Shield and Desert Storm
History of the US Navy
Continental Period
Oceanic Period
Transoceanic Period
Personnel Strength 1794-1990
A Bibliography
History of United States Naval Operations: Korea
Foreword - History of US Naval Operations: Korea
Preface - History of US Naval Operations: Korea
List of Maps - History of US Naval Operations: Korea
List of Tables - History of US Naval Operations: Korea
Chapter 1: To Korea By Sea
Chapter 2: Policy and Its Instruments
Chapter 3: War Begins
Chapter 4: Help on the Way
Chapter 5: Into the Perimeter
Chapter 6: Holding the Line
Chapter 7: Back to the Parallel
Chapter 8: On to the Border
Chapter 9: Retreat to the South
Chapter 10: The Second Six Months
Chapter 11: Problems of a Policeman
Chapter 12: Two More Years
A Note on Source Materials
Glossary of Naval Abbreviations
History of US Navy Uniforms 1776 - 1981
Homeland Security: Navy Operations - Background and Issues for Congress
Honda (Pedernales) Point, California, Disaster, 8 September 1923
List of Naval Personnel Who Died in the Honda Point Disaster
How the Navy Talks
How to Fold Your Navy Uniform
How to Mark Your Navy Uniform
The Hungnam and Chinnampo Evacuations
Hurricanes and the War of 1812
I Was a Yeoman (F)
Identification Tags - Dog Tags
Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in Iraq: Effects and Countermeasures
In Honor of Master Chief Britt K Slabinski: United States Navy, Retired: MEDAL OF HONOR - HALL OF HEROES INDUCTION CEREMONY- THE PENTAGON AUDITORIUM- 25 MAY 2018
In Memory of CTIC(IW/EXW) Shannon M. Kent
Incredible Alaska Overland Rescue
Indians in the War 1945
1918 Influenza by Vice Admiral Albert Gleaves, Commander of Convoy Operations in the Atlantic, 1917-1919.
Admiral William B. Caperton of the 1918 Influenza on Armored Cruiser No. 4, USS Pittsburgh
A Forgotten Enemy: PHS's [Public Health Service] Fight Against the 1918 Influenza Pandemic
Great Flu Crisis at Mare Island Navy Yard.
Influenza at the United States Naval Hospital, Washington, D.C.
The Influenza Epidemic of 1918 by Carla R. Morrisey, RN, BSN
Influenza of 1918 (Spanish Flu) and the US Navy
Influenza on a Naval Transport
Influenza-Related Medical Terms
The Pandemic of Influenza in 1918-1919
Philadelphia, Nurses, and the Spanish Influenza Pandemic of 1918
A Winding Sheet and a Wooden Box
Information in Relation to the Naval Protection Afforded to The Commerce of the United States in the West India Islands, &c. &c.
Information Operations, Electronic Warfare, and Cyberwar
Injury and Destruction of Navy Vessels by Earthquakes, Dec. 1868
Inquiry Into Occupation and Administration of Haiti and the Dominican Republic
Instances of Use of US Armed Forces Abroad, 1798 - 2004
Instructional Material for the Fight Against Enemy Propaganda
Instructions for the examination and entry into United States Ports in time of war
Instructions on Reception, Care and Training of Homing Pigeons
Inter-Allied Naval Relations and the Birth of NATO
Interrogation of General Alfred Jodl
Interrogations of Japanese Officials - Vol. I & II
Invasion of Sicily
The Invasion of Southern France: Aerology and Amphibious Warfare
Iran, Gulf Security, and U.S. Policy
Iran Hostage - Rescue Mission Report
Iran's Foreign and Defense Policies
Iran's Nuclear Program: Recent Developments
Irregular Enemies and the Essence of Strategy
Irregular Warfare Special Study
Islam: A Primer - Congressional Research Service Report for Congress
Islamic State and US Policy
Islamic Terrorism and the Balkans
Japan's Struggle to End the War - 1946
Japanese Interrogation Of Prisoners Of War
Japanese Naval and Merchant Shipping Losses - WWII
Japanese Naval Ground Forces
Japanese Naval Shipbuilding
Japanese Operational Aircraft CinCPOA 105-45
Japanese Operational Aircraft CinCPOA 105-45 Revised
Japanese Radio Communications and Radio Intelligence CinCPOA 5-45
Japanese - Smithsonian War Background Study
Japanese Story of the Battle of Midway
Action of AA Units
Enemy Action and Damage Suffered By Us
Part II - Plans
Part III - 7 Movement and Action Charts
Part V - Results
SUPPLEMENTARY TABLE NO. 3
Java Sea Campaign
Journal of the Disasters in Afghanistan, 1841-2
Kite Balloons in Escorts
Kosovo Naval Lessons Learned During Operation Allied Force
Korean War Chronology
June-December 1950
January-April 1952
May-August 1952
September-December 1952
January - April 1953
May-July 1953
Korean War Interim Evaluation No 1
Landing Operations Doctrine, USN, FTP-167
Law of Naval Warfare: NWIP 10-2, 1955
Law of Naval Warfare: Chapters 1 - 6
Appendix A: Convention For the Adaption to Maritime War of the Principles of the Geneva Convention - X Hague, 1907
Appendix B: Convention Concerning the Rights and Duties of Neutral Powers in Maritime War - XIII Hague, 1907
Appendix C: Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick
Appendix D: Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded, Sick, and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea of August 12, 1949
Appendix E: Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of August 12, 1949
Appendix F: Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of August 12, 1949
Appendix G-I
Lend Lease Act, 11 March 1941
Letter from President Harry S. Truman to Secretary of the Navy James V. Forrestal regarding the Five-Star Rank
Lengthy Deployment: The Jeannette Expedition In Arctic Waters
Library Regulations - USS Pittsburgh
Limited Duty Officer
List of Authorized Abbreviations for Use in Bureau of Naval Personnel Messages (1958)
List of Expeditions 1901-1929
List of Patrol Squadron Deployments to Korea During the War
Living Conditions in the 19th Century US Navy
Log of the trip of the president to the Casablanca Conference 9-31 January, 1943
The Logistics of Advance Bases
Lookout Manual 1943
Lost Patrol
Lost of Flight 19 Official Accident Reports
Magic Background of Pearl Harbor
Magic Background of Pearl Harbor Vol. 2
Magic Background of Pearl Harbor Vol. 2 Appendix
Main Navy Building: Its Construction and Original Occupants
Manual for Buglers, US Navy
Manual of Commands and Orders, 1945
Manual of Information Concerning Employments for the Panama Canal Service
Marine Amphibious Landing in Korea, 1871
Market Time (U) CRC 280
Master File Drawings of German Naval Vessels
Matthew Fontaine Maury: Benefactor of Mankind
Merchant Marines
Merchant Ship Shapes
Mers-el-Kebir Port Instructions for Merchant Vessels [1942]
Mess Night Manual
Midway in Retrospect: The Still Under Appreciated Victory
Midway's Operational Lesson: The Need For More Carriers
Midway: Sheer Luck or Better Doctrine?
Midway's Strategic Lessons
Midway Plan of the Day Notes
Military Base Closures: Role and Costs of Environmental Cleanup
Military Service Records and Unit Histories
Mine Sweeping Manual 1917
Mine Warfare in South Vietnam
Miracle Harbor
Miracle Harbor 1
Miracle Harbor 10
Missile Defense: The Current Debate
More Bang for the Buck: U.S. Nuclear Strategy and Missile Development 1945-1965
My days aboard U.S.S. Santa Fe
Naming of Streets, Facilities and Areas On Naval Installations
Narrative of Captain W.S. Cunningham, US Navy Relative to events on Wake Island in December 1941, and subsequent related events
Narrative of Joshua Davis an American Citizen 1811
Narrative of the Capture, Sufferings and Escape of Capt. Barnabas Lincoln
Narrative of the March and Operations of the Army of the Indus
Narrative of the United States' Expedition to the River Jordan and the Dead Sea
Navajo Code Talker Dictionary
Navajo Code Talkers: World War II Fact Sheet
Naval Anecdotes Relating to HMS Leopard Versus USS Chesapeake, 24 June 1807.
