BOOK REVIEWS

Hugh Bicheno. Elizabeth’s Sea Dogs – formative and turbulent because as the How the English became the Scourge of the economy developed, the shipping interest Seas. London: Conway, www.anova grew and the demand for sailors increased. books.com, 2012. 384 pp, illustrations, Bicheno meticulously explains how maps, tables, appendices, bibliography, profits made by explorers like Drake and index. UK £25, hardback; ISBN 978-1- Hawkins, or Sir Walter Raleigh and even 84486-174-3. Martin Frobisher, represented only a small proportion of England’s maritime Certain things heighten British awareness of expansion. One important consequence, nationhood: if it’s not the historical plays of however, was that privateering in the New Shakespeare or the war-time speeches of World became an essential part of Spanish Winston Churchill, it will almost certainly colonization. Bicheno understands how sea- be the legends surrounding the Elizabethan battles were fought, especially within global Sea Dogs of Devon, Francis Drake and his events, and his clear analysis of their roles cousin, John Hawkins. slices through contemporary myth and Author Hugh Bicheno has an prejudice. interest in historical conflict and politics. Born in Cuba in 1948, he was educated in Francis Drake was renowned as a Chile and Scotland as well as in Cambridge, skillful seaman, naval tactician and where he gained a first class honours degree inspirational leader. From his first ocean in history. For five years he worked for the voyage in 1566, his patriotism remained as U.K.’s intelligence service and, before the intense as his Protestantism. In 1590, he Falkland Islands invasion, he spied for co-founded the Chatham Chest to distribute Britain in the Argentine. He claims that the small pensions to disabled naval seamen. government chose to ignore the (Cheryl Fury, The Social History of English corroborated intelligence he gathered, Seamen 1485-1649 (2002) and ——— , ed., which he later turned into an unofficial and Seamen’s Wives and Widows (2012)) Yet, controversial revisionist history of the the author shows how Drake was capable of Falklands War. His other books have disloyalty, often displayed poor judgment as covered Gettysburg, Midway, the Battle of a naval strategist and had a blatant lust for Lepanto, and the American Revolution. prize money stemming from his origins England’s push for a European from poor yeoman stock. Drake’s ambition “out-thrust” in the sixteenth century was also encouraged by a predatory affected most forms of exploration and aristocracy eager to sanction piracy against maritime commerce, and the consequent France, Portugal and, above all, Spain. rapid growth in Elizabethan colonization Despite Elizabeth’s favouritism to “her during the cycles of war and peace was pirates,” who gave her a lion’s share of their predicted by the propagandist Richard booty, Raleigh prospered but Drake did not. Hakluyt. Bicheno argues that for English Drake’s attack on the Spanish at seamen, the Tudor-Stuart era was both Panama in 1571, for instance, misfired The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord, XXIII No. 3, (July 2013), 297-337 298 The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord because the cargo of silver he was seeking member of Elizabeth’s Sea-Dogs, a unique had already been shipped. Uncertainty group of corsairs who defined an era. He surrounded his true intention for skillfully illuminates the voyages and circumnavigating the globe because he victories that justified the Sea Dogs’ carried three “dainty pinnaces” for reputation as the scourge of the sea, and not exploration, yet fitted them out for combat. only adds significantly to our understanding (N.A.M. Rodger, Safeguard of the Sea of how sixteenth-century sea battles were (1997)) When Drake returned to England in planned and fought but explains why September 1580, he found that the honour Drake’s exploits became legendary. of the first circumnavigation had gone The author has identified many posthumously to Magellan, yet he himself new sources of material surrounding the had sailed through the eponymous Strait Armada, in particular how Drake’s rivals, and seen the west coast of North America. jealous of his Royal patronage, claimed he Bicheno sympathetically describes “dined off silver plate” during the voyage of the September morning in 1580 when the 1577 while his seamen had to fish or else Golden Hind returned to Plymouth and buy their own provisions. He also lists excited citizens learned of the sources on sixteenth-century inflation, circumnavigation and the diminished threat currency and exchange rates, the details of of invasion. Most importantly, the Spanish over 3,000 Spanish “little” ships and still considered El Draque to be the devil warships and contemporary English vessels incarnate. (Neville Williams, Great Lives – and naval artillery. This is accompanied by Francis Drake (1973)) In the long run, a comprehensive bibliography, which Queen Elizabeth’s sea wars, especially includes Spanish sources. against Spain, became a symbol of English Elizabeth’s Sea Dogs is an national pride and identity. (Rodger 1997) intelligent, informative and beautifully Almost every English generation illustrated history book, which is not only grows up believing that Francis Drake was well worth the cover price but will grace the an ideal national hero, who sadly died in shelves of anyone interested in maritime 1596 after failing to capture Panama City. matters. This vividly written story will entertain Michael Clark those who enjoy reading about the rise and London, England fall of a unique group of seamen- adventurers who were regarded as heroes in England but as pirates in Spain. They Maurio Brescia. Mussolini’s Navy. A established a lasting English presence in the Reference Guide to the Regia Marina 1930- Americas, defeated the Spanish Armada, 1945. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute enriched the Queen and were instrumental Press. www.nip.org or www.seaforthpub in establishing a true navy under Henry lishing.com, 2012. 