This series consists of photographs documenting various types of naval ships, shipboard activities, American and foreign naval aircraft, military and civilian personalities, and naval engagements and actions. The majority of the photographs depicting military actions, document campaigns and engagements during World War II and the Korean War. Post-war missions are also included. Among the many events and places documented are the attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii; battles at Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Guadalcanal, Midway, and in the Philippine Islands; fighting in and off the coast of North Africa and in the Atlantic; Atlantic convoys; German U-boats; Japanese ships; conferences at Yalta, Teheran, and Potsdam; the Atlantic Charter meeting aboard the U.S.S. Augusta; the surrender of the Japanese aboard the U.S.S. Missouri; and the occupation of Japan. In addition, the series includes Joe Rosenthal's shot of the flag raising at Iwo Jima; photographs by Edward Steichen's photographic; and Operation Deep Freeze I, the Antarctic expedition that occurred in the 1950s.
While the majority of the records in this series cover the period from 1940 to 1958, there is a significant body of photographs which depict the activities and personalities of the U.S. Navy during the 1920s and 1930s, and earlier. Included are photographs taken by the Bureau of Aeronautics documenting naval aviation and naval vessels.
