The book chronicles the Navy Medical Department's participation in Vietnam, beginning with the Navy's rescue of the French survivors of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954 and ending with the Navy's rescue of Vietnamese refugees fleeing the fall of South Vietnam in 1975. When American involvement reached its peak in 1968, the 750-bed Naval Support Activity Hospital Danang (NSAH) was in full operation, and two hospital ships-the USS Repose and the USS Sanctuary-cruised offshore. Whether the situation called for saving the lives of injured sailors aboard a burning aircraft carrier or treating a critically wounded Marine for shock in the rubble-strewn streets of Hue, Navy medical personnel were in Vietnam from the beginning of American involvement to the very end, saving thousands of lives. This book tells the story of the Navy Medical Department's involvement through stark and gripping first-person accounts by patients and the Navy physicians, dentists, nurses, and hospital corpsmen who treated them. More than 50 historic photos document their work.

Privateers of the Americas examines raids on Spanish shipping conducted from the United States during the early 1800s. These activities were sanctioned by, and conducted on behalf of, republics in Spanish America aspiring to independence from Spain. Among the available histories of privateering, there is no comparable work. Because privateering further complicated international dealings during the already tumultuous Age of Revolution, the book also offers a new perspective on the diplomatic and Atlantic history of the early American republic. Seafarers living in the United States secured commissions from Spanish American nations, attacked Spanish vessels, and returned to sell their captured cargoes (which sometimes included slaves) from bases in Baltimore, New Orleans, and Galveston and on Amelia Island. Privateers sold millions of dollars of goods to untold numbers of ordinary Americans. Their collective enterprise involved more than a hundred vessels and thousands of people-not only ships' crews but investors, merchants, suppliers, and others. They angered foreign diplomats, worried American officials, and muddied U.S. foreign relations. David Head looks at how Spanish American privateering worked and who engaged in it; how the U.S. government responded; how privateers and their supporters evaded or exploited laws and international relations; what motivated men to choose this line of work; and ultimately, what it meant to them to sail for the new republics of Spanish America. His findings broaden our understanding of the experience of being an American in a wider world.

David Mearns has discovered some of the world's most fascinating and elusive shipwrecks. From the mighty battlecruiser HMS Hood to the crumbling wooden skeletons of Vasco da Gama's 16th century fleet, David has searched for and found dozens of sunken vessels in every ocean of the world. The Shipwreck Hunter is an account of David's most intriguing and fascinating finds. It details both the meticulous research and the mid-ocean stamina and courage required to find a wreck miles beneath the sea, as well as the moving human stories that lie behind each of these oceanic tragedies. Combining the derring-do of Indiana Jones with the precision of a surgeon, in The Shipwreck Hunter David Mearns opens a porthole into the shadowy depths of the ocean.

While fighting on land continues to hold center stage, recently much more attention has been focused on the Civil War at sea. And for good reason. Naval operations decided the outcome of the war as the North exploited its significant naval and maritime advantage to turn the war on land in its favor. In A Short History of the Civil War at Sea, Spencer C. Tucker, eminent naval and military historian and endowed chair at the Virginia Military Institute, provides a concise and lively overview of the 'blue water' Civil War, or fighting on the seas and attacks directed from the sea. This volume covers the drama of significant naval battles, like the first clash of ironclads at Hampton Roads, the Union capture of New Orleans, fierce action in the Charleston Harbor, and the Battle of Mobile Bay. A Short History of the Civil War at Sea also discusses important themes, like the technological revolution in naval warfare; the impact of naval operations on U.S. and Confederate foreign relations; the Confederate use of torpedoes, submarines, and commerce raiders; and the Union's successful strategy of blockade. The struggle at sea might not have been as bloody as the fighting on land, but it was every bit as interesting and included a colorful cast of characters, like David G. Farragut, the North's highest ranking and most accomplished naval officer, and Confederate naval officer, commerce raider, and 'Rebel Seadog' Raphael Semmes. And the advances of naval technology during the Civil War are fascinating-from the use of new Dahlgren guns to the design and redesign of the ironclads to the extensive use of mines and the development of submarines. Prof. Tucker covers it all in this new book, and his knowledge and skills as a storyteller shine. A Short History of the Civil War at Sea will entertain and inform students, scholars, and Civil War enthusiasts.

