Dr. DAVID F. WINKLER is a distinguished historian recognized for his contributions to maritime and naval history and is currently serving as the Historian General of the Naval Order of the United States. Winkler has served for over two decades as the Naval Historical Foundation staff historian, taught at the US Naval Academy, and is an adjunct professor for the Naval War College – College of Distance Education. He was named the 2020-2021 Smithsonian Air and Space Museum Charles Lindbergh Fellow in Aerospace History and served as the US Naval Academy Class of 1957 Chair of Naval Heritage. A retired Navy commander, he holds a PhD from American University, an MA from Washington University, and a BA from Penn State.
In 2022, National Maritime Historical Society awarded Winkler the Distinguished Service Award. He co-compiles content for the weekly e-letter, Tuesday Tidings. He has authored many books, published hundreds of articles, and lectured internationally. He has served as the program chair for the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th Maritime Heritage Conferences.
HOMEPORT: Northern Virginia
AREAS OF EXPERTISE: US Navy 20th Century, WWII War in the Pacific, USN-Soviet Navy interactions, U.S. naval aviation, naval museums
NOTABLE PUBLICATIONS:
Cold War at Sea: High Seas Confrontation Between the US and Soviet Union (Naval Institute Press, 2000)
Amirs, Admirals, and Desert Sailors: The US Navy, Bahrain, and the Gulf; (Naval Institute Press, 2007)
Ready Then, Ready Now, Ready Always: More Than a Century of Service by Citizen Sailors (Naval Historical Foundation, 2014)
Incidents at Sea: American Confrontation and Cooperation with Russia and China, 1945-2016; (Naval Institute Press, 2017)
Tribute to a Generation: Haydn Williams and the Building of the Word War II Memorial (Naval Institute Press, 2020)
Witness to Neptune’s Inferno: The Pacific War Diary of Lieutenant Commander Lloyd M. Mustin, USS Atlanta (CL 51) (Casemate, 2024)
America’s First Aircraft Carrier: USS Langley and the Dawn of US Naval Aviation. (Naval Institute Press, 2024)
Destroyers at War: A Personal Perspective of the Pacific Theater (edit of Adm. J.L. Holloway III memoir) (Naval Institute Press, 2025)