In 1958, Frank Gamboa became the first Mexican American from Owens Valley, California, to graduate from the United States Naval Academy. His memoir's focus is his professional development as a naval officer of the line from 1958 to 1988 in the U.S. Navy's surface warfare community. It highlights his duties, challenges and opportunities during more than 17 years of sea duty in destroyers, a cruiser, and six amphibious warships operating in the Navy's Second and Third Fleets; and in frequent and extended deployments in the Sixth and Seventh Fleets during the Cold War. El Capitan portrays the leadership, management, technical and seamanship skills required to succeed in shipboard billets ranging from division officer to commanding officer and squadron commander, in ranks from ensign to captain. It describes Gamboa's performance as the first Mexican-American naval surface warfare officer to command a major warship as a Commander, the first to command major warship as a Captain, and the first to command a squadron of amphibious warships as a captain. About the Author After leaving the Navy, Frank created Gamboa International Corporation, a management consulting company that he and Linda successfully operated in the private sector from 1994 to 2006. In 1989, he was elected Vice President of the Naval Academy Class of 1958 and continues to serve in that capacity. He and his wife, the former Linda Marie Lehtio, reside in Fairfax, Virginia. Their son, John Frank "Jack" Gamboa, Junior, and his daughter Emma live in Portland, Oregon. Their daughter Judith Ann Callsen and her husband Gary and her daughter Loren reside at Foxcroft School in Middleburg, Virginia.

This is the story of that small band of women who wore U.S. Marine uniforms during the Korean War. These women are a "lost generation" of women Marines who stepped into the breach between two wars and preserved the opportunity to be a Marine for those who were as yet unborn. They were, in fact, a "thin green line"--and they stood fast, just like Marines are taught to do.

This book tells in non-technical language how the British Navy contributed to the development of naval radar in World War 2. Addressed to the general reader, it tells not only the technical story in simple terms, but also of the operational use of shipborne radar at sea - for warning, for fire control, for fighter direction, for navigation, in all theatres of war - and particularly about the people who designed and fitted the equipment, and those who used it at sea.

Previous books written about naval warfare in the Baltic from 1939 to 1945 focus only on single navies, while the role of smaller secondary players--the Finnish, Danish or Swedish navies--tends to be ignored. This book looks at the overall picture, with each player receiving his proper due. One of the narrow seas, the Baltic has a set of characteristics and operational problems different from those on any open ocean. It is these challenges that this book seeks to emphasize, challenges which the U.S. Navy will now face.

This engaging book plunges readers into the culture shock of Marine Officer Candidates School, a ten-week physical, intellectual, and emotional testing ground so grueling that every fourth candidate fails to complete.

What does it take to become a Marine Officer? This engaging book transports readers through the culture shock of Marine Officer Candidates School, a ten-week physical, intellectual, and emotional testing ground that every fourth candidate fails to complete. The Sergeant Instructors' intensity is palpable as candidates are made to strip away civilian habits and attitudes, replacing them the Marine Corps ethos in the hopes of becoming officers. Anecdotes and personal recollections of OCS by two generations of officers provide instructive, poignant, and humorous interludes for the reader.

A second focus of the book involves research into the demographics, attitudes, and opinions of two groups of officers, separated in time by 50 years. This comparison across a wide range of personal and social issues and beliefs renders some surprising results that lie in opposition to conventional wisdom. From the older generation, the reader will better understand the lifelong impact of the Marine leadership experience. From today's officers, the reader will discover the motivations of today's allegedly soft and coddled young people to follow the difficult path to a lieutenant's gold bars. This book is required reading for anyone with an interest in the Marine Corps and its culture.