The Marine Corps has always considered itself a breed apart. Since 1775, America s smallest armed service has been suspicious of outsiders and deeply loyal to its traditions. Marines believe in nothing more strongly than the Corps uniqueness and superiority, and this undying faith in its own exceptionalism is what has made the Marines one of the sharpest, swiftest tools of American military power. Along with unapologetic self-promotion, a strong sense of identity has enabled the Corps to exert a powerful influence on American politics and culture.

Aaron O Connell focuses on the period from World War II to Vietnam, when the Marine Corps transformed itself from America s least respected to its most elite armed force. He describes how the distinctive Marine culture played a role in this ascendancy. Venerating sacrifice and suffering, privileging the collective over the individual, Corps culture was saturated with romantic and religious overtones that had enormous marketing potential in a postwar America energized by new global responsibilities. Capitalizing on this, the Marines curried the favor of the nation s best reporters, befriended publishers, courted Hollywood and Congress, and built a public relations infrastructure that would eventually brand it as the most prestigious military service in America.

But the Corps triumphs did not come without costs, and O Connell writes of those, too, including a culture of violence that sometimes spread beyond the battlefield. And as he considers how the Corps interventions in American politics have ushered in a more militarized approach to national security, O Connell questions its sustainability."

The biography of Rear Admiral Lawrence Cleveland Chambers is an amazing story of one of America's historic naval men who overcame the prejudices of the segregated American South, who excelled and integrated the prestigious U.S. Naval Acadmy, only to become the first African American to command a navy carrier squadron, the first to command an aircraft carrier, the first to serve as naval aviator to attain the rank of Rear Admiral, and the first to command a naval carrier group. It is a deeply personal and revealing account of a remarkable journey of man whose career paralleled the geopolitical conflict of the Cold War between the United States and the communist bloc nations of China and the Soviet Union, then served as the Captain of the USS Midway (CV-41) during the evacuation of Saigon during Operation Frequent Wind, and how the challenges of his youth and his compelling life story enabled him to make the right leadership decisions for all of the right reasons.

The patch is a customized emblem designed specifically for a particular organization. An emblem is often displayed on patches, decals, plaques, and other memorabilia. Pride and comraderie in the crew is a direct result of the patch as a daily reminder that a specific unit is the best in the Navy. This volume covers over 1,900 patches of US Navy rotary wing aircraft in full color, covering the patches of individual helicopters, schools, organizations, air wings and detachments for all the squadron types HAL, HC, HCS, HCT, HM, HS, HSC, HSL, HSM, HT, HU, HUQ and HX.

This book covers the history of the U.S. Coast Guard from 1790 under Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, when the Service was called the U.S. Revenue Marine, to World War I, during which the naval agency, then called the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, was combined with the U.S. Life-Saving Service to form the U.S. Coast Guard in 1915. The Coast Guard has historically served with or under the U.S. Navy in national defense missions. The maritime conflicts in that time frame include a war with France; War of 1812-1815; clashes with pirates, slave ships, and the Seminole Indians; War with Mexico; the Civil War of 1861-1865); Spanish-American War (1898); and World War I (1914-1918). The Great War involved the USCG and USN in domestic and maritime missions across the Atlantic to Europe, merchant ship convoy escorts, and anti-submarine warfare. The naval period surveys the evolution of wooden hulled, wind powered sailing ships to fuel powered iron hulled vessels. The historical geography of the wars is illustrated with maps created by retired IBM engineer and military historian David H. Allen.

In the fall of 1943, armed with only his notebooks and pencils, Time and Life correspondent Robert L. Sherrod leapt from the safety of a landing craft and waded through neck-deep water and a hail of bullets to reach the shores of the Tarawa Atoll with the US Marine Corps. Living shoulder to shoulder with the marines, Sherrod chronicled combat and the marines' day-to-day struggles as they leapfrogged across the Central Pacific, battling the Japanese on Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. While the marines courageously and doggedly confronted an enemy that at times seemed invincible, those left behind on the American home front desperately scanned Sherrod's columns for news of their loved ones. Following his death in 1994, the Washington Post heralded Sherrod's reporting as "some of the most vivid accounts of men at war ever produced by an American journalist." Now, for the first time, author Ray E. Boomhower tells the story of the journalist in Dispatches from the Pacific: The World War II Reporting of Robert L. Sherrod, an intimate account of the war efforts on the Pacific front.

