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Struggles and Deception, Nightmares, Betrayals, Mutinies, and Misunderstandings
NORMAN POLMAR
Editor's Note: Norman Polmar, an internationally known naval analyst, consultant, and author, writes this year's review. His byline periodically has appeared in Sea Power since July 1959 (the magazine was then called Navy).
The flow of books about war at sea and related naval and maritime subjects continues unabated. The scope of the past year's new books cover the gauntlet from nuclear war to the biography of a warship and the account of a failed aircraft program. Several books address Cold War issues that heretofore one needed special clearances to discuss, even behind closed doors. These include Jerry Miller's Nuclear Weapons and Aircraft Carriers, John Craven's The Silent War, and Jim Ring's We Come Unseen. But books about earlier times also abound, some shining new light on historic subjects. And every few years some excellent fiction also comes off the press; two novels that are highly recommended are Punk's War and Fire on the Waters.
Again, too many books tend to have errors that the publishers--particularly the specialized military publishing houses--should have corrected, while, as will be seen, some books appear to be greatly over-priced in comparison with contemporary works.
SEA POWER AND HISTORY
John Lehman's new book Bound for Glory should be read in private. Too often this reviewer was tempted to shout out, "You have that right, John!" or "Yes!" or "Right on!" Lehman, secretary of the Navy from 1981 to 1987, is an outspoken "navalist" and in Bound for Glory he tells tales of the American Navy from the Continental era through the Gulf War. Commenting on flag officers, sailors, scientists, innovators, and pilots, Lehman tells of the role and accomplishments of the Navy in building and protecting the nation. He also reveals his efforts to become Secretary of the Navy: I wanted to play my own part in a tradition that was still alive; to reawaken the Navy's spirit of innovation and leadership, end its postwar defeatism, and draw on its past to provide direction for the future.
Whether one agrees with Lehman or not, whether one likes him or not, his book is a good read.
A broader, overall view of naval warfare in the 20th century--and of its practitioners--is At Sea At War by naval historian and prolific author Ronald H. Spector. Although Spector stresses that his book is about "fighting sailors"--i.e., the culture of navies--it is in fact much broader and can be highly recommended as a single-volume history of war at sea from the Russian-Japanese battle of Tsushima in 1905 to the eve of the Gulf War. Still, his discussion of the conditions aboard ship and personnel policies make this tome of value to anyone interested in the welfare of those who man the Navy's ships and aircraft.
Another book covering much of the same period, with an emphasis on battles and strategy, is well-known naval writer Richard Hough's Naval Battles of the Twentieth Century. Hough also begins with Tsushima, and ends his book at the Battle of the Philippines in 1944--the last major confrontation at sea between opposing fleets. Hough, who has written several books about battleships, stresses the importance of dreadnoughts and cruisers in World War II, especially in the roles of gunfire support and air defense. There will be some hackles raised by Hough's view that the Guadalcanal campaign was "insignificant"--although it was the catalyst for so many sea battles. As always, Hough's work is of interest.
At the other end of the spectrum, at the level of strategic decision-making, is retired Vice Adm. Jerry Miller's Nuclear Weapons and Aircraft Carriers. Miller--who at various times commanded aircraft squadrons, an aircraft carrier, and two numbered fleets--was one of the Navy's top strategic planners as well. His book tells of how the advent of the atomic bomb saved the aircraft carrier from oblivion after World War II. And how the development of ships to operate large nuclear-armed strike aircraft provided the U.S. Navy with its modern capital ship--the large, multipurpose, and highly capable supercarrier.
This is an important book, combining the politics, personalities, and technical aspects behind the development of the Navy's carrier-based nuclear strike capabilities. Some historians of the nuclear age may argue with his approach, and with some of his conclusions, but his book is important to an understanding of the U.S. Navy and the U.S. nuclear arsenal in the Cold War era.
Hopefully, for the planned sequel, Miller's publisher will provide better editing and handling of the photographs.
During the decade since the end of the Cold War the United States has fought in several conflicts, but the U.S. defense establishment still struggles to determine how to employ military force in the new world order. Gen. Wesley Clark, the NATO commander of Operation Allied Force against the former Yugoslavia, gives his views in Waging Modern War. While there is little here about the role of navies in the modern era, his detailed discussion of the conflict, the logistics, and, especially, the politics of that conflict make it a significant work for all interested in modern naval issues.
Retired Adm. William Owens, long considered one of the Navy's forward thinkers, proposes a new approach to the post-Cold War military challenges to the United States in his Lifting the Fog of War. Unfortunately, several of his points are overtaken by the events that began on 11 September 2001. Still, his book contains much that is worth reading, both in contemplating the future and in understanding how the U.S. armed forces arrived at their current stage. His previous book, High Seas: The Naval Passage to an Uncharted World (1995), pointed to new and interesting directions for U.S. naval development.
Electronic warfare has been a major component of combat since the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-1905. In the long-awaited third volume of The History of U.S. Electronic Warfare, Dr. Alfred Price takes the story to the end of the 21st century. All services are addressed and the Navy's electronic warfare activities are well-covered. Price's own technical knowledge and insights make this an important book. An example of the latter, when discussing the Stark incident: Much has been written about the "fog of war," but here we see the effect of "the mist of peace." The most difficult situation a service officer can ever be called upon to handle is the sudden and unexpected transition from peace to war. It is a no-win situation, from which few officers ever emerge with their reputations intact.
The continuing effort to restore the late Adm. Husband E. Kimmel to four-star rank has another champion in Michael Gannon. In Pearl Harbor Betrayed he has produced readable and impressive new evidence to support his viewpoint. Gannon's main thrust is that Kimmel was denied intelligence (mostly diplomatic communication intercepts) that would have helped him avoid the disaster of 7 December 1941.
Still, Gannon does not make a conclusive case. If the Army and Navy leaders in Washington, working together, could not divine the Japanese plan, it is highly unlikely that Kimmel's small Navy staff could have done so even with the benefit of the "Magic" diplomatic intelligence.
Robert Cowley, former editor of Military History Quarterly, has assembled the writings of the top authors of World War II military history and published 46 chapters of their writings in No End Save Victory. This anthology--with perceptive commentary by Cowley--is an excellent compilation, ably supplemented with battle maps.
The account is well-balanced, but this reviewer would have liked additional coverage of code-breaking and the development of the atomic bomb, key factors in the Allied victory. Although most of the chapters address ground combat, there is a balance with significant naval and air coverage. As Cowley concludes his introduction, "The last words on World War II will never be written. But in the meantime, here are some memorable ones."
One of Cowley's authors, the prolific Stephen Ambrose, has written an exceptional book about World War II, The Good Fight, especially for teenagers. Only 96 pages, this well-written, well-illustrated book is highly recommended.
