Gun Bay: A Tale of Shipwreck on Grand Cayman — An Edward Ballantyne Novel By William H. White, Sea Fiction Press, Red Bank, NJ. (2013) Reviewed by Capt. Roger Jones, USN (Ret.) Gun Bay is a sea-going novel that incorporates the historic and powerful Caribbean hurricanes of October 1793 and January 1794. These caused significant
By Norman Polmar (Editor’s note: This is the 26th a series of blogs by Norman Polmar—author, analyst, and consultant specializing in the naval, aviation, and intelligence fields. Follow the full series here.) Being a “character” is a very positive description of a person. To me, a character is one who thinks for himself or herself,
Admiral Harry B. Harris, Jr., Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet, and his staff visited the National Museum of the U.S. Navy’s Cold War Gallery last Thursday. Admiral Harris was in town for official business, but managed to swing by and visit the gallery and admire the P-3A Orion aircraft he sponsored in honor of Rear Admiral G. W.
By George Stewart This paper was originally intended to be a follow on my experiences as an engineer aboard commercial tankers. The original intent was to provide a description of World War II-built turboelectric Destroyer Escorts and to illustrate the commonality they shared with commercial T-2 Tanker power plants. In the process of preparing this
“With rare exceptions Alfred disapproves of everything he sees when on shore leave, although he does not object to others enjoying themselves.” The Naval Historical Foundation received a few “rare editions” from a box of donated books last month. Included in the list of usual naval history titles were two compendiums of World War II-era
The 2013 winter storm is one of the most interesting weather anomalies in recent memory. Most Americans are by now familiar with terms like “polar vortex” and “snow squalls.” Winter Storm Titan is currently wreaking havoc on the mid-Atlantic state causing thousands of flight delays and closures. This current is not, however, the only time
By Norman Polmar (Editor’s note: This is the 25th in a series of blogs by Norman Polmar—author, analyst, and consultant specializing in the naval, aviation, and intelligence fields. Follow the full series here.) During the summer of 1965, when I was assistant editor of the Naval Institute Proceedings, a young man came into my Annapolis
In Death Unafraid is a two part blog miniseries chronicling the history and memory of the USS Maine from 1898 to present. Read PART I here. Part II: Worse Than Hell When riots broke out in Havana at the beginning of 1898, the McKinley government sent the battleship Maine there to protect American interests
On May 6, 1947, a party was held in Washington, D.C. Among the honored guests there: A president, a few politicians, and a majority of the most important and influential officers in United States military history. They all came to the “stag party” (according to President Truman’s presidential diary entry) to honor General George Marshall,
The Naval Historical Foundation recently received some very interesting pieces of naval aviation memorabilia from the descendants of Ensign Dudley C. Lunt, USNRF. Lunt enlisted in the Naval Reserve in March 1918 and was called into active service shortly thereafter. He found himself at a ground school for aviation cadets at the Massachusetts Institute of
By George J. Hill, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, (2013) Reviewed by Charles C. Kolb, Ph.D. George J. Hill, a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Medical School, served in the Marines Corps and U.S. Public Health Service until he retired as a Captain, Medical Corps, USNR, in 1992. He is the son-in-law of Albert W.
By Robert J. Winklareth, Casemate Publishers, Philadelphia, PA. (2012). Reviewed by Richard P. Hallion, Ph.D The fateful encounter between the Bismarck, Prinz Eugen, Hood, and Prince of Wales at 0600 on the morning of 24 May 1941 midway between Iceland and Greenland has drawn the attention of numerous authors and analysts. It even inspired a now-classic
By Robin L. Rielly, McFarland & Co. Inc., Jefferson, NC and London, UK, (2013) Reviewed by Samuel Loring Morison The sub title of this work, A History of LCI and LCS(L) Ships in the Pacific, is a more appropriate title for the subject. With the exception of Rielly’s previous book on LCS(L)’s, very little (if
Edited by Gary W. Neidhardt. AuthorHouse, Bloomington, IN, (2013) Reviewed by Charles Bogart Editor Gary Neidhardt transcribed and annotated 115 letters that his father, Lt. Paul W. Neidhardt, wrote to his wife, Phyllis, between September 1943 and November 1945. Neidhardt, commissioned as an Ensign in the U.S. Navy in July 1942, went on to serve
By Carl LaVO, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, (2013) Reviewed by Charles H. Bogart Those who study the United States Navy submarine service have encountered in their readings a mention of the McCann Submarine Rescue Chamber. This book is a biography of Vice Admiral McCann, who played a major role in shaping the United States’