Naval Armed Guard Service in World War II
Russian Convoys
German Surface Raiders
Naval Armed Guard at Bari, Italy
Japanese Atrocities
Normandy Invasion
Research about the Naval Armed Guard
Action at Okinawa
Battle of the Philippines
The Naval Bombing Experiments
An Account of the Bombing
Minutes of the Pre-Bombing Conferences
Naval District Manual 1927
Naval Districts
Naval Gun Factory (Washington Navy Yard) Facilities Data: World War II
Naval Guns at Normandy
Naval Memorial Service, Casting Flowers on the Sea in Honor of the Naval Dead
The Naval Quarantine of Cuba
Quarantine 22 - 26 Oct
Naval Transformation: Background and Issues for Congress
Naval Yarns by Captain Bartlett [manuscript]
The Navy by Michael A. Palmer
Navy Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) Program
Navy Aegis Cruiser and Destroyer Modernization: Background and Issues for Congress
Navy and Defense Reform: A Short History and Reference Chronology
Navy and Marine Corps Awards Manual [Rev. 1953]
Pt. 1 - Personal Decorations
Pt. 2 - Unit Awards
Pt. 3 - Special and Commemorative Medals
Pt. 4 - Campaign and Service Medals
Pt. 5 - Decorations Awarded By Foreign Governments
Pt. 6 - Other Federal Decorations (non-military)
Memo - Changes
Ships & Other Units Eligible for the Korean Service Medal
Navy at a Tipping Point - 2010
Navy Civil War Chronology
Navy Columbia Class Ballistic Missile Submarine
Navy CVN-21 Aircraft Carrier Program
Navy DD(X) and CG(X) Programs
Navy Department Communiques 1-300 and Pertinent Press Releases
Navy Department Communiques 301 to 600
Navy F/A-18E/F Super Hornet & EA-18G Growler Aircraft
Navy Filing Manual 1941
Navy Force Structure A Bigger Fleet
Navy Force Structure and Shipbuilding Plans - 2016
The Navy in the Cold War Era, 1945-1991
Navy Interdiction Korea Vol. II
Navy Irregular Warfare and Counterterrorism Operations 2011
Navy John Lewis (TAO-205) Class Oiler Shipbuilding Program
Navy Lasers, Railgun, and Hypervelocity Projectiles
Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS)/Frigate Program
Navy LX(R) Amphibious Ship Program
Navy Network-Centric Warfare
Navy Nurse Corps General Uniform Instructions 1917
The Navy of the Republic of Vietnam
Navy Records and [Navy Department] Library (E Branch)
Navy Regulations, 1814
Navy Ship Names - Sept 2016
Navy Ship Names - Jan 2016
Navy Ship Procurement: Alternative Funding Approaches
Navy Ship Propulsion Technologies - 2006
Navy Shipboard Lasers for Surface, Air, and Missile Defense
Navy Trident Submarine Conversion (SSGN) Program: Background and Issues for Congress
Navy Virginia (SSN-774) Class Attack
Navy-Yard, Washington, History by Hibben
The Navy's World War II-era Fleet Admirals
Forward Presence in the Modern Navy: From the Cold War to a Future Tailored Force
Historiography of Programming and Acquisition Management since 1950 - Hone
Historiography of Technology Since 1950
Naval Personnel since 1945: Areas for Historical Research
Navy, Science, and Professional History
The Social History of the U.S. Navy, 1945–Present
U.S. Navy's Role in National Strategy
Writing U.S. Naval Operational History 1980–2010
Negro in the Navy - 1947
Negro in the Navy by Miller
Neutrality Instructions US Navy 1940
New Equation: Chinese Intervention into the Korean War
A New Look at the Cuban Missile Crisis
Nixon's Trident: Naval Power in Southeast Asia, 1968-1972 by John D. Sherwood
Nomenclature of Decks
Nomenclature of Naval Vessels
Non-Discrimination in V-12 Program
North Korea's Nuclear Weapons Program
North Korea's Second Nuclear Test [2009]
North Korean Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States
Northern Barrage and Other Mining Activities
Northern Barrage: Taking Up Mines
Northern Formosa, Pescadores
Notes on Anti-submarine Defenses ONI Publication No. 8
Notes on Writing Naval (not Navy) English
Nuclear Arms Control: The U.S.-Russian Agenda
Nuclear Weapons: Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
Occupation of Kiska
Occupation of the Gilbert Islands
The Offensive Navy Since World War II: How Big and Why, A Brief Summary
Office of Naval Records and Library 1882-1946
Officers and Key Personnel Attached to the Office of Naval Records and Library 1882-1946
Officers of the Continental Navy and Marine Corps
Officers of Navy Yards, Shore Stations, and Vessels, 1 January 1865
Officers of the Continental and U.S. Navy and Marine Corps 1775-1900
Marine Corps Officers: 1798-1900
Continental Navy Officers: 1775-1785
Continental Marine Corps Officers: 1775-1785
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (A)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (B)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (C)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (D)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (E)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (F)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (G)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (H)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (I)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (J)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (K)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (L)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (M)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (N)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (O)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (P)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (Q)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (R)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (S)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (T)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (U)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (V)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (W)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (Y)
Navy Officers: 1798-1900 (Z)
"Official" USS Missouri Survival Guide
Operation Crossroads
Composition of Joint Task Force One
Target Ships Sunk During Test Able 1 July 1946
Target Ships Sunk During Test Baker 25 July 1946
Disposition of Target Vessels
Operation NEPTUNE - The Invasion of Normandy
Table of Contents - Operation NEPTUNE
Editor's Note - Operation Neptune
Chapter 1: THE STRATEGIC BACKGROUND OF OVERLORD
Chapter 2: PLANNING AND PREPARATION FOR CROSS-CHANNEL (OVERLORD) OPERATIONS
Chapter 4: NEPTUNE OPERATIONS PLANS
Chapter 5: Naval Preparations for Cross-Channel Operations
Chapter 6: The Operation Begins
Chapter 7: Defensive Measures - NEPTUNE Operation
Chapter 8: Bombardment and Other Defensive Operations Against Enemy Land Forces
Chapter 9: The NEPTUNE Assaults
Chapter 10: The Build-up for the Battle of France
Operation NEPTUNE - Index
Operation NEPTUNE Administrative History's Table of Contents
Operation Neptune
Sunk and Damaged Ships and Craft
Operations of the Navy and Marine Corps in the Philippine Archipelago
Operations of the Seventh Amphibious Force
Operations of USS Don Juan de Austria
OPNAV [Office of the Chief of Naval Operations] Acronyms
Origin of Navy Terminology
Our Vanishing History and Traditions - Knox
Operation of the Admiral Scheer
Our Navy at War
Pacific Typhoon, 18 December 1944
Admiral Nimitz's Pacific Fleet Confidential Letter on Lessons of Damage in Typhoon
List of Commands and Ships Involved
Personnel Casualties Suffered by Third Fleet, 17-18 December 1944, Compiled from Official Sources
Aircraft Losses Suffered by Third Fleet, 17-18 December 1944, Compiled From Official Sources
Extracts Relating to the Typhoon from Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet Report
Pacific Typhoon, June 1945 - Reports
Extracts from Commander Carrier Division Six Report
Extract from Report of Task Group Thirty-eight point one
Extract from Third Fleet Report
Pacific Typhoon October 1945 - Okinawa
Peacekeeping and Related Stability Operations: Issues of U.S. Military Involvement
The Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941 - Overview
Pearl Harbor Navy Medical Activities
"Pearl Harbor Revisited: USN Communications Intelligence"
Notes on Sources
Pearl Harbor Salvage Report 1944
Pearl Harbor Submarine Base 1918-1945
Pearl Harbor: Survivor Reports
USS Arizona - Reports by Survivors of Pearl Harbor Attack
USS California- Reports by Survivors of Pearl Harbor Attack
USS Maryland - Reports by Survivors of Pearl Harbor Attack
USS Oklahoma - Reports by Survivors of Pearl Harbor Attack
USS Tennessee - Report by Survivor of Pearl Harbor Attack
USS West Virginia - Reports by Survivors of Pearl Harbor Attack
Pearl Harbor: Why, How, Fleet Salvage and Final Appraisal
Pentagon 9/11
Personal Identification Tags or "Dog Tags"
BUREAU OF NAVIGATION CIRCULAR LETTER NO. 57-41
BUREAU OF NAVIGATION CIRCULAR LETTER NO. 152-41
Perspectives on Enhanced Interrogation Techniques
Philadelphia Experiment: ONR Information Sheet
Phonetic Alphabet and Signal Flags
Piracy Off the Horn of Africa
The Pivot Upon Which Everything Turned
Plea in Favor of Maintaining Flogging in the Navy
Pocket Guide to Hawaii
Pocket Guide to Netherlands East Indies
Pocket Guide to New Guinea and the Solomons
Port Chicago, CA, Explosion
Posse Comitatus Act and Related Matters: A Sketch
Post Mortem CIC [Combat Information Center] Notes
Potato Famine of 1847
Precisely Appropriate for the Purpose
Preserving an Honored Past
Priceless Advantage by FD Parker
Propaganda Foreign Military Studies 1952
Public Law 333, 79th Congress
Q-ships during World War II
Radio Intelligence Appreciations Concerning German U-Boat Activity in the Far East
Radio Proximty (VT) Fuzes
Ready Seapower: A History of the US Seventh Fleet by Edward J. Marolda [pdf]
Recollections of Capture by the Germans, Imprisonment, and Escape of Lieutenant Edouard Victor Isaacs, U.S.N.
