ANCESTRYC : Ancestry.com Unveils Treasure Trove of Rarely Seen U.S. Navy Photos to Commemorate Memorial Day

Ancestry.com Unveils Treasure Trove of Rarely Seen U.S. Navy Photos to Commemorate Memorial Day

New Collection of Navy Cruise Books Documents Nearly 100 Years of Service with close to 500,000 Compelling Photos Featuring Sailors at Work and Play, Presidents, Celebrities and Notable Public Figures

PROVO, Utah – May 26, 2011 – This coming Memorial Day, in recognition of the millions of Americans who have served in the United States Navy, Ancestry.com, the world's largest online family history resource, has made available for the first time online, more than 3,600 U.S. Navy Cruise Books from the years of 1918-2009. Styled after a traditional scholastic yearbook, the cruise books feature exciting behind-the-scenes images of memorable moments in U.S. Naval history including dramatic battle imagery, presidential and celebrity ship visits, famous Navy service members, movie shoots and the day-to-day lives of sailors. Close to 500,000 photographs rarely seen by non-military personnel contain something for everyone’s interest.

Images such as Oprah Winfrey touring the flight deck of the USS Theodore Roosevelt in 1995 and Tom Cruise filming “Top Gun” on the USS Enterprise in 1988 to actor Ben Affleck palling around with sailors on the USS Enterprise in 2003 and Presidents Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Reagan, Carter, Johnson, Kennedy, Eisenhower and Truman greeting sailors, litter the pages of these indelible time capsules that capture life on board hundreds of naval ships throughout the last century.

The collection marks another milestone in Ancestry.com’s effort to provide the most compelling online collection of historical records and can be accessed at www.ancestry.com/navalrecords.

“The United States Navy has such a storied history and these cruise books provide a rare and special view of the life and culture of our servicemen throughout the decades,” said Josh Hanna, EVP and GM of Ancestry.com. “At Ancestry.com, we’re constantly working to honor and celebrate America’s military heroes. This Memorial Day, we’re privileged to offer a unique visual tapestry of our U.S. Navy service members’ important contributions.”

More specifics on the incredible images published in these cruise books can be found below. An image library can be accessed at: https://ancestry.box.net/shared/muvforxuk4

Historic Events:  Dramatic battle images from ships like the USS Lexington and USS Missouri provide a stirring visual from monumental events like the Japanese Surrender to Allied Forces in Tokyo Bay, September of 1945. Astronauts John Glenn and Alan Shepard were photographed while being recovered from the Mercury capsule following the first American orbit of the Earth aboard the USS Barton in 1962.

Famous Sailors: Many sailors went on to become famous entertainers, politicians and athletes. Some of the unexpected photos include Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt with his fellow sailors aboard the USS Enterprise in 1963 and Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller playing baseball for the USS Alabama team in 1945.

Celebrity Ship Visits: A number of notable celebrities have visited ships to provide an entertaining break from long missions at sea. Photographs include Oprah Winfrey during a 1995 visit to the USS Theodore Roosevelt, Robin Williams on his visit to the USS Tortuga in 1992, Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw reporting from the USS Wisconsin during Operation Desert Shield and the USS George Washington in 1994 respectively, Andy Rooney during a visit to the USS Guam in 1984, Charlton Heston during a visit to the USS Midway in 1964 and Frank Sinatra on board the USS Midway in 1973. Sports stars represented in the collection include Muhammad Ali, Wilt Chamberlain and Joe DiMaggio, to name a few.

Movie Filming: The Navy has been the backdrop for several Hollywood blockbusters. Actor Tom Cruise was photographed on the USS Enterprise during the filming of “Top Gun.” Scenes from “The Hunt for RED OCTOBER” are also captured in the yearbooks.

U.S. Seal Teams: Photos of different U.S. Seal Teams capture the important role this elite unit has played in military history.

U.S. Navy Bases/International Ports of Call: The collection offers a wide range of images from America’s important naval bases and ports of call including Baltimore/Annapolis, MD; New York; Jacksonville, FL; Norfolk, VA; Honolulu, HI; San Francisco, CA, Los Angeles, CA, San Diego, CA; Seattle/Tacoma, WA; Rome, Paris and Cannes, France; Singapore and Hong Kong and a peaceful Beirut, Lebanon in the early 1960s.

Famous Naval Vessels: Hundreds of annuals from America’s most famous naval vessels are available, including the USS Missouri (site of the surrender of the Empire of Japan), USS Enterprise (the world’s first nuclear powered aircraft carrier), USS Hornet (launched the Doolittle raid on Japan in 1942, Battle of Midway, recovery of Apollo 11), USS Lexington (“The Blue Ghost”) and USS Iwo Jima (Apollo 13 recovery).

ANCESTRY.COM MEDIA ACCESS ACCOUNTS are available by request at mediarelations@ancestry.com

About Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com)

Ancestry.com Inc. (Nasdaq: ACOM) is the world's largest online family history resource, with more than 1.6 million paying subscribers. More than 6 billion records have been added to the site in the past 14 years. Ancestry users have created more than 24 million family trees containing over 2.4 billion profiles. Ancestry.com has local Web sites directed at nine countries that help people discover, preserve and share their family history, including its flagship Web site at www.ancestry.com.