Military History

http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=1934980226&MarketPlace=US&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&tag=navalhistofou-20&ServiceVersion=20070822http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=navalhistofou-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1934980226 By Del Staecker, Cable Publishing, Brule, WI, (2009). Reviewed by Charles H. Bogart The author is the son of Irvin H. Staecker who served on board the Lady Gangster from 1941 to 1945. The Lady Gangster was the crew’s name for USS Fuller (APA 6). The ship’s nickname developed from the fact that many of the ship’s first crew were naval reservists from Chicago, Illinois. Fuller started life in 1919 as …

http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=1934980226&MarketPlace=US&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&tag=navalhistofou-20&ServiceVersion=20070822http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=navalhistofou-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1934980226 By Del Staecker, Cable Publishing, Brule, WI, (2009). Reviewed by Charles H. Bogart The author is the son of Irvin H. Staecker who served on board the Lady Gangster from 1941 to 1945. The Lady Gangster was the crew’s name for USS Fuller (APA 6). The ship’s nickname developed from the fact that many of the ship’s first crew were naval reservists from Chicago, Illinois. Fuller started life in 1919 as …

http://www.navyhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Hendrix-Roosevelt-195x300.jpgBy Henry J. Hendrix, Naval Institute Press (Annapolis, MD), 2009. Reviewed by Thomas P. Ostrom Captain Henry J. Hendrix, USN brings an impressive background of naval professionalism and scholarly credentials to the task of writing this history of President Theodore Roosevelt (TR) and the 14-month global cruise of the Great White Fleet of U.S. battleships named after U.S. states, and assorted auxiliary vessels in 1907-1909. The author, a 20-year veteran at the time of his book’s publication, performed six overseas deployments, studied at the Naval Postgraduate School, and earned a Ph.D. f…

Reviewed by Rory McAlevy How do you explore the last 150 years of British seafaring history in just one book? One shipwreck at a time, according to the author of Breaking Seas, Broken Ships: People, Shipwrecks & Britain, 1854-2007. Ian Friel followed Britain and the Ocean Road, a deft and historically sound coverage of the history of British maritime history from the Middle Ages to the Victorian period, with this work which carries the narrative into recent years. With Breaking Seas, Broken Ships, Friel covers a range of stories from Britain’s height of imperial power to the very different world of the early twenty-first century, and throughout each story he maint…

Reviewed by Master Chief David Mattingly, US Navy (Retired) Rear Admiral Dave Oliver spent a career as a submarine officer, a leader within the Navy and Department of Defense, and as an executive in several Fortune 500 companies. He has been a writer about leadership most notably Lead On! A Practical Guide to Leadership published in 1992. In Lead On he introduced the reader to the concept where he compares his Bronze Rules to the metal bronze, which is strong, highly resistant to corrosion, and can withstand challenges. In Lead On and Bronze Rules, Admiral Oliver uses sea stories to present leadership concepts that are applicable to small units as well as large milita…

By Gerry Doyle and Blake Herzinger, Helion and Company (2022). Reviewed by Joseph F. Greco Much attention has been paid to the Chinese ASBM (Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile) program, a strategy that targets the U.S. Navy’s command over the East and South China Seas. As a consequence, the program brings into question the effectiveness of supercarriers that now face hundreds of missiles pointed at the American fleet. In their book Carrier Killer: China’s Anti-Ship Ballistic Missiles and Theater of Operations in the Early 21st Century, journalists Gerry Doyle and Blake Herzinger, bring to life the current Chinese program giving even the casual reader a thorough and gr…

Reviewed by Rear Admiral Sonny Masso USN (RET) and Mr. Apollo Cobbins As the Executive Director of the Naval Historical Foundation, I receive scores of wonderful books on a fairly frequent basis to send out to our team of volunteers to read and write book reviews for publication in our Thursday Tidings Naval Historical Foundation weekly post. I generally filter through these books to personally select something with a topic I am highly interested in to read and review. When I came upon Cats in the Navy by Scot Christenson, I knew this was not just the book for me to read, but also to share with my seven-year-old grandson, Apollo Cobbins. Apollo is entering the thir…

Saturday, November 05 2022 6:00 PM – 9:30 PM [EST] Washington Navy Yard, DC, 736 Sicard St SE, Washington, DC, 20374, United States Register The post Celebrating the Centennial of Naval Carrier Aviation Five-Star Mess Night first appeared on Naval Historical Foundation. View the full article

In June, 2005 the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Vern Clark, released an administrative message to the fleet. “Effective immediately, we will refer to all of our sailors, active and reserve, as United States Navy sailors. This shared title will strengthen the bond between our active and Reserve components, and enhance the culture of integration needed to most effectively deliver decisive power from the sea.” View our full Second Saturday Webinar HERE. The post Blog first appeared on Naval Historical Foundation. View the full article

Reviewed by Capt. Richard Dick, USN (Ret.) Dr. Richard Hingley’s new book provides a fresh assessment of the Roman conquest of Britain from Julius Caesar’s first raid in 55 B.C. through the building of Hadrian’s Wall (roughly along the current border between England and Scotland) to about 130 A.D. Hingley also adds a higher-level overview of Rome’s short-lived efforts under Emperors Antoninus Pius and Septimius Severus to push the border of Roman Britain to the edge of the Scottish Highlands and to establish a network of client chieftains even further north. The book assesses the factors that led to the initial attack and subsequent invasion, as well as Rome’s s…