The Navy of World War II, 1922-1946 comprehensively covers the vessels that defined this momentous 24-year period in U.S. naval history. Beginning with the lean, pared-down navy created by the treaty at the Washington Naval Conference, and ending with the massive, awe-inspiring fleets that led the Allies to victory in the Second World War, the fourth volume in the celebrated U.S. Navy Warship series presents a detailed guide to all the warships that exhibited the might of the U.S. Navy to the fullest. Showcasing all the ships-both the famous and the often overlooked-that propelled the U.S Navy to prominence in the first half of the twentieth century, The Navy of World War II catalogues all the warships from this era, including those that did battle in the European, Mediterranean, and Pacific Theaters from 1941-1946. From the fleet attacked at Pearl Harbor, to those that fought valiantly in the Battle of the Guadalcanal, to the official surrender of the Japanese on the deck of the USS Missouri, this latest volume is the definitive guide to the warships that defined this pivotal period in U.S. naval history. Each volume in the U.S. Navy Warship series represents the most meticulous scholarship for its particular era, providing an authoritative account of every ship in the history of the U. S. Navy from its first incarnation as the Continental Navy to its present position as one of the world's most formidable naval superpowers. Featuring convenient, easy-to-read tabular lists, every book in the series includes an abundance of illustrations, some never before published, along with figures for actions fought, damages sustained, casualties suffered, prizes taken, and ships sunk, ultimately making the series an indispensable reference tool for maritime buffs and military historians alike. A further article about Paul Silverstone and the Navy Warships series can be found at: http://www.thejc.com/home.aspx?ParentId=m11s18s180&SecId=180&AId=58892&ATypeId=1

Watch Officer's Guide, 16th Edition, is a handbook for all deck and combat information center watch officers of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard afloat, in the air, under the sea, and ashore. Originally written more than one hundred years ago, and last revised in 2007, the book provides officers with guidance on the watch in general, communications, shiphandling, standard commands, safety, honors and ceremonies, engineering, and rules of the road - essential elements for success in standing any watch. It offers, in a single volume, a great deal of important information for aspiring officers seeking qualification, ensuring that they have the requisite knowledge and appreciation of the importance of what they are doing. For the more experienced watch officer, this 16th edition continues a long-standing tradition by providing a compendium of information handy for review and for the actual standing of a watch. The lessons and themes are shaped and geared towards the afloat watchstander; though they also provide a foundation for success in other areas of both military and personal life.

On November 30, 1916, an apparently ordinary freighter left harbor in Kiel, Germany, and would not touch land again for another fifteen months. It was the beginning of an astounding 64,000-mile voyage that was to take the ship around the world, leaving a trail of destruction and devastation in her wake. For this was no ordinary freighter--this was the "Wolf, "a disguised German warship.
In this gripping account of an audacious and lethal World War I expedition, Richard Guilliatt and Peter Hohnen depict the "Wolf "'s assignment: to terrorize distant ports of the British Empire by laying minefields and sinking freighters, thus hastening Germany's goal of starving her enemy into submission. Yet to maintain secrecy, she could never pull into port or use her radio, and to comply with the rules of sea warfare, her captain fastidiously tried to avoid killing civilians aboard the merchant ships he attacked, taking their crews and passengers prisoner before sinking the vessels.
The "Wolf "thus became a huge floating prison, with more than 400 captives, including a number of women and children, from twenty-five different nations. Sexual affairs were kindled between the German crew and some female prisoners. A six-year-old American girl, captured while sailing across the Pacific with her parents, was adopted as a mascot by the Germans.
Forced to survive on food and fuel plundered from other ships, facing death from scurvy, and hunted by the combined navies of five Allied nations, the Germans and their prisoners came to share a common bond. The will to survive transcended enmities of race, class, and nationality.
It was to be one of the most daring clandestine naval missions of modern times. Under the command of Captain Karl Nerger, who conducted his deadly business with an admirable sense of chivalry, the "Wolf "traversed three of the world's major oceans and destroyed more than thirty Allied vessels.
We learn of the world through which the "Wolf "moved, with all its social divisions and xenophobia, its bravery and stoicism, its combination of old-world social mores and rapid technological change. The story of this epic voyage is a vivid real-life narrative and simultaneously a richly detailed picture of a world being profoundly transformed by war.

