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BOOK REVIEW – US Navy Escort Carriers 1942-45

By Mark Stille, New Vanguard Series, Osprey Publishing, New York, NY (2017) Reviewed by Michael F. Solecki There were three major types of aircraft carriers in World War II (WWII). The first, very expensive “fleet” carriers, were large, fast, heavily armored, and armed for self-defense, carried over 80 planes designed with major strike and long-range

BOOK REVIEW – The Japanese Navy in World War II: In The Words Of The Former Japanese Naval Officers (Second Edition)

Edited by David C. Evans, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (Hardcover,1986; Paperback, 2017) Reviewed By: Michael F. Solecki The Japanese Navy In World War II is a collection of interviews/essays previously published in various volumes of the United States Naval Institute’s Proceedings, as well as other publications from the 1950s and 1960s by former witnessing

BOOK REVIEW – U.S. Navy Codebreakers, Linguists, and Intelligence Officers Against Japan 1910-1941: A Biographical Dictionary

By Captain Steven E. Maffeo, USNR, (Ret.), Rowan & Littlefield, Lanham, MD (2016) Reviewed by Michael F. Solecki Any leader worth his salt will tell you that the acquisition, interpretation, and proper dissemination of intelligence is arguably the most important key to solving any problem; from identifying what is in front of you to winning

BOOK REVIEW – The Most Dangerous Moment of the War: Japan’s Attack on the Indian Ocean, 1942

By John Clancy, Casemate Publishers, Oxford, UK (2015) Reviewed by Michael F. Solecki Naval activities in the Indian Ocean during World War II are rarely talked about in U.S. historical circles as it was primarily a British theater. In 1942 when the war broke out, Ceylon (modern day Sri-Lanka) was home base to the British

BOOK REVIEW – The U.S. Naval Institute on The U.S. Naval Academy: The History

Edited by Thomas J. Cutler, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2015) Reviewed by Michael F. Solecki In 1839, the federal government established the first formal non-private naval school in Philadelphia called the “Naval Asylum,” a somewhat daunting name by today’s grammatical vernacular. The school, the actual forerunner of the U.S. Naval Academy, was an academic

BOOK REVIEW – Tin Can Diary: The War Diary of Earl W. Foxwell, Jr.’s Tour of Duty Aboard The Destroyer USS Edwards, DD 619

By Harry J. Foxwel, Self Published, Middletown, DE (2015) Reviewed by Michael F. Solecki The destroyer is a light, fast, maneuverable, and heavily armed class of warship originally designed in the late 1800s to “destroy” torpedo boats. By World War II, these ships were designed and used to escort much larger ships and convoys filling

BOOK REVIEW – The Ship That Wouldn’t Die: The Saga of the USS Neosho and a World War II Story of Courage and Survival at Sea

By Don Keith, Penguin Group, New York, NY (2015) Reviewed by Michael F. Solecki During the Battle of Coral Sea in May 1942, the Japanese sank Neosho and her escort Sims. A sidebar of the battle until recently, the sinking of these two ships developed into a fascinating story of survival and heroism. I am