240 pp., illustrations, VIII. (Marcus Pitcaithly, “Piracy and maps, tables, notes, bibliography, index. Anglo-Hansiatic Relations 1385-1420” in US $ 72.95, cloth; ISBN 978-1-59114-544- Richard Gorski, ed., Roles of the Sea in 8. Medieval England (2012), pp.125-46 ) Some may think it unlikely that Despite its rather odd title (would the RCN anything new can be written about Francis be referred to as “Harper’s Navy”?), it is a Drake but Hugh Bicheno shows us that nice change for a volume’s sub-title to be an Drake was not only attuned to the age as a accurate description. “A Reference circumnavigator, but was also an important Guide ...” is what this large-sized volume Book Reviews 299 assuredly is. While the back cover refers to most cases, every photo has a useful it as “a complete guide,” something few caption. The Allies tended to agree that the books ever achieve, this one comes pretty RM ships were well built, usually fast, close. The chapter headings give an although their large ones tended to be “short accurate idea of the contents. “The Regia legged,” i.e. not of great endurance. But as Marina from 1861 to 1939” is a reasonable Italy did not have a large overseas empire or 18-page introduction to the state of the other commitments, this was not seen as a Italian navy at the start of the Second World significant drawback. In reading how the War, with the usual focus on its purpose RN used their battle fleet of major warships, being comparable to that of the French there is an impression that the RM shore navy. “Dockyards, Naval Bases, Ports, staff controlling events, if not the Shipyards and Coast Defences” offers commanding rear admirals at sea, tended to several maps and drawings giving locations caution rather than aggressiveness. The and layouts. “Fleet Organization and brief chronologies of all naval actions are Operations” lists various commanders along useful and interesting, ranging from June with a quick summary of all fleet and major 1940 (submarines leaving their operations by date, location and result. Mediterranean bases to participate in the “Ships in Service, 1940-45” provides a Atlantic war under German control) to 17 complete listing, from battleships to the April 1945 when Italian-manned explosive one-man explosive MAS boats. These motorboats attacked and damaged a French Motoscafo Armato Silurante (Torpedo Vichy destroyer on the northwest coast of Armed Motorboat) proved very worrisome Italy and then destroyed the uncompleted to their opponents. Another chapter deals aircraft carrier Aquila at Genoa two days specifically with those assault craft together later. Both sides of the struggle are given – with submarines and auxiliaries. Further successes and losses. In the chapter on chapters addressing naval aviation, particular ships, there is almost always camouflage, flags, uniforms, ranks, badges comment on specific actions in which the and decorations” and finally a “Who’s Who ships participated, including lessons learned of the Italian Navy in the Second World ... or not. War” make this a reference volume indeed. For model-makers, there are For some, the mass of photos, coloured pages of camouflage and aircraft many of double-page spreads, often four or markings, apart from numerous broadside five to a page, will prove the most and overhead drawings of various classes, entertaining and informative. They range and of course the many photographs of through all the ships, from building to details. The text explains the Regia identity views, shots of various ships in Marina’s reasoning for adopting various action, damaged and even abandoned at the designs, from the battleships to their large time of Italy’s surrender in 1943. There are submarines and the explosive motorboats, Royal Air Force reconnaissance photos often based, as was the case with their before and after Taranto, including opponents, on experience from the First grounded battleships after that raid, hospital World War, only twenty years before. There ships, yachts in naval service and personnel are good descriptions of the building of from admirals to EOD divers. These each of the various classes, with the named images alone make for a full evening’s designer, comments on the building yards browsing. and locations, and changes in design as war The text is well translated, with experience dictated. An example, under only the odd case of unusual syntax, and, in “Submarines”: “It was decided to build 300 The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord medium-sized submarines (di media addresses these questions and is, therefore, a crociera), able to dive in 30 seconds and compelling book. It is a collection of with much higher surface speed; the design stories with which every reader can identify. of these boats derived directly from the There are detailed historical accounts of the successful “600” and Argo class and lead to bad food, crowded spaces, injuries, the laying down of the Acciaio and Flutto temporary illnesses and devastating classes, very good vessels indeed” (p.161). diseases, problems common to many during There are numerous tables included sea voyages related to immigration. in the appropriate chapter, not unlike the The book is a journey of discovery format of Jane’s Fighting Ships (and nearly to the Americas, Australia and New as complete), a more useful arrangement Zealand. For most immigrants, the actual than placing large tables at the back. The voyage itself was a relatively short incident, index of ships and other material is very a rite of passage to a new life. It was a comprehensive. For Canadian readers portal to an unforgettable experience, a trial searching for the three submarines sunk by in the court of the unknown that took place RCN corvettes and HMCS Ottawa, there is over a vast, unforgiving, terrifying expanse. only the reference directly to Port Arthur’s The first passengers to North America were sinking of Tritone in January, 1943. In 240 from Western Europe and the pages, however, you can’t have everything. Mediterranean, followed by Eastern Europe Altogether, despite its hefty price and Russia. Later there were the workers, for non-Naval Institute members, this is a who tended not to immigrate with their very valuable and useful book. Like the families and did not plan to stay—the so- previous handsome volume in this series on called “coolies” from China and India. the Littorio battleships, reviewed in the Each chapter of the book focuses on January 2012 issue of this journal (vol. different emigrant problems as they relate to XXII, no. 1), this makes a very valuable the age of wooden sailing ships and later to addition to any reference bookshelf. more modern iron-hulled steam-driven vessels with relatively better conditions. Fraser McKee Kevin Brown first reflects upon the Toronto, Ontario identities of the initial immigrants, the unwilling victims and/or castoffs of society. Kevin Brown. Passage to the New World. Immigration was a convenient way of The Emigrant Experience 1807-1940. removing the underclasses without killing Barnsley, S. Yorks.: Seaforth Publishing, them—even, perhaps, profiting from their www.seaforthpublishing.com, 