Book Reviews

John M. Anderson. Time and Tides. a midshipman rather than apprentice) Some Memories of a Seafaring Life. was in its twilight years. By the end of Ladysmith, BC: self-published, 2019. the decade container traffic was boom- 236pp., illustrations, map, CDN ing; Alfred Holt and Company went out $20.00, paper; ISBN 978-1-7750948- of business in 1988. 1-4. (Available from the author: capta@ Once qualified as a mate, John telus.net, plus $5.00 postage.) Anderson moved on and, after winter voyages to Finland from Britain, did Books by contemporary ocean-going several voyages in breakbulk and bulk mariners are hard to find, and descrip- freighters operated by Canadian Pacif- tions of seafaring in Canadian waters, ic Shipping in the late 60s. These in- including the Arctic, are rarer still. cluded hauling lumber from Vancou- Time and Tides is a first-person account ver Island to Japan and returning with of over forty years at sea by a master automobiles; other voyages involved mariner now living on Vancouver Is- transporting BC forest products to the land. Captain John Anderson started UK. John Anderson spent 18 months in his seagoing career in the UK as an CP ships crossing the Atlantic, mostly apprentice in cargo ships trading to the in smart-looking smallish white-hulled Far East. He first signed on with the freighters with Beaver names trading legendary Blue Funnel Line operated up through the Seaway. by Alfred Holt’s, a firm that traced its The author began his Canadi- history back almost 100 years, designed an-based seafaring on the west coast its own distinctive vessels, and main- in the large weather ship Quadra; this tained them to the highest of standards. was followed by time in 96-foot Coast The way of life he describes in the early Guard Rescue Cutters. Feeling that his 60s—long voyages with leisurely stays opportunities to captain his own ship in exotic ports while cargo was load- were limited in the Coast Guard at the ed and unloaded laboriously, and the time, Anderson embarked in six years staid culture of the firm (he was termed of towing with BC companies, initial-

The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord, XXX, No. 1 (Spring 2020), 173-212 174 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord ly long deep-sea voyages and then in Mike Bender. A New History of Yacht- coastal waters and then as far as the ing. Woodbridget Suff.: The Boydell Columbia River. The narrative about Press, www.boydelandbrewer.com, these years provides a look at the vari- 2017. xix+441 pp., illustrations, notes, ety of work done by towboats—and the bibliography, index. US $39.95, hard- decrepit condition of several. The early back; ISBN 978-1-78327-133-7. 70s brought an explosion of oil explo- ration in the Beaufort Sea by Dome Pe- To many people, the word “yachting” troleum. John Anderson spent a decade evokes a rarified world of wealth and working in the north, and outlines with indolence, enjoyed aboard extravagant a seamen’s eye the operational chal- floating palaces. While such decadence lenges of drilling in the Arctic and the is certainly part of the yachting tradi- innovative solutions devised by Cana- tion, it does not define it. Mike Bender dian industry. seeks to broaden our knowledge of both Captain Anderson’s final two de- what yachting is, and why it matters. cades at sea starting in the mid-80s Despite the all-encompassing na- were with the Canadian government in ture of its title, A New History of Yacht- survey ships and finally, in the light ice- ing is really a history of yachting in breaker Sir Wilfred Laurier. He writes Great Britain. The formation of yacht ruefully that under both Liberal and clubs in the colonies I s mentioned, Conservative governments, there was a and the New York Yacht Club makes constant drumbeat of reducing funding. a brief appearance in connection with He eventually became master of several the America’s Cup race; otherwise, ships and has much to say about what the author essentially restricts himself it was like to serve in and handle the to developments within the United survey ships Parizeau and John P Tully, Kingdom. Such insularity is both dat- and Wilfred Laurier. He also writes in ed—the time when Britannia ruled the detail about the work these ships were waves has long passed—and limits his doing including voyages to the western potential audience. Arctic. His accounts of scientific sur- The book’s coverage is otherwise veys carefully describe instrumenta- comprehensive. Unlike previous histo- tion, what was being investigated and ries that have related only the story of advances in navigational technology. aristocratic sailing, Bender chronicles John Anderson became a keen observer all aspects: from amateur boat-build- of marine birds and other life; an entire ing to women sailors, and everything chapter is devoted to his observations in between. This includes ocean rac- of whales and porpoises in the North ing, adult dinghy sailing (which, as he Pacific. correctly points out, is often consid- Time and Tides is illustrated by in- ered infra dig but has brought much teresting photos taken over the years low-cost pleasure to many people, both by the author. This is a straightforward one-design racers and cruisers), fami- account of a seagoing career spent in ly circumnavigations, and recreational several types of vessel and a welcome therapy for the physically and mental- record of time operating out of the Ca- ly challenged. All of these subsets are nadian west coast. described in their social context: e.g., ‘Corinthian’ yachting (adventurous Jan Drent cruising in small, simple boats, without Victoria, British Columbia the assistance of paid ‘hands’) devel- Book Reviews 175 oped as the mercantile and professional 40,000 miles at sea, and holds the Roy- classes flourished in the late Victorian al Yachting Association’s Yachtmaster era, while the Second World War result- Ocean certificate—he is well qualified ed in an appetite for risk that led some to provide an expert perspective on re- veterans to engage in long-distance cent developments. voyages that would previously have The concluding chapter, “After the been considered unduly hazardous. Crash”, attempts to predict yachting’s To a large extent, A New History future. While the discussion makes for of Yachting is about yacht clubs: their rather depressing reading—some par- foundations, their customs and tradi- ticipation numbers are shrinking, the tions, whether they serve a purpose, cost of ownership is increasing, a few and whether they will survive. One re- clubs are struggling—Bender makes a curring theme that reappears numerous better historian than social scientist. He times is club members’ social climb- postulates that “the economic script has ing, encouraged by the longstanding been rewritten” by the 2008-2009 re- involvement of the monarchy (a tradi- cession (369), but provides no real evi- tion that Bender regrets has now come dence for that sweeping statement. Fur- to an end: “The Royal Family, with ther, his assertion that Britons’ ability to the exception of Princess Anne, does engage in yachting has been curtailed not sail…. The portrait of the young, by shrinking leisure time ignores 2007 tiara-ed Queen on the wall is almost and 2009 increases in statutory leave the only reminder of this once power- entitlement. ful sentiment” (378). A less innocent An encouraging trend is increased side-effect has been a snobbish desire interest in foreign charter vacations. for exclusivity: women, ‘working men’ Also noteworthy are the acquisition and professional sailors have all been by several prominent clubs of fleets the subjects of discrimination, which of small keelboats available for their is richly catalogued complete with an members’ use and interclub regattas. 11-point list of “Means of Excluding Such ‘pay to play’ business models are ‘Unsuitable’ Persons”. Published indi- well suited to contemporary tastes of vidual club histories often tend towards the younger generations, and bode well the hagiographic, but Bender does not for the future. In any event, the healthy shy away from legitimate criticism. numbers of competitors at the annual The text is accompanied by colour Round the Island Race, the routinely reproductions of seven paintings, two oversubscribed Rolex Fastnet Race, etchings, and 15 photographs (the great and the creation of new regattas like majority in black and white). While the RORC Caribbean 600 suggest that these serve to illustrate different peri- yachting’s appeal is far from waning. ods and styles of yachting, they form a While it may not be a recreation for the tiny part of the book and the emphasis masses, it never really has been. is very much on the written word. The This book contains a wealth of in- latter is supported by copious footnotes formed commentary, attractively pre- and an extensive bibliography. Bender sented. It would make an excellent gift discusses a great number of yachting for any Anglophilic armchair sailor. A textbooks, novels and biographies, and more cosmopolitan history remains to it is apparent that he has a genuine love be written. for his subject matter. As an experi- enced yachtsman—he has logged over Roger Harris Etobicoke, Ontario 176 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord David D. Bruhn, Cdr USN (Ret’d) & to Victory parade! A most comprehen- Rob Hoole, LCdr RN(ret’d). Enemy sive and carefully researched coverage. Waters; Royal Navy, Royal Canadi- There is a detailed description, an an Navy, Royal Norwegian Navy, U.S. illustrative selection, of many of the Navy, and Other Allied Mine Forces major named Allied mining operations Battling the German and Italians in throughout the war. This includes de- World War II. Berwyn Heights, MD: scriptions of Allied mining that took Heritage Books Inc., http://www.Her- place everywhere in the wider Euro- itageBooks.com. 2019. 385 pp., illus- pean and Mediterranean areas, plus trations, maps, diagrams, appendices, enemy mining there, and on the North bibliography, notes, index. US $40.50, American coast. There is no more than paper; ISBN 978-0-7884-5872-9. a mention of German submarine min- ing around South Africa, nor of Far East Mine warfare receives all too scant at- mine warfare. This is another subject tention by North American navies—in on its own, almost exclusively Ameri- peacetime. It is considered second- can (air-dropped and submarine-laid), ary to fighting a real maritime war. At as was Japanese defensive minelaying. present, the RCN has no mine warfare These have been partly covered in an- vessels, although their MCDVs (Mari- other book by authors Bruhn and Hoole. time Coastal Defence Vessels) were de- The use of bold face paragraph and signed, in part, for such duties. They subject titles throughout indicates the can be so fitted easily, and have done breadth of coverage of the author’s re- some mine-searching trials. Yet in search, as well as making it useful for wartime, by necessity, mine warfare in- casual reading of items of particular volves a major portion of naval forces, interest: ‘Mining of Norwegian Wa- efforts and personnel, largely from the ters,’ ‘Loss of HMS Cachalot,’ ‘Seven Reserves. This volume is a carefully U.S. Navy Deep-Water Minelayers,’ balanced operational study by two well ‘Awards For Valour,’ ‘Camp Norway In experienced ex-mine war officers. It Canada,’ ‘YMS Minesweeping - Opera- is a rare and valuable addition to the tion Commence’ (in opening Cherbourg corpus of Second War naval history, harbour), as examples. covering mining and minesweeping on The overarching problem, which ‘both sides of the hill,’ in considerable was given minimal attention before detail. Although listed as a paperback, the war, the threat of enemy mining, its quality is superior. The hundreds of is assessed briefly. It is the day-to-day photographs, maps and diagrams are, wartime coping with mine warfare— unusually, very clearly reproduced and planting them in one way or another in suitable. They alone cover the whole enemy waters, establishing defensive subject of that Second World War’s ‘own’ mine arrays off harbours and in mine warfare. Apart from its operation- channels around the U.K., New York, al history of ships, laying and sweeping Halifax and elsewhere, that occupies flotillas, ship classes and crews, there is most of this history, with appropriate a useful review of equipment, sweeping headings to make it easy to follow. For methodology, mining aircraft, by both almost every minefield laid by the ene- allied and opposing forces. The book my, there had to be a reaction—detec- extends from supporting background, tion, then sweeping or simply isolation post-war memorials, to even minor con- and marking. This in itself, as the au- nections like ships’ badges and a Toron- thors initially describe (one might say Book Reviews 177 ‘even warn’), required the acquisition mines in U.K. estuaries, which were of make-do civilian fishing vessels and sinking too many vessels. The tech- such; for example, the use of fast civil- nique involved an aircraft carrying a ian small liners as minelayers off North diesel generator and a 50-foot circular Sea coasts. For the Falklands war, these ring of cable through which passed an ships were known as ‘STUFT’—‘ships electric pulse designed to trigger shal- taken up from trade’—an all-too-clear low-laid mines. Typical of the type of example of lack of preparedness. Then problem, trials and errors, and eventual came the development of specialized successes of a large segment of the Al- ‘sweepers for magnetic and acoustic lied and enemy navies. In most cases, mines of ever-increasing complexity. as the authors show, it was a matter of The authors cover problems associated discovering what the enemy were do- with discovering how the enemy mines ing through unacceptable sinkings, re- worked without becoming tediously covering a mine, swiftly developing a technical. Valuable tables are included counter, then getting it into use by the of the predominantly used mines, by minesweeping fleet. The German use both enemies and the allies. Diagrams of combined and pressure mines was of sweeping methods and close-up pho- a major late-war problem, never fully tographs of equipment are helpful for solved. those not technically au fait with the For an assessment of the politi- minesweeping world. cal and strategic assessment of mine Off enemy ports or sea routes, from warfare in general, the review of Cap- the north of Norway to the Adriatic, the tain Chris O’Flaherty’s book ‘Naval book covers a multitude of operations Minewarfare – Politics To Practicali- to offensively mine enemy routes and ties’ is the essential and valuable addi- ports by air, submarines and large, fast tion to the topic. minelayers. Also addressed are Allied Authors Bruhn and Hoole are well sweeping efforts to combat German and versed in their subject, only marginal- Italian counter-efforts. Where possible ly venturing into fields of assessing the from accessible records, results are not- over-all national strategic war results of ed. Here the authors use a multitude either operational or defensive mine- of short tables: ships involved, with laying. The tables of forces and ships their C.O.s, casualties from ships lost involved alone will prove valuable for due to mining or enemy attack during anyone interested in further research these operations. For enemy mining off into the various historical aspects and Trobruk and for the massive sweeping threats of minewarfare. The very de- plans and actual efforts for the Norman- tailed and useful index, bibliography dy invasion, several pages, even whole and chapter index notes run to some 32 chapters, are included. pages each. Any gaps in the story would A declaration of personal associa- require a massive series of volumes to tion: I was one of those asked to write fill. For instance, in the mid-1960s, this one of the book’s three forewords. reviewer was in touch with Air Chief Highly recommended, despite that! Marshall Philip Joubert de la Ferte, who in late 1940 flew the first trials of Fraser McKee aerial magnetic minesweeping by Wel- Toronto, Ontario lingtons, trying to cope with the newly discovered German magnetic ground 178 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord Pierre Camu. La Flotte Blanche: his- lieu in 1846 with a single, small, pad- toire de la Compagnie de Navigation dle-steamer serving communities in the du Richelieu et l’Ontario, 1845-1913. Richelieu valley and linking the region Ottawa: Invenire 2011. 