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SONS OF GUNBOATS. By Commander Frederick L. Sawyer, U. S. Navy (Retired). Annapolis, Md.: The United States Naval Institute. 1946. 153 pages. $2.50.
Reviewed by Commodore Dudley W.
Knox, U. S. Navy (Retired)
The grey and tottering members of the ‘Ancient and Honorable Sons of Gunboats” wdl all make a low bow to Commander Sawyer. His little volume makes real once m°re the colorful days of their miniature warfare during the Philippine Insurrection when, as he says, youthful enthusiasm triumphed over inexperience. Among the greater virtues of the monograph is its readability. ■Delightful touches of wit, wisdom, and hu- rnor> so characteristic of the author in conversation, grace many pages and will hold the interest of even the lay reader.
The book is mainly an account of the extremely active and arduous services of the U.S.S. Panay operating under Sawyer’s command against the “Insurrectos” in waters udjacent to Samar, Leyte, and Cebu, during seven months of the year 1900. She co- °Perated closely with several other vessels, uotably the Pampanga, then commanded by the celebrated Lieutenant “Freddy” Payne, a combination of human being and high voltage dynamo” amply tinctured with wit aud kindliness. He himself almost constituted a “task force” and his classmate awyer was delighted with such Trojan aid.
Upon first arrival at Cebu, Sawyer received an urgent message from Payne at Calbayog: “Your help much needed here. Hell of a lot of fighting in Samar.” Insufficient troops limited our Army’s effort to little more than occupying scattered coastal towns, with no communications except by water. Recently one isolated garrison had been badly defeated and almost wiped out. Our other posts were under frequent guerilla attack, sometimes continuing night and day and keeping defenders on the verge of exhaustion.
Sawyer had scarcely joined up with Payne before their two gunboats stood in to shell insurgent positions threatening Calbayog. Similar operations were repeated there and elsewhere on many subsequent occasions. They constituted but one among a variety of ways in which direct gunboat aid was given to the shore forces. Armed boats were employed against enemy positions when shallow water prevented a close enough approach by gunboats, or at night in surprise operations. Our troops were frequently transported as reinforcements to positions already held, or to make attacks elsewhere with ship’s guns in support. One joint amphibious operation penetrated a bamboo barrier across a river entrance.
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Of necessity the insurgents were themselves largely supplied by sea. Consequently the gunboats were very active in blockading. During the month of August alone the Panay captured 37 vessels, of which 25 were de-
stroyed for illegal traffic. The numerous native craft presented a constant danger of night attack by boarding the gunboats. Threats of this nature were made by Insur- recto Generals, and a strong guard had to be constantly alert. During August the Panay spent 18 days at sea. “A considerable part of the 13 days in port was spent in cooperating with the Army, shelling snipers, and in small boat expeditions.”
Another form of aid to the Army lay in carrying important messages and information, this being in the days before radio or airplanes and in a country where roads were all but non-existent. The spirit of cooperation between Army and Navy was excellent. Relations “were always of the most cordial cooperation, mutual respect, and with many genuine friendships.” Sawyer does a modern service by exploding “the popular fallacy that the Army and Navy are jealous rivals.” Newspaper correspondents were formerly largely to blame “for this nonsense, as the public is seldom interested in tame statements of truth but wishes each spoonful of fact to be saturated with a bottle of tobasco fairy tales.”
Jocular Army friends with “wistful envy” dubbed the Panay and Pampanga “The Pirates.” Apparently the insurgent General Lukban acquiesced in this. “His name means grapefruit, and he was sour grapes to the Army particularly. Both Payne and myself got a great lift out of the underground report that Lukban had offered a reward of $5,000 each for our heads. In solemn council this matter was debated at length. Both of us thought that in a commercial sense it was a liberal offer. On the other hand, in a sentimental way we were attached to our heads. Payne thought that since Uncle Sam had spent $30,000 gold on our Annapolis education, to sell out would be unpatriotic. At any rate we kept our heads and the offer was declined.”
Repercussions of the 1900 Presidential campaign in the United States reached even the outlying Philippine Islands. Mr. Bryan’s main issue was independence for the Philippines, which he promised if elected. Sawyer felt that this unfortunately stimulated the insurrection, that Bryan’s “abilities were wonderfully adapted to camp meeting exhortation, but in cool logical statesmanship he had an unerring instinct for being wrong,” and that Bryan’s campaign was “a strange mixture of idealism, ignorance, and a yearning for public office.”