2013. xii labour once they became established. Many +243 pp., illustrations, notes, bibliography, were the under-educated, the desperately index, UK £25, cloth; ISBN (978-1-84832- poor and the petty criminals. Others were 136-6. Distributed in North America by escaping famine and/or long compulsory Naval Institute Press, www.usni.org. military service. By immigrating, these families were given the opportunity for a Except for indigenous people, our ancestors better or at least a different life; a fresh start emigrated from foreign lands to where our but among strangers. present families took root. What was their After making the decision to leave experience from the decision to make the their ancestral homeland, the next problem perilous ocean journey, the actual passage, was getting to the points of embarkation and to the reception they encountered once they then finding safe and reasonably priced arrived? Passage to the New World passage. Scams and bogus financial deals Book Reviews 301 regularly trapped the unsophisticated. In concerning passenger space, food and addition, many of the passengers did not potable water and standards for ventilation speak the languages of the booking agents and sanitation. or the ship’s crew. Transoceanic commerce At the end of an often-traumatic largely dictated the ports where the ocean voyage, an unanticipated, almost immigrants assembled. For example, spiritual transition occurred—the “earthly during the nineteenth-century industrial likeness to the final Day of Judgement [sic], revolution, Britain imported much of its when we had to prove our fitness to enter bulk raw materials from American ports Heaven” (p.184). There was the threat of into Liverpool. Once their vessels were being quarantined or sent back within sight emptied, captains and/or owners were eager of their destination. The countless physical to accept far less bulky finished goods and and mental examinations required before human cargo. Thus Liverpool and similar entry produced occasional “Catch 22” busy importing areas were magnets for situations. For example, if one was very western-bound passenger traffic. By the poor, one might be deported to avoid twentieth century, the departure of ships becoming a burden on the public purse, or if bearing emigrants resembled a tourist highly skilled, sent back so as not to attraction. displace an American worker. In spite of There was a huge disparity between this, common sense prevailed and the the relative luxury of first class to the populations of the New World increased in a repulsive conditions of steerage. The series of great waves of humanity. danger of shipwreck was a constant threat Kevin Brown’s Passage to the New and those on the upper decks near lifeboats World provides a fascinating glimpse into had a greater chance for survival than those this rarely covered period of maritime who traveled in the bowels of the ship. history in a well-written, erudite and Fortunately, these impediments to travel thought-provoking work; a worthwhile improved in time, but at a significant cost in addition to any maritime historian’s library. lives lost. It is also an extension of his recent Poxed & The author graphically details the Scurvied, an equally scholarly and discomfort of the passage: the cramped important book reviewed in vol. XXII, no. quarters, the poor and often inadequate 2, the April 2012 issue of this journal. amount of food, seasickness, sometimes Louis Arthur Norton filthy conditions, the horrid smell from poor West Simsbury, Connecticut sanitation and inadequate ventilation, accidents at sea treated by ill-trained doctors, the spread of communicable Christian Buchet. The British Navy, diseases leading to death among the Economy and Society in the Seven Years’ passengers and crew. Typhus, typhoid and War. Translated by Anita Hoggies and cholera could take the lives of many of the Michael Duffy. Rochester, NY: The Boydell passengers, and their vessels became known Press, www.boydellandbrewer.com, 2013. as “coffin ships.” If an epidemic struck a xiii+303 pp., tables, appendices, ship when near a port, those on land often bibliography, index. US $115.00, hardback; did not welcome the passengers for fear that ISBN 978-1-84383-801-2. (Originally the illness might spread to them. By the published in French, 1999.) mid-nineteenth century, every European maritime nation had established a Almost everything you ever wanted to know comprehensive code of regulations about the Royal Navy’s Victualling Board in 302 The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord wartime can be found in Christian Buchet’s that French fleets sent to the Caribbean book. The only source he failed to employ could spend less time there and victual was the Audit Office accounts. These were fewer men than their British rivals. often a decade in arrears, but they represent Just as the Navy Board contracted the final rendering of accounts of all naval privately to build some of Britain’s expenditure. warships, so the Victualling Board Few historians of the British navy contracted with merchants to provision have displayed more than a passing interest those ships in distant ports. In English in the work of the Victualling Board. dockyard ports, the Victualling Board Rather, their focus has been on the records managed and processed the foodstuffs provided especially by the Board of which contract merchants supplied. Admiralty and Navy Board. Three early “Breweries, bakeries, slaughter houses, exceptions are to be found in Buchet’s own salting centres, cooperages and warehouses” work, Daniel A. Baugh’s British Naval (p.22) developed into Victualling Yards Administration in the Age of Walpole usually located near naval shipyards. (1965), and The Manning of the British Private contractors supplied 15 Navy during the Seven Years’ War (1980) by ports in England and Ireland, five in Europe the late Stephen Gradish. and West Africa, three in the West Indies Trained in the Annales school of and five in North America. The American historical research, Buchet set out to supply centres were Louisbourg, Halifax, establish the economic impact of British Quebec (beginning in 1760), New York and provisioning on English and Irish markets Charlestown. and on those in the North American Buchet discusses the contracting colonies. His focus has been on the Seven system in detail and identifies the various Years’ War 1756-63 and Caribbean and contractors. Towering above all of the British success in paralysing “Spain’s and contractors was John Biggin, whose France’s rich trade” (p.1), an achievement biographical details Buchet searched