232 pp., illus- with the port of Montreal. Within ten trations, maps, tables, figures, appendi- years, the focus of the company had ces, bibliography, index. CDN $34.95, shifted to the river ports between Mon- paper; ISBN 978-0-98687-166-5. treal and Quebec. The second section of the book Following on the publication of two deals with the outcome of the merger earlier major works on shipping on the with the Canadian Navigation Company Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence: Le in 1875 which extended the territory of Saint-Laurent et les Grands Lacs au the company, now renamed the Riche- temps de la voile, 1608-1850 (Mon- lieu and Ontario Navigation Company, treal 1996), and Le Saint-Laurent et from the Lake Ontario ports of Hamil- les Grand Lacs au temps de la vapeur, ton and Niagara to the Saguenay, with 1850-1950 (Montreal 2005) this vol- extensive services in the Toronto-Que- ume continues the themes of the ear- bec corridor. Here too, Camu provides lier books but centres on the growth considerable background on the geog- of a single enterprise, best known as raphy and economy of the territories the Richelieu and Ontario Navigation served (including up-state New York Company. The author is a distinguished ports) and the changing demographics economist, geographer and scholar of the region. While there is no short- whose work has explored the develop- age of charts and tables this contextu- ment of agriculture, industry, and trade al information creates an expectation centred on the St. Lawrence basin and of discussion of how the development La Flotte Blanche (The White Fleet) is of the company related to these chang- an important contribution to the history es. Unfortunately there are few links of shipping in Canada. between the statistics and the compa- The history of the company is ex- ny’s activities. For example, there are plored in a conventional chronological extensive statistics on number of ves- fashion with the volume divided into sels, tonnage, cargo and passengers for three sections. The introductory chap- each year between 1875 and 1915 but ter is the one that best demonstrates the no indication of the proportion of these author’s interest in geography and eco- which relate to the Richelieu and On- nomics. He details the territory which tario vessels. There is also only cursory formed the catchment basin for trade mention of any of the competitors for which the company sought; defining it the shipping business in the St. Law- as the areas in the St. Lawrence valley rence region so it is difficult to deter- where the density of population reached mine the extent to which the company a threshold of 20 to 30 persons per was the dominant player or whether it square kilometre. He discusses popu- was one of a large number of compa- lation change, agricultural production, nies competing for business. shipping tonnage and other changes The final section of the book cov- brought about by, and contributing to, ers the period 1910-1913, “la grande industrialization and urbanization. He fusion des sociétiés de navigation in- then moves to the modest beginnings of térieure”, a period in which more than the venture, dealing with the founding 22 companies came together in a series of La Société de Navigation du Riche- of acquisitions, mergers , and take- Book Reviews 179 overs which eventually resulted in the of the Canada Steamship Lines records formation of Canada Steamship Lines. was transferred to the Queen’s Univer- These final chapters draw heavily on sity Archives in 1973. The richness of the work of Stephen Salmon including these records, which includes an almost his essay “This Remarkable Growth: complete set of the minute books of the Investment in Canadian Great Lakes company, creates a dependence on the Shipping, 1900-1959” published in The formal legalistic history of the company Northern Mariner / Le Marin du Nord and underplays the social role the com- in 2005. Although the period covered pany played in the region. It is often the is short in contrast to the other sections lack of corporate records which makes of the book it does introduce some of company histories seem uncritical with the other firms active in the region such a tendency to focus on the larger-than- as the Quebec and Gulf Ports Steam- life personalities to inject interest in the ship Company, the Ontario and Que- story. It is refreshing to see how the bec Steamship Company, Inland Lines, skillful interweaving of corporate ac- and the Northern Navigation Company tivity and the character of the company which are barely mentioned elsewhere leaders can be enhanced by coverage of in the text. the geographical and economic context During the almost 70 years of histo- in which the action is carried out. ry of the company, it operated some 55 This history of the Richelieu and vessels which followed technological Ontario Navigation Company should changes from wood to steel and paddles be added to any listing of significant re- to propellers in ships which ranged search into the history of North Amer- from under 100 tons to over 4,200 tons. ican shipping companies and under- Almost all of the steamers were painted scores the need for more work on the white which gave rise to the name “The history of similar concerns. La Flotte White Fleet.” Camu provides details Blanche is well-researched, well-writ- of the acquisition, service, and dispo- ten, and well-presented and deserves to sition of these ships. Remarkably, the be better known as it sets a high stan- first company vessel, theRichelieu , was dard for the history of shipping compa- still afloat more than a century after the nies. company was founded, although under different names and different owners. H.T. Holman Many of these steamers are shown in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island the volume and the images are prop- erly treated as illustrations rather than Phil Carradice. The Battle of Tsu- decoration. Other illustrations show shima. Barnsley, S. Yorks: Pen and the routes of the vessels and newspa- Sword, www.pen-and-sword-co-uk, 2020. per advertisements of schedules and xvii+184 pp., illustrations, notes, bibli- fares. The index is woefully inadequate ography. UK £19.99, cloth; ISBN 978- and unfortunately, reduces the ease of 1-52674-334-3. Distributed by Naval access to what could be an extremely Institute Press. useful reference work as well as a nar- rative. Author Phil Carradice is a journalist and Any history of a business is reliant broadcaster who has penned some 60 to great measure on the archival re- books and is a regular at the BBC. This sources which have survived and Camu particular book is a popular history ac- is fortunate that an extensive collection count of the seminal naval battle of the 180 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord Russo-Japanese War (1904-05) involv- Arthur at the tip of the Liaodong Pen- ing ironclads, or, perhaps the more fa- insula. Thereafter, the abortive Boxer miliar term is pre-dreadnoughts. There Rebellion of 1899-1901 had been put is an anachronism here, of course, in down by a combination of European that the battle was fought prior to the powers—accompanied by the United construction of HMS Dreadnought and States, recently victorious over a de- consequently the term would have puz- clining Spanish empire and building its zled all participants. For them it was a own. The Czar, Nicholas II, had ambi- battleship engagement, the first involv- tions to acquire Korea and Manchuria ing modern designs and hence, its im- for Russia and pressure built according- portance to history. ly. The Russians were quite confident The Russo-Japanese War of 1904- that their significantly larger army and 05 was a momentous conflict that is navy would have little trouble dealing significantly underplayed in the his- with Japan. toriography. The dismissal of the war Alas for Russia, this hubris was as not particularly relevant is largely a ill-founded, and it was humiliated by the result of the far more momentous con- surprise naval attack on the anchored flict of the Great War, involving all the Russian fleet at Port Arthur in January major European powers, their empires, 1904. This setback was underlined by and many others. The dust up in the Far the subsequent defeat at the Battle of East has been eclipsed. the Yellow Sea and the bottling up of This neglect is unwarranted and the remaining Russian ships at either the War of 1904-05 presaged in im- Port Arthur or Vladivostok. The land portant ways the Great War itself, with war was also not progressing well, with many lessons for all militaries that Port Arthur eventually besieged by the would soon enough be engulfed in that Japanese. To save the situation, relieve world-changing conflagration. It also Port Arthur and restore Russian pres- announced the arrival of Japan on the tige, the Baltic Fleet, with four new world stage, demonstrating that Euro- battleships, sailed to their doom at the peans could indeed be resoundingly de- Battle of Tsushima in May of 1905. feated by other races. In naval terms, The voyage east, under the command of it confirmed that the ranges at which Admiral Rozhestvensky, was epic, with naval battles would be fought were far the troubling episode of the attack on greater than some had considered likely British fishing boats at Dogger Bank, and brought to the fore the new tech- mistaken for Japanese torpedo boats, nologies of wireless and cable commu- being but one of many setbacks, diffi- nication systems. It notably provided culties, and uncertain basic competence fresh impetus to the Royal Navy’s great in naval skills. Russian courage was expectation of its own future ‘second never lacking. Trafalgar’ as their hour hove into view. This tale is told from the perspec- The occasion for the war was com- tive of both sides and moves along at peting national interests over northeast- an easy and good clip. The author’s ern China, while that empire was in the asides as to the mental state of affairs midst of its century of ‘humiliations’. of the principles serve to enliven the The First Sino-Japanese War of 1895 account. The brief summary as to the had seen Japan seize Korea and Tai- significance of the war and of the na- wan (then Formosa) and, in the after- val aspect related in the book is sound. math, Russia moving into Manchuria The various attachés provided much to seize the warm-water port of Port material for their home governments to Book Reviews 181 digest, particularly the effect of modern ler’s The Russo-Japanese War (2018) weapons on the conduct of land cam- or Larry Slawson’s The Russo-Japa- paigns, as well as the lessons involved nese War: Political, Cultural and Mil- with naval warfare. Britain’s Admiral itary Consequences (2019). And last, Sir John Fisher, the contemporaneous the book lacks diagrams to illustrate the First Sea Lord, took note of Japan’s na- battle. The collection of quite excellent val success and out of that experience illustrations does include a pair a maps, pushed on with the all big gun HMS one contemporary, to illustrate the area Dreadnought and her fast battlecruiser in which the war was fought, as well as near cousins HMS Invincible and her Admiral Rozhestvensky’s route from sisters. At the same time, the sheer in- the Baltic to the Japanese Sea, as it was competence of the Russian army and then termed (rather than today’s Sea of navy was well cemented in the minds Japan). Neither is particularly illumi- of various European powers, notably nating and there is no illustration of the Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm II, and ex- various naval engagements, which is an erted a malign influence on the decision unfortunate omission. for war in 1914. The influence of the Any reader who wishes a high lev- triumph at Tsushima on Japanese think- el, quick and engaging account of the ing involved concluding that they had Battle of Tsushima and the picaresque nothing to fear regarding faraway Eu- adventures of the Russian fleet leading ropean powers, as well as the emphatic up to that fateful day in May 1905, will global statement that their country was be satisfied with Carridice’s account. a force to be reckoned, which lingered Those that might prefer a more schol- into the middle decades of the new cen- arly analysis, with the more typical ac- tury, ending only with their gamble for ademic apparatus, will be well advised Pacific Ocean domination in the 1930s to search elsewhere. and 1940s. A few caveats should be noted with Ian Yeates this book. First, it is written in an infor- Regina, Saskatchewan mal style, with invented conversations and presumed internal dialogue that Julie Cook. The Titanic and the City some will find off-putting. Such an ap- of Widows it left Behind. Barnsley, S. proach is often a feature of popular his- Yorks: Pen and Sword, www.pen-and- torical writing and so not entirely sur- sword.com, 2020. xxxvi+140 pp., illus- prising. Second, the book would have trations, crew list, notes, bibliography, benefited from a final edit as a number of index. UK £19.99, cloth; ISBN 978-1- infelicities remain. Slips such as these 52675-716-6. are distracting, unnecessary and suggest untoward speed in production. Third, My first thoughts were ‘surely not an- the somewhat sparse resources quoted other book on Titanic—what more largely involve printed accounts by par- could there possibly be to write’?! Un- ticipants, including Admiral Togo’s bat- like many of the previous books on this tle report, and a small selection of sec- subject, however, this one deals mostly ondary works, relatively few of which with the ship’s crew and more impor- are up to date. Contemporary newspa- tantly, their families. pers and some websites round out the Journalist Julie Cook, whose research. Notwithstanding its objective great-grandfather was fireman (stoker) as popular history, the book would have William Bessant and lost with Titanic, benefited from more recent explorations of the subject by, inter alia, Sydney Ty- 182 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord has produced a compelling social histo- vor’s guilt’. Cook also raises the issue ry concerning the crew members from of the ‘women and children first policy’ Southampton who died during this fa- utilized during the sinking and the neg- mous tragedy. Titanic had a ships com- ative effect it had upon the burgeoning pany (crew) of 908 men and women suffragette movement in Britain. of whom 688 lost their lives. Among Previous books and films con- that 688, were 549 from Southampton; cerning Titanic have focused strong- hence, the city of widows. Those who ly on the passengers ranging from the died ranged from 62 year old Captain wealthy elite such as Astor and Gug- Edward Smith, on his last voyage, genheim through to third class passen- through to 15-year-old Bell Boy 1st gers seeking a new life in the United Class Arthur Barratt on his first venture States. When the crew are mentioned, to sea. Virtually no family in the city it is mainly the officers; while the bulk was untouched by the tragedy. Of the of the stewards, cooks, boot boys and 23 female crew, two of the three who stokers are just extra’s in the book/film died were also from Southampton. (such as the less than two minutes in the With her family connection, and the 1997 Titanic movie showing the boiler legend that her ancestor had given up room with Jack and Rose running past his chance of survival by helping an el- startled stokers). derly passenger to a lifeboat, the author The effect of Titanic’s loss gener- sought out more information on what ated perhaps the world’s first ‘crowd happened to the other families. Using funding’ with many thousands of social media to contact other ‘Titanic’ pounds raised for the widows and chil- families and the Titanic Relief Fund ar- dren of those who lost their lives. The chives, Julie Cook has provided a portal descriptions of the minutiae of the Ti- through which to look back over 100 tanic Relief Fund makes for very in- years to a much different world. One teresting reading ranging from regular can almost imagine the desperate scenes payment to widows for food, clothing, described in the days after the sinking; education, etc. —but only as long as as panicking wives gathered around the they behaved themselves in post-Vic- White Star Line office, in Canute Road, torian England. Widows who drank Southampton, waiting desperately for too much, or failed to keep their houses information on husbands, brothers, un- clean or had indiscrete liaisons had their cles and sons. funds stopped and the relief fund em- 175 of the 220 crew who survived ployed a ‘Lady Visitor’ to keep regular were also from Southampton, but as tabs on the Titanic widows. Cook points out, for many, survival The amounts paid to widows were came at a cost. Several suffered from tied to their late husband’s wage; the the then-unknown Post Traumatic higher his wage, the more the fund paid Stress Disorder—as well as being called the widow and children—regardless of cowards for surviving while so many their actual need. The widows of ‘black had died. Most of the survivors refused gang’ who toiled in the engine and boil- to talk about what they had experienced er rooms received the lowest level of and were soon back at sea; not surpris- funding; despite often having the great- ing as they still needed to earn a wage est need! This again proves the past is a and while many at the time saw it as foreign country—they do things differ- stoicism, it was more likely self-preser- ently there. Regardless, the relief fund vation for those struggling with ‘survi- ensured the bulk of the widows and Book Reviews 183 children were looked after and in some Jeffery M. Dorwart. Dorwart’s History cases lifted them out of the abject pov- of the Office Naval Intelligence, 1865- erty that would otherwise have ensued. 