Publisher’s Page

By Jim Barber

September 1990

Behind all the personnel, ships, and weapons that comprise a navy is the strategy that defines its objectives. One of the benefits of history is that it affords us the ...

The British Raid on Mount Vernon

By Fritz Hirschfeld

September 1990

If General Washington had been at home when the British came, this story might well have had a different ending.

Samar 1900-1902—The ‘Howling Wilderness’

By Brian M. Linn

September 1990

On Samar in 1900, the Army commander praised the skipper of the gunboat Pampanga as “eager to help in every way possible,”

An Explanation at Nürnberg

By Captain John P. Bracken, U.S. Naval Reserve (Retired)

September 1990

"Admiral Dönitz has asked to speak with you.”

Two Years Before the Mast: A Reflection

By Irving M. Sternberg

September 1990

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the publication of Richard Henry Dana, Jr.’s Two Years Before the Mast.

Dana’s Book Stirred the Public, Not Lawmakers

By Irv Sternberg

September 1990

Today, aspiring seamen and women attend classes at merchant marine schools around the country.

The Carrier That Lit Up Tacoma

By Steven A. Payne

September 1990

USS Lexington (CV-2) anchored off Blake Island in Puget Sound, awaiting orders from Secretary of the Navy C. F. Adams.

The Battleship and Mr. Shearer

By Lawrence A. Moretz

September 1990

If a private citizen had had his way, however, the torpedoes, bombs, mines, and projectiles would have been saved for some other use.

Desperate Battle at Unalga Pass

By Robert J. Cressman

September 1990

Lumbering through the skies over the Aleutians, a Consolidated Catalina flying boat flown by Ensign Albert Mitchell, was no match for 15 Japanese Kates and Zeros on 4 June 1942.

Satō Tetsutarō and Japanese Strategy

By Mark R. Peattie and David C. Evans

September 1990

The pre-dreadnoughts operating in the Battle of Yalu were part of the naval force that helped Japan emerge on the world stage during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05.

The Coast Guard and Mr. Khrushchev

By Captain B. P. Clark, U.S. Coast Guard (Retired)

September 1990

In early August 1959 Nikita Khrushchev and his entourage visited San Francisco

Oral History—Destroyer Man

By Michael Bak, Jr.

September 1990

Bak represents hundreds of thousands of young men who grew up during the Depression and went off to fight in a global war on behalf of their nation.

Technical Report—GE: More Than Light Bulbs

By Glen P. Dalton

September 1990

While the history books are full of stories about naval combat actions in World War II, far less has been written about the work of the thousands of people who ...

Oral History—Mines at Haiphong: Delayed Execution

By Rear Admiral Odale D. Waters, Jr., U.S. Navy (Retired)

September 1990

Haiphong, North Vietnam, wax the site of a successful aerial mine-laying operation in May 1972.

When Russian Guns Were Welcome

By Stephen A. Schoff

September 1990

In September 1863, a flotilla of Imperial Russian warships sailed through the Verrazano Narrows into New York Harbor, uninvited and unannounced. Although their arrival had nothing to do with the ...

In Profile—Robert Sherrod

By Captain Roger Pineau, U.S. Naval Reserve (Retired)

September 1990

World War II correspondents are a vanishing breed. In September 1989, five hundred of them were invited to a reunion in New York City. Half that number was expected; only ...

Book Reviews

Reviewed by Commander Carl O. Schuster, U.S. Navy, Captain Charles Rush, U.S. Navy (Retired), Reviewed by Lieutenant W. P. Holland, U.S. Naval Reserve and Kenneth P. Czech

September 1990

The U-Boat War in the Atlantic, 1939-1945 Gunther Hessler. London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1989. 3 Volumes, 396 pp. Maps. Tables. Figs. Notes. Bib. Ind. $49.95. Reviewed by Commander Carl ...

In Progress

September 1990

U.S. NAVAL INSTITUTE Proceedings/Naval Review: From the beginning, the Y-Mission was regarded as a long-shot gamble—but one that many U.S. aviators were eager to take in order to wreak vengeance ...

In Contact

September 1990

“New Life for a Liberty” (See T. A. Dietz, pp. 54-58, Winter 1990; A. J. Horn, Sr., R. Kuchen, and J. E. Wright, pp. 10-13, Spring 1990 Naval History) Lieutenant ...

The San Diego Maritime Museum

By Craig Arnold

September 1990

The West Coast’s oldest maritime Museum, and the only one entirely afloat, in moored in San Diego Bay, California. The San Diego Maritime Museum was formally established in 1948 but ...

Great Balls of Fire

By Sergeant Major Jack W. Jaunal, U.S. Marine Corps (Retired)

September 1990

A lot of people in this country think it is U.S. technology that sets the pace for nuclear power. That may be true, but some of us know it is ...