Jesse Beckett

Jesse Beckett is one of the authors writing for WAR HISTORY ONLINE

Articles by Jesse Beckett:

The Bat Bomb Proves The US Military Will Try Anything Once

Of all the weird experimental weapons conceived and tested during WWII, bat bombs were one of the strangest. The project attempted to attach small bombs…

Ajax AFV Problems Continue – Firm Responsible Makes £75m profit

Ajax Tank Program

The Ajax tank program began a decade ago and has cost the UK billions, but it has yet to produce a combat-ready vehicle. The program…

These Military Retreats Were Brilliant Moves And One Of Them Was Led By George Washington

Chosin Reservoir

Some say that a properly managed retreat is what separates truly great military commanders. Fighting on the back foot is always hard, whether that’s in…

Robert Smalls: The Slave Who Stole A Warship, Escaped The Confederates, And Became A U.S. Congressman

The life of Robert Smalls is an epic underdog story of an illiterate slave from South Carolina who managed to free himself by escaping from…

The Fascinating Life of Albert Szent-Györgyi: Resistance Fighter And Nobel-Winning Scientist

Undated photo of Albert Szent-György in the lab

Szent-Györgyi was a Hungarian biochemist who won the Nobel Prize, assisted the Hungarian Resistance during WWII, and was responsible for isolating vitamin C. Born in…

Unexpected Animals that Served (And Almost Served) In War

Animals have been an important component of war for thousands of years, either to supplement manpower with the movement of supplies and equipment or in…

These Unusual US Military Experiments Prove Nothing is Too Far-Fetched to Try

Military personnel standing in an ice tunnel + Camel + Pigeon flying

Some of the most interesting moments in military history are the experiments that happen behind the scenes and never see the light of day –…

The Last Time a US Navy Vessel Sunk Another Ship And How It Happened

USS Simpson

Currently, the only operational ship in the US Navy to have sunk another vessel is the 220-year-old USS Constitution, a wooden-hulled three-masted heavy frigate that…

Advanced Fighter Jets Still Carry Guns And For A Very Good Reason

F-22 Raptor

Both the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II can carry missiles that are able to strike an enemy aircraft well over 30 miles away with…

The New Military-Spec Mercedes G-Wagen Delivers In All The Right Ways

G-Wagen Military Specs

Today, the Mercedes-Benz G-Class is associated with the Kardashians more so than warfare, but this tried and tested vehicle was actually designed for the military.…

The US Department of Defense Has Its Own 26-Page Brownie Recipe

Three brownies stacked atop of each other

The US military is famous for its ability to have a plan for every single scenario imaginable; whether that be nuclear deterrents; a war on…

Can the Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine rival the Merlin?

Double Wasp

In a previous article, we went over the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine’s incredible capabilities and its importance for the war effort during WWII. While it is…