in made possible in part by the increasing vain. The changing diet for seamen and the dependence on North American food Victualing Board’s prolonged attempts to supplies. By contrast, Quebec agriculture to battle scurvy are studied. Dietary 1759 proved incapable of providing the improvements involved the substitution of same crucial service to the French navy. fresh meat for salt pork and beef, as well as The rise in importance of the North introducing fresh vegetables, including American supply to the British squadrons turnips and potatoes, into seamen’s meals sent to the Caribbean in wartime, Buchet (p.57). calls “extraordinary” (p.153). The lower As the book is graced with some 86 costs and relative security convinced tables and 25 figures, it would have been contractors to purchase for the navy as very useful to have printed lists of both in much as possible in North America, in place the front matter. One minor irritant was the of depending solely on convoying author’s use of two decimal points in his provisions from Ireland and England. data beginning with Table 4.2 (p.72). This In strategic terms, this was of practice implies a measure of accuracy enormous value as Buchet made clear in his which such data from the eighteenth century long- ago published doctoral thesis. It simply cannot claim. The author was sadly meant that, at the time, the French Navy let down by proofreaders, who failed to was never able to be adequately supplied by detect dating errors in Figure 9.9 (p.222) its victualling contractors. The result was and Figure 10.4 (p.237). Book Reviews 303 Originally published in Paris in Battle of the Atlantic. He situates real 1999, and of immediate interest to people in the twilight between peace and the historians, Christian Buchet’s research was as-yet-unknown conduct of total war, rightly paid the rare honour of having a capturing their dread and uncertainty. study of the eighteenth-century British navy Carroll examines the approach of translated from French. war over the preceding year and the final few days of peace as Canadians and Julian Gwyn Americans were warned by their Berwick, Nova Scotia governments to get out of the danger zone. Hundreds of additional passengers Francis M. Carroll. Athenia Torpedoed. The embarked in Glasgow, Belfast Lough, and U-Boat Attack that Ignited the Battle of the Liverpool because His Majesty’s Atlantic. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Government threw their bookings into Press, www.nip.org, 2012. xii+218 pp., disarray by requisitioning other commercial illustrations, appendix, notes, bibliography, liners for troopship service. The Athenia index. US $29.95, cloth; ISBN 978-1- sailed during the brief window between 59114-148-8. Hitler’s invasion of Poland and the British declaration of war. The crew prepared Less than nine hours after Britain declared lifeboats for use and also (as per Admiralty war on Germany on 3 September 1939, the instructions) moved north of regular Donaldson Atlantic passenger liner TSS shipping lanes and blacked out windows, Athenia was torpedoed by Fritz-Julius perhaps inadvertently contributing to the Lemp, commander of U-30, becoming the overzealous Lemp’s misidentification of his first victim of the Battle of the Atlantic in target. the Second World War. Overnight, 1300 Carroll patiently unfolds the ripple survivors were rescued by Norwegian effect of one ship’s destruction, for those tanker Knute Nelson, the private yacht directly affected as well as those in the Southern Cross, the U.S. freighter City of diplomatic sphere. He moves effortlessly Flint, and Royal Navy destroyers. Ninety- between the tragedy and its implications, three passengers and nineteen crewmembers referencing the legacy of First World War died. Francis Carroll adroitly weaves submarine warfare, detailing the damage together materials from memoirs and and deaths caused and the immediate websites, as well as archival records and reactions of passengers and crew, explaining personal recollections found in five the impact of the ship’s list to port and the Canadian provinces, ten U.S. states, the loss of crucial crewmen who descended into United Kingdom, Ireland, and Norway. He lifeboats. He recounts the harrowing examines public and governmental experiences of both entering lifeboats from responses while deploying over one a sinking ship and exiting them once help hundred survivors’ stories to capture the arrived, and analyzes the challenges of experience of disaster and rescue and the housing over a thousand (often injured) significance of this event and its aftermath. survivors in temporary accommodations Athenia Torpedoed is a meticulously compounded by the separation of families researched, carefully organized, and during the rescue. He situates this maritime brilliantly contextualized micro-history that event in its broader context by describing will appeal to readers of maritime and care for survivors ashore, the difficulties of military history, especially those looking for repatriation and compensation accentuated a representative window into the “lived” by the German denial of responsibility, the 304 The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord eventual reunion of (some) families, and the minor details; he effectively analyzes the reactions of public opinion and broader implications of the event and its governments in several countries. aftermath. “Germany appeared to have The details which emerge from begun the Second World War exactly where passengers’ stories provide the book’s she ended the First World War, with a greatest strength and appeal. Judith Evelyn ruthless submarine campaign” (p.36). (an aspiring actress who would appear in While German denials clouded official Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window) traveled understanding of responsibility for the with her fiancé, Andrew Allan, who lost his explosion until the Nuremberg Trials and father when their lifeboat became entangled thereby prevented an outcry on the scale of with the Knute Nelson’s propeller. Nearly the Lusitania incident, Britain moved half of the passenger deaths actually toward expanding its convoy protection occurred during abysmal rescue conditions zone, the U.S. decided to revise its rather than as a result of the destruction of Neutrality Act, and Roosevelt and Churchill the Athenia itself, a point Carroll could have began their legendary correspondence in made more directly. In the aftermath of the response to German propaganda related to tragedy, Evelyn and Allan never married; on the incident. Francis Carroll has woven the other