Recollections of Ensign Leonard W. Tate
Recollections of Lieutenant Commander William Leide
Recollections of Lieutenant Wilton Wenker and Lieutenant Elby Concerning the Crossing of the Rhine River in 1945
Recollections of USS Pampanito's rescue of prison ship survivors by Lieutenant Commander Landon Davis
Recollections of Vice Admiral Alan G. Kirk Concerning the Crossing of the Rhine River in 1945
Reestablishment of the Marine Corps
Registers of the Navy
Register of the Navy, 1812
Register of Patients at Naval Hospital Washington DC 1814
Register of USN & USMC Officer Personnel 1801-1807 [pdf]
Regulation, December 7, 1841
Regulations for the Information of Officers On Neutrality Duty in Connection With the Visits of Belligerent Vessels of War [1916]
Regulations For Powder Magazines and Shell Houses 1874
Regulations Governing the Uniform of Commissioned Officers 1897
Religions of Vietnam
Remarks on Protection of a Convoy by Extended Patrols
Remarks on Submarine Tactics Against Convoys
Reminiscences of Seattle Washington Territory and the U. S. Sloop-of-War Decatur
Report by the Special Subcommittee on Disciplinary Problems in the US Navy
Reports of Arica, Peru Earthquake from USS Powhatan and USS Wateree
Republic of Korea Navy
Resolution of the Continental Congress, 11 December 1775
Resolution of the Continental Congress, 25 November 1775
Resolution of the Continental Congress establishing the Marine Corps - 10 November 1775
Hyman G. Rickover's Promotion to Admiral [H.A.S.C. 93-16]
Ringle Report on Japanese Internment
Riverine Warfare Manual [1971]
Riverine Warfare: The US Navy's Operations on Inland Waters
Rocks and Shoals: Articles for the Government of the U.S. Navy
The Recruitment of African Americans in the US Navy 1839
The Role of COMINT in the Battle of Midway
The Role of the United States Navy in the Formation and Development of the Federal German Navy, 1945-1970
Rommel and the Atlantic Wall
Royal Works USS Lexington [Crossing the Line 1936]
Rules for the Regulation of the Navy - 1775
Sailors as Infantry in the US Navy
Sailors as Infantry Appendices
The Sailors Creed
Samoan Hurricane
A Sampling of U.S. Naval Humanitarian Operations
Seabee History
Seabee History - Introduction
Seabee History - World War II
Seabee History - 1946-1960
Seabee History - Vietnam
Seabee History - After Vietnam
Seabee History - Desert Shield/Desert Storm
Secretary of the Navy's Report for 1900 on the China Relief Expedition
Selected Documents of the Spanish American War
Battle of Manila Bay
Battle of Manila Bay: Miscellaneous Documents
Olympia in Battle of Manila Bay
Raleigh in Battle of Manila Bay
Concord in Battle of Manila Bay
Baltimore in Battle of Manila Bay
Petrel in Battle of Manila Bay
Boston in Battle of Manila Bay
McCulloch in Battle of Manila Bay
U.S. Consul at Manila
Official Spanish Report on Battle of Manila Bay
Selected Groups in the Republic of Vietnam
Selected Groups/Republic Vietnam - The Binh Xuyen
Selected Groups/Republic Vietnam - The Cao Dai
Selected Groups/Republic Vietnam - The Cham
Selected Groups/Republic Vietnam - The Chinese
Selected Groups/Republic Vietnam - The Khmer
Seventh Amphibious Force - Command History 1945
Shelling of the Alaskan Native American Village of Angoon, October 1882
Ship to Shore Movement
Ship Shapes Anatomy and types of Naval Vessels
Shipboard Ettiquette [Naval R. O. T. C. Pamphlet No. 16]
Shiploading - A Picture Dictionary
Ships named for Individual Sailors
Ships named for Individual Sailors - Citations
Ships Present at Pearl Harbor
Ships Sunk and Damaged in Action during the Korean Conflict
A Short Account of the Several General Duties of Officers, of Ships of War: From an Admiral, Down to the Most Inferior Officer
Short Guide to Iraq
The Sicilian Campaign, Operation 'Husky'
Signals for the Use of the Navy of the Confederate States
Sinking of C.S.S. Alabama by U.S.S. Kearsarge - 19 Jun 1864
Sinking of the Bismarck
Bismarck: The Cruise of the Bismarck
British/American Cooperation
The Scouting and Search for Bismarck
Selected Sources on the German Battleship Bismarck
The Sinking of the German Battleship Bismarck as Described in the B.d.U. [Commander U-boats] War Log, 24-31 May 1941
Sinking of the USS Guitarro
The Sinking of the USS Housatonic by the Submarine CSS H.L. Hunley
Sinking of USS Indianapolis - Press Releases & Related Sources
Court Martial
Memorandum to Press on Scheduled Testimony
Narrative of the Circumstances
Navy Department Press Release
Skill in the Surf: A Landing Boat Manual
Chapter I. Landing Boats Are Important!
Chapter II. Landing Craft From Troy to Tokio
Chapter III. Know Your Boat!
Chapter IV. Know Your Job!
Chapter V. Keep It Running!
Chapter VI. The Coxswain Takes Over
Chapter VII. Learning the Ropes
Chapter VIII. The Salvage Boat
Chapter IX. Where Sea Meets Land
Chapter X. Hit That Beach!
Chapter XI. Information, Please!
Skunks, Bogies, Silent Hounds, and the Flying Fish
Slapton Sands: The Cover-up That Never Was
Small Wars Their Principles and Practice
So You are Going to the South Pacific?
Soldier's Guide Bosnia-Herzegovina
Solomon Islands Campaign: I The Landing in the Solomons
Solomon Islands Campaign: II Savo Island & III Eastern Solomons
Solomon Islands Campaign: IV Battle of Cape Esperance
Some Experiences Reported by the Crew of the USS Pueblo and American Prisoners of War from Vietnam
Some Memorandums Construction of Ships Frederick Tudor
Somers, essay on legal aspects of Somers Affair
Sources on US Naval History by State
Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 1898 Part 1
Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 1898 Part 10
Spanish-American War; War Plans and Impact on U.S. Navy
Special Order 1865 April 17 Assemblage of Officers to Attend
Special Order 1865 April 17 Navy Department Closure
Special Order 1865 April 17 Officers to Attend Funeral
Special Order 1865 April 20 List of Officers to Accompany Remains
Special Order No. 73 - 1905 April 18 Travel Pay
Specifications for Ship and Motor Boat Bells
Composition and Acoustic Properties
Bell Clapper
Sports in the Navy: 1775 to 1963
Stalin's Cold War Military Machine: A New Evaluation
Statement Regarding Winds Message
The Story Of The Confederate States' Ship Virginia
Strait Comparison: Lessons Learned from the 1915 Dardanelles Campaign
Strategic Concepts of the U.S. Navy (NWP 1 A)
Striking the Flag
Structural Repairs in Forward Areas During WWII
Study of the General Board of the U.S. Navy, 1929-1933
Submarine Activities Connected with Guerrilla Organizations
Submarine Sighting Guide ONI 31-2A
ONI 31-2A PDF
Submarine Sighting Guide ONI 31SS-Rev. 1
Submarine Silhouette Book No. 1
Submarine Turtle Naval Documents
Surprised at Tet: U.S. Naval Forces in Vietnam, 1968
Survey of the Amazon- Selfridge
Survival of the Collection of the Navy Department Library
Syria's Chemical Weapons: Issues for Congress
Tactical Lessons of Midway
Target Information From CIC [Combat Information Center]
Terminology and Nomenclature
Bravo Zulu
Terrorism in Southeast Asia
Terrorism: Some Legal Restrictions on Military Assistance
Terrorist Attack on USS Cole: Background and Issues for Congress
Tet: The Turning Point in Vietnam
This is Ann - Malaria
Time of Change: National Strategy in the Early Postwar Era
Titanic Disaster: Report of Navy Hydrographic Office
Tokyo a Study in Jap Flak Defense
Tokyo Bay: The Formal Surrender of the Empire of Japan
Tonkin Gulf Crisis
Tonkin Gulf Crisis, August 1964 - Summary
Formerly Classified Documents from 2 August - 4 August 1964
Formerly Classified Documents Subsequent to 4 August 1964
Publicly Released Information
Gulf of Tonkin the 1964 Incidents
Gulf of Tonkin the 1964 Incidents [Part II]
Acronyms, Abbreviations, and Code Words
Tonkin Gulf Crisis Select Bibliography
Torpedo War - Rodgers - Fulton
Training Ships
The Trial of Admiral Doenitz
Tsunami (Tidal Wave) Disasters
20th Century Warriors: Native American Participation in the United States Military
Typhoons and Hurricanes: The Effects of Cyclonic Winds on US Naval Operations
Typhoons and Hurricanes: The Storm at Apia, Samoa, 15-16 March 1889
U-94 Sunk By USN PBY Plane and HMCS Oakville 8-27-42
U-162 Sunk By HM Ships Pathfinder, Vimy, and Quentin 9-3-42
U-210 Sunk By HMCS Assiniboine 7-6-42
U-352 Sunk By U.S.C.G. Icarus 5-9-42
U-505 Sinking
U-571, World War II German Submarine
U-595 Scuttled and Sunk Off Cape Khamis, Algeria 11-14-42
U-701 Sunk By US Army Attack Bomber No. 9-29-322, Unit 296 B.S. 7-7-42
U-Boat War in the Caribbean: Opportunities Lost
Ultra and the Campaign Against U-boats in World War II
Underwater earthquake disasters and the U.S. Navy
Uniform Regulations, 1797
General Regulations: Full Dress, Undress, Service Dress
Coats, Overcoats, Jackets
Cuff and Sleeve Ornaments
Pantaloons, Vests
Part 1: Rear Admiral to Ensign
Part 2: Engineer Corps
Part 3: Professors, Secretaries
Part 4: Medical Corps
Part 5: Chaplains, Paymasters
Part 6: Naval Constructors
Part 7: Regulations for Wearing Shoulder Straps
Cap and Cap Ornaments
Straw Hats, Sword and Scabbard, Sword-Belt, Sword-Knot, Buttons, Cravat
Dress for Petty Officers and Crew
Uniform Regulations, Women's Reserve, USNR, 1943
Uniforms of the US Navy
Uniform-Buttons
Chief Petty Officers' Uniforms U.S. Navy
Cold-Weather/Foul-Weather Wear
Gas Masks and Breathing Apparatus U.S. Navy Uniform
Uniform and Dress of the Navy of the Confederate States
Insignias U.S. Navy Uniform
Maintenance/Care of Uniforms
Pants/Bell-Bottoms
Personal Appearance
Seabags
Navy Seabags
Shirts/Jumpers
Naval Uniforms, misc.
