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Norman’s Corner: Tom Clancy

By Norman Polmar (Editor’s note: This is the seventeenth 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.) In July 1983 a friend asked my wife, Beverly, and me to attend a bar-b-q at his home. Among the few others

NH 91826 San Diego Halsey Powell

Fletcher Class Destroyers: My Experience During the 1950’s

By Captain George Stewart, USN (RET) This is the fifth in a series of articles by Captain Stewart detailing the technical specifications, manning, and operations of the U.S. Navy’s Fletcher class destroyers. This is the fifth and last article in a series describing life aboard a World War II built Fletcher Class destroyer during the

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BOOK REVIEW – The Coast Guardsman’s Manual (10th Edition)

Edited by Jim Dolbow, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD. (2013). Reviewed by Thomas P. Ostrom The Coast Guardsman’s Manual, first published in 1952, is now in print for its 10th edition, skillfully edited by Lt. Jim Dolbow (USCGR). Dolbow has served on active duty assignments, as a congressional legislative assistant on defense issues, and legislative

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ADM Holloway Book Gifted to Chinese CNO

  Last month, People’s Liberation Army Navy Commander in Chief Admiral Wu Shengli visited the Washington Navy Yard, and was welcomed by U.S. Navy Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jonathan Greenert. Greenert hosted his Chinese counterpart for a week’s visit, and the two toured numerous installations in the United States. The two exchanged small mementos of

BOOK REVIEW – Big Guns, Brave Men: Mobile Artillery Observers and the Battle for Okinawa

By Rodney Earl Walton, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2013) Reviewed by Diana L. Ahmad, Ph.D. This well-researched and well-written book analyzed the role of forward artillery observers on Okinawa during the largest artillery battle in World War II’s Pacific Theater. Likely inspired by his father’s role as a forward observer for the 361st Field

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BOOK REVIEW – The Fight for the Yazoo, August 1862-July 1864: Swamps, Forts and Fleets on Vicksburg’s Northern Flank

By Myron J. Smith, Jr., McFarland, Henderson, NC, (2012). Reviewed by John Grady Myron Smith has delivered a wonderfully detailed account of the stubborn fighting that continued along the Yazoo River for much of the Civil War. For the Union Navy, in particular, it was a sometimes brutish brawl that continued after the fall of

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BOOK REVIEW – The History of Canada: War In The St. Lawrence – The Forgotten U-Boat Battles on Canada’s Shores

By Rodger Sarty; Allen Lane-Penguin Group, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (2012) Reviewed by Michael F. Solecki This book is the eighth installment to “The History of Canada” series. The War in the St. Lawrence is for the most part either forgotten or a printed glitch in the grander “Battle of the Atlantic.” The “Battle in the

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BOOK REVIEW – Promotion or the Bottom of the River: The Blue and Gray Naval Careers of Alexander F. Warley, South Carolinian

By John M. Stickney, University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, SC, (2012). Reviewed by Larry A. Grant The culmination of work done over a forty-year period, Promotion or the Bottom of the River: The Blue and Gray Naval Careers of Alexander F. Warley, South Carolinian is the naval biography of a long-service officer of the

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BOOK REVIEW – Zumwalt: The Life and Times of Admiral Elmo Russell “Bud” Zumwalt, Jr.

By Larry Berman, Harper Collins, New York, NY (2013). Reviewed by Stephen Phillips Depending on one’s perspective, Admiral Elmo “Bud” Zumwalt is famous or infamous for transforming the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War era. His name is synonymous with long hair, beards, and social reform through “Z-Grams” – messages to the fleet that served

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BOOK REVIEW – The Battle of Midway: The Naval Institute Guide to the U.S. Navy’s Greatest Victory

Edited by Thomas C. Hone  (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2013). Reviewed by John T. Kuehn, Ph.D. No other naval battle in recent American history has garnered more attention than the aircraft carrier clash at the western extremity of the Hawaiian Island Chain in June 1942 than Midway. Ever since Samuel Eliot Morison’s seminal volume

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BOOK REVIEW – Rolling Thunder, A Vietnam War Novel

By L. Erik Fleming, Strategic Book Publishing and Rights Co., Houston, TX, (2012). Reviewed by Jan Churchill Even though this book is called Rolling Thunder, it is not a history lesson of this operation but an entertaining story about a fictional Marine Captain Valentine Jordan, a fighter pilot assigned to a F4J Phantom II squadron

STEM cooking 2013

Cooking Up a STEM Lesson Plan in the Classroom

“Cook For a Submarine Fleet” was a mathematics lesson developed by Greg Felber, mathematics teacher at Ledyard Middle School, Ledyard CT during the Submarine Force Museum/Historic Ship Nautilus STEM Teacher Fellowship Program the past summer. Last week, using the lesson, the 7th Grade students at Ledyard Middle School were put in the position of a

Call for Papers: “The Anglo-German Naval Arms Race and the First World War at Sea”

This conference (16-18 July 2014) aims to explore the Anglo-German naval arms race during the early twentieth century and the Great War at sea with an emphasis prior to the Battle of Jutland. Any methodological approach and any aspect of the naval history of this period will be very welcome, including papers addressing French, Austro-Hungarian,

Liberty cartoon USS Halsey Powell Cruise Book 1960-1961

Fletcher Class Destroyer Operations – Part II

By Captain George Stewart, USN (RET) This is the fourth in a series of articles by Captain Stewart detailing the technical specifications, manning, and operations of the U.S. Navy’s Fletcher class destroyers. In my last article (read it here) I wrote about operations of a Fletcher class destroyer, based on my experiences serving in USS

VADM Chris Cagle

Norman’s Corner: Admiral Chris Cagle in War and in Peace

By Norman Polmar (Editor’s note: This is the sixteenth 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.) In high school I began writing my first book—a history of the world’s aircraft carriers. In 1964, I wrote to the