hand, romance budded between a personal narratives and historical analysis City of Flint crewman and the passenger he into an eminently readable and highly rescued. Aboard the Knute Nelson, “Dr. recommended tale that powerfully and Edward Wilkes, who had lost his wife and sensitively conveys historical significance as far as he knew both of his sons, was the and emotional resonance. only physician on board the ship who spoke Kevin Smith English and went around patiently applying Muncie, Indiana first aid…” (p.72). Heroes emerged among passengers and crew from the Athenia and the rescuing vessels. The interaction of the James Davey. The Transformation of British various neutral and belligerent nationalities Naval Strategy: Seapower and Supply in involved, however, triggered confusion and Northern Europe, 1808-1812. Woodbridge, separated families, as Norwegian authorities Suffolk: Boydell Press, www.boydell ordered the Knute Nelson to disgorge andbrewer.com, 2012. ix+237 pp., notes, survivors in neutral Ireland, the Royal Navy appendices, bibliography, index. US $99.00, brought survivors to Greenock, and the City hardback; ISBN 978-1-84383-748-0. of Flint continued to Halifax. On board that ship, a ten-year-old Canadian, Margaret James Davey’s book is a study of the efforts Hayworth, died of injuries suffered in the by Britain’s Victualling and Transport initial attack; her death and ensuing public Board to supply British squadrons assigned funeral ashore shaped Canadian public to the Baltic Sea between 1808 and 1812. opinion as war began. The main title speaks of “The Carroll might have more explicitly Transformation of British Naval Strategy,” pointed out the impact of socioeconomic but the five-year period in the subtitle status in providing wealthier passengers appears too short for such a task to be with connections to arrange for passage and accomplished. This is not the case. Over repatriation; also useful would have been an the course of those five critical years, Davey appended list of the dead passengers, describes how the navy reformed its especially since one such list appears in one practices for fitting out ships for service, of the websites he consulted. But these are and supplying and maintaining them once at Book Reviews 305 sea. This allowed Britain to have a directly with the Transport Board as a dominant naval presence in the Baltic critical advancement in efficiency for the which, in turn, allowed the British navy. government to exert its foreign policy Sir James Saumarez’s mission to against France and its allies. the Baltic in 1808 to secure trade and harass As Davey states, the Baltic Sea the French allies there is the topic of the during the French Revolutionary and third chapter. Supplies are a central issue Napoleonic War era has not received the for Saumarez from the beginning, as neither attention it deserves beyond the British Sweden nor the Prussian states could (Nelson’s) visit to Copenhagen in 1801 and provide enough local food to sustain his the second attack on that fair city in 1807. squadron. The situation was aggravated by With the deforesting of Britain, the loss of the absence of reliable charts which made timber supplies from the American colonies passage through the Great Belt into the and the inability of British North America to Baltic extremely hazardous. The loss of supply the quality of timber required for transports, ships of war and merchant ships naval construction and repair, the Baltic was in the passage was not uncommon. One the source for the beams, boards, spars and such disaster in 1811 took the lives of 2,000 hemp that built and maintained the wooden seamen (pp.70-71). walls of the Royal Navy. He reminds us The next chapter tells the story of that it contained critical entry points for the Transport Board, a body which aligned British goods into Europe after the French itself more with the Treasury Department, Berlin and Milan Decrees. Finally, the due to an auditing relationship, than the Baltic allowed the British access to Prussia Admiralty. In 1808-09, the Transport and Russia both of which, when not Board’s civil servants struggled to obtain enemies, were allies, or at least neutrals. enough shipping to meet the navy’s The first chapter drives all these points demands from various stations (including home. the Baltic), not to mention the British Chapter 2 outlines the “evolution of Army’s demands for transport. The chapter the logistical structure” (p.39) from the delves in some depth into the relationship beginning of the 1700s, when ships were between the Board and the merchant basically supplied for a voyage and returned companies it dealt with when hiring ships. to port once the supplies were exhausted, to Though not as profitable as purely the replenishing of ships at sea, thus commercial work, it is apparent that many keeping them on service for extended ship owners made a good wage hauling periods of time. The advantage of this victuals and supplies for the Royal Navy. ability is illustrated by Hawke’s victory in Chapters 5 and 6 deal with the Quiberon Bay after just such a efforts to replenish the Baltic squadron in replenishment of victuals. The American 1808 and 1809, respectively. The first year Revolution saw the navy develop the appears to have worked well with supplies facility to deliver supplies over great reaching the squadron when required with distances, though by 1783, the Navy Board little delay and no real disruption of the was terribly short of transports. The mission. With an increase in the size of the reappointment of a Transport Board in 1794 British Baltic squadron in 1809, the task (after a 70-year absence) was an important became harder. The needs of the Scheldt step forward for securing adequate expedition also drew from the transports transportation. Davey also acknowledges and supplies available for the Baltic. By the allowing the Victualling Board to deal summer of 1809, victualling problems 306 The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord began to arise in the Baltic with delays in British merchant ships and the Royal Navy finding shipping causing shortages of food served to undermine the Continental and other material aboard ships of the System. squadron. These problems were There are no great or small battles exacerbated by the loss of several in Davey’s narrative. The Danish navy was transports. Davey describes the Victualling still suffering from the effects of the 1807 and Transport Board’s failure to meet the attack at Copenhagen, when it was carried demands of the service in a timely and off by the British navy. Danish privateers