Petty Officer Rating Badge Locations and Eagle Designs
Uniform Changes
Historical Surveys of the Evolution of US Navy Uniforms
Uniform Regulations
History of US Navy Uniforms, 1776-1981
Identification Tags ("Dog Tags")
United States Atlantic Fleet Organization 1942
United States Pacific Fleet Organization, 1 May 1945
United States Naval Hospital Ships
United States Naval Railway Batteries in France
United States Navy and the Persian Gulf
United States Navy and World War I: 1914–1922
United States Navy's World of Work
United States Submarine Losses World War II
Notes to US Submarine Losses in World War II
Albacore (SS 218)
Amberjack (SS 219)
Argonaut (SS 166)
Barbel (SS 316)
Bonefish (SS 223)
Bullhead (SS 332)
Capelin (SS 289)
Cisco (SS 290)
Corvina (SS 226)
Darter (SS 227)
Dorado (SS 248)
Escolar (SS 294)
Flier (SS 250)
Golet (SS 361)
Grampus (SS 207)
Grayback (SS 208)
Grayling (SS 209)
Grenadier (SS 210)
Growler (SS 215)
Grunion (SS 216)
Gudgeon (SS 211)
Harder (SS 257)
Herring (SS 233)
Kete (SS 369)
Lagarto (SS 371)
Perch (SS 176)
Pickerel (SS 177)
Pompano (SS 181)
R-12 (SS 89)
Robalo (SS 273)
Runner (SS 275)
S-26 (SS 131)
Scamp (SS 277)
Scorpion (SS 278)
Sculpin (SS 191)
Sealion (SS 195)
Seawolf (SS 197)
Shark I* (SS 174)
Shark 2* (SS 314)
Snook (SS 279)
Swordfish (SS 193)
Tang (SS 306)
Trigger (SS 237)
Triton (SS 201)
Trout (SS 202)
Tullibee (SS 284)
Wahoo (SS 238)
German U-Boat Casualties in World War Two
Italian Submarine Casualties in World War Two
Japanese Submarine Casualties in World War Two (I and RO Boats)
Unmanned Vehicles for U.S. Naval Forces: Background and Issues for Congress
US Democracy Promotion Policy in the Middle East
US-Greek Naval Relations Begin
US Marines at Pearl Harbor
US Mining and Mine Clearance in North Vietnam
US Naval Detachment in Turkish Waters, 1919-1924
US Naval Forces in Northern Russia 1918-1919
US Naval Plans for War with the United Kingdom in the 1890s
US Naval Port Officers in the Bordeaux Region, 1917-1919
US Navy Abbreviations of World War II
Navy Numbers
US Navy and Hawaii-A Historical Summary
Pearl Harbor: Its Origin and Administrative History Through World War II
Development of the Naval Establishment in Hawaii
The World War II Years
US Navy Capstone Strategies and Concepts (1970-1980)
US Navy Capstone Strategy, Policy, Vision and Concept Documents
US Navy Code Words of World War II
US Navy Congo River Expedition of 1885
US Navy Forward Deployment 1801-2001
US Navy in Desert Shield/Desert Storm
Overview: Desert Storm - The Role of the Navy
A Common Goal - Joint Ops
Bullets, Bandages and Beans - Logistic Ops
Thunder and Lightning - The war with Iraq
Appendix B: Participating Naval Units
Appendix A: Chronology - August 1990
Appendix A: Chronology - September 1990
Appendix A: Chronology - October 1990
Appendix A: Chronology - November 1990
Appendix A: Chronology - December 1990
Appendix A: Chronology - January 1991
Appendix A: Chronology - January 1991 cont.
Appendix A: Chronology - February 1991
Appendix A: Chronology - March 1991
Appendix A: Chronology - April 1991
Appendix C: Allied Participation and Contributions
Appendix D: Aircraft Sortie Count
Appendix E: Aircraft Readiness Rates
Appendix F: Aircraft and Personnel Losses
Appendix G: Naval Gunfire Support
Appendix H: Surface Warfare
Appendix I: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Appendix K: Sealift
Appendix L: Airlift
US Navy in the World (2001-2010)
US Navy instruction for the destruction of signal books, 1863
Truxtun Signal Book
1813 Signal Book
US Navy Interviewer's Classification Guide
US Navy Libraries
US Navy Libraries: Historic Documents
US Navy Motor Torpedo Boat Operational Losses
US Navy Nurse Corps General Uniform Instructions, 1917
US Navy in Operation Enduring Freedom, 2001-2002
US Navy Personnel in World War II: Service and Casualty Statistics
US Navy Personnel Strength, 1775 to Present
US Navy Sailors Operating Ashore as Artillerymen Roth
US Navy Ships Lost in Selected Storm/Weather Related Incidents
US Navy Special Operations in the Korean War
US Navy Submarines Losses, Selected Accidents, and Selected Incidents of Damage Resulting from Enemy Action, Chronological
US Occupation Assistance: Iraq, Germany and Japan Compared
US Occupation of Haiti, 1915-1934
US Periods of War and Dates of Recent Conflicts
US Prisoners of War and Civilian American Citizens Captured
US Radar: Operational Characteristics of Radar Classified by Tactical Application
US Special Operations Forces (SOF): Background and Issues for Congress
Use of Naval Forces in the Post-War Era
U.S.S. Colorado BB-45 Diary
USS Constitution's Battle Record
Cutting Out Expedition, 1800
Bombardment of Tripoli, 1804
Escape from an Enemy Squadron, 1812
Engagement with HMS Guerriere
USS Constitution vs. HMS Java, 1812
USS Constitution, Capture of Cyane and Levant
Seizing a Slaver, 1853
USS Kearsarge Rescues Soviet Soldiers, 1960
USS Monitor Versus CSS Virginia and the Battle for Hampton Roads
USS Pirate; Selected documents on the Salvage of USS Pirate and USS Pledge
USS Vega, Report of Pearl Harbor Attack
USS West Virgina, Report of Salvage, Pearl Harbor
The U.S. Navy Enlistment, Instruction, Pay and Advancement
V-22 Osprey Tilt-Rotor Aircraft
Vessels Lost and Salvaged, Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 1916
Vessels of the Continental Navy
Vieques, Puerto Rico Naval Training Range: Background and Issues for Congress
Viet-Nam Free-World Challenge in Southeast Asia
Viet-Nam: The Struggle for Freedom
Viet-Nam: The Third Face of the War
Voyage of the Jamestown on Her Errand of Mercy
Vietnamese Naval Intelligence
Walking Tour of Leutze Park
Journal of Captain Edward Preble
Report of Ensign Fredrick Pearson
Report of Commodore D.B. Ridgely
War Damage Reports
Destroyer Report - Gunfire, Bomb and Kamikaze Damage
Destroyer Report - Torpedo and Mine Damage and Loss in Action
Submarine Report - Vol. 1, War Damage Report No. 58
Summary of War Damage to U. S. Battleships, Carriers, Cruisers and Destroyers 17 October, 1941 to 7 December, 1942
USS Birmingham CL62 War Damage Report No. 48
USS Boise CL47 War Damage Report No. 24
USS Canberra CA70 War Damage Report No. 54
USS Capella AK13 & USS Alhena AKA9 War Damage Report No. 27
USS Chincoteague AVP24 War Damage Report No. 47
USS Enterprise CV6 War History 1941 - 1945
USS Franklin CV-13 War Damage Report No. 56
USS Helena CL50 War Damage Report No. 43
USS Honolulu CL48 War Damge Report No. 1
USS Houston CL81 War Damage Report No. 53
USS Independence CVL22 & USS Denver CL58 War Damage Report No. 52
[USS] Joseph Hewes APA22 War Damage Report No. 32
USS Lexington CV2 War Damage Report No. 16
USS Liscome Bay CVE56 War Damage Report No. 45
USS New Orleans CA32 War Damage Report No. 38
USS North Carolina BB55 War Damage Report No. 61
USS Northampton CA26 War Damage Report No. 41
USS O'Brien DD415 War Damage Report No. 28
USS Princeton CVL23 War Damage Report No. 62
USS Quincy CA39, Astoria CA34 & Vincennes CA44 War Damage Report No. 29
USS San Francisco CA38 War Damage Report No. 26
USS Saratoga CV3 War Damage Report No. 19
USS South Dakota BB57 War Damage Report No. 57
War Instructions United States Navy 1944
Wardroom NavPers 10002-A
Wartime Diversion of US Navy Forces in Response to Public Demands for Augmented Coastal Defense-CNA
Wartime Instructions for United States Merchant Vessels 1942
Washington Navy Yard: History of the Naval Gun Factory, 1883-1939
Washington Navy Yard - Pay Roll of Mechanics and Labourers, c1819-1820
[UPDATED] Washington Navy Yard Station Log November 1822 - December 1889
Washington Navy Yard Station Log Images
We Will Stand in Viet-Nam
Who Will Do What With What
Why is the Colonel Called "Kernal"?