By reason of greater activity in western Samar, Sawyer and Payne spent most of their time off that coast. But they operated elsewhere also, both to raid illicit trade and to give direct military support to garrisons ashore. The Panay responded to an emergency message for help at Ormoc, Leyte, and there saved a small garrison which was exhausted from constant sniping. On the opposite side of the island at Leyte Gulf gunboat fire was also needed on several occasions. Kinkaid’s and MacArthur’s veterans of the titanic war just ended will not soon forget these places, where nearly a half century before them American military and naval forces by contrast had pioneered in miniature warfare, none the less fraught with danger from hostile troops and malarial mosquitoes.
The advanced base for gunboat operations in these waters was at the city of Cebu, where upon first arrival Sawyer “just missed Magellan by 379 years.” Base facilities were very meagre, to make an understatement. For some emergency repairs the Panay found a small machine shop with difficulty and used “a primitive charcoal fire and home-made bellows, and a forge under some bamboo trees.” From Cebu operations were conducted to the coasts of not only Leyte and Samar, but also of Biliran, Bohol, Cebu Island, and Negros, on all of which islands the insurgents were active against isolated American detachments.
Commander Sawyer’s short section on typhoons is a clear exposition of that phenomenon, so dangerous to ships of all dates and sizes. It is applicable to the present and worth reading by all officers. He and Payne had the wise foresight to search for and decide upon typhoon anchorages convenient to every operating locality, that they might “flee from the wrath of a typhoon while there was yet time.” Their preparedness on this score often stood them in good stead.
Other chapters deal with experiences in Japan and China, before and after the gunboat interlude. They also are packed with
Sawyer’s stimulating observations and inimitable humor.
If the foregoing review has failed to convince a reader that the little volume is entertaining, instructive, and well worth reading, then I have blundered. It could be better edited, notably in the paragraphing and the general arrangement. The want of an index is a handicap for reference purposes. An appendix contains a list of the “Sons of Gunboats” still alive. If incomplete, the reviewer is partly to blame since he was asked for the data. The difficulty of supplying it fully arose from the fact that most gunboats were manned from the regular complements of “mother ships,” and transfers to gunboats were merely for temporary duty without formal detachment from the mother ships, upon whose permanent rolls gunboat personnel remained. Records of all such temporary transfers could be found only by an inordinate amount of research. The appendix could have appropriately named the deceased members of the “Sons of Gunboats” as well as those still living. The “Ancient and Honorable” little Society was formed largely through the efforts of the late Captain Leonard R. Sargent, himself a duly qualified member.
THE LAST PASSAGE. By Lieutenant Commander J. E. Taylor, R.N.R. New York: The Macmillan Company. 1946. 137 pages. $2.50.
Reviewed by Assistant Professor Ellery H. Clark, Jr., U. S. Naval Academy
In this detailed little book, notable both f°r factual content and epic mood, Lieutenant Commander Taylor recounts his experiences in the blockship operation off Arromanches, Normandy. The story demonstrates how the British disproved the German dictum that if the Allies were denied continental ports they would be denied Europe. The ingenious Britons brought their own artificial harbors with them.
From the preparation and assembly of 67 old merchant ships, scraped up from repair yards, lay-up berths, and the maw of the breaker’s gang, to their final passage from bcottish ports to Arromanches, and subsequent sinking upon the channel bed of their last port of call, the author has preserved in prose their simple magnificence, and that of their seasoned merchant officers. Seventeen photographs accompany the text. Unfortunately they do not illustrate the continuity of this blockship operation, but focus only upon the final scuttling.
To the damage controller, the chapter which discusses the measures taken to foster the spread of damage, rather than the opposite and more usual methods, is very interesting. The spread of water damage and the influence of free surface were carefully estimated in advance. With great care, prior to final sailing, ballast was shifted, watertight bulkheads pierced, and weights removed so that each blockship would, at the appointed time, sink with no appreciable list or trim.
The author’s restrained, seamanly style, has blended the merchant ship and seaman in a story with both factual accuracy and real appeal.
NEW ZEALAND: PACIFIC PIONEER. By Philip L. Soljak. New York: The Macmillan Company. 1946. 197 pages, $2.50.
Reviewed by Senior Professor Allan Westcott, U. S. Naval Academy
For a nation of under two million people, with a history running little over a hundred years since its first extensive settlement in 1840, New Zealand may truly be said to have exerted an influence on world social progress out of all proportion to its size. It has been a sort of social laboratory—the first nation to introduce universal suffrage (1893), first to apply national arbitration to labor troubles (1894), first to establish a national infant welfare system (1907), and first to adopt a unified comprehensive social security system (1938).