1945. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Money was still being paid out in 1959 Press, www.usni.org, 2020. xiv+400 to the last of the widows—just before pages, illustrations, notes, bibliography, they turned 70 and the British old age index. US $62.00, cloth; ISBN 978-1- pension took effect. 68247-391-7. The little known strike by the en- gine room crew of RMS Olympic, that This work is actually an single-volume occurred less than a fortnight after Ti- reprint of a two-volume history that was tanic’s loss, is also briefly mentioned. first published in 1979 and 1983 re- The men refused to steam the ship until spectively. In this omnibus edition, the sufficient and serviceable lifeboats were story of the US Office of Naval Intelli- installed. While the men were arrested gence (ONI) is presented in three parts. for ‘mutiny’, the lifeboats were fitted The first part encompasses the complete before the ship sailed. The advent of first volume which traced the history of the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) re- this office from its conception in 1865 quirements which flowed from the trag- to 1918. The second book, however, is edy is also examined. split into two separate sections in this The book is not without its faults release, with Part II covering the years and at times it becomes glaringly re- 1919 to 1938, while Part 3 covers the petitive—that children had their school years 1939 to 1945. Overall, this break- shoes pawned by families so food could down is very logical and conventional. be provided starts to lose its effect after It is based on a plethora of sources, the tenth mention. As does the damp- including archival records, oral histo- ness of Southampton dwellings and ries, memoirs, interviews and the works the constant lack of ‘nourishing food’. of other published authors. Despite the While these are important to the story, recent appearance of a semi-official his- they lose their effect by the unnecessary tory of the ONI, it still holds its own. repeating of the hardships suffered by Essentially, this is because Dorwart’s the working class families. The pho- study is an academic study based on tos used are mainly effective but those a wide range of published and unpub- of documents are virtually unreadable lished sources. His central theme is that without a magnifying glass. the ONI and its predecessors suffered Overall Julie Cook has done a pret- from a split-personality. In general, it ty good job of providing an insight into was torn between two often divergent working class Britain in the early twen- missions—collecting data on foreign tieth century; through the lens of the navy’s warships and weapons versus effect the Titanic sinking had on South- identifying internal and international ampton and its working class families. threats to the United States. This cen- Well worth the read, even if a little bit tral theme dominates this work, and ‘heavy going’ at times. It also proves combined with the usual “budget is- the 1912 tragedy can still raise interest sues”, helps to tie everything together. over 100 years after the ship plunged to Complicating this dual role is the fact its icy grave. that becoming the Director of the ONI was not typically a goal in itself for Greg Swinden most naval officers who occupied this Canberra, Australia position. 184 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord Given that the ONI had its roots gifted officer to hold the post, his reign in the post-civil war US Navy’s quest was short-lived. for technical information on the war- These themes with their highs and ships of its contemporary’s national lows form the most interesting elements fleets, its evolution was remarkable. of this unique study. Also pertinent is The office employed a range of naval what Dorwart calls, “The Failure of In- officers and civilian experts through- telligence Doctrine” i.e. inability to pre- out its existence. In the early period, it dict or detect the attack on Pearl Harbor was manned most often by officers who in December 1941. This came about for were no longer able to assume sea-go- a number of reasons. Despite trying to ing duties. Recruiting officers with recruit more officers throughout 1941, strong bureaucratic skills was espe- particularly those with knowledge of cially difficult. Its first successes came other languages, i.e. Japanese, the ONI’s with the establishment of naval attachés efforts were just beginning to bear fruit who were assigned to the various US by the end of 1941. Like most Ameri- diplomatic missions around the world. can agencies, the ONI was focused on This allowed them to collect informa- the Atlantic rather than the Pacific, and tion on the naval construction of the na- at the time, the office was just emerging tions to which they were attached, and from a bitter inter-office rivalry which led—indirectly—to ferreting out details only served to distract it further. None- concerning the naval ambitions of their theless, it did advise of the possibility host nations. Gradually, these missions of a Japanese attack on the USN’s Pa- drew the ONI into the realm of military cific fleet base. Dorwart maintains the intelligence and espionage. ONI was the one office that should have The ONI rose to prominence during detected and alerted the US administra- the Spanish-American war and its ac- tion to this impending attack. Having tivities in this conflict fleshed out its done, in his words, “two-thirds” of the mission within the US military estab- task”, he unfortunately left it to other lishment. An increased emphasis on offices to complete. At this point, the domestic security was added during threat was down-played and all US in- the First World War with mixed results telligence services received a black eye as some “home security assignments” for this epic fail. were given to less than savory char- Given that it is, perhaps, harder acters. As the twentieth century pro- to write a biography of a person, than gressed, naval attachés gradually lost an entity or an institution, one can say their access to their traditional sources that Dorwart has accomplished this task of information on naval construction very well. It is a very readable work and policy-makers as nations increased that flows well. This well-written and their security. Consequently, the ONI researched tome should serve as the “engaged” many civilians whose posi- standard reference on its subject for tions within international corporations the foreseeable future. The decision to allowed them to travel throughout cer- publish it in this omnibus edition was tain nations as agents. As for the “na- indeed a very good one and it should be val career” issue, in Dorwart’s opinion, read by anyone with a strong interest only one officer who attained the posi- in US naval history between 1865 and tion of Director of ONI actually saw the 1945. position as a career goal. Unfortunate- ly, although he may have been the most Peter K H Mispelkamp Pointe Claire, Quebec Book Reviews 185 Bernard Edwards. From Hunter to tive use of multiple Wolfpacks against Hunted: The U-Boat in the Atlantic, non-air escorted convoys around three- 1939-1943. Barnsley, S. Yorks: Pen and and-a-half years later. Lone ships, ei- Sword Maritime, www.pen-and-sword. ther making their own runs across the com, 2020. xiii+200 pp., illustrations, Atlantic or straggling behind convoys, bibliography, index. UK £19.99, cloth; are discussed along with full convoy ISBN 978-1-52676-359-4. attacks, further showcasing how al- lied tactics changed in response to the This work is an examination of the U-boat threat. first four years of U-boat actions in the Part Two, “The Turn of the Tide,” Atlantic through the microcosm of 14 is larger in scale at eight chapters, but chronological engagements. Drawing much narrower in focus, acting as a heavily from the records of surface ves- multi-chapter recount of Convoy ONS sels involved and official Kriegsmarine 5’s treacherous Atlantic crossing from war diaries, author Bernard Edwards at- 22 April through 12 May 1943. This tempts to show the evolution of the war last bloody major success of Wolfpack under the sea as changing tactics, tech- tactics nonetheless marked the end of nologies, and numbers gradually affect- open season for the Kriegsmarine, as ed the U-boat’s attack profile and effec- Allied aircraft, detection equipment, tiveness. Individual mariners and their and improved escort tactics led to the first-hand accounts are often used to sinking of six U-boats and the further illustrate attacks, chases, and sinkings, damaging of seven more. The strain providing a human element to these bat- and callousness developed on both tles between ships. A small collection sides during the prolonged engage- of photographs is provided in the centre ments is clearly shown through actions of the work to show some of the ves- such as the ordered abandoning of any sels, crews, and equipment discussed, search by the escort ships for any survi- with an epilogue, index, and brief bibli- vors of U-125 (171). The lower quality ography rounding out the work. of new, inexperienced U-boat crews is Edwards begins his work with a also touched upon. A brief two-page brief three-page prologue that briefly epilogue discusses the acknowledged covers the submarine restrictions im- defeat and withdrawal of the Wolfpacks posed in Germany after the First World later in May of 1943, which could do War, German pre-war submarine pro- with some expansion to better analyze grams, and the arming of British mer- the course of the Battle of the Atlantic chants in the months prior to September and the true extent of ‘Black May.’ 1939 before advancing into the main Throughout his work, Edwards of- context of the work. The 14 chapters ten tries to place the reader aboard the are largely presented as distinct indi- ships being hunted by various U-boats, vidual narratives without overarching describing the creaks and groans of major analysis, and are divided into two overstressed machinery, the wet con- parts. The first part, “In the Beginning,” ditions, and the often nervous nature of recounts six engagements from 3 Sep- the crews. He does sometimes get hung tember 1939 to 19 March 1943. These up on tangents that break the flow of showcase the evolution of U-boat tac- the narrative, such as diverting the ac- tics to their peak, from the early days of count of the SS Rockpool for two pages surfacing and giving warnings to crews to talk about Captain William H. Har- prior to attacks through to the effec- land’s First World War convoy service, 186 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord or further following people from the teresting recounting of the U-boat war narrative past the end of the case study at the ground level, showcasing how event to another engagement or into the ships and crews played a deadly cat- post-war years (54-56). If these sec- and-mouse game against the backdrop tions were perhaps reduced and moved of evolving technology and tactics. to an endnote format, it would help im- While not without faults, Edwards’ case prove the work’s flow. studies are a good introduction into the In terms of other possible improve- terrifying stresses and evolving situa- ments, several come to mind. The pref- tions of early to mid-war trans-Atlantic ace of the work could use an expansion U-boat attacks. For those interested in along with a detailed introduction. merchant shipping, convoy attacks, and There is currently no mention that this U-boat tactics, this work could act as a is a series of case studies except for on stepping stone to identifying ships and the book jacket, and there is no histo- engagements for further study. riography or source discussion. This could be easily included in an introduc- Charles Ross Patterson II tory area. Edwards also has a tendency Yorktown, Virginia to make references to events or tactics that he does not explain elsewhere in Richard Endsor. The Shipwright’s Se- the work. This includes offhand men- crets. How Charles II Built the Resto- tions such as using SS Athenia as the ration Navy. Oxford, UK: Osprey Pub- reasoning for a captain’s actions with- lishing, www.ospreypublishing.com, out explaining why that ship’s sinking 2020. 304 pp., illustrations, appendices, was significant or SSS transmissions notes, index. US $85.00, cloth; ISBN without explaining the significance of 978-1-4728-3838-3. (E-book avail- the three letter coding (24, 44). More able.) pervasive is Edwards’ mentioning of ship locations within convoy columns In his first book, The Restoration War- with no discussion of convoy layout or ship, Richard Endsor distinguished escort positions and tactics. The addi- himself as a talented illustrator and a tion of a timeline, glossary, and convoy meticulous historical researcher, docu- layout illustrations could fix a majority menting the approval, design, construc- of these deficiencies. Citations in the tion, and service-career of Lenox, a work are also almost non-existent ex- Third Rate of Charles II’s navy. In this cept for in-text comments, and the bib- successor volume, he outdoes his previ- liography is rather scant and its primary ous effort in documenting the business, source list is incredibly vague. The ad- the art, and the craft of the shipwrights dition of endnotes and the expansion of who built the Restoration Navy. The the bibliography’s “Other Sources” to link between the two books is through have more detail beyond “The National the Shish family of shipwrights (father Archives,” “U-boat Net,” and “U-boat and two sons) at the Deptford, Wool- Archive” would be greatly appreciat- wich, and Sheerness yards. The ‘Se- ed. Finally, given that each chapter is crets’ of the title refers to the contents of an engagement case study, maps of the a small treatise that John Shish (the el- battles would be helpful to illustrate der son of Jonas) sent to Samuel Pepys the scope of various chases and convoy on 1 July 1674. This treatise, entitled crossings. The Dimensions of the Modell of a 4th From Hunter to Hunted is an in- Rate Ship, expounded on the method of Book Reviews 187 developing the ‘modell’ or draught of a ship’s section (or ‘bend’) was then an ship. exercise in practical geometric con- To appreciate the element of mys- struction (by compass arcs) and could tery involved, it is necessary to under- be done both simply and accurately. It stand the difference between the modern was in the specification of the rising (pre-computer) system of determining and narrowing lines wherein lay the ships’ lines, and the system in use in mystery, and the art of the Master Ship- the Restoration period (and for some wright. The art and craft of projecting 150-odd years thereafter). Modern ship these curves not only determined the lines are defined by contours in three form, and hence, the performance of orthogonal (mutually perpendicular) the vessel, but also was essential to the planes. These contours (like the eleva- accurate lofting of the frame bends. tion contours on a topographical map) Shish is thought to have produced depict slices through the ship’s hull and his treatise at the urging of Samuel are shown in three views: the Body Plan Pepys to add to a collection of works (hull cross-sections), the Half-Breadth on shipbuilding that he was amassing, Plan (waterlines), and the Sheer Plan a collection which also engendered the (the profile, showing buttock lines). In well-known Doctrine of Naval Architec- the modern system, the curves in all ture (1670) by Sir Anthony Deane, the three views are irregular, in the sense Master Shipwright at Harwich. Shish’s that they are not constrained to be of document was distinguished from other any particular mathematical form, and works on the same subject (both within the only requirement is that they all Pepys’ collection, and subsequent ones) be ‘fair’ and reconciled by projection in that it presented the form of the ship, from each view to the others. Before that is the definition of the rising and the computer age, ship lines were de- narrowing lines, not in draught form veloped on paper, typically at the 1:48 but rather in tabular, numerical form. scale and then offsets carefully ‘lifted’ The author notes that this was quite and tabulated at full scale in triplet rare, bordering on unique, but provided form of feet-inches-eighths. These off- him with the opportunity to rediscov- sets would then be used in the process er Shish’s likely mathematical method of lofting (or full-scale plotting) and through a process of reverse-engineer- re-fairing to obtain the building patterns ing, testing various schemes of projec- for the ship. tion against the tabulated numbers. A In contrast, in the period in ques- full two chapters discuss this effort, the tion, the ship’s form at any section was comparison with other sources, and the defined by circular arcs which were tan- development of a new draught of the gent either to each