Enlisted Ranks
The Story Behind Names of Different Ranks
History of Warrant Officers in the US Navy
With a View to Publication
Women in the Navy
Women's Uniform Regulations, Yeoman (F), US Naval Reserve Force, 1918
Women's Winter Uniform Regulations, Yeoman (F), US Naval Reserve Force, 1919
World War I British and German Naval Messages (1918)
World War II Casualties
World War II Invasion of Normandy 1944 Interrogation of Generalleutnant Rudolf Schmetzer
What is CORDS
Yangtze River Patrol and Other US Navy Asiatic Fleet Activities in China
Yemen: Civil War and Regional Intervention
List of Z-grams
Z-Gram 1
Z-Gram 10
Z-Gram 100
Gulf War, Religion, Terrorism, Leadership
Image (gif, jpg, tiff)
Statements and Evolving Ideology
Congressional Research Service Report for Congress
Christopher M. Blanchard
Analyst in Middle Eastern Affairs
Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division
Congressional Research Service, The Library of Congress
Al Qaeda: Statements 1994-2001 2
Founding Principles 2
Declaration of Jihad 2
"Clash of Civilizations" 3
Al Qaeda Post-9/11 4
"The Goals of the New York Strike" 4
Al Qaeda Statements in 2004-2005 5
Iraq and Al Qaeda's Ideology 6
The Three Foundations 7
Al Qaeda on Democracy and Reform 8
A Strategic Framework 9
Implications for Al Qaeda's Evolving Ideology and Strategy 10
Al Qaeda's Audiences 10
Pragmatic Messianism 11
Conclusion 13
Al Qaeda and the Jihadist International 13
Osama Bin Laden and the Al Qaeda terrorist network have conducted a sophisticated public relations and media campaign over the last ten years. Terrorism analysts believe that these messages have been designed to elicit psychological reactions and communicate complex political messages to a global audience as well as to specific populations in the Islamic world, the United States, Europe, and Asia. Some officials and analysts believe that Al Qaeda's messages contain signals that inform and instruct operatives to prepare for and carry out new attacks. Bin Laden has referred to his public statements as important primary sources for parties seeking to understand Al Qaeda's ideology and political demands. Global counterterrorism operations in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks appear to have limited Bin Laden's ability to provide command and control leadership to Al Qaeda operatives and affiliated groups. However, he and other Al Qaeda leaders continue to release statements that sanction, encourage, and provide guidance for future terrorist operations. Iraq, in particular, has become a focal point for Al Qaeda's rhetoric, as recent statements have underscored Al Qaeda's interest in Iraq and support for the ongoing insurgency.
The release of new statements by Osama Bin Laden and his deputy Ayman Al Zawahiri in late 2004 and early 2005 rekindled public debate surrounding Al Qaeda's ideology, motives, and future plans to attack the United States. The ideological content and highly political tone of the recent statements have led some terrorism analysts to speculate that the messages may signal a renewed attempt by Bin Laden and his associates to create a lasting leadership role for themselves and the Al Qaeda organization as the vanguard of an emerging, loosely organized international jihadist movement. Others have argued that the presently limited operational capabilities of Al Qaeda's central leaders have inspired them to revive ideological outreach efforts. Many observers believe that the group's primary goal remains carrying out terrorist attacks against the United States and its allies around the world, with particular emphasis on targeting economic infrastructure and fomenting unrest in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
This report reviews Al Qaeda's use of public statements from the mid-1990s to the present and analyzes the evolving ideological and political content of those statements. The report focuses primarily on statements made by Osama Bin Laden, but also considers: statements made by his deputy Ayman Al Zawahiri, who some experts consider to be Al Qaeda's chief ideologue; remarks by Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, who has been recognized by Osama Bin Laden as an Al Qaeda ally and the leader of "mujahideen" operations in Iraq; and a May 2005 statement from Al Qaeda military leader Sayf Al Adl. The report will be updated periodically. For background on the Al Qaeda terrorist network, see CRS Report RS22049: Al Qaeda: Profile and Threat Assessment.
--i--
Osama Bin Laden and the Al Qaeda terrorist network have conducted a sophisticated public relations and media campaign over the last ten years using a series of faxed statements, audio recordings, video appearances, and Internet postings.1 Terrorism analysts believe that these messages have been designed to elicit psychological reactions and communicate complex political messages to a global audience as well as to specific populations in the Islamic world, the United States, Europe, and Asia. Bin Laden and his deputies have personally stated their belief in the importance of harnessing the power of international and regional media for Al Qaeda's benefit, and Al Qaeda's central leadership structure has featured a dedicated media and communications committee tasked with issuing reports and statements in support of the group's operations.2 Some officials and analysts believe that Al Qaeda's messages contain signals that inform and instruct operatives to prepare for and carry out new attacks.
Bin Laden has referred to his public statements as important primary sources for parties seeking to understand Al Qaeda's ideology and political demands.3 Through his public statements over the last ten years, Bin Laden has portrayed himself both as the leader of a consistent ideological movement and a strategic commander willing to tailor his violent messages and acts to respond to specific political circumstances and to influence specific audiences and events. Global counterterrorism operations in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks appear to have limited Bin Laden's ability to provide command and control leadership to Al Qaeda operatives and affiliated groups. However he and other Al Qaeda leaders continue to release statements that sanction, encourage, and provide guidance for future terrorist operations.
Al Qaeda: Statements 1994-2001
Founding Principles. Osama Bin Laden's experiences as a logistical coordinator and financier for the Afghan and Arab resistance to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan during the 1980s are thought to have provided the backdrop for his belief that Muslims could take effective military action inspired by select Islamic principles. His exposure to the teachings of conservative Islamist scholars in Saudi Arabia and his work with Arab militants in Afghanistan provided the theological and ideological basis for his belief in the desirability of puritanical Salafist Islamic reform in Muslim societies and the necessity of armed resistance in the face of perceived aggression -- a concept Al Qaeda has since associated with a communally-binding Islamic principle known as "defensive jihad."4 After the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, Bin Laden expressed these views in opposition to the introduction of foreign military forces to Saudi Arabia. Bin Laden characterized the presence of U.S. and other non-Muslim troops in Saudi Arabia after the 1991 Gulf War as cause for renewed commitment to defensive jihad and the promotion of violence against the Saudi government and the United States.
Declaration of Jihad. In the early 1990s, Bin Laden emphasized his desire to secure the withdrawal of U.S. and other foreign troops from Saudi Arabia at all costs. Bin Laden criticized the Saudi royal family publicly and alleged that their invitation of foreign troops to the Arabian peninsula constituted an affront to the sanctity of the birthplace of Islam and a betrayal of the global Islamic community.5Finding his rhetoric and efforts rebuffed by Saudi leaders, Bin Laden was expelled from Saudi Arabia and his ire increasingly focused on the United States. Following a period of exile in Sudan and Afghanistan in which his radical views sharpened, Bin Laden issued a declaration of jihad against the United States in 1996 that signaled his emergence as an internationally recognizable figure and offered a full account of his main critiques of an enemy he described as the "alliance of Jews, Christians, and their agents."6 Adopting the sensitive historical and religious imagery of Islamic resistance to the European Crusades, Bin Laden condemned the U.S. military presence in Saudi Arabia, criticized the international sanctions regime on Iraq, and voiced his opposition to U.S. support for Israel.7The declaration also cited
1 Unless indicated, all translated citations are derived from "Compilation of Usama Bin Ladin Statements 1994 - January 2004," FBIS Report - GMP20040209000243, Feb. 9, 2004.
2 Recent Al Qaeda messages have been produced by a dedicated studio, known as the Al Sahab. Institute for Media Productions.
3 For example, in Bin Laden's October 2004 pre-U.S. presidential election message he referred to specific pre-9/11 interviews with a variety of media outlets as previous indications of Al Qaeda's ideology and demands.
4 For more on Bin Laden and defensive jihad, see James Turner Johnson, "Jihad and Just War," First Things, June/July 2002, pp. 12-14. Bin Laden has identified Salafist thinkers such as his former mentor Abdallah Azzam, Hamas founder Ahmed Yasin, World Trade Center bombing conspirator Omar Abdel Rahman, Saudi dissident clerics Salman Al Awdah and Safar Al Hawali, and 13th century Islamic scholar Ibn Taymiyah as prominent ideological influences. For more on Salafism see CRS Report RS21695, The Islamic Traditions of Wahhabism and Salafiyya.
5 Robert Fisk, "Interview With Saudi Dissident Bin Ladin" Independent (London), July 10, 1996.
6 "Declaration of Jihad Against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Mosques," Al Islah (London), Sept. 2, 1996.
7 At the time, Bin Laden expressed no solidarity or sympathy for Saddam Hussein or his regime, explaining -- "We, as Muslims, do not like the Iraqi regime but we think that the Iraqi people and their children are our brothers and we care about their future." Fisk, "Interview With Saudi Dissident Bin Ladin" Independent (London), July 10, 1996, op. cit.
"massacres in Tajikistan, Burma, Kashmir, Assam, the Philippines, Fatani [as transliterated], Ogaden, Somalia, Eritrea, Chechnya, and Bosnia-Herzegovina" as examples of a growing war on Islam for which the United States should be punished (Bin Laden did not recognize the humanitarian aspects of U.S. efforts in Bosnia and Somalia explicitly).8
"Clash of Civilizations". Following his declaration of jihad on the United States, Bin Laden released a series of statements that expanded the vision and scope of his self-declared conflict with the United States and specified his political prescriptions for the reformation of Islamic societies. Echoing U.S. academic Samuel Huntington's theory on the impending clash of civilizations,9 Bin Laden repeated his characterization of a so-called "new crusade led by America against the Islamic nations," and emphasized his belief that an emerging conflict between Islam and the West would be fought "between the Islamic world and the Americans and their allies."10 Bin Laden argued that the Islamic world should see itself as one seamless community, or umma, and that Muslims were obliged to unite and defend themselves. Turning his focus to the internal politics of the Islamic world, Bin Laden urged Muslims to find a leader to unite them and establish a "pious caliphate" that would be governed by Islamic law and follow Islamic principles of finance and social conduct.11 Bin Laden repeatedly argued that Afghanistan had become a model Islamic state under his Taliban hosts and used religious rhetoric to solicit support for the Taliban and Al Qaeda.12
Although he possesses no traditional Islamic religious credentials or authority, Bin Laden issued a fatwa, or religious edict, in 1998 that claimed that the United States had made "a clear declaration of war on God, his messenger, and Muslims"13 through its policies in the Islamic world. The fatwa made use of the principle of defensive jihad to argue that U.S. aggression made armed resistance and the targeting of American civilians and military personnel incumbent upon all Muslims. The statement also announced the formation of "The World Islamic Front for Jihad against the Jews and Crusaders," which consisted of a tacit alliance between Bin Laden, his supporters, and a number of regional Islamic militant groups. Following Al Qaeda's bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania (1998) and the
8 "Declaration of Jihad," Al Islah (London), Sept. 2, 1996. op. cit.
