Publisher's Page

By Jim Barber Publisher
October 1996
The sinking of the Titanic is arguably the most analyzed maritime disaster in history. In this issue, two underwater forensic experts and naval architects conclude that the ship sank because ...

‘At Last We Were Safe’

By Admiral Giovanni Ciccolo, Italian Navy (Retired) & Translated by Eunice Rice and Enrico Pelitti
October 1996
The Armistice between Italy and the Allies came without warning to the Italians who quickly found themselves at peace with their one-time captors and under attack by their former allies.

Good-Bye Mare Island

Text and Photos by Rich Pedroncelli
October 1996
Empty dry docks bear stark witness to one of the latest naval landmarks fallen victim to military downsizing and consolidation.

The Coast Guard Flies in Vietnam

By Commander Doug Kroll, CHC, U.S. Naval Reserve
October 1996
As exchange pilots flying with the U.S. Air Force in Southeast Asia, Coast Guard aviators risked—and at times lost—their lives to rescue Americans on the ground.

The Hurricane Hunted

By Edward P. Stafford
October 1996
In the midst of the 1950 hurricane season, a storm named Charlie took on a squadron of PB4Y-2S Privateers in Miami and made the Navy’s “Hurricane Hunters” the hunted.

A Blind Eye Toward the Slave Trade

By Lieutenant Pegram Harrison, U.S. Naval Reserve (Retired)
October 1996
The U.S. Navy’s capture of the slave ship Excellent in 1850 was an exception to the poor record of the U.S. Government and the Navy Department to suppress the slave ...

Marine’s Best Friend

By Captain Cyril J. O’Brien U.S. Marine Corps (Retired)
October 1996
By World War II, dogs had long since provided their worth in wartime roles and were indeed a Marine’s best friend.

The Quiet Ace

By Paul Stillwell
October 1996
On a sunny afternoon in mid- July 1987, I arrived at Captain David McCampbell’s home in Lake Worth, Florida. With me was Jim Gregory, a local businessman who had served ...

In Contact

October 1996
“Been Blown to Atoms” (See T. Morr, pp. 34-39, May-June 1996 Naval History) Paul H. Silverstone Terry Morr describes the USS Tulip as having been built in New York ...

Book Reviews

Reviewed by Captain Kendall J. King, U.S. Navy (Retired), Fred M. Tannenbaum, & Lieutenant Commander Thomas J. Cutler, US. Navy (Retired)
October 1996
Chesapeake Bay in the Civil War Eric Mills. Centerville, MD: Tidewater Publishers, 1995. 315 pp. Notes, Illus. Photos. Maps. $29.95 ($26.95). Reviewed by Captain Kendall J. King, U.S. Navy (Retired) ...

Naval History News

October 1996
The Few, The Proud, The Interns Under the History and Museums Division College Internship Program, 14 college and senior high school student interns—including Naval Academy midshipmen and Air Force Academy ...

Salty Talk

By Commander Ty Martin, U.S. Navy (Retired)
October 1996
We all are aware that our language, English, is full of words from other languages. A major source is Latin, thanks to the activities of the Romans. Strange as it ...

Historic Fleets

By A. D. Baker III, Editor, Combat Fleets of the World
October 1996
Probably the most successful—and certainly the longest-lived—oceangoing naval tugs ever built were the 69 generally similar units of the Navajo (ATF-64), Cherokee (ATF-66), Abnaki (ATF-96), and Achomawi (ATF-148) classes commissioned ...