America’s entry into World War I had one interesting repercussion on the crew assigned to the USS Scorpion (PY 3), the U.S. Navy’s station ship at Constantinople. With America’s new status as a belligerent opposing Turkey’s ally Germany, the Turkish government was obligated to intern the ship which it did on April 11, 1917. One
By Douglas Carl Peifer, Oxford University Press, New York, (2016) By Kenneth J. Hagan, Ph.D This remarkable book by a professor at the Air University was motivated by his concerns about how policymakers and strategists cope with the multifaceted aspects of contemporary naval incidents. He is convinced that the study of history is far more
By Rear Adm. William Thompson, USN, (Ret.), Self-Published (2010) Reviewed by Cdr. Eric Dietrich-Berryman, USN (Ret.) “Billy, you will never amount to anything unless you get some gumption and some business in your head,” Bill Thompson’s grandfather admonished the 13-year old boy. But the old man had utterly failed to read the true measure of
By Daniel Todman, Oxford University Press, New York, NY (2016) Reviewed by Charles C. Kolb, Ph.D. This massive volume represents a unique piece of research and chronologically covers a period of history that is of great interest to your reviewer: the background to and initial stages of World War II. My own particular interests focus
By Rodney P. Carlisle, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, (2017) Reviewed by Nathan Albright I was very impressed with the new content the author brought to my attention coming into this book. The author takes a deep look into the often arcane aspects of maritime law and practice to uncover the largely unknown origin of
By Joel Ira Holwitt, A&M University Press, College Station, TX (2009) Reviewed by Richard Ector Joel Ira Holwitt’s Execute Against Japan adds to a growing body of scholarship on the development of U.S. naval doctrine between the First and Second World Wars. It joins Edward Miller’s War Plan Orange (1991) and Bankrupting the Enemy (2007),
By Dwight R. Messimer, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2016) Reviewed by Timothy Heck The 1915 escape of Fähnrich zur See (Midshipman) Erich Killinger from Imperial Russian captivity is a fascinating tale of survival, adventure, and luck. Dwight Messimer, a prolific author who has previously written on World War I aviation and prisoners of war,
By James Boschert, www.PenmorePress.com (2014) Reviewed by Charles H. Bogart This is a well-written work of adventure/mystery fiction that revolves around the oil and gas industry’s offshore operations in the North Sea. The author tells the story in straight and simple words. The heart of the story takes place on board the pipe dredging barge
That was the question posed to CIA Director Allen W. Dulles on March 30, 1961. At the time the CIA was heavily engaged in the Cold War against the Soviet Union. With a new president exhorting the nation two months earlier “that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any
By Cdr. David D. Bruhn, USN (Ret.), Heritage Books, Inc. Berwyn Heights, MD (2016) Reviewed by Robert P. Largess Cdr. Bruhn is the historian of many of the Navy’s forgotten warships: ocean and coastal minesweepers, coastal transports (APc’s), tugs and salvage vessels, YP’s and converted yachts, as well as seaplane tenders – in WWII, Vietnam,
By Kevin Miller, Pelican Press, Pensacola, FL (2016) Reviewed by Charles Bogart Those who read Kevin Miller’s book Raven One will find that he has once again authored a fascinating and believable book. This time the story centers on a contemporary but fictitious U.S. Naval action in the Caribbean. The naval action within this book revolves around Cdr. Jim “Flip” Wilson who the reader
CHOW is a blog and video series exploring the history behind U.S. Navy culinary traditions. By Matthew T. Eng GREASE is the word. At least when it comes to preparing a staple in the chow halls of the Navy and the middle school cafeteria: Salisbury Steak. When I was looking for a new food staple for
By David F. Winkler, Ph.D. The spotting of a Russian surveillance ship 70 miles off of the Delaware coast is reminiscent of the Cold War. Of note back then, bathers on East Coast beaches could frequently spot the trawlers with the red stack bearing the familiar hammer and sickle. Back then, the U.S. only claimed
By G. H. Bennett, Bloomsbury, London, UK (2016) Reviewed by Joseph Moretz, Ph.D. Having successfully met the greatest threat to British maritime dominance since the Napoleonic era, the Royal Navy emerging victorious from the World War still faced an uncertain future. The building programs of formal and informal allies, Japan and the United States, respectively,
By Arthur Mokin, Amazon Digital Services LLC, Original Publisher, Presidio Press, Novato CA, (1991) Reviewed by Robert P. Largess Searching “Monitor and Merrimac” on Amazon brought up twenty-five books of popular history or historical fiction, seventeen of which were in print or available on Kindle, including Arthur Mokin’s 1991 novel, Ironclad. Why so many? Obviously,