Reviewed by Capt. Richard Dick, USN (Ret.) Crash Boat is a remarkable memoir in several ways. The story of an Army Air Forces (AAF) 63-foot crash boat, P-399 Sea Horse (an unofficial nickname), in the Pacific during the latter half of World War II, it was written in a cooperative effort between the skipper, Earl McCandlish, and the son of his chief mate, MSGT George L. Jepson. The authors’ crisp style, eye for color and detail, and sense of common humanity make the book a pleasure to read and highlight an aspect of the war—inshore air-sea rescue in the Pacific—about which little has been published. McCandlish narrates the book from his initial assignment to cras…

Reviewed by Joseph Moretz, PhD The story of the American War of Independence has oft been told but rather less has been said of the maritime portion of that story and less still has been told from the perspective of the Royal Navy. It is to this end that Quintin Barry, a retired solicitor and employment judge, offers Crisis at the Chesapeake: The Royal Navy and the Struggle for America 1775-1783 as a rejoinder. In a well-reasoned and highly readable monograph, Barry surveys that war’s broader naval context and the competing challenges faced by Admiralty and flag officers alike as they sought to restore imperial control on the rebellious American colonies. Hindsigh…

Reviewed by Charles C. Kolb, Ph.D. Developing the Naval Mind is an important, thoughtful volume written by two Naval Academy history professors is designed for officers of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps but also serves Sailors and Marines of all ranks as a compendium on developing professionalism and skills needed to rise through the ranks. Likewise, it can also serve the officers and enlisted men of our other sea services, Coast Guard and Merchant Marine, but also is valuable to officers and enlisted men of the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force, as well as the U.S. Space Force. Moreover, it can serve as a significant source for the members of other nations’ land, sea…

By Sean Walsh Last week I was able to watch the new movie Devotion along with three other NHF members. The movie centers around the real-life friendship between Ens. Jesse L. Brown, the first African American naval aviator* and Lt. (JG) Thomas Hudner and is based on the book of the same name by Adam Makos, previously reviewed here. I suspect many of you have seen trailers for Devotion on television and are familiar with the basic story. Prior to seeing the film I also re-read portions of Such Men As These by David Sears, about naval carrier aviation during the Korean War and watched the classic film The Bridges at Toko-ri to get additional background. The movie st…

By Sean Walsh Last week I was able to watch the new movie Devotion along with three other NHF members. The movie centers around the real-life friendship between Ens. Jesse L. Brown, the first African American naval aviator* and Lt. (JG) Thomas Hudner and is based on the book of the same name by Adam Makos, previously reviewed here. I suspect many of you have seen trailers for Devotion on television and are familiar with the basic story. Prior to seeing the film I also re-read portions of Such Men As These by David Sears, about naval carrier aviation during the Korean War and watched the classic film The Bridges at Toko-ri to get additional background. The movie st…

Reviewed by Charles H. Bogart This book is a must read for anyone interested in U.S. Naval aviation in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Lt. Commander Harry “Dirty Eddie” March Jr. joined the Navy in December 1940 and pinned on his naval wings in August 1941. He would serve in the Pacific Theater during the course of World War II and be promoted from Ensign to Lt. Commander. Along the way he gained the distinction of being designated an Ace, having downed five Japanese aircraft. Contrary to regulations, Lt. Cdr. March, throughout the war, maintained a journal in which he wrote about what was happening in his life and his thoughts on the war as a whole. The…

“The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Mess Attendant First Class Doris Miller (NSN:3561235) United States Navy, for exceptional courage, presence of mind, and devotion to duty and disregard for his personal safety while serving on board the Battleship USS WEST VIRGINIA (BB-48), during the Japanese attack on the United States Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, on 7 December 1941. While at the side of his Captain on the bridge of the battleship USS West Virginia, Mess Attendant First Class Doris Miller, despite enemy strafing and bombing and in the face of a serious fire, assisted in moving his Captain…

Reviewed by Ed Calouro Battleship buffs and authorities on capital ships are familiar with the dictum that once HMS Dreadnought was commissioned in 1906, all existing battleships thereby became obsolete. Indeed, all-big-gun battleships from 1906 forward were considered dreadnoughts or, subsequently, super-dreadnoughts. Capital ships built before 1906 with a mixed or intermediate main armament, were thereafter termed pre-dreadnoughts. Chris McNab, author of Dreadnoughts and Super-Dreadnoughts, takes a more nuanced approach in his book about these epoch-setting ships. A July 18, 1910 article in The Times concluded the construction of HMS Dreadnought resulted in more o…

Reviewed by Jeff Schultz John J. Domagalski’s Escape from Java: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the USS Marblehead delves into the gut-wrenching experiences of an aging light cruiser caught up in the early Pacific War as part of the US Asiatic Fleet. Almost lost to enemy air attack and badly damaged during the Battle of the Flores Sea, the Marblehead’s crew fought desperately to keep their ship afloat which ultimately saved the day. Domagalski is a historian with multiple books and articles to his credit, often focusing on the Pacific War. The book consists of thirty-three chapters broken into several larger sections such as “War Clouds”, “Pacific in Flam…

Reviewed by ISCM (AW) David Mattingly, USN Ret. A mix of airframes; fighters, light attack planes, and helicopters all made up the carrier air wings on Yankee Station during the Vietnam War. Most notably, the RF-8 Crusader piloted by Navy and Marine Corps aviators flew over enemy territory as the “eyes of the fleet.” Kenneth Jack, a Navy photographers mate assigned to Navy Light Photographic Squadron 62 (VFP-62), has gathered the story of the RF-8, its pilots, and maintainers from unofficial and official sources including reels of archived reconnaissance film shot over North Vietnam by RF-8 photo pilots. The RF-8 Crusader was developed from the F-8 Crusader whic…