other or to straight- Tyger, a 4th Rate launched in 1681. line segments known as ‘flats’. This A further full chapter is devoted to gave the apple-shaped cross-sections the construction of the ‘New Tyger’. The characteristic of wooden warships up “new” consisted in King Charles having until the early 1830s. The fore-and-aft discovered a wonderful solution for his fairness of the hull was governed by ship-financing troubles: while approv- generating curves known as rising lines al of funding for new ships was prob- and narrowing lines which gave the lematic, customs revenue was available critical arc radii and centres. Given the (without excessive bureaucratic pro- specification of rising and narrowing cess) for the “repair” of existing ships. lines, the draughting of any particular Thus Tyger, a 4th Rate launched in 1647 188 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord and now laid up in ordinary (in reserve, U-boat sinkings and convoy actions in or mothballed), could be “repaired”, studies of the long Atlantic campaign. even if in the end-result, only a few That’s the view expressed by Ameri- scraps of the original ship (and few- can academic Kevin Smith, one of the er of its dimensions) remained—such authors represented in this collection finessing of bureaucracy sounds very of ten papers. They set out to address modern ... This chapter reveals further this imbalance; most of them represent details of the shipwright’s craft, cov- recent analyses of policy issues and the ering the process of lofting, and of the overall direction of the campaign from lifting and transference of moulds and the perspective of the Allies. This is bevels to the ship’s timbers. The author a rich collection of insights by recog- illustrates the process superbly through nized experts in Second World War na- a sequence of 12 of his own drawings, val warfare. Four are British, two each as well as some reproductions of con- are American and Canadian, and there temporary illustrations. In addition, the is a single Australian contribution. author presents a most interesting gantt The papers whose themes are the chart, reconstructed from records, of most removed from descriptions of op- the full build sequence over two years. erations are both by Kevin Smith. “Im- Whereas the illustrations in the mobilized by Reasons of Repair” pro- previous volume (2009) are all in sep- vides an analysis of the impact caused ia tones (except eight pages of colour by large numbers of British merchant in the centre of the book), this volume ships out of action at any one time be- is in glorious colour throughout, with cause they were undergoing repair due numerous drawings and paintings by to weather, overloading, maritime ac- the author (including a dozen 1:72 scale cidents, and enemy attacks. He writes fold-out plans), as well as a number of that “Contextualizing maritime man- the Willem van de Velde drawings that agement and diplomacy with refer- are such a rich resource for ships of this ence to grand strategy is … essential.” period. This is a very handsome vol- (48). Having ships out of service due ume which complements well the auth- to repairs seriously limited the tonnage or’s previous book and will be a valu- available both for transporting cargoes able reference for ship-modellers and of all types and for military operations. students of historical naval architectural Smith notes that in February 1941, one practice. quarter of the UK’s active importing fleet strategy was awaiting or under re- Richard Greenwood pair. (62) This was one of the reasons Victoria, British Columbia that Churchill convened the high-level Battle of the Atlantic Committee. The Marcus Faulkner and Christopher M causes were due to inadequate repair Bell (eds). Decision in the Atlantic. The capacity in UK yards and inefficient Allies and the Longest Campaign of responses. The lack of shipping tied the Second World War. Lexington, KY: up under repair hastened the decline of Andarta Books, www.kentuckypress. British clout in grand strategy. In the com, 2019. 313 pp., illustrations, notes, author’s words, “…the premier mari- index. US $50.00, cloth; ISBN 978-1- time nation [was forced] inexorably to- 94-966800-1. ward a humiliating logistic dependence upon the United States.” (71). There has been an “excessive focus” on Supported by statistical tables, Book Reviews 189 Smith amplifies themes introduced by around the Royal Navy’s employment C.B.A. Behrens in Merchant Shipping of escort carriers (CVEs). The story and the Demand of War (1955) and in traces the delays in getting US-built his own Conflict Over Convoys (1996). CVEs into service due to modifications The figures are arresting; at any given to improve their capability. The author period between August 1941 and the does not mention that a special facility end of summer 1943 at least seven times in Vancouver, British Columbia, which more shipping was immobilized out of modified 19 CVEs built in nearby Ta- service than was sunk by U-boats. (68) coma, Washington, eventually became The problem was eventually solved the solution. In addition to the issue by a combination of new construction of how the RN incurred criticism from from North America, which began to the USN because it was using escort achieve prodigious levels in late 1942, carriers for tasks other than the Atlan- and repairs abroad funded by Lend tic campaign, Ben Jones presents some Lease. (“Throughout the war two-thirds interesting comparisons between the of British-controlled tonnage immobi- operations of US and RN CVEs. It is lized for repairs lay in ports abroad”. not clear whether Jones’ figures, dawn (64) Smith argues that topics such as from wartime studies, are comparing the management of cargo shipping re- carriers known in the USN as the Bogue quire further study: “These managerial (Smiter in the RN) class and the larger issues must not be isolated from exam- Casablanca class, none of which were ination of combat; yet a comprehensive transferred. The RN operated their es- history of the Battle of the Atlantic that cort carriers with smaller crews, which integrates its martial and managerial as- meant that American CVEs operated pects still eludes historians.” (49) Kev- continuously for 33-40 days as against in Smith contributes a second chapter 16-18 days. Because the US ships car- that shows the byzantine wartime US ried more aircraft, they managed more government and a plodding Secretary hours of flying per day, and “wastage” of Agriculture who stymied plans to in- of aircraft was higher in the British car- crease meat shipments to the UK, trig- riers, in part because of undercarriage ging a crisis in late 1942. weaknesses in the RN ASW aircraft, the Two papers discuss British air re- Swordfish. (146-7) sources allocated to the campaign. Christopher Bell, who has pub- Dispassionate studies since the end of lished extensively about Churchill and the war, including the Canadian and air power in the Atlantic campaign, con- British official histories, have demon- tributes a carefully reasoned paper on strated that strategic bombing, which Churchill, Grand Strategy, and the At- had starved resources allocated to the lantic campaign. He writes that Chur- Atlantic campaign, was not as effective chill’s overriding priority was managing as Churchill and other senior leaders an adequate level of imports. At times, thought. A chapter by Tim Benbow he was willing to allocate resources to concerns struggles between the Air what he viewed as “offensive” purpos- Ministry and the Admiralty. It criticiz- es and to accept heavier-than-necessary es the senior RAF leadership which was shipping losses. (21) This chapter, in- dominated by bombing advocates. Ben formed by the author’s familiarity with Jones writes about the role of the Fleet both archival resources and Churchill’s Air Arm in trade defence. His study role in wartime policy decisions, is includes a comprehensive discussion a masterful discussion of the British 190 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord Prime Minister’s involvement in the training system to prepare ships and Atlantic campaign. Bell concludes that men for the ASW war is one of the most the delay in closing the mid-Atlantic air significant but under-recognized ele- gap with Very Long Range (VLR) air- ments of the Atlantic campaign.” (167). craft might have delayed the defeat of This absorbing paper covers a range of the U-boats, but that this failure cannot issues, such as how groups developed be blamed on Churchill. (43) common procedures, the role of doctri- The opening chapter by Marc Mil- nal publications and of the Western Ap- ner, the doyen of Battle of the Atlantic proaches Tactical Unit (WATU) (whose (BofA) scholars is subtitled “The Case influence is arguably underestimated), for a New Paradigm”. Milner cites and the difference between having a Corbett’s contention that the outcome group commander in command of his of maritime campaign depends on sus- own ship or not. The article is obvious- tained effort and “interfering” with the ly based on deep reading and includes enemy, rather that on dramatic battles. comments on the alleged prewar “Cin- The dramatic turn of events in the At- derella” status of the RN’s Anti- Sub- lantic in the spring of 1943 was, there- marine Branch. It is all the more cogent fore, the culmination of several factors because of Admiral Goldrick’s perspec- and did not decide the outcome of the tive as someone with seagoing experi- long campaign to defend shipping. It ence of operational training and apply- was the system for the defence of trade ing doctrine. The narrative is supported organized by the British that ultimately by extensive citations from writings by won the campaign; “avoidance of the BofA participants. It’s a pity that the enemy” was the key to success. This writer seems unaware of the wartime rested on three factors (a) the main diaries of an RN officer who command- battle fleet which ensured that German ed an RCN escort group during the fi- heavy warships only sporadically at- nal eighteen months of the campaign: tacked shipping early in the war (Mil- Commanding Canadians (2005), edited ner reminds readers that enemy heavy by Michael Whitby. Goldrick charac- units were an ongoing threat in French terises the two official history volumes ports throughout 1941); (b) naval in- produced by Alec Douglas, Roger Sarty telligence in its fullest sense including and Michael Whitby as “show[ing] just routing shipping away from the enemy how official history can and should be using the Naval Control of Shipping or- done.” (153, ftn. 9) ganization; and (c) escorts He touches Marcus Faulkner underlines that re- on problems in allied management of cent examinations of wartime events at shipping but concludes that these did sea have linked operations by German not adversely affect the development U-boats, surface ships and aircraft in of allied strategy, citing the easing of widely separated areas as elements in tonnage in 1943. (18) The UK import a single campaign in the wider context crisis of 1942-43 (which features in the of British grand strategy. In a paper ti- chapters by Kevin Smith and Christo- tled “A Most Disagreeable Problem,” pher Bell) “was an issue of allocation.” he describes contemporary Admiralty (19) assessments of the never-completed James Goldrick writes about the aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin, launched training of RN and RCN escort groups. at the end of 1938. He demonstrates His central argument is that “The cre- that until the late summer of 1943, there ation of a sophisticated learning and was concern that Graf Zeppelin might Book Reviews 191 emerge as part of a carrier group. In ad- of contemporary exchanges between dition to laying out intelligence avail- American and British U-boat trackers. able about the phantom carrier, this The difference between how directly paper describes how the Admiralty saw the Americans and British chose to use the threat from surface forces in light of signals intelligence in ordering inter- the changing composition of the Home cepts of U-boats is a theme that crops Fleet. Fascinating. up repeatedly. In view of Marc Min- By 1943, the size of coastal con- er’s point elsewhere in this compendi- voys along the UK’s south and east um (also made in the useful Introduc- coats had more than doubled as part of tion) that the British aim in protecting the buildup for a cross-Channel assault. shipping was to avoid the enemy, it is “The Other Critical Convoy Battles of arresting to read a direct statement in 1943” by G.H. Bennett covers the Ger- 1944 by US Chief of Naval Operations man motor torpedo boat (Schnellboot) Admiral King. He remarked that the threat to these shipping movements. Admiralty tactic of routing convoys on This chapter is a thorough description evasive courses “appears potentially of successive developments by both one of the most dangerous operation- sides of motor attack boats and defen- al uses of such intelligence in the At- sive measures by the British. Once the lantic Theatre… consistently diverting Schnellboot attacks were defeated in North Atlantic convoys around his u/ several hard-fought engagements at the boat concentrations has caused the en- end of 1943, the Germans lacked the in- emy grave concern [about the security dustrial capacity to upgrade their boats of their communications.” ](278) This in adequate numbers. This chapter is was part of an exchange of messages noteworthy in being the only one in De- with First Sea Lord Admiral Cunning- cision in the Atlantic based extensively ham who had expressed caution about on both Allied and German sources. using special intelligence in hunter-kill- In “The Cruise of U-188: Special er operations against U-boats. The Intelligence and the “Liquidation” of Germans had become suspicions about Group Monsson 1943-1944”, David their communications after two of their Kohen loosely uses a year-long deploy- tankers operating in the Indian Ocean ment by U-188 to Penang and back in to support U-188 and other U-boats had 1943-44 to discuss Allied cooperation been located and sunk by the British. in exploiting special intelligence. The King’s view was “It is my opinion that writer covers many subjects in 36 pages. continued use of special intelligence for U-188 was a long-range type IXD that operational purposes does not in itself successfully brought scarce raw materi- involve undue risk.” (278) als back from Asia and sank several Al- Decision in the Atlantic has a good lied ships in the Indian Ocean. Kohnen index and four interesting photos illus- corresponded with U-188’s First Lieu- trating David Kohnen’s paper on spe- tenant and interviewed another officer cial intelligence. This is a collection of in the story 20 years ago, but his focus outstanding papers by experts in their is the overall context of how the Allies topics reflecting recent scholarship on were using intercepted signals. Along the Atlantic campaign 75 years after it the way he mentions Lieutenant John ended. B. MacDiarmid RCNVR and the Ca- nadian Submarine Tracking Room in Jan Drent Ottawa. Kohnen makes extensive use Victoria, British Columbia 192 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord Matthew Flinders, Gillian Dooley and biscuits which were part of the staple Philippa Sandall. Trim, The Cartogra- diet of the seafarers. pher’s Cat. The ship’s cat who helped In 1798 Flinders and George Bass Flinders map Australia. London, UK: circumnavigated Tasmania in the sloop Bloomsbury Publishing, www.blooms- Norfolk, proving it was an island and bury.com, 2020. 