The author of this very readable little handbook on New Zealand has done well, after giving due attention to its early history and Maori first settlers, to stress these aspects of the commonwealth’s social and political progress. Especially interesting are his accounts of the child welfare measures which have made New Zealand’s infant mortality rate the lowest in the world (32 per 1,000 as compared with 56 in the United States), and of its more recent free health service, in which physician’s attendance, prescribed medicines, and hospital care are all state- supplied.
New Zealand’s population of 1,750,000 covers an area slightly greater than the British Isles. The inhabitants are 93 per cent British, and of these 30 per cent are Scottish, the latter, according to the author, exerting a “dominant influence” and setting “standards of thought and action.” The Maoris number 103,000, or six per cent, and it is evidence of successful handling of the native problem that they have increased, from only 48,000 in 1870. The total population, with a density only one-third that of the United States, could by conservative estimates be doubled or tripled without lowering the high standard of living. One of the nation’s future problems is to fill up its empty spaces without loss of quality, accomplishing it either by stimulated birthrate or selective immigration.
The most British of British commonwealths, New Zealand contributed vigorously to both World Wars. In the second, her total of 210,000 men in arms was proportionately equivalent to an American force of 17,000,000, and her casualty rate of 22.68 per 1,000 of population was the highest except for Russia’s among those of the Allied nations.
American interest in the smaller of the two commonwealths “down under” has increased with wartime contacts. The present volume, written by a New Zealand journalist, gives a most readable and reliable account of a nation destined to play an important part in the future Pacific world.
Thumbnail Reviews
New Drill Regulations, United States Army.
Harrisburg, Pa.: Military Service Publishing
Co. 1946. 628 pages. Cloth bound, $1.25; paper
bound, $1.00.
This is the 13th edition of the manual formerly published under the title New Infantry Drill Regulations. In addition to an appendix, “Manual of the Saber,” pp. 169-173, the present volume includes manuals for U.S. Rifle Caliber .30 Ml and Caliber .30 Models 1903 “Springfield”; and Carbines .30 Ml and M1A1, pp. 175-586, and it
has chapters also on “Interior Guard Duty” and “Assembling Pack and Equipment,” pp. 586-628.
U.S. Army Aircraft (Heavier than Air), 19081946. By James C. Fahey, author of The Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet, New York: Ships and Aircraft. 1946. 64 pages. $1.00.
This book of illustrations and accompanying data is divided into five sections. The first four sections, pp. 4-18, cover the development of army aircraft over the early period from 1908 to 1924. The fifth section, pp. 20-64, illustrates the development of modern types on the basis of model designation, including special type airplanes and gliders. Mr. Fahey has provided a highly useful reference book in this special field.
Russian War, 1855: Official Correspondence between the Admiralty and Rear-Admiral Sir E. Lyons, respecting Naval Operations in the Black Sea. Edited by Captain A. C. Dewar, R.N. British Navy Records Society. Vol. LXXXV. 1945. 486 pages. 21 s.
This is a third Records Society volume devoted to naval material of the Crimean War, the present volume relating chiefly to combined operations in the Crimea and the closing events of the conflict. As the editor remarks, the war marked a transition between two eras: “on the one side wooden ships carrying sails and muzzle-loading guns; on the other side steel ships, steam, breech-loading guns, and a vast multiplication of modern appliances.” Yet, oddly enough, in this correspondence one finds practically no reference to the beginnings of armor or to the use of other innovations in warfare which were being employed. It is interesting to recall that by the peace terms in February, 1856, which ended the war, the Black Sea was neutralized; neither Russia nor Turkey were to maintain navies or naval arsenals in the area.
Ideas Ilave Legs. By Peter Howard. New York: Coward-McCann, Inc. 1946. 184 pages. $2.50.
Ideas Have Legs is a curious book. It consists partly of colorful autobiography by a successful British journalist who has hobnobbed with bigwigs like Beaverbrook and Churchill and who knows how to write. And it is partly the burning appeal of a man who has seen the light. His message is that only the love of God—Buchman- ism, the Oxford Group, Moral Re-Armament, Inc.—can save the world.
History of Air Navigation. By Arthur J. Hughes. London: George Allen & Unwin. 1946. 154 pages. 10 s. 6 d.
