In 1844 the USS Yorktown sailed from New York, as part of the U.S. Navy's newly established African Squadron, to interdict slave ships leaving the African coast. Aboard the sloop of war, Master's Mate John C. Lawrence, an educated New Yorker in his early twenties, kept a private journal describing what happened during the extraordinary two-year voyage and his reactions ...
Here is a compelling portrait of the other side of war—hose who must wait at home, uncertain what the Fates will decide—and Elizabeth Shaw knows this side of war all too well. She waited first for one husband, VanOstrand Perkins, who was killed in battle in the Pacific, and then another, James Shaw, who ultimately survived. This is a story ...
In this surprisingly lively approach to recording the impact of technology on the war at sea, Kenneth Poolman follows comprehensive descriptions of each new technical development with dramatic examples of its use in action.
To combat the savage campaign mounted by German submarines and surface raiders to keep vital supplies from the Allies, Allied navies deployed new weapons like ASDIC ...
Every aspect of the common sailor's life in the Union navy—from recruiting, clothing, training, shipboard routine, entertainment, and wages to diet, health, and combat experience—is addressed in this study, the first to examine the subject in rich detail. The wealth of new facts it provides allows the reader to take a fresh look at nineteenth-century social history, including issues like ...