On Our Scope

By Fred L. Schultz Editor-in-Chief
February 2003
As we were applying the final touches to this issue, we received the sad news that a legend among us—Captain Edward L. Beach Jr.—had passed away. After the initial shock ...

Reliving ‘The Big One’

By Lee Gaillard
February 2003
Our living connection with World War II is quickly disappearing, as the people of that generation fade away. The literature they produced—rich, vibrant, and varied—will remain for all time as ...

A History of Marine Corps Histories

By Brigadier General Edwin Howard Simmons, U.S. Marine Corps (Retired)
February 2003
The Corps was a century old when one of its own penned the first real history of the Leathernecks. Since then, Marines have never stopped looking back and discussing the ...

Action on the Florida Coast

By Robert Macomber
February 2003
Alexander Semmes was not nearly as famous as his cousin Raphael, who made a name for himself as captain of the Confederacy’s most successful commerce raider. Alexander stayed loyal to ...
Beach Hall Plaque

The Family Tie

By Paul Stillwell
February 2003
Several years ago, the Naval Institute was raising funds to convert part of the former Annapolis Naval Hospital into new headquarters for the organization. A financial angel named Jack Schiff ...

In Contact

February 2003
“A Rebel Shot Causes ‘Torture and Despair’” (See M. Hubbs, pp. 46-50, April 2002 Naval History) Mark E. Steed, Arkansas State University Museum I greatly enjoyed this article about the ...

Historic Fleets

By A. D. Baker III, Editor, Combat Fleets of the World
February 2003
In October 2002 came the announcement that the wreck exploration craft Seeker had located the bow of the U.S. Navy Benson (DD- 421)-class destroyer Murphy (DD-603) some 80 nautical miles ...

The First Nuclear Bomber

By Norman Polmar, Author, Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet 
February 2003
The first U.S. Navy aircraft capable of carrying an atomic bomb was the P2V-3C variant of the long-serving P2V Neptune. The Lockheed-built Neptune was the Navy’s principal land-based maritime patrol/antisubmarine ...

Naval History News

February 2003
Navy Decommissions Last LST At Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on 5 October 2002, the U.S. Navy decommissioned the last of its remaining tank landing ships (LST), a ship type that first ...

Book Reviews

Reviewed by Captain Don Walsh, U.S. Navy (Retired), Commander William H. Roberts, U.S. Navy (Retired) & Brad Rodgers
February 2003
Lost Subs: From the Hunley to the Kursk , the Greatest Submarines Ever Lost— and Found Spencer Dunmore. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press/Perseus Books, 2002. 176 pp. Photos. Artwork. Diagrams ...

Salty Talk

By Commander Tyrone G. Martin, U.S. Navy (Retired)
February 2003
At sea, waves are caused by strong air currents pushing on the ocean’s surface. This causes water molecules to bang into adjacent molecules, in turn causing them to hit others ...