Military History

Reviewed by LCDR Brian Hayes, USNR (Ret.) The Indestructible Man tells the story of Dixie Kiefer, a naval officer and aviator who served in several of the legendary battles of World War II’s Pacific Theater. Kiefer has been the subject of profiles by the Naval History and Heritage Command and other Internet and print publications, but Don Keith and David Rocco have written the first book-length account of his life. Although not a scholarly biography, it is a fast and enjoyable read. Born in Idaho, Kiefer joined the U.S. Naval Academy’s class of 1919. The class graduated early because of World War I, and Kiefer spent the first year of his naval career patrolling …

Reviewed by Charles C. Kolb, Ph.D. 80 years after the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor, new books are being published on topics leading up to that event, the attack itself, and its aftermath. A volume titled Avenging Pearl Harbor: The Saga of America’s Battleships in the Pacific War has been written by U.S. Navy veteran and professional firefighter Keith Warren Lloyd. Lloyd studied history and political science at Arizona State University and has previously authored several other books centered on World War II, among them Great Desert Escape: How the Flight of 25 German Prisoners of War Sparked One of the Largest Manhunts in American History (Lyons Press, 2019) documen…

Reviewed by Ingo Heidbrink David Bosco’s new book The Poseidon Project provides not only a historical account of the development of the international Law of the Sea from Early Modern times to the present day, but also an easily accessible guide to key legal concepts in this complex area of international law. Comprising eight chapters and a conclusion, the book follows a chronological approach. The first two chapters cover modern history before the outbreak of World War I. The third chapter deals with both World Wars and the interwar period while the fourth chapter deals with the period from 1945 to1970. Chapters five through seven focuses on the period of UNCLOS I…

Reviewed by CAPT Richard Dick, USN (Ret.) U.S. Aircraft Carriers 1939-45 is an excellent 2021 addition to the Casemate Illustrated Specials series. This slim volume offers a surprisingly comprehensive overview of American carriers that served in World War II as well as those that belonged to wartime classes but were completed only in the aftermath of the war. Author Ingo Bauernfeind also reviews aircraft developments starting in World War I and then goes deeper in describing the development of fleet carriers and naval aircraft from USS Langley (CV-1), through the conversions of USS Lexington (CV-2) and USS Saratoga (CV-3), to interwar carrier designs. He contrasts wor…

Reviewed by LCDR Joseph L. Ilk, SC, USNR (Ret.) “On May 12, 1975 – only two weeks after the fall of Saigon and the collapse of South Vietnam – Cambodian Khmer Rouge forces boarded and seized the U.S. merchant vessel SS Mayaguez in international waters and took its crew hostage.” Thus begins Dr. Christopher J. Lamb’s analysis of the Mayaguez crisis. Lamb devoted five years of his life to understanding the Mayaguez crisis while earning his master’s and doctorate in the 1980’s. However, in the past few years new sources of information have become available, including interviews with primary participants as well as previously classified material. These enabled Lamb to…

Reviewed by LTC Stephen A. Tribble, Ph.D., USA Common perceptions of the Vietnam War include visions of guerrilla warfare, airmobile infantry, strategic bombing, tactical air support, and unprepared American draftee replacements heading off to a foreign land to fight an enduring war against an unrelenting enemy. In Into the Iron Triangle: Operation Attleboro and the Battle of North Saigon, 1966 (Asia @ War Series No. 19), author Dr. Arrigo Velicogna seeks to dispel the myth that the Vietnam War was a series of infrequent and minor counterinsurgency battles fought by poorly trained and equipped United States (U.S.) conscripts on the ground supported by overwhelming ind…

Reviewed By Dr. Diana Ahmad Stationed at Ft. McKinley Hospital Clinic in the Philippines on the day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Henry “Hank” T. Chamberlain became a prisoner of war (POW) of the Japanese by April 1942. Trained as an Army Medic and surgical technician prior to the start of the war, Chamberlain used all his skills during the next three-and-a-half years to help his fellow POWs survive as best as they could. Chamberlain witnessed the worst of human nature during his years in the Philippines and later while he worked in the mines in Sendai, Japan. Although rarely exhibited, he even noticed a few, small kindnesses by the Japanese to the POWs, as well…

to our NHF board member, then-Secretary of the Navy, John F. Lehman. View the full webinar top-gun-annual-leighton-lecture/”>HERE. The post Blog first appeared on Naval Historical Foundation. View the full article

Top Gun student, then-Lieutenant Slapshot Carter on working with Tom Cruise on the first Top Gun movie, along with the Navy pilots, air crew, and public affairs advisors who also supported the movie., with special thanks to our NHF board member, then-Secretary of the Navy, John F. Lehman. View the full webinar HERE. The post Blog first appeared on Naval Historical Foundation. View the full article