This volume contributes to the comparative study of military conscription. Issues discussed include: a conceptual clarification of conscription as distinguished from volunteerism and militia service; the emergence of the citizen soldier model; patterns of anti-militarism before World War I; conscription in third world armies; gender-issues in relation to military service; the present phenomenon of child soldiers in Africa; the decline of conscript armies in Western Europe. A review section discusses the contribution of rational choice theory to the analysis of conscription into military forces.

The Arsenal Ship was the most innovative naval weapons concept of the late 20th Century: a stealthy vessel armed with 500 Vertical Launch System (VLS) tubes and manned by a crew of only 25 or 30 sailors, intended to rain precision-guided missiles on enemies from a safe distance; a "force multiplier" that was seen as an integral part of the Revolution in Military Affairs. The arsenal ship fascinated military thinkers in the mid-90s, although there was spirited debate over the wisdom of putting so many eggs in one lightly defended basket. Would it have worked? Read the detailed contemporary analysis and judge for yourself. An essential reference for any library on modern navies. Contents include:

An Arsenal Ship Design. Baumann, G. et al. Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey. 1996.

A Proposed Littoral Dominant Battle Group Centered Around the Arsenal Ship. Looney, John P. et al. Marine Corps Combat Development Command, Quantico, 1997.

The Arsenal Ship and the U.S. Navy: A Revolution in Military Affairs Perspective. Driesbach, Dawn H. Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey. 1996.

Can the Arsenal Ship Replace the Battleship? Lance, Joseph M, III. Army Command And General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth. 1996.

The Arsenal Ship Measures up to Joint Vision 2010. Abramson, Alan J. Naval War College, Newport. 1997.

Tradeoff Analysis Model for Arsenal Ship Survivability and Sustainability: Bush, Ronald S Cimiluca, Arthur E, Jr. Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey. 1996.

The Arsenal Ship Concept: Vulnerabilities to Special Operations. Dunbar, Christian A. Pietrantoni, Dino. Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey. 1997.

Arsenal Ship Automation and Manning Analysis. McNerney, Thomas E, III. Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey. 1997.

DARPA Arsenal Ship Lessons Learned. Hamilton, Charles S. DARPA, Washington, DC. 1997.

Naval forces have not yet received the attention they are due for their role in Operation Desert Shield. This chronological account offers a unique, and as yet, unseen level of detail regarding the Navy's contribution throughout the operation. Relying on primary sources whenever possible, this book discusses naval decisions in terms of information available to decision-makers at the time and presents the pros and cons for alternative courses of action, as argued at the time of the original decision. It details the Navy's role in planning for successful operations, its constant vigil against surprise attack, and its daily contribution to the maritime interception effort to enforce U.N. economic sanctions against Iraq.

Naval forces upheld the sanctions at sea in such a way as to avoid disabling a civilian ship and provided the glue that helped create and maintain the multi-national coalition. The complexity of the situation required the naval forces to adapt their command and control to a highly centralized operation which placed unprecedented demands on the Navy's communications systems. This study provides an insider view of the various plans, even those that were not carried out, and valuable insights into the personalities of the leading officials. Sources include first-hand observations of the events at ComUSNavCent, where the author had access to nearly all events and decisions; hundreds of thousands of messages and other briefing materials; the post-war analysis done by the Center for Naval Analyses; and interviews with almost all of the key players.

World War II sent the youth of the world across the globe in odd alliances against each other. Never before had a conflict been fought simultaneously in so many diverse landscapes on premises that often seemed unrelated. Never before had a conflict been fought in so many different ways - from rocket attacks on London to jungle fighting in Burma to armor strikes in Libya. It was only in time that these battles coalesced into one war. In The Second World Wars, esteemed military historian Victor Davis Hanson examines how and why this happened, focusing in detail on how the war was fought in the air, at sea, and on land-and thus where, when, and why the Allies won. Throughout, Hanson also situates World War II squarely within the history of war in the West over the past 2,500 years. In profound ways, World War II was unique: the most lethal event in human history, with 50 million dead, the vast majority of them civilians. But, as Hanson demonstrates, the war's origins were not entirely novel; it was reformulations of ancient ideas of racial and cultural superiority that fueled the global bloodbath.