128 pp., illustrations, naming the water separating it from maps, notes. US $24.99, cloth; ISBN the mainland as Bass Strait. In 1799 978-1-47296-722-0. (E-book avail- Flinders sailed north exploring the Aus- able.) tralian east coast and took Trim with him to ‘guard’ the ships bread. When An entertaining and easy read about a Flinders returned to England in 1800, ship’s cat and one of the world’s emi- Trim accompanied him and lived at his nent cartographers. I was not sure what home. Both Flinders and Trim, how- I would find inside this book but was ever, grew restless and returned to the pleasantly surprised by the content and southern continent for more explora- style. Being a naval officer, the story tion. of Matthew Flinders was not unknown Arriving at the penal colony of to me (for a midshipman in Flinders Port Jackson in 1801 (not much more Division at the Royal Australian Naval than a decade after it has been founded College in the 1980s, his biography was in 1788), Flinders took on the task of standard reading) but information con- circumnavigating the entire content in cerning his cat ‘Trim’ was virtually un- HMS Investigator; thus producing the known. This book does an excellent job first chart of the continent. Trim con- in raising Trim from an obscure oddity tinued to endear himself to Flinders, to one of much greater importance in and the crew, with his many antics and the early history of Australia. particularly, climbing into the rigging Flinders was a young naval offi- to observe the reefing of sails (but then cer and skilled cartographer when he needing to be carried down as cats are embarked on a mammoth task which poorer at coming down from heights). was to conduct several surveys chart- The cat would also sit with the officers ing the coastline of Terra Australis when they had their meals (as they had (and it was he who gave the continent better food then the crew) and frequent- its name ‘Australia’). The Dutch had ly stole portions of meat; often straight charted some parts of the northern and off their forks. west coasts, as well as a portion of Van Trim survived storms, shipwreck Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania) in the and near starvation but it was while 1600 and 1700s. James Cook sailed returning to England in 1804, with along the east coast in 1770, but there Flinders, that he met his demise while were as many gaps as there was coast- both were held as prisoners of the French line on the charts of the day. on the island of Mauritius. Flinders was Trim was born at sea onboard HMS moved to write Trim’s story and this Reliance in 1797 in which Flinders was document (A Biographical Tribute to serving; he was one of the ship’s cats the Memory of Trim) survived and re- kept onboard to catch the rats and mice turned with Flinders to England and is that plagued all sailing vessels of the now in the National Maritime Museum era. The cat’s task was simple—catch in Greenwich. the rodents before they ate too much of This quaint and quirky book tells the ships provisions; especially ships the story of Trim from both Flinders’ Book Reviews 193 and Trim’s point of view (crafted by ries of brief biographies of naval offi- Philippa Sandall and Gillian Dooley), cers, some who served with Nelson, while also enlightening the reader on others who did not, constituting ten es- the colonization and exploration of the says. They include Admiral George Au- Great Southern Land. Trim–The Car- gustus Westphal (by Tom S. Iampietro), tographers Cat is a quality hard cover and his brother Admiral Philip Westphal publication, very well illustrated and (by T. Jeremy Waters), Admiral of the highly recommended. Fleet Sir Provo Wallis (by Jeremy B. Of note is that Flinders died on 19 Utt), Lieutenant Richard Bulkeley (by July 1814—the day after his magnum Jack R Satterfield), Admiral Sir Man- opus, A Voyage to Terra Australis, was ley Dixon and one on Rear-Admiral published. His memory, however, lives Thomas T Tucker (both by Andrew Z. on in Australia with his name perpetu- Frederick), Captain William G. Ruth- ated by a mountain range, an island, a erford (by Anna Kiefer), Rear-Admiral university, a hotel, a harbour pilot ves- John Peyton (by Barry Jolly), Captain sel and a former survey vessel of the Conway Shipley (by Rui R. Filipe), Royal Australian Navy. His portrait has and Captain John Perkins (by Douglas graced stamps, banknotes and Wedge- Hamilton). Some essays, such as the wood plates and there are no less than piece on Admiral of the Fleet Wallis, six statues of him around the world— cover well-known ground, while others several of which have a statue of Trim explore people who fell into obscurity close by. in the shadows of contemporaries, the best example here is Philip Westphal, Greg Swinden whose own brother George’s career Canberra, Australia eclipsed his own. Of the ten biographies, this review- Peter Hore (ed.) The Trafalgar er found Rui Ribolhos Filipe’s account Chronicle, New Series 4. Barnsley, of the short, yet full career of Captain Conway Shipley the most intriguing S. York: Seaforth Publishing, www. (“The Beach of the English Dead: Re- seaforthpublishing.com, 2019. 239 pp., membering Captain Conway Shipley”). illustrations, maps, tables, biographies, A native of Denbighshire, a follower of notes. UK £20.00, paper; ISBN 978-1- Earl Spencer, he saw his first action at 5267-5950-4. the Battle of the Glorious First of June. The subtitle of the Trafalgar Chron- After serving as lieutenant on a variety icle reads, Dedicated to Naval History of ships, he was made commander of in the Nelson Era. This is exacting what the frigate Nymphe, in 1807. On the the ongoing series has provided to help night of 22/23 April 1808, while block- fill in the larger context in which Nelson ading the French and several Portu- served. The events that influenced his guese vessels in the Tagus, Shipley led experience, but in which he may have a cutting-out party to seize the 54 gun had only a tangential involvement, the Princesa Carlota. Things went terribly officers influenced by Nelson, directly wrong, as the tide prevented them from and indirectly, those who served in his reaching the Portuguese ship. Chang- ships, on other ships in squadrons he ing target to the brig Gaivota do Mar, commanded, and those whom he never Shipley was killed as he scaled the side met. This edition continues this service of the ship, throwing his men into some with 21 articles. confusion. The attack failed, and Ship- The volume is dominated by a se- 194 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord ley’s body was not recovered by his mouth, as the Vice Admiral made his comrades in arms. The burial and lat- way to the beach to be rowed out to er efforts at different memorials to the HMS Victory. The descriptions of both 26-year-old officer completes the arti- sightings are brief but detail rich. The cle. Stories of officers like Shipley are excitement that perfused the crowds usually ignored, but they have a clear that gathered for Lord Nelson is tangi- and salient place in our understanding ble in Silliman’s account. of serving afloat. The interconnections between Only two of the remaining articles women and the navy is the subject of have Nelson as the focus around which “The Role of Women in London’s Sail- the authors weave their tale. Des Grant ortown in the Eighteenth Century,” by briefly highlights the careers of 19 Irish Derek Morris and Ken Cozens. Morris officers, a surgeon and a purser, whose and Cozens examine how women took time afloat intersected with Nelson, in care of themselves financially, when “Nelson was an Irishman.” Included their husbands went to sea. Their occu- are Captain George Farmer (Captain of pations ranged from serving as agents HMS Seahorse, and midshipman Nel- for money lenders, to managing the son ), Sir Peter Parker (whose path in- investment in shipping and other busi- tersected with Nelson’s in the West In- nesses (such as compass-making) left dies), and Sir Thomas Graves, third in to them by deceased husbands. Some command at the Battle of Copenhagen, were servants, or lodging-house keep- plus a number of officers who served ers, while others entered the victual- in various capacities in HMS Victory, ling trade. Many would have joined and other British ships at the Battle of the ranks of the labouring poor to make Trafalgar, plus two who commanded ends meet. This informative piece Spanish vessels on that fateful 21st. broaches an area of maritime history Clearly, there was a significant cohort that needs far more research. of Irish officers in the British navy, The Reverend Lynda Sebbage dis- who served the crown well, an image cusses the chaplains aboard ships-of- that runs counter to the contemporarily war (“Sin Bo’suns in Nelson’s Ships”). much-maligned Irishmen taken into the Religion varied widely among the of- navy as landsmen. The author’s single ficers. Some Captains were evangeli- endnote unfortunately refers the reader cal, holding regular divine services and to a forthcoming book on Irish Admi- requiring their crew’s strict attendance rals for any references. to Christian morals. Others were less The other article is by Susan K. inclined, holding services if the spirit Smith, who writes about Benjamin Sil- moved them. Not all ships had chap- liman, an American academic visiting lains, and chaplains varied much in England in the summer of 1805, to pur- their education, experience and skill at chase scientific books and equipment delivering sermons. Sebbage describes for Yale. His diary describes England the larger picture of chaplains within at war with Napoleon, everyday scenes the navy, and touches on Nelson’s chap- of London and its elite, and of most lains. Like the subject of women in the interest, his sightings of Lord Nelson. maritime world (afloat and ashore) reli- Silliman saw him in London, noting gion and its chaplains offers a rich op- the crowd that gathered around Nelson, portunity for investigation. cheering, and jostling to get a view of “The Russians on the Tagus,” by the man. He saw Nelson again at Ports- Mark West, is another gem in the col- Book Reviews 195 lection. This article ties diplomacy and ny Bruce), the use of hot air balloons naval action (or inaction) together to by the French (by Anthony Cross), and tell the tale of the Russian squadron un- the Battle of George’s Cay (by Michael der Vice-Admiral Dmitri Nikolaevich Harris). Seniavin, which found itself stranded A section containing nine coloured in the Tagus River. Sent to the Medi- images appears towards the end of the terranean to reassert Russian control of volume, detailing events, people, and the Adriatic in 1806, Seniavin defeat- memorials discussed within some of the ed a Turkish squadron at the Battle of articles. Two images from the National Athos, in 1807. The Treaty of Tilsit, Maritime Museum, one of the defeat of in 1807, formed an alliance between the French 74 Guillaume Tell (Plate 6) Russia and France. Returning to St Pe- and the other of HMS Glatton after an tersburg, Seniavin was forced to seek engagement (Plate 7) are exceptional. shelter from a storm, by reaching Lis- There are 54 other black and white im- bon on the Tagus River. This landed ages of people, events, and memorials, his ten ships into the dynamic situation and four maps are distributed through- between Britain, France and Portugal. out the volume. The French had seized Portugal and The endnotes for each article ap- thus, Lisbon. As an ally of France, the pear at the end of the volume, after the Russian squadron could stay. If it left, author bios. They range drastically, it would meet the British blockade, and from the one reference for Grant’s arti- being a French ally, would be attacked cle (as noted above), the numerous but by the British force. Confusing the sit- sparsely described list for the piece on uation was the unstable peace between Admiral Sir Provo Wallis, the handful Russia and France, casting Seniavin cited by former Secretary of the Navy as less than a fully supportive ally to John Lehman for his contribution on the the French, at Lisbon. Ultimately, the Decaturs and Lehmans, to the amply situation was resolved when the Brit- detailed offering by Mark West. ish army forced the French to leave The annual Trafalgar Chronicle is a Lisbon, and Vice-Admiral Sir Charles unique publication, combining the writ- Cotton worked out an arrangement with ing of enthusiasts, students, specialist Seniavin to surrender his ships to the academics, and independent scholars British, and be escorted to Portsmouth. on topics pertaining to the British Navy, The Russians stayed for months before largely between 1750 and 1820. This the crews were sent home to Russia. is Peter Hore’s last turn as editor, hav- By then, only two of the original ten ing produced solid volumes for each of ships were seaworthy enough to return his five years at the task. He has left to Russia in 1812, when Russia broke the Trafalgar Chronicle in the hands its alliance with France. Seniavin’s of Dr Sean M. Heuval, a faculty mem- crushed reputation, and posthumous ber at Christopher Newport University, rise to fame within Russia, are an inter- Virginia, who will have the assistance esting twist to the story. of Dr Judy Pearson, and Captain John This review, already too long, can Rodgaard, U.S.N. (Ret). They have a only mention in passing the articles large pair of shoes to fill. touching on seaports in North America (by Harold E ‘Pete’ Stark), the loyalist Thomas R. Malcomson marines of the American Revolution Toronto, Ontario (by Tom Allen), carronades (by Antho- 196 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord Hunt Janin and Ursula Carlson. Histor- in competing claims to water runs back ic Nevada Waters. Four Rivers, Three to the first granted right to that water. Lakes, Past and Present. Jefferson, NC; Needless to say, water law in the Ameri- McFarland Publishing, www.mcfarland- can mountain west is VERY complicat- books.com, 2019. 216 pp., illustrations, ed and the subject of much litigation. chronology, appendices, notes, bibli- It is against this background of ography, index. US $55, paper, ISBN: aridity, complicated laws, litigation, 978-1-4766-7261-8. (E-book avail- and history, that Janin and Carlson re- able.) late the stories of four Nevada rivers— the Walker, the Truckee, the Carson, Eight states in the USA make up the and the Humboldt—and three Nevada Mountain West region: Colorado, Wy- lakes—Lake Tahoe (often featured in oming, Montana, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, the famous 1960s western television Arizona, and New Mexico. Those show Bonanza), Pyramid Lake, and states have an arid climate and water is Walker Lake. The book starts out de- the most precious commodity. With the scribing the rivers but then segues into driest climate of all, Nevada is viewed Nevada history—the native tribes, ex- as all desert, especially by the majority ploration of the then-wilderness, trans- of visitors who only go to its princi- portation and communication, econom- pal city, Las Vegas. But most of north- ic history of the famed Comstock Lode, ern and central Nevada is mountainous which brought miners to the land, how and is fed by rivers and streams, while the railroads brought immigrants from western Nevada has several lakes. In the east to what became Nevada, the Historic Nevada Waters. Four Rivers, contributions that Chinese immigrants Three Lakes, Past and Present, authors made to creating Nevada, and a chapter Hunt Janin and Ursula Carlson detail on the more recent role of the Basque the laws, environment, and social his- immigrants to Nevada who were re- tory of the rivers and lakes that feed nowned sheepherders and enriched Ne- northern and central Nevada. vada’s diversity. For example, the fam- Some understanding of water law ily of one Basque shepherd, Dominique in the American mountain west is nec- Laxalt, is famous for one son, Robert, essary to understand this book. Because who became a renowned writer, includ- of their arid climate, the water that en- ing writing the American Bicentennial ters each of the mountain west states History of Nevada, and his brother Paul belongs to that state. While state laws Laxalt, who served the state as Lieu- vary somewhat, in general, a landown- tenant Governor, Governor, and a U.S. er with property by a watercourse—for Senator from Nevada. example, a stream—does not have the A chapter on Nevada water law fol- right to take water from that stream. lows and this is sufficiently detailed to Rather, that landowner must apply to relate the major provisions of Nevada the state for permission to use that wa- water law while not bogging the read- ter (a water right.) The key to obtaining er down in legalistic detail. After that, a water right is, generally, beneficial use the authors describe the various water of the water (for example, irrigation is projects, legal challenges, government a beneficial use of that water whereas agencies established, legal agreements water used in a decorative fountain is formed, descriptions of Pyramid Lake, not beneficial.) Equally important is Lake Tahoe, Walker Lake, and because “first in time, first in right,” meaning of the dry climate that firms Nevada that water rights can be sold but priority Book Reviews 197 soil, the occasional floods that these riv- history, legal history, hydrology, and ers cause in years of heavy snowpack environmental concerns, this book is runoff and some unusually high rain- for students of the American west and fall. The reader interested in climatol- of Nevada particularly. ogy and environmental issues will find these chapters of interest. Robert L. Shoop Interspersed with the water nar- Colorado Springs, Colorado rative are biographies of the men and women who were famous in along the John McKay. Sovereign of the Seas rivers and lakes described in this book: 1637: A Reconstruction of the Most the famed American author, Mark Powerful Warship of its Day. Barnsley, Twain, spent time in the mining camps S. Yorks: Seaforth Publishing, www. of Nevada; explorers such as Alex- pen-and-sword.co.uk, 2020. 