ample manner, as creating the call for did have a small impact on the merchant reform. vessels and transports as they made their Chapter 7 describes the reform that way through the Great Belt, but the Royal the Victualling and Transport Boards went Navy convoyed the vast majority of through at the end of 1809 and into 1810. transports and merchant ships safely to their The period from 1793 through 1812 saw an Baltic destinations. The Russian Baltic incredible expansion in the bureaucracy that Fleet was not a threat, bottled up in Reval served the navy and its Boards. The and St. Petersburg. The Swedish navy was expansion came as a response to an ally for the first two years, before being increasingly complex problems of swept under French control. In that second organization and resource management. half of the story the Baltic was ringed by Efficiency, in terms of both speed of enemy states and the Swedish navy could delivery of victuals and supplies and the have dealt major problems to the British but reduction of wastage, was critical. Reforms its manpower was sapped by disease and its arising from the many reports of the ships’ harbour bound by Sweden’s inability “Commission of Naval Revision” led to the to do what the British were able to, supply implementation of many changes. Timely and victual. While a minor element in and full reports on what supplies were still Davey’s tale, the state of Sweden’s navy in the ships on station were required in serves to underline his central point, that a order to assist in sending out just what was sustained squadron can exert political and needed. The procurement of transports was economic power (besides martial prowess) increased so adequate numbers of ships far from home, for a long period of time. were available. In the subsequent years Twenty-eight figures and tables are both speed of delivery from request and spread across the text, each supported with wastage were altered in the desired description and discussion in the directions. Davey concludes this key surrounding paragraphs. They are easy to chapter with the statement that the British understand and extremely relevant. The Government had “proved adept at enacting appendices offer a rawer expression of data systematic change” (p.172). The State that constitutes several of the tables in the system was able to improve itself. text. For example, Appendix 3 (p.199) The years of 1810 through 1812 appears to be the sample that creates the demonstrate the success of these reforms in findings expressed in Table 11 (p.167). The the British effort to keep the Baltic open to archival sources used in the study are British trade and access to essential naval superb, with most coming from the British supplies. Davey states that even with the National Archives and the National fall of Sweden into Napoleon’s grasp and Maritime Museum. The NMM’s collection his extreme pressure to close the entire of records from Michael Henley and Sons Baltic shoreline to British goods, the forms the backbone of the data analyzed for continued presence (even if reduced) of the the arranging of contracts between the Book Reviews 307 Transport Board and the ship owners. conducted extensive technological and Secondary sources represent the classic and social research into the “why” of how a new views on the growth and reforming of mid-nineteenth century American the Royal Navy’s organizational structure submarine came to be abandoned in a cove during the long eighteenth century. on the Isla San Telmo off Panama. Growing out of his Ph.D. James P. Delgado is no stranger to dissertation at the University of historical adventure with his connections to Greenwich’s Maritime Institute, Davey’s Clive Cussler in the TV show “The Sea book is part of a larger “project Hunters.” He explains, with journalistic investigating the victualing of the Royal flair, how he stumbled upon the wreck of Navy” (p. vii) between 1793 and 1815. His what looked to be a midget submarine in work here will draw attention to the need to 2001, on Isla San Telmo off Panama, as he study the wider naval activity in the Baltic was very interested in the history of old during this era, beyond the battles at submarines. Local legend purported it to be Copenhagen. It also offers support for the a Second World War Japanese midget idea that a focus on a shorter time period submarine, but the author had studied can provide historians with new and Japanese submarines extensively and knew important insights into the emergence of it wasn’t one—it looked much older. His British naval policy and organization. This initial research through a colleague at Texas book is recommended to anyone interested A&M University revealed that it was, in in the development of supportive systems fact, a post-Civil War American submarine that allowed the ships of the British navy to named the Sub Marine Explorer from which perform their assigned tasks. he then embarks upon the story of the submarine and its inventor, a German Thomas Malcomson immigrant named Julius Kroehl. Toronto, Ontario There is not much of a story to tell about the submarine’s operational life, so James P. Delgado. Misadventures of a Civil instead, the author does a first-rate job of War Submarine–Iron, Guns, and Pearls. fleshing out every angle of Kroehl’s College Station, TX: Texas A&M struggle to make the submarine a University Press, 2012. xxx+278 pp., commercial success, from widow’s pensions illustrations, maps, appendices, notes, to the influence of Free Masonry. In a bibliography, index. CDN $35.60, cloth; period of western history where technology ISBN 978-1-60344-472-9. was viewed as a panacea for all issues, this submarine design was marketed as a much Looking forward to an exciting account of a more efficient way of harvesting pearls recently discovered miniature submarine from Panamanian oyster beds “than breath that had been involved in some clandestine holding, shark fearing naked divers” mission and forgotten by time—I found this (p.174). The author explains how the Sub book not at all what I was expecting to read. Marine Explorer was very much a part of a Rather, it is an interesting social history of contemporary American culture whereby nineteenth century America using a U.S. technology was used “to incorporate Civil War-era submarine as a vehicle to tell Panama into an American dominated market a fascinating story of war, innovation, system” (p.171). Unfortunately, this entrepreneurship and technological technological arrogance, coupled with an arrogance. The author, a well-published Anglo-Saxon refusal to consult marine archaeologist and