The less successful Vietnam War is believed by some to have included the Cambodian capture of the U.S. merchant ship Columbia Eagle. Two young seamen took control of the ship, claiming that they were preventing the munitions from reaching U.S. forces. They appear more like simple pirates in The Eagle Mutiny, by Richard Linnett and Roberto Loiderman. Their book is slow reading and gives too much importance to an event that--except for the death of U.S. Marines attempting to recapture the ship--is little more than a footnote to the Vietnam conflict.
A more significant merchant ship event was the attack on the John Harvey in the Italian port of Bari by German bombers on 2 December 1943. In all, 17 Allied merchant ships were destroyed. The John Harvey, a Liberty ship, was loaded with mustard gas. Thousands of seamen in the area, and civilians ashore, suffered from her cargo of poison gas--about two thousand died. Gerald Reminick provides a readable and detailed account of that little-known disaster in Nightmare in Bari, a story that has relevance today.
The United States and Britain both underwent rapid industrial development during the 1800s, and the ocean between them became a key maritime crossroads. In Atlantic Kingdom, John A. Butler, a mariner and maritime historian, tells of the competition between Britain's Cunard Line and American shippers to carry the goods between the industrial giants.
In doing so, Butler provides a superb description of American maritime developments in that prolific period, including the development of steam propulsion and clipper ships. The author focuses on personalities and policies as well as technical developments.
Navy Department historian Gary E. Weir has provided a useful account of U.S. Navy studies of the ocean environment in An Ocean in Common. Beyond the expected discussion of ocean research, Weir explains the role of naval officers and civilian scientists in developing antisubmarine capabilities as well the initiation of the Polaris fleet ballistic missile.
The U.S. Navy and the city of San Diego have had a close relationship since 1846, when the 22-gun sloop-of-war Cyane landed troops to take possession of the town from Mexico. >From that time on, Navy ships, then aircraft and submarines, have been part of the San Diego landscape. Bruce Linder's San Diego's Navy is an admirable history of that relationship, well-written and well-illustrated. His book is recommended for all who hold the "town" in high esteem.
SEMPER FIDELIS!
The largest and most daring U.S. "commando" raid of World War II was the Marine assault on Makin Island in August 1942. Carlson's Raid, by journalist George W. Smith, is an excellent account of the exploits--and failures--of the 219 Marines, including President Roosevelt's son James, who landed on the island from two submarines. After firefights and foul-ups, the Marines withdrew, leaving 30 behind--probably 25 dead and five alive; the latter were captured and executed by the Japanese.
The raid, hailed as a major success at the time, was the basis for the 1943 movie "Gung Ho" starring Randolph Scott and Robert Mitchum. Smith's book is a good read.
The Fifth Marine Regiment lays claim to having fought in every battle in which U.S. Marines have participated since the regiment was formed in 1914. Ronald J. Brown, a retired colonel who served with the Fifth Marines in Vietnam, has written a comprehensive history of the regiment through Operation Desert Storm. The detail may overwhelm the casual reader, but A Few Good Men is the book for those who want to know "everything" about a Marine regiment in peace and war.
As a Marine second lieutenant, Patrick F. Caruso was in combat for 15 days in early 1945 on an island named Iwo Jima. After being wounded and evacuated to Guam, he wrote down his experiences during those 15 days. His diary, published as Nightmare on Iwo, is absorbing as a minute-by-minute account of those savage days. This small book is must reading for those who want to know how Marines really fought in World War II.
Other junior officers who fought on Iwo Jima as well as on Okinawa were among the 400 Marine officers who graduated from the V-12 program. The shortage of junior officers led to establishment of this special officer candidate school at Camp Lejeune. In We Few, James Dickenson, a free-lance writer and former Marine officer, chronicles the class--most of whom fought (and 48 died) on Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
Lt. Gen. Lewis B. ("Chesty") Puller was one of the Marine Corps' greatest leaders and with five Navy Crosses one of its most decorated. Jon Hoffman, deputy director of Marine Corps history and museums, has written a commendable biography of Puller, using his personal papers as well as other sources to separate fact from fiction in the long and exciting career of Chesty.
Hoffman's earlier biography of Col. Merritt A. ("Red Mike") Edson, who commanded the 1st Raider Battalion on Guadalcanal, is back in print. Edson earned the Medal of Honor for his tactics and tenacity, described in Once a Legend. After the war, as a general officer, he retired so that he could testify before Congress in the defense unification debates.
Gen. Oliver P. Smith, a Marine who saw comparatively brief combat in WWII, became an icon of the Corps after the war. In The Gentle Warrior, free-lance writer Clifton La Bree provides a superior biography of Smith, who was a lieutenant colonel when the United States entered WWII. He was a regimental and assistant division commander in New Britain and at Peleliu in 1944. Immediately after the war, at Quantico, he helped shape the postwar Corps and was a key player in the unification controversy.
Smith's most acclaimed role was as commanding general of the 1st Marine Division in Korea in 1950-1951. The landings at Inchon, the seizure of Seoul, the subsequent advance to Chosin, and the bloody retreat--"advance in a different direction"--marked Smith as a warrior par excellence. But, as La Bree notes, "He was a warrior possessing the mind and soul of a philosopher."
Robert Debs Heinl and Edwin H. Simmons as well as several official volumes have provided the definitive histories of the U.S. Marine Corps. As if to demonstrate that there is always room on the shelf for more, academicians and historians Merrill L. Bartlett and Jack Sweetman have produced an illustrated history of the Corps that deserves special attention, The U.S. Marine Corps. Their writing style, the illustrations (all black-and-white), and up-to-date coverage make this a worthwhile book.
UNDERSEA WARFARE
John Craven was chief scientist for the Navy's Special Projects Office--responsible for development of the Polaris missile submarines--when the U.S. submarine Thresher sank with all hands in April 1963. The Thresher was the world's first nuclear submarine to be lost, taking 129 men to their death. The sinking led to establishment of the Navy's project to develop advanced submarine rescue and escape systems, as well as other advanced submersibles and underwater search, recovery, and salvage systems, some of which were highly classified or "black" programs. Craven was given the additional job of initially directing the deep-submergence project.
Following the huge success of Blind Man's Bluff (1998), Craven decided to tell the undersea story of the Cold War as only a participant could write it. In The Silent War, after telling of his own interesting background, Craven contends--in discussing the sinking of the Soviet missile submarine K-129 in 1968, which was partially recovered by the CIA salvage ship Hughes Glomar Explorer--that the Soviet submarine was a "rogue" and her captain "was attempting to launch or had actually launched a ballistic missile with a live [nuclear] warhead in the direction of Hawaii." Craven's "evidence" for this supposition is very thin. Other statements are not supported by known facts and the book's many errors in names, agencies, dates, and even technical developments severely limit its value.