296 pp., ander von Humboldt, Kit Carson (for illustrations, notes, bibliography. US whom Nevada’s capitol, Carson City, $68.95, paper; ISBN 978-1-52676-629- is named) and John C. Fremont, a re- 8. (E-book available.) nowned native American basket maker, Dat Lo La Lee, Julia Bulette, a famed This book describes the author’s brothel owner, public servants such as graphical reconstruction of the seven- William Sharon, Francis Newlands, and teenth-century English warship Sover- Paul Laxalt, all U.S. Senators from Ne- eign of the Seas. The ship was remark- vada, and others, male and female, ap- able in that it was the first to mount pear. The inclusion of these individuals 100 guns, was the largest of its kind at adds a human dimension to the narra- the time, was lavishly decorated, and tive. was also extraordinarily expensive. The authors close with discussions These attributes attracted great atten- of environmental issues, climate change tion during the ship’s life and after and and population growth, and what the this is certainly not the first attempt to future holds for these rivers and lakes. render the vessel in graphic detail. The For many years Nevada has been a high history and principal documentary and population growth state, primarily in visual sources—often contradictory— the Las Vegas area, but also in north- are explained in the first three chapters ern Nevada— the Reno-Sparks, Carson before the author lays out the basis of City and Lake Tahoe areas. Without his reconstruction more thoroughly. more attention paid to the issues caused The following twelve chapters cover by excessive growth, the future for the hull design and construction, fittings these rivers and lakes is not promising. and internal arrangements, decorations, The authors clearly care about the masts, sails and rigging, ordnance and state of Nevada and its water. The writ- boats. Each of these chapters refers the ing is easy to read, striking a balance be- reader to the appropriate plates showing tween too much detail and not enough. the reconstruction and, while it is a big The result is a surprisingly enjoyable book, they are designed to be read con- and readable book about a seemingly currently. The graphical reconstruction narrow topic. itself is presented as 68 black and white The authors themselves term this plates taking up much of the latter half book, “multifaceted,” (4) and it certain- of the book and 10 full colour illustra- ly is that. Combining the history of Na- tions in a centre section. The drawings tive Americans, exploration, economic are superbly executed and demonstrate 198 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord a high degree of draughting expertise, cellent. Outlining would have given a as one might expect from this author. more three-dimensional aspect to the The principal visual sources are also complex drawings, but McKay uses included in generous full-page illustra- shading to good effect to represent the tions—two in colour and two others in extensive decorations and carvings. black and white. The impression one The plates cover all external and in- gets from the book is fitting to the sub- ternal aspects of the hull and rigging, ject—large, detailed, lavishly decorat- and include detailed views of fittings, ed, and just a little controversial. ordnance and boats. Scales are pro- Some elements in McKay’s recon- vided where appropriate, along with struction will be debated and the shape measurements in some large-scale of the stern is the first that becomes ob- views, and the drawings are conserva- vious, quite literally, as it is clear on the tively but appropriately keyed. There cover art. McKay justifies his choice are some smudges and scanning arte- of a square tuck stern based on the only facts (e.g. plates 23 and 52), but they image available showing the ship from do not detract from the drawings in any astern and acknowledges that this inter- way and lend delightfully authenticity pretation is at variance with other mod- to skilled draughtsmanship. Together, ern sources (21–22). The extension of this graphical reconstruction could be the flat plane of the stern almost to the used to make a complete model and will keel results in an awkward afterbody prove to be a valuable sourcebook for shape that would have been quite ineffi- researchers. cient, where a more pinched or narrow All reconstructions of watercraft shape, even with a square tuck, may preserved in anything less than a pris- have been more likely. Hydrodynamic tine state are bound to be wrong, it is modelling and testing of the proposed just a matter of how much so. If one hull shape, along with visual evidence acknowledges that notion, and McKay of the afterbody section below the wa- clearly accepts that some of his inter- terline on other contemporary ships, pretations will be disputed (9), then this would add further credibility to this book may be enjoyed for its illustrative element of the reconstruction. While excellence and depth of research. The this and other interpretations are clear- author should be commended for his ly offered as conjecture, some stated as meticulous approach to such a daunt- fact are equally disputable. McKay’s ing subject, for justifying his choices claim that a round shot discharged from and for offering up his interpretations a smooth-bore gun by a powder charge for scrutiny in fine research tradition. “would travel at about a mile per sec- Such comprehensive explanation of ond” (139)—a muzzle velocity over each element of a graphical reconstruc- twice that achieved by modern rifled tion of this scope is indeed rare. The naval ordnance—serves as an example. book is recommended for its extensive Perhaps, in this case, feet were simply use of historical documentary and visu- mistaken for yards or metres. Neverthe- al sources, as an important catalyst to less, the potential for misinterpretation debate and for the superb draughtsman- of dimensions is discussed (19–21), and ship. Enthusiasts and students of early McKay is careful to explain the sources modern warships will find this book for dimensions elsewhere. thoroughly worthwhile. The number and range of drawings are impressive and the linework is ex- Mick de Ruyter Adelaide, South Australia Book Reviews 199 Captain Chris O’Flaherty, RN. Naval paragraphs to several pages. In itself, Minewarfare. Politics to Practicalities. this section is a serious warning to those Gloucester, U.K.: The Choir Press, en- who may regard this ancient weapon as [email protected], 2019. of little or easily handled concern; ‘just xvii+394 pp, illustrations, diagrams, a threat.’ tables, notes, annexes, bibliography, The major thrust of O’Flaherty’s index. UK £34.99, semi-cloth; ISBN work is to serve as that warning. 978-1-78963-086-2. Throughout, he makes the point that while publicised mining of sea passag- This fascinating, long overdue volume es and harbour approaches may be cov- is written by an expert, Chris O’Fla- ered, even complied with, by civilized herty, who is Captain, Maritime War- major nations who at least notionally fare Centre at HMS Collingwood, and would be in adherence to those 1909 has spent much of his career involved Hague Peace Conference Conventions, with clearance diving and mine warfare. there are those who refuse to publish While the first 50 pages are a general re- warnings but allow free passage to view of the development of mines and non-belligerent ships. The rise of mi- mine warfare, the book concentrates on nor inter-nation squabbles and outright the principles of the threat and the use wars by semi-rogue states has led to of this ‘pernicious’ device, a careful re- completely unregulated sea mining, view of the rarely-observed legalities costing many ships—and lives, thanks involved. These are surprisingly still to the availability of some relative- measured by infractions to the Hague ly simple mining devices, available to Convention of 1909. Among civilized the smallest of non-state organizations. nations, these regulations are conceived O’Flaherty describes and provides dia- as applicable, at least in part, to major grams of increasing levels of possibili- powers, just not from most of those cur- ty, threat and actuality. The correlation rently employing mines. of effort to threat to measures of suc- There is a fascinating and education- cess is not necessarily related to ships al recording of mining use on 24 tactical sunk, too easy a measurement when the and operational occasions throughout threat of mining is its major advantage, the world since the end of the Second at almost nil cost. World War. It offers a sobering review The final chapter headings indi- of the actual recent and on-going use of cate the value of this text above the sea mines. The problems faced by var- normal ‘this is what happened’ earli- ious warships and merchantmen, from er books on minewarfare: ‘The Law the severe damage to two RN destroy- of Naval Mining’ and ‘of Naval Mine ers in the Corfu Channel in 1946, in a Countermeasures,’ ‘The Statecraft of supposedly free passageway, through Naval Minewarfare,’ his conclusions in their use in the Indo-China war of 1965- ‘Measures of Effect’ and his valuable 1973, the Falklands in 1982, the Gulf actual ‘Conclusions (336-342)’. These War in 1991 (where Canada’s ships had chapters are what makes this volume so to be cautious of them), and more re- important and so different from earlier cently, off Yemen in 2017. (Chapter 3, histories presenting the use of mines as pp.57- 161, plus 15 pages of reference a mere adjunct to wider naval warfare. notes to these events). Each is a tale This text should not only be on the of threatened or actual encounter with bookshelves of those navally responsi- opposition mining, ranging from a few ble for preparations to meet the threat 200 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord of hostile mining of our harbours and tially intended to be a single book. As passages, such as the St. Lawrence estu- with his previous works on the Kriegs- ary, but available to those providing the marine, the author makes excellent use funding for at least a minimal counter- of primary sources from both the axis measure. Here Captain O’Flaherty and allies to present a solid chronolo- provides a close scrutiny of what is re- gy of operations within several theaters quired in statecraft to meet the all-too- of engagement. Contemporary quotes real threat alone. While he covers the and images are spread throughout the possibility of mining opponents’ waters work, and the main text is bookended (after all, he leads an RN minewarefare by a lead-in glossary of terms and unit school), the application of preparations organizational structures and an appen- to deal with the potential mining of dix guide to relevant aircraft introduced ours, quite possibly by the most minor from 1942 to 1945, followed by end- of groups—not even major powers—is notes, bibliography, and an index. where this volume is at its most valu- While this book is the second vol- able. An unusual, an essential, read for ume of the author’s first foray into the quite a range of leaders, apart from any- airborne operations side of the naval one with an interest in the subject. war, his pattern of analysis bears a dis- tinct similarity to his earlier work, Hit- Fraser McKee ler’s Forgotten Flotillas: Kriegsmarine Toronto, Ontario Security Forces, in which Paterson fo- cuses each chapter on a specific theater Lawrence Paterson. Eagles Over the of operation, covering the early dispo- Sea 1943-45: A History of Luftwaffe sitions of each theater in the first half Maritime Operations. Barnsley, S. of the work, followed by their late war Yorks: Seaforth Publishing, www.sea- situations in the latter half. For Eagles forthpublishing.com, 2020. Distribut- Over the Sea, he divides the treatment ed by Naval Institute Press. xvii+382 into three; France and the Atlantic, pp., illustrations, maps, glossary, notes, North Africa and the Mediterranean, bibliography, index. UK ₤30.00, US and the Artic and Eastern Front. While $44.95, cloth; ISBN 978-1-5267-7765- the book title implies a focus solely 2. (E-book available). on 1943 forward, the first half actual- ly covers large portions of 1942 for the This is the second volume of author various theatres as well, providing con- Lawrence Paterson’s examination into text and background for the primary pe- the history of Luftwaffe maritime units riod of focus. and operations during the Second World The first three chapters of the work War. Primarily focused on the period of set the stages for the various theatres of 1943 to 1945 with initial discussions of operation, covering assigned squadrons, relevant 1942 events woven into com- equipment, situations and operations. bat theatre histories, Paterson narrowed In addition to Paterson’s stated focus the overall focus of the work to be pre- on converted bombing units, there is a dominantly on the bomber units repur- definite early emphasis on U-boat escort posed for specialized maritime roles. duty around the Bay of Biscay, with the Additional aircraft units and pilots are Mediterranean operations more varied discussed when relevant, but the scope in nature to include sea rescue, supply was specialized to prevent the need to transport, and reconnaissance. The create further volumes in what was ini- northern units offer an interesting view Book Reviews 201 into effective Luftwaffe-Kriegsmarine alent during the final months of the war. interactions, especially with the joint The final chapter covers the bastion of reconnaissance and attack operations maritime units operating in Norway of U-boats and diesel-powered Bv-138 from 1944 onwards, beginning with flying boats. Worked into these narra- convoy patrols and ending with the par- tives are analyses of the construction, ticipation of KG26, the first dedicated training, and implementation of new torpedo bomber unit of the Luftwaffe, airframes and technology as the war in the service’s final evacuation opera- progressed, to include radar systems, tion right up to the official surrender of RATO units, and guided munitions. Germany on 8 May 1945. The appen- The seven remaining chapters trace dix that follows offers information on the maritime operations of 1943 on- five different airframes, each consisting wards, with the ebbing of Germany’s of a short summary, general characteris- fortunes becoming more and more ev- tics, performance, and armament. ident and its increased impact on the The only suggested future improve- various units. Italy’s defection from the ment would be a slight expansion to axis gains its own chapter, with detailed the appendix. Paterson does cover a accounting of the anti-shipping oper- variety of aircraft types throughout ations undertaken by German forces the work and there are wartime pho- against their former allies prior to the tographs interspersed throughout, but various amphibious invasion opera- there are no recognition style aircraft tions launched on the Italian mainland. profiles in the work to offer a clean, Throughout the work Paterson offers standardized, comparable view of the a good accounting of such individual different designs. If such images were flight operations, many of which are added to the appendix entries for the often blow-by-blow in nature, includ- aircraft types, it would help add a visual ing the He-177 on convoy KMF 26, element to the technical data and allow resulting in the loss of HMT Rohna to for a rapid comparison of size, scale, a rocket powered Hs-293 in “the sec- and structure. The pre-1942 aircraft de- ond worst disaster at sea for the United signs discussed could also be included States” (251-253). The efforts of unit this way. Such an inclusion would be leaders and crews to continue their op- minor in the grand scheme of the work, erations amidst ever dwindling supplies but might prove a useful supplement for and increased allied military superiority future editions. is clearly seen in the listing of aircraft Eagles Over the Sea is an excellent lost, the accounts of officers and men addition to the often neglected histo- affected by the attrition of their units, riography of Luftwaffe maritime opera- and the constant consolidation of units tions in the mid- to late-war period. Pa- due to losses and collapsing territorial terson’s compilation of official reports, control. The lack of sufficient numbers first-hand accounts, and insightful anal- of aircraft then leads to airframes being ysis weave together the various threads run ragged without the time or proper that made up each theatre of operation’s facilities for maintenance, resulting in combat chronology. Human actions further strain and hampering of efforts and errors, developing technologies, to maintain a presence for U-boat escort changing tactics, and the struggle to or anti-shipping raids. Paterson also re- continue operations amidst the ever en- counts evacuation efforts in various the- croaching allied forces are all covered atres which were to become more prev- in a flowing, detailed style that provides 202 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord both technical details and humanizing guns and many were converted in for- elements at the same time. For those ward areas. But later versions carried interested in German inter-service oper- 4.5” and then 5” rockets and mortars as ations or the Luftwaffe’s maritime air- more and more firepower was requested craft, equipment, and their operations, and new designs were put into produc- this work is a welcome addition to cur- tion or converted from other boats. In rent scholarship. the designations “LC” meant “Landing Craft” and the last letter usually desig- Charles Ross Patterson II nated the type of weapon carried (R) for Yorktown, Virginia rockets, (M) for mortars, and (G) for the heavy gunboats produced by the end of Robin L. Rielly. American Amphibious the war that carried a mix of rockets and Gunboats in World War II: A History of guns. LCI and LCS(L) Ships in the Pacific. Over the course of the war, the gun- Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Compa- boats progressively increased their ar- ny Inc. www.mcfarlandbooks.com, 2013. mament. Late war versions carried one vii+398 pp., illustrations, notes, index, 3” gun, two twin 40 mm guns, four 20 appendices. US $45.00, paper; ISBN mm guns, rocket launchers that could 978-0-7864-7422-6. salvo fire 120 rockets and as many as six .50-calibre machine guns— all on a Robin L. Rielly gives a definitive his- ship that carried no more than 70 offi- tory of an often-forgotten class of na- cers and men. This made the gunboats val vessels in his 2013 book, American easily the most heavily armed ships of Amphibious Gunboats in World War II. the war, man for man and ton for ton. The exhaustively researched book is One seaman put it “we were so cramped an authoritative account of the vessels on deck side you could not go more from their inception to “the last gun- than six feet from a gun… even the flag boat” which was turned into a museum man had a machine gun attacked to his in 2010. Rielly’s work is both well re- flag bag.” searched and eminently readable. Read One of the most interesting sections in parts or from start to finish, it will of American Amphibious Gunboats is broaden the understanding of amateur the section on crew life. The gunboats and professional historians alike. were some of the smallest vessels able Rielly’s story of what terms “LCI to make open water transits. Despite gunboats” begins in 1943—already their small size—the largest were only years into the war. He notes that even 159 feet long and only 23 feet wide— though the boats debuted in the North they transited across the Pacific all the Africa landings they did not really come way to Okinawa and beyond. Riel- into their own until they were used in ly does not mince words here, telling the Pacific theatre where he focuses his the reader simply “Flat bottom boats work. After the early battles in the Sol- are not comfortable in a seaway.” An omon Islands, and the bloody assault on understatement if there ever was one. Tarawa the Navy realized that amphib- Life aboard was cramped and uncom- ious assaults needed to be supported by fortable. far more firepower during the landing Rielly chronicles the mundane part itself. Early LCI gunboats were con- of crew life. Life was “Spartan” and versions of other landing craft modified uncomfortable. Crews loved ice cream by the addition of guns—usually 20 and breakfast always caused problems mm and 40 mm—with extra machine because gunboats never had more than one toaster and the coffee was always Book Reviews 203 terrible. Rielly also talks briefly about but not so large as to be a display book. race on the gunboats. African-Ameri- In American Amphibious Gunboats can sailors were only allowed to serve in World War II Rielly has made a valu- as a Steward’s Mate, cooking and clean- able and complete addition to the naval ing up after the officers, jobs deemed and amphibious history of the Second beneath other sailors aboard. World War in the Pacific. His book The gunboats were also danger- should be of interest to casual and pro- ous—because they were heavily armed fessional historians as well as military and considered expendable in defense practitioners. The gunboats he chron- of larger ships they were often used as icles do not exist in the force structure picket ships or in more risky missions. of modern navies—anyone who would The casualty rate of the gunboats was seriously consider amphibious assault significantly higher than the theater against a dug- in enemy would do well average and in some operations nearly to understand the contributions these double. And the Ad hoc, almost Mad boats made in the Pacific. Max-esque nature of their construction meant that some were lost at sea be- Walker D. Mills cause of design problems and other has Cartagena, Colombia a rocket misfire rate of over ten percent. After introducing the gunboats, Ri- Raymond A. Rogers. Rough and Plen- elly gives a broken, chronological histo- ty: A Memorial. Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid ry of their involvement in major combat Laurier University Press, www.wlu- operations in the Pacific. The breaks are press.wlu.ca, 2020. 332 pp., illustra- intentional; Rielly makes clear in the in- tions, notes, bibliography. CDN $24.99, troduction that he intends to focus on a paper; ISBN 978-1-77112-436-2. few representative examples—among (E-book available.) them the Central Pacific Campaign, the retaking the Philippines, Iwo Jima and In the summer of 1985, the Nova Sco- Okinawa. Otherwise, the action would tia fishing community of Little Harbour be both repetitive and overwhelming. If came together to celebrate the launch the reader does want to dive deeper into of the fishing vessel Laura Elizabeth. other Pacific operations Rielly includes Such gatherings had occurred count- reference and sources in his notes that less times before, in Little Harbour and would jump-start any research. across Atlantic Canada, but as offshore The book is illustrated with hun- draggers decimated stocks and under- dreds of photographs that bring the mined the inshore fishery, the sight of gunboats to life. Almost every version a newly-built boat had become increas- and conversion of the gunboats are pic- ingly rare. The struggle of inshore fish- tured along with combat shots, training ers to maintain their historic livelihoods shot and snapshots of daily life. Maps in the face of industrial overfishing is (both original and some created for the the subject of Rough and Plenty: A Me- book) help the reader understand the morial, a passionate autoethnography action and clarify the operations. The written by the Laura Elizabeth’s own- book is so well illustrated, in fact, that er, Raymond A. Rogers, and published a reader could be forgiven for wishing as part of Wilfrid Laurier University it were printed in a larger format and Press’s Life Writing series. hardbound. As it is, the book is a pa- Rogers, who grew up in Manitoba, perback and larger than standard size, decided to settle in Shelburne County’s 204 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord Little Harbour while exploring Nova common lands and resources—but the Scotia on bicycle in the 1970s. He pur- articulation of a colonial narrative that chased a piece of land with a traveler’s urged displaced workers and families cheque, and soon after patched up a der- to find new fortunes in the west. For elict fishing vessel “that wouldn’t float Scottish crofters, that meant the Hud- on a sea of tar” (30). Out of “neigh- son Bay fur trade; for Atlantic Cana- bourly interest”, Rogers also began to dian fishers today, it is the oil sands of investigate the grave site of Donald Mc- Alberta. Always, however, the promise Donald, a nineteenth-century Scottish of a better life came at the expense of settler from the Isle of Lewis, whose Indigenous peoples, whose lands are gravestone survived on the fringe of themselves enclosed by hydroelectric Rogers’ property (5). The McDonald reservoirs and open-pit mining. family, Rogers found, were crofters Each chapter of Rough and Plen- who had been evicted from their land ty is subdivided into an introductory to make room for sheep, the staple ‘history from above,’ which provides commodity of England’s early indus- historical and economic context, and a trial revolution and prime mover of the much lengthier ‘history from below,’ Highland clearances. Rogers began to told from the perspective of people identify with Donald’s experience as dispossessed of their homes and live- his own livelihood was undermined by lihoods. Using eyewitness accounts of industrialized offshore fishing, forcing Scottish crofters (largely gathered from him and thousands of other small-boat the 1811 Napier Commission on crofter fishers to seek work on resources proj- unrest) and his own experiences as an ects in the Canadian west. The parallel inshore fisher and labourer on Manito- between the “clearances of the crofters ba’s Long Spruce Rapids hydroelectric in Scotland and the clearances of the in- dam, Rogers recreates “representative” shore fishers in Atlantic Canada,” Rog- conversations of dispossessed crofters, ers writes, “gives this book its imagina- fishers, and work camp labourers (276). tive shape…” (9). These narratives serve an advocacy The ‘rough and plenty,’ Rogers ex- function by restoring agency and hu- plains, is a way of life that was evident manity to communities whose pain and in both the crofter communities of nine- dislocation has been abstracted and san- teenth-century Scotland and the fish- itized by colonial narratives of econom- ing communities of twentieth- century ic ‘progress’ and pioneering settlers. Atlantic Canada; a way of life defined Some of Rough and Plenty’s most by small-scale, family-centred units compelling pages describe Rogers’ ex- of production and informal patterns of perience as an inshore fisher. His first- land use. Industrialization, however, hand accounts provide an almost ency- demanded large-scale efficiencies and clopaedic description of inshore fishing private property law, and the labour-in- in the 1980s—a “how-to manual of tensive farms and fisheries were vilified sorts” for a way of life that has largely as obstacles to modernity. In Atlantic ceased to exist (281). Rogers recounts Canada, for example, the notion that a harrowing night on the water when his ‘too many boats’ were chasing ‘too few little boat narrowly escaped the giant fish’ had become orthodoxy by the late propeller blades of a passing freighter, 1980s. What followed was not just a and he writes eloquently of the chal- process of enclosure—the formaliza- lenges of finding fish without the aid of tion of private property rights over modern electronics: “My technological Book Reviews 205 window is a compass and a watch and Five Operations That Tested a New a flasher sounder. Between the swirl of Dimension of American Air Power. experience and the murk of the deep, I Jefferson, NC: McFarland, www.mc- make my way” (37). farlandbooks.com, 2019. viii+197 pp., The advantages of electronic aids illustrations, maps, appendices, notes, could not reverse the decline of the bibliography, index. US $39.95, paper; inshore stocks, and in 1993, frustrated ISBN 978-1-4766-7846-7. fishers in Shelburne fought back. A Russian freighter, the Pioner Murmana, Since their first appearance in 1927, the was surrounded at the Shelburne dock role of fast aircraft carriers, such as the as inshore and federal fisheries officials Lexington and the Saratoga, has raised were compelled to listen. During that many questions about the real power of “brief but intense time,” Rogers writes, battleships as compared to the air-bat- “it felt as if fishers’ views were finally tleship force. In reality, the demonstra- being heard… and social relations that tion test that took place off the Virginia were leaving the world were contend- coasts in June 1921 had already shown ing and in conversation with the forces the vulnerability of the German battle- that were strengthening their hold on ship Ostfriedland, sunk in just 21 min- that world” (229). While the inshore utes by five bombs, dropped from Mar- fishers gained some concessions, they tin two-engine MB-2 bombers. did not seriously threaten the interests Between 1927 and 1932, the use of the trawler industry. Collapse, Rog- of carriers in test demonstrations high- ers notes, is now a “stable state” (264) lighted their potential and, during the and Nova Scotia has become a “sacri- test “Fleet Problem XIII”, the Lexing- fice area” for new polluting industries ton and the Saratoga launched a for- such as aquaculture (264-5). midable attack, with their 152 planes, Rough and Plenty provides a nov- on the airfields of the island of Oahu, el contribution to our understanding of simulating a destruction of all planes on the relationship between ‘progress’ and the ground. technology in the Atlantic Canadian David Lee Russell’s book is a valu- fisheries. Nevertheless, while industri- able account of the first months of 1942, al capitalism as a development strategy during which the U.S. had to react to was disastrous for the coastal commu- the disastrous Japanese attack on Pearl nities of eastern Canada, there was op- Harbor, where the navy suffered 2008 portunity in the wreckage. By driving deaths, the army lost 218 killed and the thousands of out-of-work Atlantic Ca- Marine dead numbered 218 men. A fur- nadian fishers west to the hydro projects ther 68 civilians lost their lives in the and oil sands of Manitoba and Alberta, attack of 7 December 1941. Rogers writes, “the staples economy Russell, a retired Naval Air Intel- solved one ecological crisis (the col- ligence Officer, has collected a large lapse of the fishery) by generating an- amount of information about the five other (climate change)” (145). operations that took place between 1 February and 18 April 1942, offering John R. Matchim his readers a detail-rich description of Fredericton, New Brunswick each attack, illustrating at the same time the effectiveness of particular carrier David Lee Russell. Early U.S. Navy strategies adopted for various opera- Carrier Raids, February–April 1942. tions. 206 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord The attack on Pearl Harbor, which large cargo ships. Other damages were cost the U.S. three battleships, the flag- inflicted on the Japanese by the Wotje, ship California, which capsized, and Taroa and Kwajalein raids. four other ships that were seriously The Rabaul operation didn’t send damaged, was the key impetus for sub- American planes to bomb Rabaul, be- sequent US carrier strikes against the cause the Japanese intercepted the Lex- advancing Japanese forces on islands ington 460 miles away from Rabaul, recently taken by invasion units. (2) but the U.S. demonstrated the power of He examines five operations that their carriers and the efficiency of their took place in early 1942: the Marshalls attack strategies. The Lexington not and Gilberts Islands raid (1February); only was able to defend itself, but in- the Rabaul raid (20 February); the flicted significant damage on the Japa- Wake and Marcus islands raid (attacked nese air fleet, destroying 19 aircraft and on 24 February and 4 March, respec- some key flight leaders. tively); the attack on Lae and Salamaua Halsey’s attack on Wake and Mar- (10 March); and the raid on Tokyo (18 cus Islands was considered one of the March). most successful operations in the Pa- Rogers profiles the protagonists cific, and it helped raise the morale of of the U.S. response to Pearl Harbor: the U.S. Naval Force after Pearl Har- Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet, bor. Air attacks based from the carrier Admiral Chester W. Nimitz; Admiral Enterprise inflicted serious damage on Ernest J. King, who commanded U.S. the Japanese military facilities and de- Naval Operations during the Second stroyed two Japanese patrol seaplanes. World War; and Fleet Admiral William The attack on Marcus came as a com- F. Halsey, who commanded the raids on plete surprise to the Japanese, success- the Marshall and Gilbert Islands, Wake fully damaging a number of buildings and Marcus Islands and on Tokyo. and the airfield. Other commanders noted are: Admiral The Lae and Salamaua operation Frank Jack Fletcher, who commanded showed the efficiency of an attack the Task Force 17 on Marshall and Gil- based on the use of two aircraft carriers, bert Islands raids and the carrier Lex- USS Yorktown and Lexington, under ington on the Lae-Salamaua raid, and the command of Vice Admiral Wilson Vice Admiral Wilson Brown, who led Brown. For the first time, the attacks Rabaul and Lae-Salamaua operations. required an aerial penetration through The attack on the Marshall and Gil- the southwestern part of Papua Penin- bert Islands was the first of a series of sula and the passage over the 7,000 foot operations that changed America’s ap- Mount Lanson. The success of this op- proach in the Pacific from a defensive eration was the prelude to the riskiest to an offensive attitude. The carrier attack by the U.S. Air Force against the used in this attack was the Enterprise, Japanese: America’s first incursion into from where the VS-6 planes strafed the heart of Japanese territory. and bombed Roi-Namur, destroying Captain Low’s idea of using dif- many targets, including six planes, ferent aircraft, with a longer range, on some buildings, one hangar and six carriers, was the key point of the plan of storehouses. The damages inflicted to attack against Tokyo. The plane chosen the Japanese fleet included a 2500-ton was the new B-25 Mitchell bomber, and submarine