9 See Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, Simon and Schuster, 1998.
10 "Correspondent Meets With Opposition Leader Bin Ladin," Channel 4 (London) Feb. 20, 1997.
11 "Pakistan Interviews Usama Bin Ladin," (Islamabad, Pakistan), Mar. 18, 1997.
12 "Website Publishes Bin Ladin 'Speech'" Internet Supporters of Shariah, June 22, 2000; and "Al Jazirah Program on Bin Laden" Al Jazirah Television (Doha, Qatar), June 10, 1999.
13 "Text of Fatwa Urging Jihad Against Americans," Al Quds Al Arabi (London), Feb. 23, 1998. The fatwa argued that defensive jihad was necessary "in order to liberate the al-Aqsa Mosque [Jerusalem] and the holy mosque [Mecca] from their grip [the U.S. and Israel]."
U.S.S. Cole in Yemen(2000), Bin Laden refused to take direct responsibility for the attacks, but claimed that he approved of the strikes and shared the motivations of the individuals who had carried them out. Bin Laden argued that the bombings should be seen by Americans and the world as retribution for U.S. policy and compared them to alleged "massacres" of Palestinians in historic cases familiar to many Muslims and Arabs.14
Al Qaeda Post-9/11
Osama Bin Laden's longstanding threats to strike the United States came to fruition on September 11, 2001, and Bin Laden and others subsequently issued several statements confirming Al Qaeda's responsibility for the attacks on New York and Washington. Following an established pattern, Bin Laden acknowledged his support for the hijackers and repeated his claim that strikes on American targets should be viewed by Muslims and Americans as a defensively motivated response to perceived American aggression in the Islamic world. Statements attributed to Bin Laden promised further attacks and sought to justify Al Qaeda's targeting of American civilians by arguing that American society was morally corrupt and that American civilians should be held accountable for the policies of their democratically elected government.15
"The Goals of the New York Strike"
Several Al Qaeda statements have addressed the motives for the 1998 Embassy bombings and other terrorist operations, but relatively few statements have been made regarding Al Qaeda's strategic goals in planning and executing the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington. A text attributed to Al Qaeda military commander Sayf Al Adl released in May 2005 identifies three primary objectives for the September 11 attacks.16 According to Al Adl, Al Qaeda's "main objective" in perpetrating the September 11 attacks was to carry out a damaging strike against the United States in retaliation for its perceived aggression in the Islamic world. Al Adl indicates that in the opinion of Al Qaeda's leadership, this primary objective was "partially achieved," although "other strikes" would have had
14 Bin Laden specifically cited "Sabra, Shatila, Deir Yasin, Qana, Hebron and elsewhere." "Al Jazirah Program on Bin Laden" Al Jazirah Television (Doha, Qatar), June 10, 1999.
15 "It is a fundamental principle of any democracy that the people choose their leaders, and as such, approve and are party to the actions of their elected leaders... By electing these leaders, the American people have given their consent to the incarceration of the Palestinian people, the demolition of Palestinian homes and the slaughter of the children of Iraq. This is why the American people are not innocent. The American people are active members in all these crimes." "Statement From Shaykh Usama Bin Ladin, May God Protect Him, and Al Qaeda Organization," Al Qal'ah (Internet), Oct. 14, 2002.
16 Although portions of the text may reflect revised perspectives and the benefit of hindsight, its key statements of intent correspond to elements of prior statements by Osama Bin Laden and other Al Qaeda figures. "Detained Al-Qa'ida Leader Sayf al-Adl Chronicles Al-Zarqawi's Rise in Organization," FBIS Report - GMP2005060637100, May 21, 2005.
a greater impact if they had been successful. However, Al Adl does not identify specific planned attacks that may have been disrupted since September 2001.
Al Qaeda's second objective, as identified by Al Adl, was to signal and support the "emergence of a new virtuous leadership" dedicated to opposing "the Zionist-Anglo-Saxon-Protestant coalition" that Al Qaeda blames for a litany of social and political ills in the Islamic world. Analysts have associated this stated objective with Al Qaeda leaders' views of themselves as the vanguard of a broader global Islamic movement and their desire to inspire political upheaval and change across the Islamic world. The third and "ultimate objective," according to Al Adl, "was to prompt [the United States] to come out of its hole." Al Adl claims that Al Qaeda wanted to provoke the United States into attacking areas of the Islamic world associated with the organization and its affiliates. In doing so, Al Adl claims, Al Qaeda hoped to make it easier to attack elements of U.S. power and to build its "credibility in front of [the Islamic] nation and the beleaguered people of the world."
Reflecting on the subsequent U.S. response to the attacks, Bin Laden and others have described the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq as new "crusades" and highlighted both the considerable economic impact of the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent costs of the U.S. military response as indications of Al Qaeda's effectiveness. Al Adl and others have conceded that the attacks on New York and Washington were not totally successful, while arguing that the September 11 attack "was enough to prompt the Americans to carry out the anticipated response" -- namely direct military action within the Islamic world.17 Al Qaeda appears to have been less successful in using the purportedly hoped for U.S. military response to "help the [Islamic] nation to wake from its slumber," as it claims to have planned. Both Bin Laden and his deputy Ayman Al Zawahiri have criticized the population and governments of the Islamic world for failing to answer their calls to arms and for cooperating with the United States and its allies. These criticisms have been coupled with renewed calls for armed "resistance" against the United States and its allies from Al Zawahiri, Al Adl, Al Zarqawi, and others.
Al Qaeda Statements in 2004-2005
Over the last year and a half, Bin Laden has addressed the governments and citizens of Europe and the United States directly in an effort to discourage support for their respective foreign policies in the Islamic world. In April 2004, Bin Laden offered Europeans a "truce" if they agreed to abandon their support for the United States and their military commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan. The offer was resoundingly rejected by European leaders and their citizens. In October 2004, on the eve of the U.S. presidential election, Bin Laden made a similar statement in which he urged Americans to reevaluate their policies toward the Islamic world and threatened to bleed and bankrupt the United States. In late November 2004, Al Zawahiri stated Al Qaeda's intention to continue its jihad against the United States
17 In his May 2005 statement, Sayf Al Adl argues, "What we had wished for actually happened. It was crowned by the announcement of Bush Jr. of his crusade against Islam and Muslims everywhere." FBIS Report - GMP2005060637100, May 21, 2005.
indefinitely until its leaders deem "U.S. policy toward Muslims" to be non-aggressive.
Two audio tapes released by Osama Bin Laden in December 2004 called for continued attacks on U.S. forces and interests and provided further insight into Al Qaeda's ideology and political goals. Each message was addressed to a specific audience and revealed Bin Laden's perspectives on unfolding events in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the Palestinian territories. The first tape, released on December 16, 2004, received media attention for its praise of an Al Qaeda-affiliated group's attack on the U.S. consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in early December 2004.18 The remainder of the tape was devoted to delivering a litany of religiously based criticisms of the Saudi royal family for its support for the United States and its insufficient commitment to the implementation of Islamic law and moral principles. In the tape, Bin Laden appealed directly to "the silent ulema" (religious scholars) and business and community leaders in Saudi Arabia to withdraw their support for the ruling Al Saud family.
Iraq and Al Qaeda's Ideology. A second Bin Laden tape, released on December 27, 2004, underscored Al Qaeda's interest in Iraq and support for the ongoing insurgency. In this recording, Bin Laden personally welcomed and endorsed Jordanian-born terrorist leader Abu Musab Al Zarqawi as an Al Qaeda affiliate and leader of Al Qaeda operations in Iraq.19 Bin Laden identified the insurgency in Iraq as "a golden and unique opportunity" for jihadists to engage and defeat the United States, and he characterized the insurgency in Iraq as the central battle in a "Third World War, which the Crusader-Zionist coalition began against the Islamic nation."20Describing Baghdad as "the capital of the caliphate," Bin Laden asserted that "jihad in Palestine and Iraq today is a duty for the people of the two countries" and other Muslims.
On a tactical level, Bin Laden has encouraged Islamist insurgents in Iraq to work with "Socialist" groups (Baathists) and compared cooperation between Islamists and Baathists to Arab and Persian collaboration against the Byzantine empire in the 7th
18 "Bin Ladin Contests Legality of Saudi Rulers, Praises Attack on US Consulate," FBIS Report - GMP20041216000222, December 16, 2004.
19 "Website Posts Full Version of New Audiotape Attributed to Bin Ladin," FBIS Report - FEA20041227000762, December 27, 2004. Bin Laden's endorsement read, "It should be known that Mujahid brother Abu-Mus'ab al-Zarqawi is the Amir of the Tanzim al-Qa'idah fi Bilad al-Rafidayn [Al-Qa'ida Organization in the Land of the Two Rivers]. The brothers in the group there should heed his orders and obey him in all that which is good."
