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By Jim Barber Publisher
October 1994
Naval History
Volume 8 Number 5
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It was the greatest naval engagement of all time—the Battle of Leyte Gulf. In this issue we join the fight—50 years later—with long-time Naval Institute contributor Lieutenant Commander Thomas J. Cutler, USN (Ret.), author of a new book on the subject just published by HarperCollins. A companion piece by the navigator of the USS Darter at Leyte tells how the submarine ran aground, requiring a dramatic rescue from the USS Dace.

Anyone who saw the 1991 TV series “The Civil War” knows Shelby Foote. Director Ken Burns relied on the julep-voiced writer/historian as his principal commentator for the PBS program. In an interview with Naval History, Foote laments a shortage of Civil War naval material and speaks out on several current historic- preservation controversies.

Also in this issue we feature a history of U.S. Pacific strategy from the Director of Naval History in Washington, a candid look at aviation art, a century-old legend, a chronicle of naval shore bombardment, and a collection of war cartoons from one of the country’s most popular magazines.

Jim Barber Publisher

CAPT James A. Barber Jr., USN (Ret.) (1934–2017), served thirty years as a surface warfare officer in the U.S. Navy before retiring as a captain. His assignments included three commands at sea: a guided-missile cruiser, a guided-missile frigate, and a destroyer escort. Other assignments included special sea detail officer of the deck of an aircraft carrier, senior watch officer of a destroyer, executive officer of a destroyer, and qualification as a convoy commodore. In 1984 he was appointed CEO and publisher of the U.S. Naval Institute, a position he held for fifteen years.↵ Captain Barber earned a PhD at Stanford University and taught at Vanderbilt, the Naval War College, and George Washington University. His awards include the Navy League’s Alfred Thayer Mahan Award, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star with combat “V,” the Meritorious Service Medal with gold star, and six awards of the Vietnam Service Medal. In 1999 he was presented with the U.S. Coast Guard’s Meritorious Public Service Award, and in 2000 with the Navy’s highest civilian award, the Distinguished Public Service Award. He published two other books, including The Military and American Society: Essays and Readings, co-edited with Stephen Ambrose.

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