In the fall of 1943, armed with only his notebooks and pencils, Time and Life correspondent Robert L. Sherrod leapt from the safety of a landing craft and waded through neck-deep water and a hail of bullets to reach the shores of the Tarawa Atoll with the US Marine Corps. Living shoulder to shoulder with the marines, Sherrod chronicled combat and the marines' day-to-day struggles as they leapfrogged across the Central Pacific, battling the Japanese on Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. While the marines courageously and doggedly confronted an enemy that at times seemed invincible, those left behind on the American home front desperately scanned Sherrod's columns for news of their loved ones. Following his death in 1994, the Washington Post heralded Sherrod's reporting as "some of the most vivid accounts of men at war ever produced by an American journalist." Now, for the first time, author Ray E. Boomhower tells the story of the journalist in Dispatches from the Pacific: The World War II Reporting of Robert L. Sherrod, an intimate account of the war efforts on the Pacific front.

This book suggests that institutional culture can account for a great deal of the activities and rationale of the Royal Navy. War highlights the role of culture in military organizations and as such acts as a spotlight by which this phenomenon can be assessed seperately and then in comparison in order to demonstrate the influence of institutional culture on strategy.

This book provides a history of the South China Sea conflict and lays out the stakes for each of the bordering states and China's interaction with them - namely, Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Indonesia; it also examines the U.S. government's role in the region. China's Naval Operations in the South China Sea is highly topical; it examines the evolving perception of the People's Republic of China's (PRC) of the South China Sea (SCS), and Beijing's accompanying maritime strategy to claim the islands and waters, particularly in the context of the strategies of the neighbouring stake-holding nations. In addition to long-standing territorial disputes over the islands and waters of the SCS, China and the other littoral states - Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Indonesia - have growing and often mutually exclusive interests in the offshore energy reserves and fishing grounds. Many other countries outside of the region worry about the protection of sea lines of communication for military and commercial traffic, oil tankers in particular. These differences have been expressed in the increasing frequency and intensity of maritime incidents, involving both naval and civilian vessels, sometimes working in coordination against naval or civilian targets. Each chapter on the littoral states closely examines that state's territorial claims to the islands and waters of the SCS, its primary economic and military interests in these areas, its views on the sovereignty disputes over the entire SCS, its strategy to achieve its objectives, and its views on the U.S. involvement in any and all of these issues.

An excellent must-read for anyone about to deploy on anti-piracy operations (and for politicians and diplomats who ought to know about the practical aspects of dealing with pirates)." Warships International Fleet Review Named a "Notable Naval Book of 2012" by Proceedings magazine, Pirate Alley is now available in paperback. The book provides an in-depth look at every aspect of Somali piracy, from how the pirates operate to how the actions of a relative handful of youthful criminals and their bosses have impacted the world economy. It explores the debate over the recently adopted practice of putting armed guards aboard merchant ships, and focuses on the best management practices that are changing the ways that ships are outfitted for travel through what's known as the High-Risk Area. Readers will learn that the consequence of protecting high quality targets such as container ships and crude oil carriers may be that pirates turn to crime on land, such as the kidnapping of foreigners.

Is naval conflict in the Asia-Pacific region becoming more likely? On the face of it, this seems likely; nearly all countries in the region are rapidly modernising their navies and expanding their maritime capabilities at a time of increasingly rancorous disputes over sovereignty. This is especially the case in the East and South China Seas, with their supply of fish and largely untapped resources in oil and gas. Across the region there is a growing recognition of the economic importance of the sea, both for its resources and for the crucial shipping it facilitates. But economic growth goes both ways, developing increasing interdependence between the countries of the region. Expanding trade is subject to serious threats from pirates, drug-smugglers and other forms of maritime crime, and navies and coastguards are coming together to combat them. Which will prevail, the tendency to compete, or the tendency to cooperate? In reviewing the maritime policies of the major countries of the region, this volume aims to answer this question.

For five centuries, since Vasco de Gama's ships began making the Indian Ocean a Portuguese lake, many governments used naval force to serve their political purposes. The sceptre of the seas passed from one nation to another, but political success did not always reward the strongest navy. This selective, international history of naval force as a political instrument, whether in peace or war, ranges from Calicut, navally cannonaded in 1501, to Baghdad, assailed by sea launched missiles in 1991.