and other three smaller sub- the pilot was Lieutenant Colonel James marines sunk, and the sinking of two H. Doolittle, who directed the modifi- Book Reviews 207 cations necessary to allow B-25s to felt that the service of the United States’ take-off from the Enterprise. The at- lightships was the most misunderstood tack on Tokyo punctured Japan’s sense and historically ignored. of invincibility and restored the naval Lightships, Lighthouses, & Life- supremacy of U.S. carriers. boats is both a memoir of Webber’s Russell’s book is an important and experience in the lightship service and detailed account of the Pacific War that a memorial to him. Published posthu- that would appeal to anyone interested mously six years after his death in 2009, in the history of the Second World War, this book presents a series of chaptered particularly in the role of aircraft carri- vignettes structured thematically and ers in the Pacific. approximately sequentially that present Webber’s personal experiences and per- Fabrizio Martino ception of his lightship service and its Pathum Thani, Thailand place within the hierarchy of the Coast Guard Service. Peppered throughout Bernie Webber. Lightships, Lighthous- the book are interstitial historical notes, es and Lifeboat Stations. Boca Raton, lists of random facts related to notable FL: Universal Publishers, www.uni- events or incidents that happened to a versal-publishers.com, 2015. xxii+169 particular vessel or at a particular sta- pp., illustrations, glossary, appendix. tion, and even a poem. US $25.95, paper; ISBN 978-1-62734- Webber begins by stating that this 062-5. (E-book available.) book is the story of the Nantucket Light- ship Station boat LV112/WAL534, but Bernard “Bernie” Webber is best known it is really Webber’s experience aboard in popular culture as the main charac- the boat presented as an exemplar of the ter in the 2016 film The Finest Hours, lightship service as a whole. Lightships which tells the story of the 1952 Coast functioned as floating lighthouses, visu- Guard rescue of over 30 sailors from al and aural aids to navigation installed the oil tanker SS Pendleton in a gale off where building a lighthouse structure the New England coast. Webber and was impractical or impossible. They his crew were awarded the Gold Life- marked channel entrances and hazards saving Medal for the rescue operation. such as shoals. The first lightship was In 2012, the US Coast Guard cutter Ber- installed in the United States at Chesa- nard C. Webber was named in his hon- peake Bay in 1820. The last lightship our. For Webber, the loss of Pendleton in the US, Nantucket I (WLV-612), sta- and the rescue of all but two of its crew tioned at Nantucket Shoals, was decom- was but one day of 45 years at sea. He missioned in 1985. became a Sea Scout at age 13, joined Webber describes the officers and the US Maritime Service at age 16, and sailors who served aboard lightships served with the US Merchant Marine in as “outsiders” in the US Coast Guard. the Pacific and Atlantic during the Sec- The overarching impression within the ond World War. Webber then joined the military was that lightship service was US Coast Guard and served on cutters degrading and that assignments to these and lightships. In retirement, he owned vessels was used as punishment; it was a fishing boat and captained tug boats in below a guardsman’s standards. Is a Florida. Webber’s life experiences are man a sailor if his ship always remains fodder for all sorts of narrative histo- moored in place? Those assigned to ries, but of all his experiences at sea, he lightships faced isolation, loneliness, 208 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord and boredom, punctuated by episodes of fear and terror. Their primary pur- pose, after all, was to mark hazards in all conditions including fog and storms. Webber describes in detail the feel- ing of knowing a large ocean liner is approaching unseen and the threat of collision in foul weather. Depression and anxiety were common. Sailors developed coping mechanisms and be- havioural patterns such as learning to time the cadence of speech to the pe- riodicity of the fog horn. Webber also describes the bonding activities of the sailors that filled their leisure time such as collecting plants floating on the wa- ter and cultivating them on board for amusement. Webber states, “The excitement of saving lives and property—the type of work that produces heroes—was not a part of lightship duty.” (32) This is an odd and surprising statement from a man who is famous for doing just that! But this quote zeroes in on Webber’s true assessment of the purpose of light- ship service—to prevent accidents and preclude the need to be a hero. While this book is not a histori- cal treatment of the lightship service, its importance lies in situating service aboard these vessels from the perspec- tive of a sailor and officer who was there. Someone who manned these ves- sels in times of calm and utter boredom in addition to a great feat of heroism for which he became famous. Someone for whom the act of rescuing the crew of Pendleton was just a part of his job. We are not presented with an academic history of the lightships, but told what Webber himself considered important to know and why we should know it. This book puts Webber and the people who “sailed” the lightships at the centre of their history. Alicia Caporaso New Orleans, Louisiana Book Reviews 209 Back List author found no actual reference to the three trade convoys being used as “de- coys” for Operation TORCH, to some Bernard Edwards. The Decoys—A Tale extent that was how they served. of Three Atlantic Convoys 1942. Barn- At this point in the war, Germany sley, S. Yorks: Pen & Sword Maritime, had broken the British convoy escort www.pen-and-sword,co,uk, 2016. xiii codes and were well aware of where + 184 pp., illustrations, bibliography, these three convoys were at sea, dispos- index. UK £19.99, cloth; ISBN 978-1- ing Donitz’s U-boat lines and individual 47388-708-4 boats accordingly. Meanwhile, thanks to excellent Allied radio security, the In the fall of 1942, three Atlantic con- Germans had no idea whatsoever of voys were lost for lack of adequate es- the TORCH plans. That attack came as cort. One of them, SC 107, heading an almost complete surprise, while the east from Sydney, Cape Breton Island, U-boats savaged each of Edward’s con- was under the protection of then-LC- voys. Although the German B-Dientz dr Desmond “Debby” Piers, RCN, in decrypting service suspected something HMCS Restigouche. Its story has been was afoot, they presumed it was proba- told several times before by Marc Mil- ble an intent to force another relief con- ner and others. Those of RB 1 from St. voy through to beleaguered Malta. John’s, Newfoundland, and SL 125, out The three convoys of this story were of Freetown, Sierra Leone, will be less all bound for the usual British ports. well known. This brings up my only RB 1 left Newfoundland 21 September, real criticism of the book, the lack of consisting of eight ships defended by even a basic track chart or layout of the two elderly V & W RN destroyers; SC three convoys and other ships that Ed- 107, from New York, had 25 ships, plus wards follows for almost all of the book. 14 more from Halifax and 5 from St. Unless one is reasonably familiar with John’s as it passed, defended eventually the detailed arrangement of convoys in by LCdr Pier’s destroyer Restigouche, the North Atlantic and Western Medi- three RCN and one RN corvette; and terranean and their all-too- frequently SL 125 departed Freetown on 16 Oc- scarce escorts and air cover, it is diffi- tober with 37 ships, defended by four cult to keep track of what is happening, RN corvettes. Within two weeks RB and for this story, why. 1 had lost 3 merchantmen and one of The end of November was a des- the destroyers, SC 107 lost fifteen ships, perate time for these three passages. and SL 125 eleven ships—29 valuable The timing overlapped with Operation merchantmen and crews, or 24% of TORCH, an Allied thrust into French those that set out. In contrast, not one North Africa involving massive troop of the TORCH invasion ships was lost and equipment convoys. Ten British to U-boats at sea. convoys and four from the US were The story gives us a very good pic- heading for the Atlantic coast of Mo- ture of the Battle of the Atlantic at its rocco and the Mediterranean coast at most difficult. Knowing the broader cir- Oran and Algiers. The need to priori- cumstances in retrospect, one suspects tize the protection of 70,000 troops in that the various merchant convoys were 600 ships required the support of almost just assigned in the normal rotation, every convoy escort ship available from continuing their efforts to supply the battleships and aircraft carriers to de- United Kingdom with goods—food, stroyers and even corvettes. While the 210 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord industrial and war equipment—with Arthur Herman. To Rule the Waves: even fewer than the usually scant es- How the British Navy Shaped the Mod- corts due to TORCH. The evidence ern World. New York: Harper Col- that they served to occupy the U-Boats’ lins Publishers, www.harpercollins.com, attentions despite not being planned as 2004. xix + 648 pp., maps, notes, in- ‘decoys’ was circumstantial. Edwards dex. US $19.99, paper, ISBN 0-06- makes frequent use of direct quotations 053425-7. (Available on-line.) from those who survived to craft a very well told story. He focuses, convoy by Only after reading this book did I realize convoy, on their all-too-slow progress, that Ian Yeates had reviewed it for The eastward and northward (out around the Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord in Azores) and the often-elderly and there- 2004. (See https://www.cnrs-scrn.org/ fore, slow tramps. Frequent descrip- northern_mariner/vol14/tnm_14_4_73- tions of torpedo hits, abandonments in 116.pdf). I recommend his review to major fall gales, poor discipline in con- readers, but would like to offer a sec- voy by over-use of ‘snowflake’ in ships ond review because this book is still rel- next to those hit. The insoluble cover- evant 16 years after publication. age protection problems of the young Adm. Jeffrey Brock reports in The escort commanders (LCdr Piers was Dark Broad Seas (Vol. 1) that John 30), most only fitted with early asdic Diefenbaker said: “A service or country and HF/DF, few of the escorts equipped without traditions is like a man without with radar, and with still-to-be-learned a memory.” Britain is certainly a coun- experience. try with traditions steeped in time, as Decoys offers an excellent picture is the Royal Navy. To Rule the Waves of what convoying was really like, delves into both naval history and tra- night-by-night, even hour-by-hour, as ditions. part of the crucial mid-war Atlantic Herman is the author of How the battle. reminding me of Jimmy Lamb’s Scots Invented the Modern World—an- The Corvette Navy. What is missing is other very popular book which this re- perhaps a wider understanding of how viewer, and Ian Yeates, have read and such convoys were organized. Why enjoyed. In this book, Herman address- were they compelled to sail them, after es the history of Britain and its involve- three years of the battle, with so few, ment with the rest of the world through slow and ill-equipped escorts? Could the activities of its navy, roughly from not three or four more a/s warships not the early 1500s to the Falklands War have been found, somewhere? Or was (1982). As Yeates points out, Herman the need just not appreciated, at that has had to rely on secondary sources organizing level? Unfortunately, the so there are simplifications, omissions action occurred at a time when the Al- and errors as he glosses over so many lies at Bletchley Park had lost most of events. As with biographies where the their ability to read the German’s ‘Enig- writer tries to convince the reader that ma’ codes, revealing where the waiting the whole world revolved around that U-Boats were. Nevertheless, it is worth person, so too here with the British (I the addition to any Battle of the Atlantic prefer Royal) Navy. Herman tries to bookshelf. convince the reader that five centuries of world history are all the result of ac- Fraser McKee tions by the Royal Navy. Etobicoke, Ontario Personally, I hated history as a Book Reviews 211 school subject. Yet now in later life, I ian cruiser General Belgrano effective- read naval and maritime history almost ly took the Argentinian navy out of the constantly. This book, with all its lit- picture. (561). True Royal Navy spirit! tle faults, would have made high school But two days later, HMS Sheffield was history much more meaningful for me. hit by an Exocet missile, burned, and It provides the supplementary informa- sank showing that this was truly a high- tion that gathers all those meaningless tech war. dates and personages, which students In Herman’s opinion, the Span- are required to memorize, into a coher- ish Armada was never going to invade ent entity. Britain because the Duke of Parma, The book opens in 1568 with an the Spanish general waiting at Calais incident at San Juan de Ulloa, in pres- to be transported across the Strait of ent-day Mexico, with Englishman John Dover, had already called off the in- Hawkins attacking the Spanish fort and vasion. So it really wasn’t a British silver- and gold-laden ships. He and victory but a Spanish relinquishment. Francis Drake made off with 25,000 His descriptions of various battles in gold pesos at the cost of four of their the days of sail are hard to follow (and six ships. The book describes how I sail boats!) and would be enhanced the British beat the Spanish and then by maps which include wind direction. the French and became the interna- Herman’s notes, however, provide ref- tional police force during Pax Britan- erences for those readers wanting better nica (1815-1914). After the Napole- descriptions of the battles should look onic Wars (ca. 1815), the Royal Navy elsewhere. The Navy’s administration changed its emphasis to scientific en- evolved from a very ad-hoc arrange- deavours (e.g., Darwin, Franklin, HMS ment to the Navy Board to Whitehall. Challenger, hydrography.) This occu- Training went from civilian seamen to pied many of its ships as well as a vast press-gang crewing to proper training at work-force of otherwise-unemployed HMS Illustrious (cadets) and Excellent officers and over 100,000 seamen. The (gunnery) to Royal Navy College (offi- RN next revived to meet the twentieth cer education). century and naval competition from I appreciated Herman’s description the United States, Germany and Japan. of the progress towards Second World Sadly, post-Second World War budget War starting with the injustices of the cuts reduced the Royal Navy to a mere Treaty of Versailles (1919). It failed shadow of its former self. One exam- where the Congress of Vienna (a cen- ple is the number of aircraft carriers on tury earlier succeeded. The road to war inventory: 52 in 1945, 12 in 1950 and 3 started with Japan becoming a military by 1970. The last chapter of the book dictatorship in 1930 and its subsequent describes a small meeting at the Brit- aggression in Manchuria, Italy’s ag- ish Prime Minister’s office where those grandisement in Africa, and Germa- attending were wondering what they ny’s rearmament and European expan- could possibly do as Argentina invaded sion. The 1935 Anglo-German Naval the Falkland Islands. The meeting was Treaty violated the Treaty of Versailles interrupted when the First Sea Lord, Sir by allowing Germany to have capital Henry Leach (an uninvited attendee) ships and submarines—an interpreta- burst into the room to say that the Royal tion of historical events that I missed Navy could get a task force off in 72 int high school. I felt really sorry for hours. The torpedoing of the Argentin- the down-sizing of the Royal Navy af- 212 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord ter 1945 and for the loss of naval bases at Singapore, Aden, Trincomalee (Sri Lanka), Simontown (Cape Town), and Malta, to name a few. How can one be a global power without naval bases sprin- kled around the world? The book is a good source of triv- ia that I never heard explained before (or had forgotten). For example, ‘Star- board’ comes from the side of the ship where the steering board was normally found, so ‘Larboard’ was the side where loading was done in port. Due to the similar sounding names, the latter be- came ‘Port’. Naval seamen were fed ‘three square meals a day’ because they were served on square wooden plates. The book is full of the names of cap- tains and admirals who were so much part of the Royal Navy and later, were commemorated in names of ships: An- son, Howe, Rodney, Nelson, Hood, and Collingwood. Here is a book that will refresh your high school history by connecting the historical events with the political ma- noeuverings during the past 500 years. I bought the book at a second-hand book- store, but I plan to make it a “keeper”. David H. Gray Ottawa, Canada