Contributors

July 2013
Richard B. Frank is a U.S. Army Vietnam veteran and retired attorney. His first book, Guadalcanal (Random House, 1990), won the General Wallace M. Greene Award from the U.S. Marine ...
Karen Wright

On Our Scope

July 2013
Seventy years ago, Admiral William F. Halsey’s South Pacific forces followed up six months of land, sea, and air combat that secured Guadalcanal by taking the first major step in ...
U.S. Naval Institute Photo Archive

Looking Back - Bottom of the Pecking Order

By Paul Stillwell
July 2013
Without question, some shipboard jobs are considered less desirable than others—rite-of-passage-type chores that are necessary as part of the ship’s business. Compartment cleaner, head cleaner, and mess cook are a ...
Courtesy of Richard A. Sauers

In Contact

July 2013
The Night 5-inch Fire Broke the Viet CongJoseph Todd, Former supply officerIn his April article “The Ubiquitous 5-inch/38,” (pp. 10–11), referring to the 5-inch/54 weapon, Norman Friedman writes ...
Naval Undersea Museum, Keyport, Washington

Naval History News

July 2013
Dolphins Branch Out into Underwater ArchaeologyNavy SEALs get a lot of accolades, but Navy dolphins are nothing to sneeze at, either. In April, a pair of U.S. Navy–trained bottlenoses succeeded ...
U.S. Naval Institute Photo Archive

Historic Aircraft - The Tail-sitters, Part II—Convair

By Norman Polmar
July 2013
While Lockheed was developing the XFV-1 vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) fighter, Convair was working on a competitive design—the XFY-1, given the unofficial moniker “Pogo.”1 Both aircraft were “tail-sitters”—intended to operate in the ...
Navy Art Collection, Naval History and Heritage Command

North from Guadalcanal

By Richard B. Frank
July 2013
Guadalcanal had only been the beginning. Now it was time to slug it out up the Solomons to the Japanese stronghold of Rabaul.
U.S. Naval Institute Photo Archive

Defeat into Victory

By Richard B. Frank
July 2013
Faring poorly early in the war, U.S. destroyers and destroyer doctrine came into their own at Vella Gulf and other Upper Solomons clashes.
www.rgsmithart.com

Capitalizing on an 'Ideal Order'

By Commodore Arleigh A. Burke, U.S. Navy
July 2013
In the legendary Arleigh Burke’s own words, a gripping firsthand account of the 25 November 1943 destroyer battle off Cape St. George.
National Archives

'Pearl Harbor in Reverse'

By Alan P. Rems
July 2013
Admiral “Bull” Halsey’s gamble paid off, and the Japanese warships refueling at Rabaul experienced a “day of infamy” none had foreseen.
Doctormacro.com

The Navy's Aerial Oscar

By David Sears
July 2013
With the help of the U.S. Navy, Hollywood made The Bridges at Toko-Ri into an Academy Award–winning naval-aviation movie classic.
Courtesy of the Author

The Fleets Visit Panama

By Thomas C. Hone
July 2013
To the Navy, Panama in 1921 meant “major fleet exercise.” To the Prohibition-era sailors, it meant “major shore leave!”
NATIONAL ARCHIVES

Historic Fleets - From Steamer to Flattop

By Robert J. Cressman
July 2013
The ceremonies having been driven belowdecks to the wardroom by a drenching rain, Captain Warren K. Berner, U.S. Naval Academy class of 1922—nicknamed “Tarzan” by classmates—read his orders and assumed ...

Book Reviews

July 2013
War on the Waters: The Union and Confederate Navies, 1861–1865James M. McPherson. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2012. 288 pp. Illus. Maps. Notes. Bibliog. Index. $35 ...
J.M. Caiella

Pieces of the Past

July 2013
Escape and Evasion Kits: Don’t leave home without one—especially if you’re a naval aviator flying over hostile territory in World War II. More popularly referred to as “barter kits,” these ...
Library of Congress

Two Captains at Breakfast

By Tim McGrath
July 2013
John Paul Jones and John Barry may be rivals for “Father of the Navy” honors, but their relationship was one of mutual admiration and respect.