TV-show host, has unsophisticated local populaces, became a 308 The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord commercial failure, as by the time the Sub Marine Explorer is a very basic and simple Marine Explorer arrived the pearl beds had submarine in design and construction, the been fished out thus pushing the submarine technical descriptions throughout the book into deeper water, which were less are really quite detailed, while remaining favourable to the growth of oysters. refreshingly uncomplicated. Moreover, the There was also another side of the descriptions of the construction and current Sub Marine Explorer story, as the recent state of the submarine are precise, without discovery and raising of a number of being over-the-top, with well-placed original submarine prototypes serves to explanations of technical terms and useful remind us of how recent a technological anecdotal information such as the origin of development the modern submarine is the name “the bends” for decompression today. Much like aviation, submarines are sickness. seen to be a twentieth-century creation, Misadventures is truly a good read, however, anyone with a cursory knowledge offering an interesting segment of the social of submarine history knows of the extensive history of the United States of America in groundwork done by submarine pioneers in the nineteenth century, as most of the book the nineteenth century—most notably in the is about Sub Marine Explorer’s inventor, United States of America. Julius Kroehl—a name now lost to history. The Sub Marine Explorer was a The author goes a long way to correct this clever design for the time, with ballast tanks last point by comprehensively articulating and other features of modern submarines, the trials and tribulations of early submarine but it also had a fatal flaw. Accurately development in which Kroehl played a described by the author as a link between a significant part. I would recommend this diving bell and a submarine, the interior of book to anyone with an interest in maritime the Sub Marine Explorer was pressurized to history, as it is an excellent synopsis of the depth of water at a time when innovation when faced with the realities of decompression sickness (the bends) was not society, technology and business in a understood. The flaw was that technology uniquely maritime environment. had outstripped human ability to employ it. Norman Jolin Decompression sickness eventually forced Kanata, Ontario the termination of the dives and the Sub Marine Explorer was laid up and abandoned because it was simply not worth the cost of Harry Dickinson. Wisdom and War: The bringing it back to New York. It would be Royal Naval College Greenwich, 1873- another 37 years before human knowledge 1998. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate Publishing caught up with this technology, with the Ltd., www.ashgate.com, 2012. xiii+309 invention of the first recompression pp., illustrations, appendices, notes, chambers and an understanding of the bibliography, index. US $134.95, cloth; bends. The book ends with a short ISBN 978-1-4094-4331-5. overview of options for the future, which is likely to leave it to decay in place, “melt Greenwich, a suburb of metropolitan into the sea and sand” (p.186). London on the Thames River's south shore, Very easy to read, the book has has a long association with Great Britain's extensive endnotes and a bibliography, with maritime heritage and the Royal Navy. The detailed technical appendices, which Royal Naval College, once so integral a part include superbly reproduced drawings and of professional education and training black and white photos. Although the Sub delivered to generations of British and Book Reviews 309 select foreign naval officers, is now closed neighbourhood near an expensive city. It and the historic buildings on site given over was hard to convince many naval officers, to other uses, one of which is, fittingly, a skeptical in the first place about the value of university. The famous Painted Hall and staff training and higher learning to careers, naval-themed chapel, however, still remain to come there—both students and staff. nationally protected and open to the public. Outright critics questioned why the Royal The nearby National Maritime Museum Navy even bothered. Certainly, the likes of with its newly refurbished reading room and Phillip Colomb, Henry May, Julian Corbett, library, as well as the observatory at the top Herbert Richmond, and Jack Edwards of the hill, attracts visitors from all parts of believed differently and made sure that the Great Britain and around the world. For curriculum and methods of instruction at most people, the historic architecture of the Greenwich suitably prepared officers for former naval college is probably the most future postings and met the demands of the striking, though Harry Dickinson, previous navy and armed forces in an increasingly history lecturer at Greenwich, now at the joint environment. Joint Services Command and Staff College Greenwich's brand became in Shrivenham, reminds those interested in intertwined with the reputation of the Royal academically rigorous professional military Navy as a professional fighting force, education relevant to service needs and perhaps no longer the best, nor the largest, national defence priorities, that the Royal but steeped in tradition and history. The Naval College occupied a significant, if at anniversaries and celebrated pageantry times tenuous, existence as an educational described by Dickinson harkened back to an institution dedicated to the British navy imagined glorious past recorded in the spanning more than a century. physical surroundings of the place and its Dickinson's chosen framework to artifacts. Behind the façade, the reality was tell this story is primarily chronological. more sobering. The Royal Naval College Twelve chapters trace the origins of the was usually crowded with too many lands from unfinished Tudor palace to courses, programmes, and other lodgers hospice for maritime pensioners, the choice exceeding available space; students, of Greenwich for establishment of a naval differentiated by rank, social standing, college, the ups and downs of official experience, and age, rarely mixed; learning interest in educating naval officers and periods lagged in duration and breadth financial retrenchment, wartime usage of behind the other services; an emphasis on facilities and staff, the impact of changing technical and practical pursuits displaced technology on the type of courses delivered exposure to foreign languages and relations and research