20 Bin Laden described the stakes of the confrontation between coalition and jihadist forces in Iraq in the following terms: "The whole world is watching this war and the two adversaries; the Islamic nation, on the one hand, and the United States and its allies on the other. It is either victory and glory or misery and humiliation. The nation today has a very rare opportunity to come out of the subservience and enslavement to the West and to smash the chains with which the Crusaders have fettered it." FBIS Report - FEA20041227000762, December 27, 2004.
and 8th centuries.21 Bin Laden has also encouraged Muslim Iraqis and non-Iraqis of all ethnic and linguistic backgrounds to cooperate in opposing the Interim Iraqi Government and coalition forces in Iraq. He has applied similar disregard for ethnic, linguistic, and ideological differences in issuing condemnations of so-called collaborators; identifying Arabs cooperating with Iraqi and coalition authorities as equally guilty parties.22 On a strategic level, Bin Laden has employed well-known Quranic injunctions against failing to contribute to "the cause of God" to appeal to Muslims to support Al Qaeda and its jihadist affiliates in Iraq politically, financially, and militarily.23
Subsequent statements attributed to Abu Musab Al Zarqawi and Al Qaeda military leader Sayf Al Adl have underscored the importance of the conflict in Iraq to the jihadist cause from Al Qaeda's perspective. Both refer to Iraq as an opportunity for the global jihadist movement to take advantage of insecurity in the heart of the Arab world and to spread into neighboring areas. In May 2005, Al Zarqawi reaffirmed his allegiance to Osama Bin Laden and reflected on the success of insurgent operations in Iraq as a symbol of Al Qaeda's success.24 Al Adl has speculated that the ongoing violence in Iraq may spread into Syria and Lebanon, which could give "the Islamic action a vast area of action and maneuvering" and help it to attract "tremendous human and financial resources." The expansion of violence in the Middle East could also bring the jihadist movement close to "the border of occupied Palestine" and into direct confrontation with Israel, according to Al Adl, which, in his opinion, would further legitimize the jihadist cause and its supporters.
The Three Foundations. Al Qaeda's strategic analysis and the operations of its affiliates continue to be supported by centrally planned ideological outreach activities. In a January 30, 2005 audiotape, for example, Ayman Al Zawahiri identified "three foundations" of Al Qaeda's political ideology and applied them to events in Iraq and elsewhere.25 The three principles were repeated in a June 2005 video message from Al Zawahiri. Al Zawahiri, who is regarded as Al Qaeda's chief ideologue, described Al Qaeda's core principles in sharp contrast to secular and
21 Bin Laden sanctioned cooperation with Baathists "despite our belief in the infidelity of socialists." "Usama Bin Ladin's Message to Iraq," Al Jazirah Television, Feb. 11, 2003.
22 "The Iraqi who is waging Jihad against the infidel Americans or Allawi's renegade government is our brother and companion, even if he was of Persian, Kurdish, or Tukomen origin. The Iraqi who joins this renegade government to fight against the Mujahidin, who resists occupation, is considered a renegade and one of the infidels, even if he were an Arab from Rabi'ah or Mudar tribes." FBIS Report - FEA20041227000762, December 27, 2004.
23 Bin Laden: "The one who stays behind and fails to join the Mujahidin when Jihad becomes an individual duty commits a cardinal sin... The most pressing duty after faith is repelling the aggressor enemy. This means that the nation should devote its resources, sons, and money to fight the infidels and drive them out of its lands." FBIS Report - FEA20041227000762, December 27, 2004. See also the Quran - Al Tawbah, 9:42-72.
24 "Al-Zarqawi Addresses Letter to Bin Ladin on Al-Qa'im Battle, 'Plan,'" FBIS Report - GMP20050530549008, May 30, 2005.
25 "Al-Zawahiri Denounces US, Argues for Reign of Islamic Law and Caliphate, Jihad Against Crusaders and Jews," FBIS Report - GMP20050131000021, January 31, 2005.
religious reform ideologies voiced by other Muslims as well as recent U.S. support for democracy. This may signal an attempt by Al Qaeda's leadership to renew and clearly define its goals as a basis for attracting new recruits and inspiring new affiliates. The "three foundations," as outlined by Al Zawahiri are as follows:
"The Quran-Based Authority to Govern." According to Al Zawahiri, Al Qaeda supports the creation of an Islamic state governed solely by sharia law. Secular government or "man-made" law is considered unacceptable and deemed contrary to Islamic faith.
"The Liberation of the Homelands." Al Zawahiri argued that reforms and free elections will not be possible for Muslims without first establishing "the freedom of the Muslim lands and their liberation from every aggressor." He also emphasized the importance of establishing control over the Middle East's energy resources and described the Muslim world as "impotent and exposed to the Israeli nuclear arsenal."
"The Liberation of the Human Being." Al Zawahiri articulated a vision of a contractual social relationship between Muslims and their rulers that would permit people to choose and criticize their leaders but also demand that Muslims resist and overthrow rulers who violate Islamic laws and principles. He criticized hereditary government and identified a need "to specify the power of the sharia based judiciary, and insure that no one can dispose of the people's rights, except in accordance with this judiciary."
Al Qaeda on Democracy and Reform. Osama Bin Laden and Abu Musab Al Zarqawi have applied these and other similar principles to current issues of democracy, reform, and conflict in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the Palestinian territories. In both of his December 2004 statements, for example, Bin Laden clearly stated his view that democracies, constitutional governments, and insufficiently Islamic monarchies are equally unacceptable forms of governance for Islamic societies because they empower human rulers and man-made legal systems rather than "the law of God."26 Al Zarqawi expanded on these sentiments in a January 2005 statement that characterized democracy as a rival "religion" to Islam and criticized adherence to democratic principles such as freedom of speech and freedom of religion as un-Islamic and tantamount to apostasy punishable by death.27 A statement released by Al Zarqawi's group following Iraq's January 2005 election stated that,
26 For example, Bin Laden has linked his opposition to insufficiently Islamic governance in Saudi Arabia to his view that under the Saudi monarchy, "absolute obedience and supremacy are given to the king and his laws, and not to God's religion." FBIS Report - GMP20041216000222, December 16, 2004.
27 "Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi's Message on Democracy, Iraqi Elections, Shiites," FBIS Report - GMP20050123000140. According to Bin Laden, Muslims have a right to participate in the selection of their rulers only under certain "conditions," namely the absence of occupying foreign powers and the presence of candidates willing to rule solely according to Islamic law. FBIS Report - FEA20041227000762, December 27, 2004.
"we shall not accept the rule of anyone but that of God and His Prophet [Mohammed]."28
Bin Laden's December 2004 statements urged Muslims to oppose the creation of democratic governments in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Palestinian territories; to resist non-Islamic reform movements in other Islamic societies; and to overturn existing regimes deemed insufficiently-Islamic by Al Qaeda such as the Saudi monarchy.29 Al Zawahiri repeated Bin Laden's assertions in February 2005 and added criticism of U.S. detention centers at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and Abu Ghraib, Iraq as examples of U.S. reform plans for the Islamic world. Both speakers based their calls for revolutionary change in Islamic societies on a stated belief in a model of governance where Muslims are empowered to choose and depose their leaders according to Islamic principles.30 Bin Laden specifically argued that, "all Muslims should embark on reforms" but similarly cautioned that "reforms should be achieved in accordance with the religious laws."
A Strategic Framework. Al Qaeda military commander Sayf Al Adl concluded his May 2005 text with advice for Abu Musab Al Zarqawi and other affiliates that includes a detailed strategic framework for the jihadist movement.31 While Al Adl's statement is one among many jihadist strategic documents that have surfaced in recent years, it is noteworthy because it reflects the current perspectives of an individual thought to be a key member of Al Qaeda's scattered leadership. A summary of Al Adl's framework follows:
Jihadist action must have a clear "thought or idea that outlines its means and objectives." Al Adl recommends that Al Zarqawi and others should declare that their strategic "objective is to reintroduce the Islamic way of life by means of establishing the state of Islam that will solve the entire problems of the nation." This objective should be supported ideologically by "a circle of judicious men and scholars" and propagated by "a special da'wah (Islamic outreach) authority." The goal is to better enable the jihadist movement to employ "the [Islamic] nation's potentials, including human and financial resources" by attracting more supporters.
The strategic objectives of the jihadist movement should be rooted in and motivated by what Al Adl refers to as "the clear banner of Islam -- the banner of 'there is no deity but God and Muhammad is the messenger of God.'" This fundamental statement of Islamic faith is meant to signify the ultimate priority of the principle of tawhid, or the unity and authority of God and religion, in Al Qaeda's ideological framework.
Detailed strategic and operational plans must be developed with short-term and long-term components. Al Adl links the failures of other "contemporary Islamic movements" to the fact that their "actions were mostly random." According to Al Adl, "mujahidin should have short-term plans aimed at achieving interim goals and long-term plans aimed at accomplishing the greater objective, which is the establishment of a state." Throughout his statement, Al Adl alludes to the existence of a broad plan developed by Al Qaeda's leaders, but he declines to describe it in detail.
The jihadist movement should remain flexible enough to take advantage of "available opportunities" such as the conflict in Iraq. Al Adl underlines the importance of using current developments to widen the movement's appeal and further strengthen the movement's ability to act fluidly across the Islamic world.
Implications for Al Qaeda's Evolving Ideology and Strategy
Recent statements from Osama Bin Laden, Ayman Al Zawahiri, Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, and Sayf Al Adl display the uncompromising commitment of Al Qaeda's leaders and affiliates to a consistent ideological agenda focused on two goals: the expulsion of foreign forces and influences from Islamic societies and, ultimately, the creation of an Islamic state ruled by sharia law. The political prescriptions outlined in the statements are rooted in the Islamic principle known as tawhid, or the principle of the absolute unity of God, and an identification of Islam as an all-encompassing religious, political, and social system.32 According to this perspective, Islamic faith, adherence to Islamic law, and implementation of conservative Islamic social and political principles are synonymous. Throughout their recent statements, Bin Laden, Al Zawahiri, and Al Zarqawi characterized as "infidels" those who do not share these beliefs, those who oppose the creation of an Islamic state on the terms they describe, and those supporting existing governments and coalition activities in the Islamic world.
