Reviewed by Ed Calouro HMS Vanguard was the final battleship built for the Royal Navy. She represented the last of a long line of historic ships stretching back at least a century to the ironclad HMS Warrior (1860) if not to HMS Victory (commissioned in 1778) and similar ships of the line. It was a
Reviewed by LTC Trey Guy, USA. From the Sea to C Suite: Lessons Learned from the Bridge to the Corner Office is the first book from Cutler Dawson, a retired Navy Vice Admiral and former Navy Federal Credit Union (NFCU) CEO. His co-author, Taylor Kiland, has authored, co-authored, ghost-written, or edited a number of military
Reviewed by CAPT Ken Hagan, USNR (Ret.) The brilliant audacity of this volume merits the highest praise. In no way is it yet another recounting of blasts, broadsides, and bloodletting. Instead, Peter Hore has assembled a collection of magnetic essays depicting Horatio Nelson as an Irishman and portraying the hardscrabble victories ashore won by the
Reviewed by Jeff Schultz. Matthew Willis’s Supermarine Seafire offers a brief yet discerning look at the Supermarine Seafire in Fleet Air Arm service from 1942-1950. Meant to fulfil a desperate need for a modern fighter aboard the Royal Navy’s carrier decks in the chaotic early days of World War II, the Seafire rose doggedly to
Reviewed by William A. Taylor, Ph.D. In Dorwart’s History of the Office of Naval Intelligence, 1865–1945, Jeffery M. Dorwart, professor emeritus of history at Rutgers University, has provided the most complete yet highly concise history of the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) available. A consolidation of two of Dorwart’s excellent earlier works, The Office of
Reviewed by Diana Ahmad James “Rex” Ritter joined the United States Navy’s Seabee Battalions at the start of World War II, as well as the birth of the Seabee units. From Texas to Tinian and Tokyo Bay looks at the contributions of the editor’s grandfather and his men during World War II Alaska and the
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.
Reviewed by Dr. John. R. Satterfield. In the early evening on July 19, 1545, as she turned away from a French fleet gathered in the Solent, the narrow channel between the Isle of Wight and the English mainland harbors of Portsmouth and Southampton, the Mary Rose, one of Henry VIII‘s largest and most powerful warships,
Reviewed by Charles C. Kolb, Ph.D. The battleship Bismarck is one of the most-written about World War II Nazi German capital ships (Admiral Graf Spee and Tirpitz are close seconds). Eliminating USNS City of Bismarck (JHSV-9), often cited as Bismarck (and named after Bismarck, North Dakota, USA) and other specious references in WorldCat, there are
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
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
Reviewed by Charles C. Kolb, Ph.D. Defense expert Norman Friedman is one of America’s most prominent naval analysts, and the author of more than thirty books covering a range of naval subjects, especially American and British vessels (battleships, cruisers, destroyers and frigates, and submarines) from the Victorian era through two World Wars, and the Cold War,
Reviewed by Diana L. Ahmad Anyone who has ever worked with a computer, has watched NCIS, or wondered what the flashing blips are on their laptop will enjoy this book. Written by two Annapolis graduates, Rules of Engagement looks at the possibility of an enemy of the United States breaking the military computer codes of
Reviewed by Diana L. Ahmad In 1968-1969, R. L. Tecklenburg, the author, served as a U.S. Marine in a Combined Action Team (CAP) unit in the rural Phu Loc District. Tecklenburg provided a brief autobiographical look at his year in Vietnam. Since leaving Vietnam, the author searched for meaning in his experiences during the conflict.
Reviewed by Commander James G. Zoulias, USN. The tale of USS Swordfish provides a comprehensive look at its operational history within the context of the broader maritime campaign in the Pacific during World War II. Because George J. Billy had an uncle who served aboard USS Swordfish, he wrote this book to document the notable