On December 7, 1999, the Naval Historical Foundation hosted a colloquium at the U.S. Navy Memorial to discuss the question of accountability for the tragic losses suffered 58 years prior. Join us as we revisit this issue ahead of the 80th anniversary of the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. This webinar features an introduction from former Naval Flight Officer Ward Carroll, after which former General Counsel of the Navy Steven S. Honigman will provide an overview of the numerous investigations and subsequent efforts to exonerate the Pacific Fleet commander at the time—Admiral Husband E. Kimmel. Former colloquium presenters David Alan Rosenberg, and Randy Papadopou…

By LCDR Sean Walsh, USN (Ret.) Following up on last week’s commemoration of the 246th anniversary of the Chaplain Corps, the NHF would like to acknowledge the service of Navy chaplains during the attack at Pearl Harbor. At the time of Pearl Harbor, the Chaplain Corps had only 192 chaplains on active duty (105 Regular and 87 Reserve) although actions were underway for the accession of additional Reserve chaplains. Of these, 19 were present at Pearl Harbor on December 7th, ranging in rank from Captain to Acting Chaplain (Lieutenant Junior Grade equivalent). 14 were assigned to ships, with the Fleet Chaplain having an office ashore although also assigned to the flags…

Reviewed by Charles C. Kolb, PhD Charles Stephenson is the author of previous works on naval and siege warfare and the history of fortifications, with four volumes in print: The Fortifications of Malta 1530-1945 (Fortress 16, Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2004, 2010); The Admiral’s Secret Weapon: Lord Dundonald and the Origins of Chemical Warfare (Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2006); The Channel Islands 1941-45: Hitler’s Impregnable Fortress (Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2014); and – especially relevant to the book under review here – Germany’s Asia-Pacific Empire: Colonialism and Naval Policy, 1885-1914 (Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2009; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,…

Hear how, in only 60 days, founder of the Top Gun program Dan Pedersen assembled his team and created a legacy which lasts to this day. View the full webinar HERE. The post Blog first appeared on Naval Historical Foundation. View the full article

Reviewed by Tyler Robinson The War of Jenkins’ Ear is Robert Gaudi’s second book in the genre of military history. At a glance it seems quite different from its predecessor, African Kaiser, which focuses on German military operations in Africa in the First World War. However, the two works have certain themes in common. Both focus on conflicts between European powers over distant colonial interests, prosecuted by unprecedentedly diverse units. Moreover, both feature extraordinary feats of navigation and recognize the unglamorous role of sanitation and disease prevention in averting military casualties. A quote from J.H. Powell lamenting his inability to write his…

VADM Mark “MRT” Fox tells the story of how he scored the first MiG kill of Operation Desert Storm on January 17, 1991. View our full Second Saturday Webinar HERE. The post Blog first appeared on Naval Historical Foundation. View the full article

Reviewed by LtCol Robert Weingart, USMC In Modern USMC Air Power Joe Copalman offers a comprehensive overview of the platforms and units of Marine aviation as well as an array of stories and vignettes from the past twenty years of continuous combat operations. Mr. Copalman is a freelance writer and photojournalist whose work has appeared in numerous print and online aviation journals; this is his first book. As the author points out in his introduction, this book comes at a time of momentous change for Marine aviation. Every platform in service on September 11th, 2001, has been or is in the process of being replaced by a new generation of aircraft. At the same tim…

A Navy crew honors its beloved Commanding Officer – The Navy’s first African-American Admiral. Featuring historians, Paul Stillwell and Dr. Gina Akers. View our full Second Saturday Webinar HERE. The post Blog first appeared on Naval Historical Foundation. View the full article

Our November Second Saturday webinar commemorating the Centennial of the World War I Unknown Soldier’s arrival at the Washington Navy Yard aboard USS Olympia. This program features Patrick K. O’Donnell, author of The Unknowns: The Untold Story of America’s Unknown Soldier and WWI’s Most Decorated Heroes Who Brought Him Home, and a panel including Naval Historical Foundation Staff Historian Dr. David Winkler with current Air Force and former Marine historian Kara Newcomer. The post Blog first appeared on Naval Historical Foundation. View the full article

Reviewed by CAPT Richard Dick, USN (Ret.) The German Armoured Cruiser SMS Blücher is a 2018 offering in the Kagero Publishing series, “Super Drawings in 3D.” It truly lives up to the series title. It is a collection of breathtaking color 3D renderings of the Blücher, commissioned in 1909 and sunk at the Battle of Dogger Bank in January 1915. The short book includes representations from above, both sides, bow, and stern of the ship as built, as well as exquisitely detailed renditions of the starboard side from bow to stern. The illustrator then narrows his focus to individual positions and areas of the ship, including the foredeck, steering position, conning tower, boa…

Reviewed by CDR Tobias R. Philbin III, PhD, USNR (Ret.) This is a professionally executed and beautifully produced exposition of the original plans of the second class of German dreadnought, the originals of which now reside in the collections of the UK National Maritime Museum (NMM). As it happens, this reviewer has some familiarity with the remaining collections of the World War I era Naval Inter-Allied Commission of Control (NIACC) which ended up in the NMM. Whilst a graduate student in War Studies at Kings College London, I sought assistance from Rear Admiral Percy Gick, R.N. (ret) in locating the NIACC collection, as previous inquiries in the German archives indi…