It is becoming increasingly clear that we can do only so much with ink on paper to bring history alive. Describing movements of ships and amphibious landings with words, maps, and pictures is a time-honored means of helping readers understand what happened in a particular historic event. But what if we made things move, to see how certain strategies worked—or not—as the action unfolded? How about adding the vital statistics of the ships and aircraft involved? And wouldn’t it be great to have a gallery of artwork and photos that space limitations precluded from being published in the magazine? Thanks to U.S. Naval Institute Senior Web Designer Chris Nazelrod and his intern assistant, Sam Lee, a visual arts/graphic design major at the University of Maryland, the time for such enhancements has come.
“Web Enhanced Naval History” has a five-tiered approach, with subscribers having access to all the extra material, and casual, anonymous visitors able only to preview it. Here is how it works. Go to www.usni.org and click “Launch” under “Explore Web Enhanced Naval History.” This will open the interface through which you will view the enhanced materials. Simply sign in to add an access code, which is case-sensitive, to view all of the materials related to this issue. The access code for the Web enhanced material in this issue is in the On Our Scope column on page 4 of the printed edition of this issue. The magazine is available by subscription, on selected newsstands nationwide, or by calling U.S. Naval Institute Customer Service at 800-233-8764. Not only will this new feature enhance content published in the magazine, it will begin to amass interactive material dealing with naval history in general that will be available indefinitely to subscribers. Just look for the “button” at the end of articles, indicating they are Web-enhanced.
We are pleased to offer two articles that commemorate the 60th anniversary of what has been called the greatest sea engagement of World War II, the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Newsweek Assistant Managing Editor Evan Thomas files a story exclusively for Naval History from Japan. Based on interviews he conducted with Japanese veterans, he reports on one of the war’s great mysteries: What might have possessed Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita to turn away from the fighting at Leyte Gulf the morning of 25 October 1944? In conjunction with Thomas’s ground-breaking work, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel recounts the horror of a kamikaze attack that morning from his unique vantage point on board the jeep carrier Fanshaw Bay.
The highlight of our Web-enhanced material in this issue is the result of close collaboration between author Chuck Veit and our Web designers. After watching the dramatic first Civil War Battle of Shiloh unfold on screen, both strategically and tactically, readers will come away from reading Veit’s article with a new appreciation of how important naval forces were in that engagement.
Also Web-enhanced in this issue is an account of the rescue of U.S. citizens by the battleship Oklahoma during the Spanish Civil War and our section on Navy football—including an interview with Heisman Trophy winner Joe Bellino. We are excited about these Web interactive features, which come at no extra cost to Naval History readers, and we hope you will be, too.
—Fred L. Schultz, Editor-in-Chief