Time magazine diplomatic correspondent Douglas Waller has provided the most comprehensive look yet inside a ballistic missile submarine (SSBN). His title, Big Red, is the nickname for the Trident submarine USS Nebraska. Waller provides insights into the officers and enlisted men as well as the day-to-day events, drills, and deployments of a Trident. His highly graphic descriptions bring the crew and the submarine to life. Particularly intriguing are his discussions of missile-launching procedures--and safety precautions--and antiterrorist drills aboard ship.
Waller's observation about the submarine's crew: The Nebraska's leadership was almost lily-white. The lower enlisted ranks had about the same percentage of minorities as in the civilian world, but there were only two African-Americans among the Nebraska's thirty-three officers and chiefs, a demographic found in the upper ranks of other subs. Most of the Nebraska's crew came from broken or troubled homes, also a phenomenon found in other subs. The men with whom they shared this steel womb for months on end would be the family they never had growing up.
Unfortunately, the book's numerous errors are very disturbing, from having the wrong commissioning date for the "Big Red" to the incorrect configuration of the Nebraska; also irritating is Waller's constant derogatory use of the terms "brass" and "bureaucrats."
Jim Ring's We Come Unseen is the story of Britain's development of nuclear submarines with an emphasis on their operations, including intelligence-collection missions against the USSR. Ring uses six submarine officers of different year groups as the focus of his book. Among them are Adm. Sandy Woodward, who would go on to command the British forces in the Falklands conflict, and Chris Wreford-Brown, commanding officer of the Conqueror when she sank the Argentine cruiser Belgrano.
Ring reveals much about British submarine operations and, especially, the men who sailed the boats. As he astutely observes: "Cold War submariners were also ordinary people doing extraordinary things." Americans often tend to forget that several other countries "fought" the Cold War on the U.S. side, and that British submarines--attack boats as well as "boomers"--were important participants in that conflict.
The story is well-told, but at times the switching from one officer to another is a bit awkward.
Antony Preston, another British journalist, has prepared a superb centennial history of British submarines in The Royal Navy Submarine Service. Although only 192 pages in length, this smart-looking book covers British submarines from HMS Holland No. 1 of 1901 to the Astute, a nuclear attack submarine now under construction. Preston's essays and comments--on commanding officers as well as on the submarines--and a detailed chronology make this Conway volume an interesting book and a useful reference.
Unfortunately, Preston does not provide a list of submarines within the various classes. Thus, M.P. Cocker's Royal Naval Submarines, 1901-1982, which does provide a ship-by-ship listing, remains the best single volume describing British undersea craft up to 1982.
Historian and author Michael Wilson, who commanded three British submarines, provided an excellent account of submarine operations in the Indian Ocean during World War II in A Submariners' War. The Indian Ocean was the only venue of collaboration between the German, Japanese, and Italian armed forces during the war. Their submarines were joined on that broad sea by opposing British and Dutch submarines, and on one occasion by a U.S. boat. This is a well-told and well-illustrated history.
In U-boats At War, U-boat historian Jak Mallman Showell discusses the use of German submarines to land agents on foreign shores, including those of the United States. His book includes considerable detail, and is well-illustrated with photographs and maps.
American history lecturer Dwight R. Messimer has written several outstanding books on naval aviation and one on the German merchant submarine Deutschland. His latest effort--Find and Destroy--addresses antisubmarine warfare (ASW) in World War I. But Messimer's approach to writing this book is baffling: sections of the book are narrative, others are encyclopedic, with up to five ASW projects described in the space of two pages. Some subjects are discussed extensively (depth charges), and others barely mentioned (torpedoes). While of interest, this book is certainly neither definitive nor complete.
One hundred years ago--in 1902--Britain placed in service its first submarine, intended to help develop antisubmarine procedures. The Naval Records Society has now published an invaluable account, edited by Nicholas Lambert, of The Submarine Service from 1900 to 1918. The 44-page introduction is fascinating, addressing policy, personnel, production, and technology issues. This is followed by an invaluable collection of memos, appraisals, letters, and newspaper articles. Possibly the most fascinating is an article from The Times of 15 December 1913, in which Rear Adm. Sir Percy Scott, the father of modern gunnery in the Royal Navy, declared: "In my opinion, as the motor-vehicle has driven the horse from the road, so has the submarine driven the battleship from the sea."
The book is important to all interested in submarine history, but the price--$129.95--puts it beyond the reach of many individuals.
SHIPS
The Battleships is a history of ships of the line, written as a companion volume to a History Channel special, by Ian Johnston and Rob McAuley, a lecturer-author and a TV producer, respectively, who have produced an interesting and readable history of big-gun ships from the Mary Rose of Henry the VIII through the role played by the U.S. Iowa-class dreadnoughts in the Gulf War of 1991. But readers beware: The book was originally published in Britain, and has a British orientation, with too little coverage of U.S. ships and operations, and far too many errors of facts and dates to be considered a definitive work.
A major transformation in battleship design was caused by a ship named Virginia, which fought one named Monitor. Although their battle was inconclusive, it changed the course of naval history. R. Thomas Campbell, a student of Confederate history, and Alan B. Flanders, a student of naval history, have produced the readable and authoritative account of the Confederate ship in Confederate Phoenix: The CSS Virginia. Their detailed, well-illustrated narrative recounts the career of the USS Merrimack, her "destruction" at the Gosport (Norfolk) navy yard, her rebirth as the CSS Virginia, and her historic battle with the USS Monitor.
The Merrimack's early cruises are particularly interesting, as is the story of the ship's rebuilding after being burned and scuttled--the subject of David Poyer's novel Fire on the Waters, reviewed later in this essay.
The Monitor and the metal ships that followed her were a manifestation of the growing American industrial complex. Although the steel Navy was not begun until later in the century, its roots were in the decades before as the nation's industry struggled to deal with steam engines and other features of "modern" warships. Kurt Hackemer's The U.S. Navy and the Origins of the Military Industrial Complex, 1847-1883 is a brief but valuable discussion of these developments.
Another U.S. warship had a sad and tragic ending in a later war. The heavy cruiser Indianapolis, after carrying components of the Hiroshima atomic bomb to Tinian, was sunk by a Japanese submarine; no SOS was sent out and the ship was not "missed." The tragedy that followed is examined in four books (three of them reprints) published in 2001.
