1896 Coast Guard Rescue

Against a Raging Storm

By Commander Steve Rochon, U.S. Coast Guard
February 1997
In 1896, the men of the Pea Island Lifesaving Station—fought hurricane-strength tides to rescue the passengers and crew of the stranded schooner Newman.

The Peleus War Crimes Trial

By David Miller
February 1997
After sinking the Greek steamer Peleus in 1944, the captain ordered his crew to attack the survivors, three sailors survived and faced their attackers in a war crime trial.

To the Boneyard

By Paul Stillwell
February 1997
As it moves seaward, toward the cape for which it was named, the Cape Fear River courses through the city of Wilmington, North Carolina. Late last summer, Hurricane Fran also ...

In Contact

February 1997
“The Vietnam Fault Line” (See R. Timberg, pp. 15-19, July-August 1996; E. Olsen, pp. 12-13, September- October 1996 Naval History) Dr. J. Jefferson MacKinnon, Professor of History, Collin County Community ...

Navy Yarns

By Captain Roy C. Smith III, U.S. Navy (Retired)
February 1997
Before leading the Great White Fleet on the first leg of its round-the-world cruise in 1907, Rear Admiral Robley D. “Fighting Bob” Evans (U.S. Naval Academy class of 1864, graduated ...

America on the Seas

By Michelle S. Frauenberger
February 1997
In the hushed atmosphere of a room on the lower level of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library in New York lies a treasure trove of history, adventure, human endurance, tragedy ...

Book Reviews

Reviewed by Michael J. Crawford, Lieutenant Colonel Richard M. Seamon, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve (Retired) & Lieutenant Commander Thomas J. Cutler, U.S. Navy (Retired)
February 1997
Steam, Politics, and Patronage: The Transformation of the Royal Navy 1815-54 Basil Greenhill and Ann Giffard. London: Conway’s Maritime Press, 1994. 256 pp. Illus. $39.25 ($35.33). Reviewed by Michael J ...

Naval History News

February 1997
Downed Kamikaze Supports N aval History In May 1945, he had his sights set on crashing into and sinking a U.S. destroyer off Okinawa. This time, his target was Naval ...

Salty Talk

By Commander Ty Martin, U.S. Navy (Retired)
February 1997
The traditional length of time a sailor is on duty helping to operate his ship when at sea is four hours: a “watch.” For the centuries before a timepiece was ...

Historic Fleets

By A. D. Baker III, Editor, Combat Fleets of the World
February 1997
The six large cruisers of the Alaska (CB-l)-class had been conceived as early as 1938 as “cruiser killers” intended for independent operations, in anticipation that Japan would build similar ships ...