After an interesting and well illustrated first
chapter on ancient navigation, this history devotes four chapters to aviation development from 1918 to 1935, including full accounts of noteworthy flights and records. Three following chapters deal with compasses, sextants, and drift and radio. Though the British terminology may trouble American readers somewhat, the book is authoritative and provides a most useful collection of background and reference data in its special field.
The Aircraft Year Book for 1946. Edited by Howard Mungos. Official Publication of Aircraft Industries Association of America. New York: Lancian Publishers. 636 pages of text. $6.50.
This standard reference book, with some 180 illustrations and diagrams, affords an excellent review of aviation accomplishments and developments in 1945-1946, as seen in immediate retrospect. It gives directories, 59 statistical tables, and surveys of both military and commercial Progress in aviation during the war and thereafter.
Jimmy Martin, Stowaway. By David Polowe. Paterson, N. J.: The Colt Press. 1946. 160 pages. $2.00.
The author of this juvenile is a master mariner (ret.) with service as a deck officer in World War I and as an instructor in navigation in World War fl- Though there may be touches of the amateur ln his tale of the tanker Atlantic Moon’s voyage and successful encounter with the U-999, this is more than compensated by the authentic accu- mcy m matters of ship handling and wartime experiences at sea.
A about a Thousand Things. By George Stimpson. New York: Harper and Brothers. 1946. 513 pages and index. $3.50.
Here is an old newspaper man’s scrapbook of curiosities drawn from history, literature, natUral science, folklore, and what-not. The brief explanations appear to be based on careful investigation and make lively reading in limited oses. Pea-jacket (from the Dutch word for a md of cloth), Horse Latitudes, dungarees (from ungisin India), gadget, boxing the compass, and eatherneck are among the nautical terms reated. Though the items are thrown in hodge- P°dge, the reader can get some help from a good lndex at the end.
Recent Books of Professional Interest
Auger, Pierre. What Are Cosmic Rays? Revised und enlarged edition. Chicago: University of Lhicago Press. 1945. $2.00. The author is a well- known French scientist.
Bisson, Thomas A. Japan’s War Economy. New York: Institute of Pacific Relations. 1945. $3.50. Pertinent Facts on How the Japanese Government Mobilized the Country’s Industrial Resources for War.
Eisenhower, Dwight D. USA. Eisenhower’s Own Story of the War. New York: Arco Publishing Co. 1946. $1.00.
De Gaulle, Charles. France and Her Army. London: Hutchinson & Co. 1945. $3.50.
Forbes, Rosita. Appointment with Destiny. New York: Dutton. 1946. $3.75. Author’s travels in India, South Africa and Siberia from 1935 to 1943.
Henry, J. Fred. Your Future in Aviation. New York. Prentice-Hall. 1945. $3.00. A guide for young men seeking a future in aviation.
Janowsky, Oscar I. Nationalities and National Minorities. New York: Macmillan. 1945. $2.75. The author analyzes the effort made by the League of Nations to protect minorities, and then proposes an alternative solution based on national federalism and economic unity.
Jordan, Ralph B. Born to Fight; the Life of Admiral Halsey. Philadelphia: McKay. 1946. $2.00. The author served with Halsey in the Pacific during World War II.
Lamb, Harold. Alexander of Macedon. New York: Doubleday. 1946. $3.50. A popular biography of Alexander the Great.
Landis, Walter S. Your Servant the Molecule. New York: Macmillan. 1944. $2.75. How chemistry serves the daily needs of mankind.
Mach, Ernest. The Principles of Physical Optics. New York: Dutton. 1946. $6.00.
McKinley, Silas B. Old Rough and Ready. New York: Vanguard Press. 1946. $3.00. The life and times of General Zachary Taylor.
Millis, Walter. The Last Phase; the Allied Victory in Western Europe. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin. 1946. $2.50. An exposition of why Germany’s armies failed.
Munro, Ross. Gauntlet to Overlord. New York: Macmillan. 1946. $3.50. The story of the Canadian Army in World War II.
Pendar, Kenneth. Adventure in Diplomacy. New York: Dodd, Mead. 1945. $3.00. Review of the work of the American secret intelligence service before,^ during, and after the North African campaign.
Potter, David M. Lincoln and His Party in the Secession Crisis. New Haven: Yale University Press. 1942. $3.75. ‘
Pratt, Fletcher. Empire and the Sea. New York: Holt. 1946. $3.50. The British Navy during the first twelve years of the Napoleonic Wars to the close of the Battle of Trafalgar.