"Remarkable . . . a feat of historical reconstruction." -Paul Kennedy, New York Times-bestselling author of The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers. The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous campaign of World War II, climaxed in 1943, when Germany came closest to interrupting Allied supply lines and perhaps winning the war. In March of that year, German U-boats scored their last great triumph, destroying nearly 150,000 tons of supplies and fuel.

This new book reveals the part played by the eight Bustler Class Rescue Tugs built at the Henry Robb Shipyard during the Second World War and will shed more light on the almost-forgotten part played by this country's mariners. The men and women who were rescued under the most trying of times and dreadful weather conditions would no doubt have felt immense gratitude to the brave souls who formed part of the huge maritime effort, both in war and peacetime. This is the story of the small force of much-needed rescue tugs that were built during the dark forbidding days of the Second World War, when Great Britain had only the ships and men to bring in the raw materials that were required to fight against the might of Nazi Germany and its Allies. This compelling story shines a spotlight on the small, but very significant work done over many years by His and Her Majesty's Rescue Tugs in defence of the realm, and which benefited seafarers all over the world. The author's very detailed account of the contribution made by HMRT in general, and the Bustler Class in particular, is an excellent read, and has brought to life the immense impact that these rescue tugs have had over many years, usually in dire circumstances, and especially during the Second World War. Many of these ships also served with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) and this story recognises the part played by these heroic rescue tugs in accounts of many convoys that crossed the seas and were attacked by hostile forces. This fine volume will help to raise the profile of these magnificent small and immensely powerful vessels, and of course their highly-skilled crews without whom these heroic achievements would not have been possible.

In this memoir spanning nine decades, Lieutenant Colonel C.F. Jerram (1882-1969) of the Royal Marines recounts his life and military service through both world wars. Jerram describes in candid detail his late 19th-century childhood in Devon and Cornwall, the late Victorian and Edwardian Royal Navy, the Royal Navy's Far East Station, a traditional Corps of Marines, the Gallipoli Campaign, the World War I Western Front and the interwar and World War II years. His experience and insight convey two fundamental lessons: ""Know thy profession and look after those for whom you are responsible."" An essay by the editor, based on other sources, provides a broader perspective on Jerram, whose approach to professional military service is still pertinent today.

With a proud tradition reaching back to its founding in 1845, the United States Naval Academy today pursues its role as the nation’s premier institution dedicated to teaching and molding the naval leaders of tomorrow. Graduates of the academy include famous athletes, fleet commanders of the world wars, and astronauts. Great Americans like George Dewey, Chester W. Nimitz, and Alan B. Shepard are but a few of the many graduates whose contributions to the defense and dexterity of the United States are legendary. In stunning black-and-white photography, Historic Photos of United States Naval Academy tours the institution from its earliest days up to recent times, encapsulating its history in nearly 200 images from the storehouse of the academy, the Library of Congress, and other key archives. Through captions and essays, author James Cheevers does commendable work recounting the story of this unique school, pivotal to maintaining the nation’s naval supremacy on the seven seas.

This fully illustrated reference book charts the complete history of frigates, from their post-World War I function as escort vessels, their role as sloops and corvettes, and their subsequent transformation into post-World War II anti-submarine vessels. A country-by-country directory of over 70 classes describes the main characteristics of each vessel. Each entry, with its expert commentary and high-quality photography, is accompanied by a specification box detailing country of origin, displacement, dimensions, armament, machinery, power, performance and protection. A useful glossary containing definitions of key naval terms is included at the back of the book. With its lively narrative and over 235 photographs, this authoritative volume provides historians and enthusiasts with key information about these important naval vessels.