Al Qaeda's Audiences. Experts believe that Al Qaeda's diverse statements contain calculated variations in tone and content that address or appeal to various target audiences. In his early statements, for example, Osama Bin Laden adopted a pseudo-nationalist tone in directly addressing the population of Saudi Arabia and
28 "Al-Zarqawi's Group Issues Post-Election Statement, Claims Attacks Against US Embassy, Mosul Targets," FBIS Report - FEA20050201001026, February 1, 2005.
29 Bin Laden's critiques of Iraq's Transitional Administrative Law (TAL) and the Palestinian Authority reflect these sentiments: "The constitution (TAL), which was imposed by U.S. occupier Bremer, is a man-made and pagan constitution, which insisted that Islam should not be the sole source of legislation... Palestine is under occupation and its constitution is man-made and pagan, and Islam has nothing to do with it." FBIS Report - FEA20041227000762, December 27, 2004.
30 "If the ruler renounces the law of God, the governed, on God's orders, must cease to obey him... Rights cannot be restored from a regime when the ruler becomes renegade or refuses to follow religion except by force." FBIS Report - GMP20041216000222, Dec. 16, 2004.
31 "Detained Al-Qa'ida Leader Sayf al-Adl Chronicles Al-Zarqawi's Rise in Organization," FBIS Report - GMP2005060637100, May 21, 2005.
32 As Bin Laden describes it, "Islam is one unit that can not be divided." Islam is, "a way of life revealed by God for men to abide by all of its aspects in all their affairs." FBIS Report - FEA2004122700076, December 27, 2004.
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outlining ways that specific groups in Saudi society could support Al Qaeda. In his 2004 statements addressed to the U.S. and European public, Bin Laden downplayed threats of violence and attempted to portray himself as a statesmanlike figure more palatable to Western audiences and appealing to moderate Muslims. Bin Laden's earlier statements also addressed the American public in several instances that he since has characterized as attempts to explain his motives and outline steps he and his followers believed the United States should have taken in order to avoid Al Qaeda attacks.
Over time, the cornerstone of Al Qaeda's religious and political rhetoric has remained consistent: Muslims should view themselves as a single nation and unite to resist anti-Islamic aggression on the basis of obligatory defensive jihad. Non- Islamic government is unacceptable, and Muslims should join Al Qaeda and other sympathetic groups and movements in opposing those seeking to establish secular democratic governments or maintain existing governments deemed to be insufficiently Islamic. Bin Laden has often coupled his "Islamic-unity" rhetoric with litanies of anti-Semitic statements, condemnations of Israel, and allegations of U.S. complicity in the suffering of Muslims worldwide. In many pre-9/11 statements, Bin Laden broadened his rhetorical outreach to appeal to non-Arab Muslims, especially those concerned with or engaged in conflicts in Chechnya, Bosnia, Kashmir, and the Philippines. Following September 11, 2001, Bin Laden has appealed directly to national groups on the front lines of robust counter-terrorism operations, particularly the populations of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iraq, and the Palestinian territories.
Pragmatic Messianism. Although Bin Laden's ideological rhetoric has remained relatively consistent, he and other Al Qaeda leaders have placed varying levels of emphasis on specific strategic objectives and tactics in their statements over the years. Bin Laden has outlined specific political demands that support an image of Al Qaeda as a pliable, pragmatic political actor. Nevertheless, Al Qaeda's operational record seems to indicate that its leaders' commitment to specific national causes and strategic objectives are rhetorical tools designed to elicit support for their broader ideological agenda of confrontation with the West and puritanical reform in the Islamic world. For example, Bin Laden's rhetorical treatment of the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia during the 1990s is largely inconsistent with Al Qaeda's ongoing terrorist operations there following the almost complete withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Saudi Arabia in September 2003.33 Although only roughly 500 U.S. military personnel remain in Saudi Arabia, Al Qaeda affiliates have continued a violent campaign to topple the Saudi government and have targeted non-U.S. civilians in numerous terrorist attacks.
Similarly, variations in the intensity and prominence of Bin Laden's anti-Israeli rhetoric has fueled suggestions that Al Qaeda's commitment to the Palestinian cause waxes and wanes depending on the network's need for support -- becoming more
33 In his September 1996 declaration of jihad against the United States, Bin Laden described the presence of U.S. troops in the Arabian peninsula as "one of the worst catastrophes to befall Muslims since the death of the Prophet [Mohammed]." In an earlier interview, however, Bin Laden had indicated that the "the withdrawal of American troops" would serve as the "solution" to the crisis between the United States and the Islamic world.
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pronounced during periods when Al Qaeda's actions have alienated supporters or recently as part of a more outright ideological appeal. Bin Laden has addressed these charges personally and argued that support for the Palestinians and all Muslims is and will remain essential to Al Qaeda's cause, which is the mobilization of the entire Muslim world in resistance to perceived U.S. aggression.34 Bin Laden and his deputies have characterized military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq as new provocations and "crusades" that justify ongoing attacks. In his December 2004 statements, Bin Laden referred to the confrontation between the U.S., its allies, and jihadist movements as "a war of destiny between infidelity and Islam" and a "Third World War," seemingly leaving little doubt about the scope or flexibility of Al Qaeda's strategic ambitions, grievances, and demands. Tactically, Bin Laden consistently has advocated a program of retributional violence against the United States for alleged crimes against Muslims while demonstrating sophisticated perspectives on cooperation with non-Arab communities and non-Islamist groups.
Bin Laden's statements reveal sophisticated consideration of the economic and military vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies, particularly with regard to the role of Middle Eastern oil as "the basis of industry" in the global economy.35 Bin Laden has called for Muslim societies to become more self-sufficient economically and has urged Arab governments to preserve oil as "a great and important economic power for the coming Islamic state." Bin Laden also has described economic boycotts as "extremely effective"36weapons. Bin Laden's recent descriptions of Al Qaeda's "bleed-until-bankruptcy plan" and his discussion of the U.S. economy and the decreasing value of the U.S. dollar fit his established pattern of citing the economic effects of terrorist attacks as proof of Al Qaeda's success. Recent statements urging attacks on oil pipelines and military supply lines could indicate a shift in Al Qaeda's strategic and tactical planning in favor of a more protracted attritional conflict characterized by disruptive attacks on economic and critical infrastructure. In this regard, Bin Laden has identified "martyrdom operations," or suicide attacks, as "the most important operations" for disrupting the activities of the United States and its allies.37
34 "Interview Held with Usama Bin Ladin on 21 Oct. 2001," Jihad Online News, Jan. 21, 2003.
35 "One of the most important reasons that made our enemies control our land is the pilfering of our oil... Be active and prevent them from reaching the oil, and mount your operations accordingly, particularly in Iraq and the Gulf for this is their fate." FBIS Report - GMP20041216000222, December 16, 2004.
36 "Declaration of Jihad" Al Islah (London), September 2, 1996. op. cit.
37 Bin Laden urged his followers to "...become diligent in carrying out martyrdom operations; these operations, praise be to God, have become a great source of terror for the enemy... These are the most important operations." FBIS Report - FEA20041227000762, December 27, 2004.
Al Qaeda and the Jihadist International. Overall, Al Qaeda leaders have displayed a pragmatic willingness to adapt the strategic and tactical content of their statements to changing circumstances while retaining a messianic commitment to a broader ideological agenda. Although Bin Laden's self-professed goal is to "move, incite, and mobilize the [Islamic] nation"38 until it reaches a revolutionary "ignition point,"39 Bin Laden's statements and Al Qaeda's attacks largely have failed to effectively mobilize widespread Muslim support for their agenda thus far. Since late 2001, however, public opinion polling and media monitoring in the Middle East and broader Islamic world indicate that significant dissatisfaction with the United States and its foreign policy has grown significantly within many Muslim societies. In light of this trend, Bin Laden's recent shift toward more explicitly political and ideological rhetoric and his emphasis on the economic effectiveness of Al Qaeda's campaign to date seem to be harbingers of a renewed attempt by Al Qaeda's central leadership to broaden the movement's appeal, solicit greater material support,40 and possibly inspire new and more systematically devastating attacks. Some experts have argued however, that the increasingly uncompromising, anti-democratic tone of recent statements by Bin Laden, Al Zawahiri, and Al Zarqawi may alienate Muslims who oppose theocracy and who support secular, representative government. Experience suggests that Al Qaeda's leaders believe that regular attempts to characterize Al Qaeda's actions as defensive and religiously sanctioned will increase tolerance of and support for their broader ideological program. The identification of limited political objectives and the implication that their fulfilment will resolve broader grievances may have broader appeal than the group's underlying ideological agenda. Overall, Bin Laden's statements from the mid-1990s through the present indicate that he continues to see himself and his followers as the vanguard of an international Islamic movement primarily committed to ending U.S. "interference" in the affairs of Islamic countries and supportive of efforts to overturn and recast Islamic societies according to narrow Salafist interpretations of Islam and Islamic law. His public statements, and those of his deputies, will likely continue to play an important, calculated role in reaching these goals.
38 "Usama Bin Ladin's Message to Iraq," Al-Jazirah Television, Feb. 11, 2003. Op. cit.
39 "Bin Ladin Interviewed on Jihad Against U.S.," Al Quds Al Arabi (London), Nov. 27, 1996.
40 According to Bin Laden, "the expenses of Al-Qa'ida Organization in Al-Rafidayn country [Mesopotamia, Iraq] are estimated at 200,000 Euros weekly, not to mention the expenses of other groups." He then urged Muslims to "support all the groups." FBIS Report - FEA20041227000762, December 27, 2004.
[The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the Naval History & Heritage Command]
Published: Tue Dec 22 12:27:42 EST 2015