Naval History and Heritage Command

The Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) is the U.S. Navy's official history and heritage organization, responsible for preserving, researching, and sharing the Navy's institutional memory. It operates the Navy's museums, archives, art collection, and underwater archaeology program, and is the Navy's authoritative source for historical records, unit lineage, and heritage assets. Logisticians and researchers use it primarily as a reference and records resource rather than an operational logistics system.

What it is

NHHC is an Echelon II Navy command headquartered at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. It is composed of divisions covering the Navy Department Library, the Navy art and artifact collections (managed by the Collection Management Division), underwater archaeology, and a network of roughly 42 facilities across 13 geographic locations — including 10 official Navy museums, a heritage center, the USS Constitution repair facility and detachment in Boston, and the ex-USS Nautilus submarine heritage site. The command's archives and library hold operational records, manuscripts, and reference works spanning the Navy's history.

Who operates it

NHHC is a U.S. Navy command. Its name and current scope date to 2008, when the former Naval Historical Center was renamed and given expanded heritage responsibilities; the organization traces its lineage to the Navy Department Library, formally established in 1800 (with earlier roots in an 1794 War Department precursor collection).

Access

The command's public website, history.navy.mil, is freely accessible with no login or CAC required. General and media inquiries go through the Communication and Outreach (Public Affairs) office, Monday–Friday 8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. Eastern; individual museums under NHHC (e.g., the Hampton Roads Naval Museum, the National Museum of the U.S. Navy, the Naval Undersea Museum) publish their own separate contact points on their respective pages.

How logisticians use it

Federal and military logisticians most often use NHHC as a records and reference resource — for example, to research a command or vessel's unit lineage and history, to pull archival documentation, or to reference published NHHC historical works (including material on the history of Navy logistics itself). It is not a logistics management, ordering, or tracking system; its relevance to the LogTool audience is as an authoritative historical-reference source rather than an operational tool.

History & lineage

The organization's roots go back to the Navy Department Library, formally established in 1800 (with earlier origins in 1794 under a War Department precursor collection). It operated for decades as the Naval Historical Center before being renamed the Naval History and Heritage Command in 2008 to reflect its broadened museum, curatorial, and heritage responsibilities alongside its historical-research mission.