Raymond Lech's The Tragic Fate of the USS Indianapolis is a reprint of All the Drowned Sailors (1982). His book and another reprint, Richard Newcomb's Abandon Ship, originally published in 1958, are both excellent accounts of the ship's loss and the privation and death of most of the 800 men who survived the sinking. Dan Kurzman's Fatal Voyage, a paperback reprint of his 1990 work, also is well-written. The new book, unfortunately, Doug Stanton's In Harm's Way, is marked by numerous errors and a confusing style.
The 17th Edition of Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet, by the author of this review, also was published last year. The 657-page book lists and describes all U.S. Navy, Coast Guard, NOAA, and Army ships as well as all U.S. naval aircraft and aviation units. It also describes the Navy's personnel situation and organization, the Marine Corps, the Military Sealift Command, and the Coast Guard. A provocative essay on the State of the Fleet introduces the book, which is published at three-year intervals.
Two "ship books" merit special attention for their illustrations as well as their engrossing narratives. Historic Sail, illustrated by Joseph Wheatley with text by Stephen Howarth, combines the talents of world-class experts on sailing ships to produce this large-format colored-plate work. Historic Sail covers not only warships and cargo ships, but also coastal craft and the sailing ships used by world explorers, beginning with a 13th-century Danish "cog" through a Scottish tea clipper of 1969. The detail and the use of colors and texture are exceptional.
Ross MacTaggart's The Golden Century describes the classic motor yachts of the 100 years from 1830 to 1930. With hundreds of black-and-white photos and an extremely well-written text, MacTaggart, an architectural designer and preservationist, has captured the essence of that remarkable era. The yachts described include several that served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. The Alva, built in 1930 for W.K. Vanderbilt--of the family that owned more yachts than any other--carried a twin-engine flying boat. Built in Germany, she served as the USS Plymouth during the war and was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat.
Finally, Robert Jackson's Kriegsmarine is an excellent illustrated history of the German Navy of World War II. The text and photos--more than 200 are cited as previously unpublished--tell the story of the Kriegsmarine from the end of World War I to 1945. The emphasis throughout is on ships, with minor types as well as major warships and U-boats addressed. Jackson is a prolific naval and aviation writer.
AVIATION
James Stevenson's long-awaited account of the Navy's A-12 Avenger II stealth bomber is an outstanding description of how not to run a high-tech military program. In The $5 Billion Misunderstanding, Stevenson tells of the accomplishments and failures of both industry and government--General Dynamics and McDonnell Douglas, the Navy, and several Department of Defense agencies--in the aborted A-12 program. "I noticed a pattern of disdain for the same U.S. Constitution that the Navy was intended to uphold. The further I researched, the more contemptuous I found its behavior. Felony statutes that were supposed to enforce a fiscal prohibition clearly stated in the U.S. Constitution were ignored," Stevenson says.
His views are based on reviewing countless pages of court testimony, depositions, and reports; scores of interviews with participants; and government documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. An author, editor, and publisher, Stevenson has set a new standard for writing the history of military programs.
U.S. Naval Aviation, a comprehensive look at that subject sponsored by the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, was edited by veteran naval aviation writers Hill Goodspeed and Rick Burgess. It looks like a coffee-table book--large format (10 x 14), a heavy blue cover, and a metallic naval aviation insignia embossed thereon. Inside, however, is a comprehensive, well-written, and handsomely illustrated narrative, from Eugene Ely's first shipboard takeoff and landing through a discussion of naval aviation today.
The editors and 11 other authors wrote the chapters, which cover all aspects of carrier aviation as well as Marine and Coast Guard aviation, the Blue Angels, and other naval aviation "players." The writing is insightful as well as informative; the illustrations also are impressive, both in color and in black-and-white.
Hamilton ("One-Slug") McWhorter was The First Hellcat Ace. He flew the Grumman F4F Wildcat in the Anglo-American invasion of North Africa in 1942 (Operation Torch), then shifted to the Grumman F6F Hellcat for carrier operations in the Pacific. During the invasion of Tarawa in November 1943 he became the Navy's first Hellcat pilot to down five Japanese aircraft.
"One-Slug" McWhorter's readable book (his memoir of the war years) provides an insightful look at the life of a World War II fighter pilot. (His nickname came from having fired only 86 rounds to test his six machine guns and down a Japanese "Betty" bomber.)
Another outstanding look at naval aircraft--U.S. Navy Dive and Torpedo Bombers of WWII--has been produced by aviation experts Barrett Tillman and Robert Lawson. In 128 pages, and more than 200 photographs (about half in color), the authors cover in detail the aircraft of these types in the U.S. Navy during the 1930s and 1940s. But one is at a loss to understand why the last 13 pages of their book are devoted to coverage of patrol bombers, aircraft that are certainly out of place in this otherwise cogent and important book.
Japan's principal land-based strike aircraft during World War II were flown by pilots of the Imperial Japanese Navy. The most effective of these aircraft were the twin-engine Mitsubishi G4M bombers given the Allied code-name "Betty." A Betty participated in the sinking of the British capital ships Prince of Wales and Repulse on 10 December 1941, proving that a modern battleship could be sunk by aircraft alone.
Osamu Tagaya's outstanding "biography" of this aircraft, Mitsubishi Type 1 Rikko 'Betty' Units of World War 2, describes in detail its development and operations, and the men who flew the Betty. As with other Osprey Aviation books, this is must reading for those interested in the subject, and includes extensive color drawings and black-and-white photos.
In Luftwaffe Bomber Aces, aviation historian Mike Spick provides a fine overview of German bombers in World War II--their tactics, weapons, aircraft, and pilots. With a highly readable text as well as numerous diagrams (and photos), Spick's discourse covers the role of Luftwaffe bombers in the Battle of the Atlantic, anticarrier operations in the Mediterranean, and the first--and highly successful--use of antiship missiles.
While the use of the term "ace" may be argued, there is nothing else to chide in this fine book. An appendix provides biographies of the top bomber aces.
One of the most effective and controversial aircraft of the Cold War era was the U-2. In Spyplane: U-2 History Declassified, the author [Polmar] of this review provides a detailed look at the rationale for the U-2--to prevent a nuclear Pearl Harbor--as well as its development and operations. The duplicity of the CIA, responsible for development of the aircraft, the U.S. Air Force opposition to the U-2, previously unpublicized flights (such as those flown from India), carrier operations, and other "insider" details about the aircraft are provided.
The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, established in 1915, was predecessor to NASA, set up in 1958. Michael H. Gorn's Expanding the Envelope tells of flight research by both agencies. The Navy's role--including the political and financial support it provided, its support in determining why planes crash, and its flight-testing of research aircraft--is well-covered.
A NASA historian, Gorn has written a valuable book about flight testing--not about the actual aircraft.
