While MacArthur Slept

By Vice Admiral W. D. Houser, U. S. Navy (Retired)
October 1997
Conveniently missing from the dramatic Battle of Surigao Strait was General Douglas MacArthur's flagship, the light cruiser Nashville—with the war hero out of harm’s way.

Salvage Man

By Commander John D. Alden, U.S. Navy (Retired)
October 1997
When a ship needed raising, one tempestuous naval officer was the man for the job.

When the British Just Couldn’t Win

By Commander A. Powell Harrison, U.S. Coast Guard Reserve (Retired)
October 1997
Yet they shelled Ft. McHenry in Baltimore for 25 hours without an assault, and failed to subdue the tobacco farmers and watermen of the Delmarva Peninsula and its islands.

Schooner G.I.

Text and Artwork by Helm Pohlmann
October 1997
The author recorded his wartime experiences on board the Army radio ship and relay station Geoanna in words and watercolors.

Confessions of a Bookaholic

By Paul Stillwell
October 1997
My interest in naval history started in 1969, when I learned I would be transferred from the tank landing ship Washoe County (LST-1165) to the battleship New Jersey (BB-62). Because ...

In Contact

October 1997
“The Ship That Launched a Nation” (See D. C. Holly, pp. 16-20, May-June 1997; R. C. Whitter, July-August 1997 Naval History) Carter Barber The cover story on the Exodus 1947 ...

Salty Talk

By Commander Ty Martin, U.S. Navy (Retired)
October 1997
The movement of air around our globe—the winds—is caused by the earth’s rotation and the uneven heating of the atmosphere by the sun. These two factors result in a number ...

Book Reviews

Reviewed by Craig L. Symonds, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Seamon, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve (Retired), & Nathan Miller
October 1997
Lincoln’s Admiral: The Civil War Campaigns of David Farragut James P. Duffy. New York: John Wiley &. Sons, Inc., 1997. 276 pp. Illus. Ind. $27.95 ($25.15). Reviewed by Craig L ...

Historic Fleets

By A. D. Baker III, Editor, Combat Fleets of the World
October 1997
The Commencement Bay (CVE-105)- class ships were the largest of the World War II jeep carriers and the only ones designed from the keel up as carriers— although they owed ...

A Short Life

By Norman Polmar, Author Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet
October 1997
The F8F Bearcat was the U.S. Navy’s penultimate piston-engine fighter—and possibly the fastest piston-engine fighter ever to enter squadron service. The Bearcat was developed as a lightweight, high-speed fighter with ...

Naval History News

October 1997
Booth’s Sudden Passing Jolts Historic Ship Community Russell Booth, manager of the USS Pampanito (SS-383), died on 15 June at the age of 50. His passing has dealt a tremendous ...

Navy Yarns

By Captain Roy C. Smith III, U.S. Navy (Retired)
October 1997
In the fall of 1924, the U.S. Naval Academy introduced a new course in engineering, Thermodynamics, with the Class of 1925 as first victims. Since most of the instructors, including ...