The U.S. Naval Institute Memoir Collection

The U.S. Naval Institute’s Memoir Collection honors and preserves the personal stories of those who served in the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. For family members, friends, shipmates, and researchers, the growing Collection serves as a valuable source of firsthand accounts and primary-source history.

  • Many rank their military service as a defining milestone in their lives.
  • While service memoirs generally face tough hurdles in the publishing market, the Naval Institute Memoir Collection provides authors with an accessible, central online location for the preservation of their autobiographical accounts, viewable today and by future generations as well. Whether already self-published or never published, their stories have a welcoming venue in perpetuity with the USNI Memoir Collection.
  • Others may have a memoir - of their own or of a family member's service - simply gathering dust somewhere, unseen but nonetheless a part of the overall American historical record. With the Memoir Collection, such memories - be they in the form of a shorter vignette or a fuller autobiography - now have a valued place in a permanent, searchable online archive.
  • Learn more by clicking below.

Do You Have a Story To Share?

Memoirs

Search Memoirs

Filters
Memoir

Submarine Doctors

J. Richard Briggs
Vietnam War
The first nuclear-powered submarine, Nautilus SSN 571, had just returned from her shakedown cruise in 1956 and the boat was found to be uninhabitable. The equipment that controlled the atmosphere within the boat was faulty and although much research had...
Read This Memoir
Captain William Green
Memoir

Adventures on USS Bonita (SSK-3)

William C. Green
Cold War
Adventures on USS Bonita (SSK-3) Captain Green graduated from the University of Southern California’s NROTC program in 1952 and was immediately assigned to the cruiser USS Helena (CA-75) in Korean waters. Next came duty in various submarines, culminating in command...
Read This Memoir
Captain William Green
Memoir

Fleet Sonar School San Diego

William C. Green
Cold War
Fleet Sonar School San Diego Captain Green graduated from the University of Southern California’s NROTC program in 1952 and was immediately assigned to the cruiser USS Helena (CA-75) in Korean waters. Next came duty in various submarines, culminating in command...
Read This Memoir
Port bow view of the USS Nautilus (SSN-571) underway while performing sea trials in the Atlantic.
Memoir

Admiral Rickover, A Personal Memoir

Admiral Hyman George Rickover
Cold War
Admiral Hyman George Rickover, the “Father of the Nuclear Navy”, was a career officer in the United States Navy, having graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis in 1922. In the early part of his career, he served in...
Read This Memoir
Captain William Green
Memoir

Time Aboard USS Sea Fox

William C. Green
Korean War
Time Aboard USS Sea Fox, 1956-1958 Captain Green graduated from the University of Southern California’s NROTC program in 1952 and was immediately assigned to the cruiser USS Helena (CA-75) in Korean waters. Next came duty in various submarines, culminating in...
Read This Memoir
Captain William Green
Memoir

My Affair with Esther

William C. Green
Cold War
My Affair with Esther Captain Green graduated from the University of Southern California’s NROTC program in 1952 and was immediately assigned to the cruiser USS Helena (CA-75) in Korean waters. Next came duty in various submarines, culminating in command of...
Read This Memoir