Amidst the flurry of activity at the Sea-Air-Space exposition down the road in National Harbor, MD, the Naval Historical Foundation and Naval Submarine League held it’s annual Submarine History Symposium at the U.S. Navy Museum’s Cold War Gallery last Wednesday. The symposium’s topic and speakers were well received by an enthusiastic and attentive crowd. Over
By Steve R. Dunn, Book Guild Publishing, Sussex, England, (2014) Reviewed by Capt. John A. Rodgaard USN (Ret.) What is cowardice? Can cowardice be reinterpreted as an act of reasoned restraint or self-preservation? Is cowardice situational, or is it a character trait? Does it possess a moral dimension? That is, “Can a brave man also
By Mark Stille, Osprey, New York (2014) Reviewed by James H. McClelland, Sr. US Heavy Cruisers: 1943 – 75 is a gold mine of information concerning the U.S. Navy’s heavy cruisers of World War II and beyond. Mark Stille, a retired navy commander who has held posts in the intelligence community, faculty positions at the
By Sheila Nickerson, University of Alaska Press, Anchorage (2014) Reviewed by Jan Churchill The North Pole was the ultimate prize. Before aviation, ships could only go so far thanks to polar ice. The best way to travel, with supplies and food, was by dog sledge. However, the British Royal Navy made men, not dogs, haul
The Henry N. Barkhausen Award For Original Research in Great Lakes Maritime History For consideration in the current calendar year, entries for must be postmarked no later than May 15 Guidelines for Entrants Since 2001, the Association for Great Lakes Maritime History has sponsored the Henry N. Barkhausen Award program to recognize and encourage new
It’s Oscar night in America. The biggest stars in Hollywood will gather in Hollywood as this past year’s best films are celebrated and highlighted. In honor of the event, we thought we could have our own awards show for the best and brightest stars in films in about the United States Navy. (Disclaimer – The opinions
By Jon K. Hendrickson, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2014) Reviewed by Richard P. Hallion Ph.D. Author Jon K. Hendrickson’s book Crisis in the Mediterranean is most timely, as its publication happily coincided with the beginning of commemorations of the centenary of the Great War. If, to the public mind, naval power in that war
By Chuck Veit, published through Lulu.com (2014) Reviewed by Robert P. Largess Forty years ago, I picked Commander Edward Ellsberg’s On the Bottom off the bookshelf of an elderly friend, a favorite from his own boyhood. The story of the raising of the submarine S-51 from 132 feet of seawater off Block Island in 1925
By Scott Martelle, Chicago Review Press, Chicago, IL (2014) Reviewed by John R. Satterfield, DBA The Continental Navy had negligible impact on the American Revolution’s outcome. Its handful of little ships served almost entirely as commerce raiders, attacking and capturing defenseless merchantmen and occasionally engaging with small British warships of comparable or lesser capability. The
By Norman Friedman, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2014) Reviewed by Mark Lardas The centennial of World War I has renewed focus on the conflict, including a slew of new books about the war. Norman Friedman’s Fighting the War at Sea: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology, examines the naval aspects of World War I. Friedman attacks
By Joseph A. Williams, Fort Schuyler Press, Bronx, NY (2013) Reviewed by Suzanne Geissler,Suzanne Geissle Ph.D. The State University of New York Maritime College is the oldest maritime college in the United States. A history of this college is long overdue, and Joseph A. Williams has now provided an excellent one. Williams is a librarian
By Steve Sheinkin, Roaring Book Press, New York, NY (2014) Review by: Aldona Sendzikas, Ph.D. How do you explain racism to teenagers—specifically, the existence of institutionalized racism and segregation in the U.S. Navy during most of its history? This is author Steve Sheinkin’s challenge in this book for young adults about the massive explosion that
By Norman Polmar (Editor’s note: This is the 27th a series of blogs by Norman Polmar—author, analyst, and consultant specializing in the naval, aviation, and intelligence fields. Follow the full series here. Mr. Polmar is now traveling abroad and the series will resume this summer.) On an afternoon in late 1975 I received a telephone
Edited by Gary W. Neidhardt. AuthorHouse, Bloomington, IN, (2013) Reviewed by Charles Bogart Editor Gary Neidhardt transcribed and annotated 115 letters that his father, Lt. Paul W. Neidhardt, wrote to his wife, Phyllis, between September 1943 and November 1945. Neidhardt, commissioned as an Ensign in the U.S. Navy in July 1942, went on to serve
By Thomas F. Jaras, iUniverse, (2013). Reviewed by Thomas P. Ostrom This book drew my attention because of my time in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve in the 1960s. Between 1940 and 1980, the USCG had Ocean Station vessels in the Atlantic and Pacific performing a variety of national defense initiatives. These included search and