Often overshadowed by other Pacific War engagements such as Midway or Guadalcanal, the Battle of Leyte Gulf was characterized by some of the most gallant hours in seagoing history: the U.S. Navy's defeat of the combined Japanese fleet during the invasion of the Philippines in October 1944. Involving more ships than even the gargantuan First World War Battle of Jutland and two hundred thousand men, it was the biggest naval battle in world history. It marked the last time that huge capital ships fought within sight and sound of each other. Using the personal accounts of the men who were there, Sears tells this mammoth and compelling story. This moving tale uses personal accounts of the veterans who achieved victory in the biggest and last great naval battle, largely fought with aging ships, untested reserve crews, and teenaged combat aircraft pilots. Often overshadowed by other Pacific War engagements such as Midway or Guadalcanal, the Battle of Leyte Gulf was characterized by some of the most gallant hours in seagoing history: the U.S. Navy's defeat of the combined Japanese fleet during the invasion of the Philippines in October 1944. Involving more ships than even the gargantuan First World War Battle of Jutland and two hundred thousand men, it was the biggest naval battle in world history. It marked the last time huge capital ships fought within sight and sound of each other. Using the personal accounts of the men who were there, Sears tells this mammoth and compelling story. The Battle of Leyte Gulf could have been the Pacific War's Battle of the Bulge. In a space of 12 hours, Japan, a beaten, cornered enemy, was able to devise and execute a strategy that very nearly pierced the heart of America's war machine. The real margin of victory would come from surprising quarters: from aging ships risen from the graveyard of the war's infamous first day; from small, hastily constructed ships with largely untested reserve crews; from fragile support ships never intended to be anywhere near battles of this scale; and from combat aircraft piloted by teenagers.

The ocean is one of the few untamed places on earth, unpredictable and unsympathetic to the lives lost there. For this reason people remain fascinated by its tides, currents, and mysteries. Life and Death at Cape Disappointment is the author’s first-hand account of life as a surfman at one of the Coast Guard’s most dangerous stations, Cape Disappointment is one of the most notorious Coast Guard units on the Pacific Coast, its area of responsibility referred to as the “Graveyard of the Pacific.” The book focuses on five of the most significant search and rescue cases during the author’s tour and how such work affected him and his colleagues mentally and physically. It’s armchair entertainment for those enthralled by the ocean. During the author’s tenure at Station Cape Disappointment, he amassed over 2,200 hours of underway time, routinely operating on the hazardous Columbia River bar, where he earned a reputation as one of the most skilled boat handlers in the Coast Guard. He has worked on and supervised over 430 search and rescue cases. One of his rescues earned him the Association for Rescue at Sea’s gold lifesaving medal.

'James Cable's book...has deservedly remained the classic work' - Geoffrey Till, International Relations;When Gunboat Diplomacy was first published in 1971, it broke new ground with its study of how, in peacetime and in the twentieth century, governments used their naval forces in international disputes. Now fully revised and brought up to date after the collapse of the Soviet empire and the end of the cold war, this third edition of a book that was already a modern classic has a foreword by Admiral of the Fleet Sir Julian Oswald.

From the American Civil War and the introduction of the metal cartridge in the 1860s up to the present day, The Encyclopedia of Weapons is an accessible reference guide to the most important small arms, armoured vehicles, aircraft and ships from all around the world. The book ranges from the first Gatling guns to favourites such as the Lee Enfield rifle and the AK-47; in terms of aircraft the book includes World War I biplanes, World War II’s Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero fighter and on to modern stealth aircraft; in naval weaponry the book features early ironclad submarines, classic ships such as Bismarck and the nuclear subs of today; from the first tanks on the Western Front in World War I, such as the Mark V Male, the book covers the development of armoured fighting vehicles, featuring such classics as the Soviet T-34 and modern tanks like the M1 Abrams. With an entry per page, each weapon is illustrated with two colour artworks – some of them cutaways – a colour or black-&-white photograph, an authoritative history on its development, production and service history and a box of essential specifications. Featuring more than 400 entries, The Encyclopedia of Weapons is a fascinating reference work on the most important tanks, guns, military ships and aircraft over the past 150 years.