PEOPLE
Francis Duncan, long-time historian of the Atomic Energy Commission and its successor agency, the Department of Energy, has produced a detailed and readable biography of the "father" of the atomic submarine. In Rickover: The Struggle for Excellence, Duncan has made extensive use of official files, his close relationship with Adm. Rickover, and the admiral's private papers to produce this valuable work.
Particularly interesting are the chapters about Rickover's early life. While there is little new in the subsequent discussion of Rickover's professional career, there are interesting insights into how Rickover worked behind the scenes with Congress to outmaneuver his civilian and military superiors.
The story of the "non-turnover" of the nuclear program to Adm. Kinnaird (Kim) McKee in January 1982 is fascinating; Rickover left on Saturday, with virtually all of the furniture as well as his personal files moved out. McKee moved in on Monday. In their brief discussion on Saturday Rickover complained about McKee being given four stars upon becoming head of the nuclear program while he had struggled to get his two stars.
Duncan's book, although engrossing, is also bland. One is told how Rickover was not selected for a submarine command although two officers in his squadron who were junior to him were given commands; later, Rickover, a lieutenant commander, is given command of an old minesweeper in the Asiatic Fleet, normally a lieutenant's billet. Relieved after a brief period in command, he remained on board for several weeks, also a rare if not unprecedented occurrence. Duncan offers no explanation of or opinion about these and many other events in Rickover's professional life, leaving a major void in this book.
The subject of women scientists in the U.S. Navy is addressed by Kathleen Broome Williams in Improbable Warriors. She centers her story on four women who served the Navy during World War II--Mary Sears (oceanographer), Florence van Straten (meteorologist), Grace Murray Hopper (computer scientist), and Mina Spiegel Rees (administrator). Williams tells an important story in an interesting and readable manner.
Probably the most perennial subject in naval books is the life of Adm. Lord Nelson. Retired rear admiral and Nelsonian historian Joseph Callo has produced Nelson Speaks, a heavily annotated compendium of Nelson's words. This reviewer's favorite: "God forbid, I should have any other consideration on service, than the good of my country." (There also is a Nelson biography reprint; see below.)
Matthew Calbraith Perry was one of America's outstanding early naval heroes, diplomats, and reformers. While Perry is best remembered for "opening" Japan in 1852-1854, he accomplished much more for the nation as well as for the Navy, both ashore and afloat. John Schroeder, a history professor at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, has produced the admirable Matthew Calbraith Perry: Antebellum Sailor and Diplomat, a new gem in the Naval Institute's biography series.
Capt. Johnston Blakeley, commanding the 22-gun corvette Wasp, was one of the younger and brighter officers of the U.S. Navy in the War of 1812. Under his command the Wasp had a highly successful and exciting cruise in 1814, but before the year was out the ship and all on board at the time had disappeared. Long-time maritime enthusiast Stephen Duffy has provided a very readable and comprehensive account of that 1814 cruise in Captain Blakeley and the Wasp. The book, however, is more than a biography of the man and the ship. Duffy also describes the American Navy and the warships of the era as he focuses in intimate detail on the Wasp and her officers and crew.
SPIES AND CODES
Edmond Pope was an American businessman seeking to team Russian high-tech institutes and laboratories with American firms after the Cold War ended. He was arrested and tried as a U.S. spy for allegedly trying to steal secrets of the Shkval rocket-torpedo. With collaborator Tom Shachtman, Pope has written Torpedoed, an account of his arrest, eight-month incarceration, and show trial.
Along the way Pope tells of Russia's shift back to a closed society and the strengthening of the secret police under President Vladimir Putin, the travesty of Russian justice, and how fellow Americans helped--and some hindered--his effort to regain freedom. This is exciting reading. But throughout one cannot help but be aware that Pope spent 25 years as a naval intelligence officer; his last billet, at the Office of Naval Research, was evaluating Russian technology. Indeed, he claims to have had access to 126 "compartmented" programs. Still, he made numerous trips to Russia to discuss technology exchanges after his retirement from active service.
Thus, one can see the Russian concern about his dealing on the fringes of highly classified projects. Undoubtedly he was marked early on as a target by the FSB (formerly the KGB), and it was probably only a matter of time until the iron gates of the Lefortovo prison would slam shut on him.
While well-written, his book suffers from certain technical errors; for example, a rocket-propelled torpedo is not expelled from a tube "as though it were an artillery shell," and there is no U.S. Naval Intelligence Service.
Investigative reporter James Bamford exposed the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) in his 1982 best-selling Puzzle Palace. His just-published sequel, Body of Secrets, tells more about NSA and its clandestine activities. From his updated discussion of U.S. Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) activities immediately after World War II through his explication of NSA computation capabilities, this book represents first-class analysis.
But his chapter on the Israeli assault on the U.S. electronic spyship Liberty (AGTR 5) is filled with factual errors: the ship's name was not painted in black letters; the Israeli aircraft did not carry 1,000-pound bombs or rockets (they were equipped with cannon, Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, and napalm); and four 19-inch torpedoes could not have sunk a U.S. supercarrier. The napalm--one canister may have hit the ship--did not turn the Liberty into a "crematorium." The U.S. Navy's court of inquiry stated that no napalm wounds were treated. The list continues.
Most important, there may now be inconvertible proof of the events of 8 June 1967. As Bamford relates, a U.S. Navy EC-121 aircraft was in the area, monitoring Israeli radio transmissions. A Hebrew linguist from NSA, Marvin Nowicki, was on board. Bamford quotes Nowicki as saying that he "is confident that the Israeli attack was a deliberate attack." Nowicki subsequently stated in The Wall Street Journal, however, that he told Bamford exactly the opposite, and sent Bamford an e-mail on 3 March 2000 setting out the facts. His position, Nowicki declared, was that "the attack ... was a gross error." The now-available transcript of the EC-121 intercepts bears out Nowicki's statement.
Yet another book on World War II code-breaking? Yes, and Michael Smith's The Emperor's Codes includes new information about allied code-breaking, and is well-written to boot. Smith, a former cryptanalyst and now a newspaper writer, provides a fast-moving account of British efforts against Japanese military communications.
The book is particularly relevant in explaining how British code-breakers did penetrate the Japanese Navy's operational code on the eve of Pearl Harbor. "Brilliant though ... [this achievement] undoubtedly was ... [it] did not mean that the British could now read Japanese messages." Smith's book counters claims of many that the British code-breakers knew details of the Japanese plan to attack Pearl Harbor, and that the information may have been passed on to President Roosevelt before 7 December 1941.
In Fortitude: The D-Day Deception Campaign, Roger Hesketh provides the best account yet published of the greatest deception operation of World War II: the D-Day deception campaign. Hesketh was there and wrote the official secret report of Operation Fortitude. Augmenting his now-declassified report with German documents and other material, Hesketh has written an important new chapter in the history of World War II.
