Origins and Traditions
The U.S. Navy traces its birthday to this month and day in 1775.
What is October 13?
This legendary Marine lieutenant general was nicknamed 'Chesty.'
Who is Lewis B. Puller?
This shipboard weapon system combines radar, computers, and rapid-firing guns to provide a last line of defense against incoming missiles.
What is the Phalanx CIWS (Close-In Weapon System)?
The 1918 battle in France that helped establish the Marines' famous World War I fighting reputation.
What is Belleau Wood?
In November 1942, American and British naval forces supported this Allied invasion of French North Africa, opening a new front against the Axis powers.
What is Operation Torch?
This Marine Corps enlisted rank, pay grade E-2, wears one chevron on its insignia.
What is Private First Class?
According to Marine Corps tradition, this Philadelphia tavern was the Corps' birthplace
What is Tun Tavern?
This admiral commanded the U.S. Pacific Fleet during the Battle of Midway.
Who is Chester W. Nimitz?
The M777, used by Marine artillery units, fires shells of this caliber.
What is 155 millimeters?
This 1813 battle on Lake Erie produced the famous report 'We have met the enemy and they are ours.'
What is the Battle of Lake Erie?
This island campaign began in August 1942 as the first major Allied offensive against Japan.
What is Guadalcanal?
This Navy officer rank, pay grade O-3, wears two silver bars as its collar insignia.
What is Lieutenant?
A sailor who has crossed the equator and completed the traditional Crossing the Line ceremony earns this title.
What is a Shellback?
This Marine machine gunner earned the Medal of Honor for defending Henderson Field on Guadalcanal.
Who is John Basilone?
Nicknamed the “Big E,” this Yorktown-class aircraft carrier was the most decorated U.S. warship of World War II, earning 20 battle stars and participating in both the Battle of Midway and the Guadalcanal campaign.
What is the USS Enterprise (CV-6)?
This 1805 victory in North Africa inspired the 'shores of Tripoli' line in the Marines' Hymn.
What is the Battle of Derna?
In June 1942, this decisive Pacific naval battle resulted in the loss of four Japanese fleet carriers.
What is the Battle of Midway?
This Marine Corps enlisted rank, pay grade E-4, wears two chevrons with crossed rifles beneath them.
What is Corporal?
Marines traditionally refer to these distinctive red stripes on the trousers of their Dress Blue uniform as a tribute to the Corps' history and traditions.
What is the Blood Stripe?
This American naval officer is famously associated with the reply 'I have not yet begun to fight!'
Who is John Paul Jones?
This tiltrotor aircraft, designated MV-22, serves Marine aviation units.
What is the Osprey?
The 1862 battle between USS Monitor and CSS Virginia occurred in this Virginia roadstead.
What is Hampton Roads?
Joe Rosenthal's famous flag-raising photograph was taken on this Pacific island in 1945.
What is Iwo Jima?
A Navy officer wearing a silver oak leaf as collar insignia holds this rank and pay grade.
What is Commander (O-5)?
During the Navy's Crossing the Line ceremony, this mythological ruler of the seas presides over the initiation of Pollywogs into Shellbacks.
Who is King Neptune?
This Marine became the first Marine Corps aviator and is known as the Father of Marine Aviation.
Who is Alfred A. Cunningham?
Commissioned in 1954, this was the world's first operational nuclear-powered submarine.
What is USS Nautilus (SSN-571)?
In 1950, Marines and other UN forces fought through encirclement and freezing weather around this North Korean reservoir.
What is the Chosin Reservoir?
During the Battle off Samar in 1944, this destroyer, DD-557, was lost after attacking a far superior Japanese force.
What is USS Johnston?
This Marine Corps enlisted rank is an E-7 and wears three chevrons above two rockers with crossed rifles in the center.
What is Gunnery Sergeant?
Sailors holding this traditional Navy rating are responsible for piping ceremonial honors for senior officers and distinguished visitors using a distinctive high-pitched whistle.
What is a Boatswain's Mate (BM)?
During World War I, this American admiral commanded U.S. Naval Forces Operating in European Waters and advocated cooperation with the Royal Navy against German submarines.
Who is William S. Sims?
This long-range cruise missile, first used in combat during the Gulf War, can be launched from U.S. surface warships and submarines.
What is the Tomahawk?
During this 1864 Civil War battle, Admiral David Farragut led Union naval forces past Confederate defenses and into a strategically important Alabama port.
What is the Battle of Mobile Bay?
This was the codename for the naval and amphibious assault phase of the Normandy invasion in June 1944.
What is Operation Neptune?
This enlisted rank, pay grade E-8, wears an insignia featuring an eagle above a rating emblem and a rocker, with one star above the eagle.
What is Senior Chief Petty Officer?
During formal naval ceremonies, these sailors stand in two rows and render honors as senior officers or distinguished guests arrive or depart.
Who are sideboys?
This Marine general commanded the 1st Marine Division during the Korean War, including its famous fighting withdrawal from the Chosin Reservoir in 1950.
Who is Oliver P. Smith?
This shoulder-fired, wire-guided antitank missile system was widely used by Marine infantry units and can attack armored vehicles from above.
What is the FGM-148 Javelin?
In March 1776, Continental Marines conducted their first amphibious landing during this raid on a British colonial port in the Bahamas, capturing valuable military supplies.
What is the Raid on Nassau?
In October 1944, six American battleships engaged a Japanese force in this strait during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, in what became history's last battleship-versus-battleship engagement.
What is the Battle of Surigao Strait?
Two Marine Corps ranks share the E-9 pay grade, but only one wears a bursting bomb between its chevrons and rockers.
What is Master Gunnery Sergeant?