Navy Families and their Supporters
Writing in 1939 for Proceedings, Chaplain Truman Riddle, wrote of the Navy’s policies on families: “Several years ago, the Commander in Chief, U. S. Fleet, called together a large group of officers to consider the problem of enlisted men’s families. Prior to this, Commander Battle Force had surprised not only the Navy, but the press, by
Stanley Johnston’s Blunder: The Reporter Who Spilled the Secret Behind the U.S. Navy’s Victory at Midway
Reviewed by Paul W. Murphey, Ph.D., CDR, CHC, USN (Ret). Elliott Carlson has written an exceptionally fine book. It is well worth reading more than once. The only caveat I have is the title: Stanley Johnston’s Blunder. The book is not so much about a reporter’s miscalculation, as about the extraordinary life and times of
The Admiral’s Chef: Recipes from a Navy Wife’s World Travels
Reviewed by LCDR Rebecca Sorell, USN (Ret.) A cookbook is not a typical book to be reviewed for the Naval Historical Foundation, so I was intrigued to see it on the list of available books to review, especially since it had a tie to the U.S. Navy, being written by a Navy wife, Marcia Steidle.
The Royal Navy in the Napoleonic Age: Senior Service 1800 – 1815
Reviewed by Dr. John R. Satterfield. Maritime historians divide their discipline into eras, and the Age of Sail is undoubtedly studied most widely. Sailing ships dominated trade and naval warfare for about three centuries, from the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, the last large engagement involving rowed galleys to the Battle of Hampton Roads in
Sighted Sub, Sank Same: The United States Navy’s Air Campaign against the U-Boat
Reviewed by LT Brian Hayes, USNR This book tells the story of World War II U.S. naval aviation operations against the German U-Boat arm. It’s an interesting and important story, but other books tell it better. Aircraft were essential to the Allied victory in the Battle of the Atlantic. Unlike modern submarines, early U-Boats operated
Images of War: United States Navy Submarines 1900-2019
Reviewed by Jeff Schultz. Michael Green’s United States Navy Submarines 1900-2019 provides a succinct look at the evolution of American submarines from early to modern designs, heavily supported with images, particularly wartime archival sources. It spans designs from the turn of the 20th century across the World Wars, the Cold War and the post-Cold War
The Battalion Artist: A Navy Seabee’s Sketchbook of War in the South Pacific, 1943–1945
Reviewed by CAPT Charles “Herb” Gilliland, USN (Ret.) For any artist—perhaps for any human being–life and art are inseparable. That was certainly the case for Natale (“Nat”) Bellantoni. This strikingly attractive book filled with fine watercolors offers his story as a young artist serving in the 78th Naval Construction Battalion in World War II. Two
Admiral Gorshkov – The Man Who Challenged U.S. Navy
Reviewed by Hans Christian Bjerg Today, probably very few are familiar with the armament and the dominant role of the Navy of the Soviet Union during the Cold War over three decades away. In the period of 1970-90, the Soviet Navy was able to challenge the U.S. Navy on the World’s Oceans. In the
The Washington Navy Yard: An Illustrated History. Special Commemorative Memorial Edition
Reviewed by Kenneth J. Blume, Ph.D. The original edition of this volume was published in 1999 to commemorate the bicentennial of the Washington Navy Yard. This slightly revised edition has been published to honor those workers killed in the infamous September 2013 mass shooting at NAVSEA Building 197. The main changes in this edition include
Paul Nitze, Grand Strategy, and the United States Navy
Fifteen years ago today (March 5, 2005), the USS Nitze (DDG-94) was commissioned. An Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, Nitze has deployed many times in her service history, and was involved in a confrontation with Iranian vessels in August of 2016. She was named for former Secretary of the Navy Paul Nitze – Nitze served in this capacity under President Lyndon Johnson from 1963 to 1967,
Combat at Close Quarters: An Illustrated History of the U.S. Navy in the Vietnam War
This well-written and superbly illustrated collection of four essays provides an easy to read and understand explanation of the U.S. Navy’s role in the Vietnam War. Four chapters focusing on the Rolling Thunder campaign, warfare on the rivers and canals, naval power in Southeast Asia, and naval intelligence in Southeast Asia provide readers with an
U.S. Navy Auxiliary Vessels: A History and Directory from World War I to Today
U.S. Navy Auxiliary Vessels: A History and Directory from World War I to Today by Ken Sayers provides a detailed and devoted look at the myriad vessels which have served the United States Navy in varying capacities from World War I to the present. Sayers, a former USN officer on a Pacific Fleet destroyer and
Happy Birthday to the U.S. Navy Chaplain Corps
This week for Thursday Tidings, we are looking back on the rich history of the United States Navy Chaplain Corps, which was officially established on November 28th, 1775. For the first two decades of the Chaplain Corps, clergy served alongside sailors as civilians – finally in 1799 William Balch became the first officially commissioned, permanent
