By Matthew T. Eng I wanted to be a bit spontaneous yesterday. I decided to skip the throng of crowds in Baltimore’s Bicentennial of the Star-Spangled Banner (Our friends at NHHC had it covered) and spent the day in Winchester, VA. The sleepy, historic town was just over an hour away. It would be the perfect
It’s no secret that everybody loves dogs. A recent post on our Facebook site led us to discover the interesting story behind a rare ship’s mascot aboard USS Stephen W. Groves on her final deployment. By Matthew T. Eng You can’t deny that we like to keep things on a tight schedule. Each Tuesday,
By Alan Rems, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2014) Reviewed by John R. Satterfield, DBA Although an amateur historian, author Rems has produced a very professional volume. His book is the only recent one-volume account of World War II’s Southwest Pacific Theater that treats its numerous campaigns, both comprehensively and chronologically. This is valuable for
By A. Jay Cristol, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2013) Reviewed by Stephen Phillips On June 8, 1967, Israeli air and naval forces engaged in the Arab-Israeli Six Day War attacked USS Liberty (AGTR 5), killing 34 and wounding 171 Americans. The incident immediately caused a conflagration of controversy. Most accusations assert premeditation. Some suggest
The Naval Historical Foundation lost a good friend and dedicated member last week. Victor Delano, U.S. Navy Captain (retired) and Pearl Harbor survivor, died on Monday, August 25th, at Casey House in Rockville, Maryland. Delano was 94 years old. Delano was born into a family legacy of Navy Veterans. His father, Captain Harvey Delano, was
Last Thursday, members of the USS McCaffery Shipmates Association stopped by the Naval Historical Foundation to donate a set of her cruise books to the Navy Department Library. Don Turk (’69-’71) and Doug Hackett (’61-’63), two former sailors who served on USS McCaffrey (DD/DDE 860), take great pride in their time aboard the Cold War-era
By Richard A. Clarke, Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin’s Press, New York, NY (2014) Reviewed by Stephen Phillips Unmanned vehicles represent the most recent revolution in military technology, especially those capable of launching weapons. Like any paradigm shift, their entry onto the battlefield has been followed by controversy as to the appropriate means to employ
Edited by Bruce A. Elleman and S. C. M. Paine, Naval War College Press, Newport, RI (2013) Reviewed by Joseph James Ahern Authors Bruce A. Elleman and S. C. M. Paine have gathered sixteen case studies examining the use and development of guerre de course from the eighteenth to twenty-first centuries in the recent addition
By Joseph A. Williams, Fort Schuyler Press, Bronx, NY (2013) Reviewed by Suzanne Geissler,Suzanne Geissle Ph.D. The State University of New York Maritime College is the oldest maritime college in the United States. A history of this college is long overdue, and Joseph A. Williams has now provided an excellent one. Williams is a librarian
By Cdr. Harold Sacks, USN (Ret.), Park Press, Norfolk, VA. (2013) Reviewed by Charles H. Bogart Cdr. Sacks has written a highly readable book about his service in the United States Navy from 1952 to 1972. He spent most of his service in the Navy on a destroyer or serving in the intelligence community. While
By Maureen Smith Keillor and AMEC (AW/SW) Richard P. Keillor, MTS, Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, SC (2014) Review by Jason McHale The Images of Aviation series commemorates the history of flight through pictures. More than eighty books comprise this series focusing on the early experiments, famous airfields, various aircraft and other aspects of aviation history. Images
By Richard V. Porcelli, Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, South Carolina, (2012) Reviewed by John Galluzzo Authors choosing to work with Arcadia Publishing set themselves up with a challenge. With strict word counts accompanying each image size (small and large portraits and landscapes, and double page spreads), brevity becomes more than an issue, it becomes a ritual.
By Jan K. Herman, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2013) Reviewed by Nathan D. Wells The role that the United States Navy played in the Vietnam Conflict is well known, especially with regard to the beginning and escalation of the conflict. The role played by the US Navy in the war’s final days is less
Most people in the United States (especially the East Coast) know that the Atlantic Hurricane Season lasts from the beginning of June until the end of November. During those six months, we anxiously watch our television screens as each successive storm passes to the United States, some reaching from the African coast to the reaches
By George Stewart (This is the third in a series of blog posts covering the various operations conducted in Maine during WWII. To read Parts I and II of George Stewart’s blog series about Casco Bay during WWII, go HERE and HERE. To read all other post by George, go HERE.) PART III By 1943,