A key player in Fortitude was a double-agent named Garbo--so named because he was a great actor--who convinced his German handlers that he controlled 14 agents and numerous contacts in the Allied war establishment. His best performance came on D-Day. As Allied troops were on their way to Normandy, Garbo sent a message warning that the invasion was imminent but he assured the Germans that the landings in Normandy were a feint and that the real invasion was intended to seize Calais. The Germans were fooled and Hitler withheld several divisions that could have turned the Normandy landings into an Allied disaster.
ET CETERA
China's armed forces continue to play in U.S. military planning despite the current U.S. dedication to the "war against terrorism." A valuable and balanced description of the Chinese Navy as it enters the 21st century is Bernard D. Cole's The Great Wall at Sea. A retired Navy captain now serving on the faculty of the National War College, Cole discusses the politics, strategy, leadership, and personnel of the Chinese Navy--its capabilities and shortcomings.
Unlike many contemporary accounts that herald the delivery of new Soviet weapons as the genesis of a Chinese Navy capable of challenging the U.S. fleet, Cole astutely observes that the weapon deliveries "constitute only incremental improvements to a large but very limited Navy."
While China has had a significant maritime history for some 1,400 years, little has been written about that history prior to the Communist takeover in 1949. Richard N.J. Wright's The Chinese Steam Navy is a significant contribution to naval history, describing the Chinese Navy during its steam period--1862 to 1945--as the country sought to challenge European and Japanese influence. While many ships of that era were built in Europe, some were constructed in Chinese yards. Wright addresses policies, campaigns, and ships in this well-written and heavily illustrated book.
During World War II in the Pacific the Japanese captured almost 300,000 Allied military personnel. Perhaps 50,000, and possibly more, were transported by "hellships" to China, Korea, and Japan. On board those ships they encountered horrible privations, and periodically were attacked by U.S. submarines, which took a significant toll. More than 40 percent died in transit, according to Gregory Michno, author of Death on the Hellships, a worthy addition to the literature about the Japanese treatment of Allied POWs. Michno's previous book, Pampanito: Killer Angel (2000), was about one of the submarines that extracted a toll of those hapless prisoners. His new book is highly readable.
Many of the Japanese officers and civilian leaders responsible for the treatment of Allied POWs were tried after the war. Less known and more controversial than the trial of surviving Nazi officials in Nuremberg were the postwar trials in Japan, mostly in Tokyo. Those trials attracted less press coverage and were far more controversial than their German counterparts. In Judgment at Tokyo, Tim Maga, professor at Bradley University and a former congressional staffer who wrote and taught for several years in Japan, attempts to take the reader through the maze of those trials and the moral and cultural issues involved.
His book is a good one, but too brief to adequately address the complex subject. Many questions remain unanswered and several issues are not adequately illuminated in this volume.
What if Japan had won? Rising Sun Victorious, edited by Peter G. Tsouras, is a mostly successful initiative in "alternative history," with essays addressing both real and fictional campaigns--e.g., "The Second Russo-Japanese War," by Tsouras, a senior U.S. Army analyst and a historian. While some of the scenarios, such as John Burtt's essay on Guadalcanal, are believable, others are much less so--Forrest Lindsey's essay "Nagumo's Luck," for example, which discusses the battle of Midway and carrier- as well as land-based air strikes against Pearl Harbor and carrier raids on California and the Panama Canal. For fans of this genre, Rising Sun Victorious is must reading.
Thomas B. Allen, one of the leading writers on the subject of sharks, has produced another treatment of the denizens of the deep in Shark Attacks. Hard information and anecdotes about shark attacks through the ages make this a useful and well as interesting book. Included are accounts of the U.S. Navy's attempts to develop shark repellant.
Allen also addresses the cause of shark attacks and how to possibly avoid them. Of particular note, some shark species seem able to discern colors: "Researchers noticed a particular preference for a certain shade: the standard yellow of life jackets, which has become known among shark researchers as 'yum-yum yellow.'"
This year's award for the "neatest" book is Recipes From a Coal-Fired Stove by Walter W. Jaffee. "Adjusted" for gas and electric cooking, this book contains delightful recipes of foods served aboard ship--sailing ships, Mississippi River steamboats, passenger liners, and tramp steamers. Some recipes are exotic, some simple ... and almost all sounded delicious to this reviewer!
FICTION
Punk's War, by Cdr. Ward Carroll, is engrossing fiction. The venue is the Persian Gulf a decade after the Gulf War. The heroes are the pilots and radar intercept officers (RIOs) of an F-14 Tomcat squadron. Carroll, who teaches English and ethics at the Naval Academy, has done a masterful job of telling "how it is" on Southern Watch over Iraq, what life is like in an F-14 squadron (he was an F-14 RIO for 15 years), and living in "the boat" during peacetime. He writes about real heroes who do nothing more than their jobs, and anti-heroes who are too wrapped up with themselves to let others do their jobs. Indeed, some of his characters put their own subordinates at risk to avoid inconveniences or challenges to their decisions. But do such back-stabbing and self-centered officers really command air wings and squadrons in today's Navy?
His action scenes--an F-14 section making antiradar strikes over Iraq--are fast-moving and exciting. But in places the writing is perhaps too understated, as are the men and women of whom he writes as they handle problems in a calculated, professional manner. A pilot who has just bounced off the flight deck attempting a night landing radios "Punk," the call sign of the book's central character:
"Punk, where are you."
"I'm hanging out by the marshal stack, trying to pretend like I'm headed for the CAP station."
"I've a question for you: Have you ever had a wheel come off when you touched down?"
"No. Why?"
"Because I just did. Do you think you could sneak over the ship and look me over?"
For anyone interested in F-14s, carrier operations in the Gulf, or just a good read, this book is highly recommended. But reviews should carry a "warning label": Most, if not all, of the back-stabbing, lying, and plotting officers aboard Punk's ship are pure fiction.
As a junior officer, William P. Mack saw combat in destroyers in the early days of World War II. After his retirement as a vice admiral, Mack began writing novels about destroyers and destroyer sailors, all of them great reads. His latest--A Murder at Sea--is different: An ensign finds another officer stabbed and dying in a locked compartment as their destroyer is crossing the Atlantic. Then the ensign himself is brutally attacked. He turns detective and, in this fast-moving tale, discovers both the reason for the murder and the culprits--well, some of them.
David Poyer's Fire on the Waters is an interesting and well-written Civil War novel. Elisha Eaker, son of a wealthy New York family, volunteers to serve in the U.S. sloop Owanee on the eve of the Civil War. Poyer, who has 20 previous novels to his credit, has produced a well-crafted tale of life in the Navy of the 1860s, the impact of the war on the officer corps, and the unnecessary destruction of the Gosport (Norfolk) navy yard. A sequel is anxiously awaited.