This volume brings together a set of scholarly, readable and up-to-date essays covering the most significant naval mutinies of the 20th century, including Russia (1905), Brazil (1910), Austria (1918), Germany (1918), France (1918-19), Great Britain (1931), Chile (1931), the United States (1944), India (1946), China (1949), Australia, and Canada (1949).
Each chapter addresses the causes of the mutiny in question, its long- and short-term repercussions, and the course of the mutiny itself. More generally, authors consider the state of the literature on their mutiny and examine significant historiographical issues connected with it, taking advantage of new research and new methodologies to provide something of value to both the specialist and non-specialist reader. The book provides fresh insights into issues such as what a mutiny is, what factors cause them, what navies are most susceptible to them, what responses lead to satisfactory or unsatisfactory conclusions, and how far-reaching their consequences tend to be.

A comprehensive overview of the activities of the British navy in the Baltic Sea from the earliest times until the twentieth century. This book presents a comprehensive overview of the activities of the British navy in the Baltic Sea from the earliest times until the twentieth century. It traces developments from Anglo-Saxon times, through the medieval period when there were frequent disputes between English kings and the Hanseatic League, the seventeenth-century wars with the Dutch, and Britain's involvement in the Northern Wars in the early years of the eighteenth century. It considersin detail the major period of British involvement in the Baltic during the Napoleonic Wars, when the British navy fought the Danes, Napoleon's allies, and was highly effective in ensuring Sweden's neutrality and Russia's change of allegiance. It goes on to discuss British naval actions in the Baltic during the Crimean War and in the First World War and its aftermath. Throughout, the book relates naval actions to patterns of trade, to wider internationalpolitics, and to geographical factors such as winter sea ice and the shallow nature of the Baltic Sea. John D. Grainger is the author of numerous books for a variety of publishers, including five previously published books for Boydell and Brewer, including Dictionary of British Naval Battles and The First Pacific War: Britain and Russia, 1854-56.

This is a compendium of seven Naval Staff Histories which deals with operations by major German surface units as follows: the destruction of the pocket battleship Graf Spee, by three Royal Navy light cruisers off the River Plate; the hunt for the Bismark; the Battle of the North Cape when Scharnhorst was sunk by HMS Duke of York in a snowy, night action; the escape of the Gneisenau and the Scharnhorst up the English Channel through British defences in the Channel Dash; the series of attacks on Tirpitz by aircraft carriers; long-range bombers and midget submarines in her Norwegian lair; and the predations of disguised merchant raiders such as the notorious Pinguin.

This volume deals with the first 15 months of the Mediterranean Campaign including the preparations for war and the entry of Italy into the war on 10th June 1940. The Royal Navy's attack on Oran on 3rd July resulted in the sinking of one French battleship and two others damaged with heavy loss of life while another one escaped to France. The attack, three days later on Mers-el-Kebir by carrier aircraft, damaged another French battleship in port. Also covered are the first battles against the Italian fleet at Calabria and Cape Spada which left one Italian battleship damaged and a heavy cruiser sunk. The account ends in August with the first Mediterranean convoy battle to run supplies from Gibraltar to Alexandria - Operation Hat.

This Naval Staff History, prepared by the Naval Historical Branch of the Naval Staff, covers the period immediately after World War II and the Royal Navy operations to prevent illegal Jewish immigration into Palestine, at that time under British Mandate from the United Nations. The Palestine Patrol, as it became known, illustrates clearly the problems facing navies conducting operations other than war, in particular those involving maritime embargo measures.

Destroyer Squadron 23 is the epic account of Commodore Arleigh Burke and the men and ships under his command in the South Pacific in World War II. Burke's leadership skills and innovative tactics, described in detail in the book, proved crucial to the U.S. defeat of the Japanese navy in the Pacific.