By William Weatherly [Capt. George Jackson, USN (Ret.)], iUniverse (2014) Reviewed by Jason McHale What if the Washington Naval Conference collapsed and its terms were never ratified? What if the post-World War naval buildup continued unabated until the Second World War? Sheppard of the Argonne is set in an alternate history where those questions become
The U.S. Navy is currently on a worldwide search to identify a mysterious individual found in our nation’s most celebrated moments of naval history. Recent photographic evidence found deep in the archives of the U.S. Navy suggests one singular man appearing in navy art and photographs throughout the 240 history of the Navy. The man
It’s amazing what you can find at work. When you work for an organization that’s been around since 1926, you are bound to come across some really interesting items untouched over the years. We aren’t talking Holy Grail here, but interesting nonetheless. One such item popped up at the office this week: The edges were
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 Duncan Redford and Philip D. Grove, I. B. Tauris, London, England (2014) Reviewed by Charles Bogart The book under review is the fourteenth book within the A History of the Royal Navy series sponsored by The National Museum, Royal Navy Section. The authors of this large book attempt to do the impossible: tell the
Naval Historical Foundation Executive Director Captain Todd Creekman, USN (Ret.) attended the opening of a new exhibit at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan last Monday. The exhibit, called “Taking the Seas: Rise of the American Aircraft Carrier,” discusses the history of aircraft carriers from their development during World War I
By George Stewart (This is the third in a series of blog posts covering the various operations conducted in Maine during WWII. To read Parts I and II of George Stewart’s blog series about Casco Bay during WWII, go HERE and HERE. To read all other post by George, go HERE.) PART III By 1943,
By Captain George Duffy, Xlibris Corp., Bloomington (2008) Reviewed by Captain J.A. Peschka, Jr. If you still get excited and riveted to your chair when you read a good sea story, then Ambushed under the Southern Cross is for you. This is not a history book written in academic prose with precise references and intellectual
By Michael J. Lacivita, Pig Iron Books, Youngstown, OH (2004) Reviewed by Nathan Albright The curious title of this memoir refers to the garbage man who came to pick up items for recycling purposes. This is just one of the many jobs the author talks about during the course of this very personal story. Explicitly,
A few of us in the room stared at the vase as the amber-colored liquid poured out of the bottle. There was a surprising hiss of carbonation once the bottle cap came off. NHF Executive Director Captain Todd Creekman, USN (Ret.) picked up the contents and sniffed it. He looks up surprisingly and exclaims, “It
By Jim Thesing, Merriam Press, Bennington, VT (2013) Reviewed by Charles Bogart The author has crafted a wonderful fictional account of the German U-boat arm during the period between July and August 1914. The climactic moment within the book is the sinking of the three old Royal Navy cruisers, HMS Aboukir, HMS Cressy, and HMS
By John Schork, Jupiter-Pixel Press, Jupiter, FL (2008) Reviewed by Paul W. Murphey, Ph.D., CDR, CHC, USN (Retired) I was utterly surprised by this novel of naval aviation in the Pacific during World War II. It was a radical departure from the way I knew the author to approach any task. His creativity astounded me.
By Michael F. Dilley, Casemate, Philadelphia, PA and Oxford, England (2013) Reviewed by Stephen K. Stein, Ph.D. Since the 9/11 attacks, U.S. Special Forces have received a growing amount of media attention. Numerous books describe and analyze their recent operations. Michael F. Dilley, a writer and editor for Behind the Lines magazine, returns to the modern
By Thomas Wildenberg, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2013) Reviewed by Captain J. F. “Bookie” Boland, U.S. Navy (Retired) Colonel Billy Mitchell, an iconic and controversial figure in United States aviation history, is the subject of an important new book by independent historian Thomas Wildenberg. Although Mitchell’s life and military service is examined in innumerable
By George Stewart This paper was originally intended to be a follow on my experiences as an engineer aboard commercial tankers. The original intent was to provide a description of World War II-built turboelectric Destroyer Escorts and to illustrate the commonality they shared with commercial T-2 Tanker power plants. In the process of preparing this