REPRINTS
Exciting news! Rosario (Zip) Rausa's Skyraider: The Douglas A-1 "Flying Dump Truck" is back in print. "Zip"--a former A-1 Spad driver--captures the soul and essence, and service record, of this remarkable naval aircraft. Originally published in 1982, this hardback volume includes an excellent photo selection and is a must for Navy and aviation buffs.
Shield and Sword: The United States Navy and the Persian Gulf War, published in 1999 as a softcover book, is now available hardbound. Written by Navy Department historians Edward J. Marolda and Robert J. Schneller Jr., this is an outstanding work.
The USS Lang (DD 399) was one of hundreds of destroyers and destroyer escorts that saw intensive combat in World War II, but whose individual stories are rarely told. Rex A. Knight has focused on the brief career of this "single-stack, broken-deck" destroyer commissioned in 1939. She was in action in the Atlantic, twice escorted the carrier Wasp (CV 7) into the Mediterranean to fly off Spitfire fighters for Malta, and in the Pacific--from Guadalcanal to Okinawa.
Knight's Riding on Luck is a well-told story (with too many misspellings) of a ship that was in the thick of the war--the Lang earned 11 battle stars--but suffered no damage, and none of her crew was killed or wounded in combat. A good tale of a ship at war. (This is a softcover edition of the book originally published in 1998.)
Action in the North Atlantic by Guy Gilpatric was both a book and a movie. The latter, released in 1943, starred Humphrey Bogart and Raymond Massey. This story of merchant mariners in World War II is fast-moving and interesting.
Premier American navalist Alfred Thayer Mahan's classic biography The Life of Nelson, originally published in 1899, is again in print. The new edition includes a brief introduction by Joseph Callo, a contemporary Nelson aficionado.
The Vital Details: Brackets are used in the following list to indicate the issues of Sea Power that included reviews, or brief mentions, of the books listed. Members of the U.S. Naval Institute receive a discount on publications of the USNI Press.
Thomas B. Allen, Shark Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance (New York, N.Y.: Lyons Press, 2001), 302 pages. $24.95. [August 2001]
Stephen E. Ambrose, The Good Fight: How World War II Was Won (New York, N.Y.: Atheneum Books, 2001), 96 pages. 19.95.
James Bamford, Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency (New York, N.Y.: Random House, 2001), 721 pages. $29.95. [August 2001]
Merrill L. Bartlett and Jack Sweetman, The U.S. Marine Corps: An Illustrated History (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2001), 326 pages. $45.00. [November 2001]
Ronald J. Brown, A Few Good Men: The Fighting Fifth Marines, A History of the USMC's Most Decorated Regiment (Novato, Calif.: Presidio Press, 2001), 430 pages. $29.95.
John A. Butler, Atlantic Kingdom: America's Contest with Cunard in the Age of Sail and Steam (Herndon, Va.: Brassey's, 2001), 300 pages. $26.95.
Joseph F. Callo, Nelson Speaks: Admiral Lord Nelson in His Own Words (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2001), 249 pages. $29.95.
R. Thomas Campbell and Alan B. Flanders, Confederate Phoenix: The CSS Virginia (Shippensburg, Pa: White Mane Publishing, 2001), 284 pages. $34.95.
Ward Carroll, Punk's War (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2001), 224 pages. $24.95.
Patrick F. Caruso, Nightmare on Iwo (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2001), 176 pages. $23.95.
Wesley K. Clark, Waging Modern War (New York, N.Y.: PublicAffairs, 2001), 479 pages. $30.00.
Bernard D. Cole, The Great Wall at Sea: China's Navy Enters the Twenty-First Century (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press), 298 pages. $34.95.
Robert Cowley, No End Save Victory: Perspectives on World War II (New York, N.Y.: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2001), 701 pages. $32.50.
John Piña Craven, The Silent War: The Cold War Battle Beneath the Sea (New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, 2001), 304 pages. $26.00.
James R. Dickenson, We Few: The Marine Corps 400 in the War Against Japan (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press), 248 pages. $32.95.
Stephen W.H. Duffy, Captain Blakeley and the Wasp: The Cruise of 1814 (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2001), 362 pages. $34.95. [September 2001]
Francis Duncan, Rickover: The Struggle for Excellence (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2001), 382 pages. $37.50.
Michael Gannon, Pearl Harbor Betrayed: The True Story of a Man and a Nation Under Attack (New York, N.Y.: Henry Holt, 2001), 339 pages. $27.50.
Guy Gilpatric, Action in the North Atlantic (Palo Alto, Calif.: Glencannon Press, 2000), 222 pages. $29.95.
M. Hill Goodspeed and Rick Burgess (Editors), U.S. Naval Aviation (Pensacola, Fla.: Naval Aviation Museum Foundation, 2001), 352 pages. $75.00. [December 2001]
Michael H. Gorn, Expanding the Envelope: Flight Research at NACA and NASA (Lexington, Ky.: University Press of Kentucky, 2001), 484 pages. $35.00.
Kurt Hackemer, The U.S. Navy and the Origins of the Military-Industrial Complex, 1847-1883 (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2001), 191 pages. $45.00.
Roger Hesketh, Fortitude: The D-Day Deception Campaign (Woodstock, N.Y.: Overlook Press, 2000), 513 pages. $40.00.
Jon T. Hoffman, Chesty: The Story of Lieutenant General Lewis B. Puller, USMC (New York, N.Y.: Random House, 2001), 656 pages. $35.00. [November 2001]
Jon T. Hoffman, Once a Legend: "Red Mike" Edson of the Marine Raiders (Novato, Calif.: Presidio Press, 2000), 450 pages. $22.95.
Richard Hough, Naval Battles of the Twentieth Century (New York, N.Y.: Overlook Press, 2001), 304 pages. $29.95.
Robert Jackson, Kriegsmarine: The Illustrated History of the German Navy in WWII (St. Paul, Minn.: MBI Publishing, 2001), 176 pages. $24.95.
Walter W. Jaffee, Recipes From a Coal-Fired Stove (Palo Alto, Calif.: Glencannon Books, 2001), 236 pages. $29.95.
Ian Johnston and Rob McAuley, The Battleships (St. Paul, Minn.: MBI Publishing, 2000), 192 pages. $29.95.
Rex A. Knight, Riding on Luck: The Saga of the USS Lang (DD 399) (Central Point, Ore.: Hellgate Press, 2001), 244 pages. $18.95 (softcover).
Dan Kurzman, Fatal Voyage: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis (New York, N.Y.: Random House/Broadway Books, 2001), 415 pages. $14.95 (softcover).