Spindrift is a collection of true seagoing anecdotes about the experiences of three brothers, each of whom served aboard U.S. Navy ships during his service. One of the authors was a Torpedoman Second Class on U.S.S. Barbero, a guided missile diesel submarine in the early 1950s. The second author served as a seagoing Marine Corporal aboard the aircraft carrier, U.S.S. Wasp during the 1960s. The third author, a career Naval Aviator, served aboard a number of aircraft carriers over a 33 year career ultimately retiring as a Rear Admiral. The three authors present to the reader three different perspectives and three different writing styles about three different periods in the history of the U.S. Navy. The perspectives are the submarine service, the seagoing Marine Corps aspects of life aboard an anti-submarine warfare aircraft carrier and the attack carrier Navy. The book is divided into four parts: the first deals with life aboard diesel submarines in the 1950s as well as nuclear-powered submarine operations in the 1970s. The torpedoman, Dan and his aviator brother, Paul provide the anecdotes in this part. Part II deals with surface ships operations over a thirty year period (1952-1982) and is written exclusively by brother, Paul, the aviator. Part III deals with aspects of aircraft carrier operations over the same thirty year period and is written by the Marine, Bob and his aviator brother, Paul. Part IV deals with women in Naval Aviation and the anecdotes contained therein come from the experiences of the aviator. The subject matter of the anecdotes ranges from the sublime to the ridiculous ... interspersing humor with adventure, and excitement with introspection. The underlying theme of the stories stresses the notion that the sea services seem to contain more than their share of genuine, all-American characters.

Civil War Navies 1855-1883 is the second in the five-volume US Navy Warships encyclopedia set. This valuable reference lists the ships of the U.S. Navy and Confederate Navy during the Civil War and the years immediately following - a significant period in the evolution of warships, the use of steam propulsion, and the development of ordnance. Civil War Navies provides a wealth and variety of material not found in other books on the subject and will save the reader the effort needed to track down information in multiple sources. Each ship's size and time and place of construction are listed, along with particulars of naval service. The author provides historical details that include actions fought, damage sustained, prizes taken, ships sunk, and dates in and out of commission, as well as information about when the ship left the Navy, names used in other services, and its ultimate fate. 140 photographs, including one of the Confederate cruiser Alabama recently uncovered by the author further contribute to this indispensable volume. This definitive record of Civil War ships updates the author's previous work and will find a lasting place among naval reference works.

Prior to this book's original publication in 1959 little had been done to dispel confusion regarding what really happened to the French Navy during World War II. Few people realized the tragic situation of a country forced to capitulate to a traditional enemy. After this humiliating experience, the Navy, in its attempts to preserve France's foreign possessions, and to supply the mother country, found itself torn between the conflicting interests of involved internal and international politics. Forced to scuttle part of the fleet at Toulon, the remainder found themselves viewed with wary suspicion by both the Germans and the Allies. That the French Navy was able to survive at all is a minor miracle. That it so well preserved its unanimity as to return to the fight and participate in the final victory is in itself a tribute to the moral, discipline, and traditions that date back to the crusades. The French Navy in World War II is now available in paperback.

Awareness of the leadership traits exhibited by Admiral Farragut in his famous order: "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!" can make any manager afloat or ashore more successful. Alec Fraser's experience as a Navy captain and the president of a division of Turner Broadcasting has taught him that leadership ashore can be modeled after centuries of leadership at sea. In Damn the Torpedoes! Fraser utilizes his own experiences in the U.S. Navy and the corporate world to illustrate this concept. Within the first sixty seconds of his induction to the U.S. Naval Academy, Midshipman Fraser was posed with a question to which he answered, "I don't know." This quickly proved to be an unacceptable answer in the Navy, regardless of the question. While doing the requisite push-ups that followed, he learned that there were only four ways to respond to a question or an order: "No excuse, sir," "I'll find out, sir," "Yes/no sir," and "Aye-aye, sir." From these four responses Fraser learned the four key concepts to being an effective leader afloat or ashore: accountability, thinking ahead, ethics, and motivation. Damn the Torpedoes! offers concrete advice for leading in the work place--giving step-by-step recommendations to encourage readers into adopting this different way of approaching leadership. Providing a fresh and unconventional perspective, Captain Fraser gives personal and historic examples about the leadership traits of ship captains and suggests how leaders in any organization may adapt them to make their careers and businesses successful. According to Fraser, these four key leadership concepts are the basic principles necessary to prevent organizational chaos best summed up by a Wall Street Journal editorial on leadership at sea and ashore: "When men lose confidence and trust in those who lead, order disintegrates into chaos and purposeful ships into uncontrollable derelicts."

Leading academics from around the world, who specialize in analysing maritime strategic issues, deliberate the impact of the American 'pivot' or 're-balance' strategy, and the 'Air-Sea Battle' operational concept, on the maritime power and posture of a number of selected states. Intending to strengthen US economic, diplomatic, and security engagement throughout the Asia-Pacific, both bilaterally and multilaterally, the re-balance stands out as one of the Obama administration's most far-sighted and ambitious foreign policy initiatives.