Clifton La Bree, The Gentle Warrior: General Oliver Prince Smith, USMC (Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 2001), 286 pages. $32.00.
Nicholas Lambert (Editor), The Submarine Service, 1900-1918 (Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate, 2001), 441 pages. $129.95.
Raymond F. Lech, The Tragic Fate of the USS Indianapolis: The Navy's Worst Disaster at Sea (New York, N.Y.: Cooper Square Press, 2001), 309 pages. $18.95 (softcover).
John Lehman, On Seas of Glory: Heroic Men, Great Ships, and Epic Battles of the American Navy (New York, N.Y.: Free Press, 2001), 446 pages. $35.00. [Oct. 2001]
Bruce Linder, San Diego's Navy (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2001), 256 pages. $45.00.
Richard Linnett and Roberto Loiderman, The Eagle Mutiny (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2001), 305 pages. $32.95.
William P. Mack, A Murder at Sea (Charleston, S.C.: Nautical & Aviation Publishing, 2001), $21.95
Ross MacTaggart, The Golden Century: Classic Motor Yachts, 1830-1930 (New York, N.Y.: W.W. Norton, 2001), 296 pages. $40.00.
Tim Maga, Judgment at Tokyo: The Japanese War Crimes Trials (Lexington, Ky.: University Press of Kentucky, 2001), 195 pages. $25.00.
Alfred Thayer Mahan, The Life of Nelson: The Embodiment of the Sea Power of Great Britain (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2001), 787 pages. $45.00.
Jak P. Mallman Showell, U-boats At War: Landings on Hostile Shores (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2000), 160 pages. $36.95.
Edward J. Marolda and Robert J. Schneller Jr., Shield and Sword: The United States Navy and the Persian Gulf War (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2001), 538 pages. $36.95.
Hamilton McWhorter III, The First Hellcat Ace (Pacifica, Calif.: Pacifica Military History, 2000), 227 pages. $29.95.
Dwight R. Messimer, Find and Destroy: Antisubmarine Warfare in World War I (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2001), 323 pages. $37.50.
Gregory F. Michno, Death on the Hellships: Prisoners at Sea in the Pacific War (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2001), 378 pages. $32.95.
Vice Adm. Jerry Miller, USN (Ret.), Nuclear Weapons and Aircraft Carriers: How the Bomb Saved Naval Aviation (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2001), 296 pages. $32.95. [June 2001]
Richard F. Newcomb, Abandon Ship: The Saga of the USS Indianapolis, the Navy's Greatest Sea Disaster (New York, N.Y.: HarperCollins, 2001), 326 pages. $25.00.
Bill Owens, Lifting the Fog of War (New York, N.Y.: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2000), 280 pages. $25.00.
Norman Polmar, Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet, 17th Edition (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2001), 657 pages. $85.00. [July 2001]
Norman Polmar, Spyplane: The U-2 History Declassified (St. Paul, Minn.: MBI Publishing, 2001), 288 pages. $21.95. [August 2001]
Edmond S. Pope and Tom Shachtman, Torpedoed (Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown, 2001), 263 pages. $25.95.
David Poyer, Fire on the Waters: A Novel of the Civil War at Sea (New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, 2001), 443 pages. $25.00.
Antony Preston, The Royal Navy Submarine Service: A Centennial History (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2001), 192 pages. $39.95.
Alfred Price, The History of US Electronic Warfare: Rolling Thunder Through Allied Force, 1964-2000, (Arlington, Va.: Association of Old Crows, 2000), 609 pages. $49.00.
Rosario Rausa, Skyraider: The Douglas A-1 "Flying Dump Truck" (Charleston, S.C.: Nautical & Aviation Publishing, 2001), 239 pages. $28.95.
Gerald Reminick, Nightmare in Bari: The World War II Liberty Ship Poison Gas Disaster and Coverup (Palo Alto, Calif.: Glencannon Press, 2001), 278 pages. $21.95 (softcover).
Jim Ring, We Come Unseen: The Untold Story of Britain's Cold War Submariners (London: John Murray, 2001), 287 pages. £20 (approx. $30.00).
John H. Schroeder, Matthew Calbraith Perry: Antebellum Sailor and Diplomat (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2001), 346 pages. $36.95.
George W. Smith, Carlson's Raid: The Daring Marine Assault on Makin (Novato, Calif.: Presidio Press, 2001), 262 pages. $29.95.
Michael Smith, The Emperor's Codes: The Breaking of Japan's Secret Ciphers (New York, N.Y.: Arcade Publishing, 2000), 323 pages.
Ronald H. Spector, At War At Sea: Sailors and Naval Combat in the Twentieth Century (New York, N.Y.: Viking Press, 2001), 463 pages. $29.95. [August 2001]
Mike Spick, Luftwaffe Bomber Aces (Mechanicsburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, 2001), 239 pages. $34.95.
Doug Stanton, In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of its Survivors (New York, N.Y.: Henry Holt, 2001), 333 pages. $25.00.
James P. Stevenson, The $5 Billion Misunderstanding: The Collapse of the Navy's A-12 Stealth Bomber Program (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2001), 512 pages. $45.00
Osamu Tagaya, Mitsubishi Type 1 Rikko 'Betty' Units of World War 2 (St. Paul, Minn.: MBI Publishing, 2001), 112 pages. $18.95 (softcover).
Barrett Tillman and Robert L. Lawson, U.S. Navy Dive and Torpedo Bombers of WWII (St. Paul, Minn.: MBI Publishing, 2001), 128 pages. $24.95 (softcover).
Peter G. Tsouras (editor), Rising Sun Victorious (London: Greenhill Books, 2001), 260 pages. $34.95.
Douglas C. Waller, Big Red: Three Months on Board a Trident Nuclear Submarine (New York, N.Y.: HarperCollins, 2001), 350 pages. $27.50. [Apr. 2001]
Gary E. Weir, An Ocean in Common: American Naval Officers, Scientists, and the Ocean Environment (College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press, 2001), 422 pages. $44.95.
Joseph Wheatley and Stephen Howarth, Historic Sail: The Glory of the Sailing Ship from the 13th to the 19th Century (Mechanicsburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, 2000), 206 pages. $85.00.
Kathleen Broome Williams, Improbable Warriors: Women Scientists and the U.S. Navy in World War II (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2001), 292 pages. $34.95.
Michael Wilson, A Submariners' War: The Indian Ocean 1939-45 (London: Tempus, 2000), 192 pages. $32.99.
Richard N.J. Wright, The Chinese Steam Navy, 1862-1945 (London: Chatham Publishing, 2000), 208 pages. $48.95 (from Naval Institute Press).
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