done on behalf of the with internationals beyond the British Admiralty, the rise and wane of British sea Commonwealth and NATO partners; power dictating the size of the Royal Navy courses were uneven and the credentials of and number of trained personnel required, instructors not always appropriate; and finally, the prolonged process academic research was progressively (notwithstanding the quickness of actual devalued in favour of the military's decision) resulting in closing down the concentration on teaching; and, an college and moving primary activities underlying anti-intellectualism prevalent in elsewhere. Greenwich was far from ideal the Royal Navy frustrated reformers, policy for the purposes intended. The footprint makers, and educators interested in better was geographically constrained, with aging professional education. The Royal Naval and cramped buildings set in a built-up College, which so long rested on past 310 The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord laurels, simply could not be considered best alumni, some of whom attended the Royal in class among naval and war colleges as Naval College at various points. The time went on, if it ever was. students were products of the teaching and Any military staff college has many curriculum, slotted into headquarters and constituents and participants, very adeptly the wider defence establishment to use their captured by Dickinson. In the first instance, training and knowledge to best advantage. this unique educational institution served Wisdom and War is part of the the needs of the service and broader military Corbett Centre for Maritime Policy Studies as an investment in the skills and Series, connected with the Department of knowledge needed for the present and going Defence Studies at King's College, London, into the future. It was crucial to leadership, and residing at the Joint Services Command good administration, and sound decision- and Staff College, where Dickinson teaches. making in day-to-day running of militaries The book could appeal to a broader general and situations of crisis, conflict, and war. audience interested in the history of Equally, the government and the guardians Greenwich, but the work's focus and the of public finances, in this case the Treasury, relatively high retail price targets defence- ensured that expenditures were justified and related libraries, military colleges, and stayed within prescribed limits, perhaps not academics working in the specialized field to the liking of senior officers at Greenwich of maritime strategy. In that sense, it and the Admiralty. Funding was always provides a good overall historical survey for central to what was possible, the closer study of the curriculum and doctrine improvements that could be made to courses taught at the single service college—good and the physical layout of the campus, and and bad—before closing. ultimately staying open for business. For the Chris Madsen most part, the uniformed military took, or Toronto, Ontario retained, control over most affairs at the Royal Naval College. Civilian academics were present for subject matter expertise, George Emery. In Their Own Words. The experience in teaching and research Navy Fights the War of 1812. Selected methodology, and the aura of legitimacy Documents from a Sailor’s Collection. their presence added to a place of higher Washington, DC: Naval Historical learning outside the university fold. Neither Foundation, www.navyhistory.org, 2013. a military staff college nor a war college, viii+84 pp., illustrations, maps, index. US either individually or collectively, constitute $29.95, paper; ISBN 978-0-615-77839-6. a university, and efforts to describe them as such misinterpreted the actual function, Every so often, a little gem of a book comes namely to produce trained officers with along that does not quite fit into any one suitable education and knowledge to category yet brims with scholarship and perform at higher levels of command and personality. In Their Own Words is one of responsibility inside and outside the military those. Unlike so many recent books bureaucracy. So much of an officer's career published to commemorate the bicentennial was spent in training and education, of the War of 1812, written from certain particularly during peacetime. Dickinson's viewpoints or directed at specific events, descriptions and short vignettes of the this collection highlights documents, one Greenwich experience, gleaned from man’s dedicated acquisition of books, personal papers and reminiscences, provide manuscripts, ephemera, etc. from all aspects the perspectives of students, staff, and of the maritime War of 1812. Undoubtedly Book Reviews 311 representing just the tip of a Titanic-sized Jesse Putman, Esq. to a party celebrating iceberg of a collection, the 60 documents Commodore Bainbridge’s defeat of HMS featured in this little catalogue offer Java in accompanied by a quote from everything from personal letters signed by Tyrone Martin’s book on the USS famous American naval captains like Constitution, A Most Fortunate Ship William Bainbridge and John Rogers, to a (Annapolis, 1977) describing the procession rare letter from Lieutenant William Henry to Boston’s Exchange Coffee House where Allen written aboard USS Argus in 1813. the celebration was held and a report of the There are official letters from Secretary of event the day after in the Columbian the Navy Paul Hamilton, and Vice-President Centinel, Wednesday, 3 March 1813. Elbridge Gerry, and private ones like The collector of this documentary Benjamin D. Hadley’s advising “Dear Wife treasure trove is as fascinating as his and Honored parent” (p.22) that his ship, collection. Vice Admiral George W. Emery the Newburyport privateer Decatur, had earned his stripes in the U.S. Navy’s nuclear been captured by HMS Surprise and sent submarine service, retiring in 1996 as into Barbados. Clearly the treasures of a commander Submarine Force US Atlantic committed collector, the book includes Fleet/commander Submarine Allied newspaper clippings, broadsides, memoirs, Command Atlantic. Emery’s career took poems, sketches, biographies, diaries and a him from beneath the North Pole to wealth of manuscript and printed documents advising the director of the Los Alamos relating to the War of 1812 at sea and in the Laboratory. But it appears that his real love lakes. Chronologically arranged and was submerging himself in the navy’s thoroughly explained, almost all of the documentary history. He has written a documents are also beautifully number of books published by the Naval photographed. Additional colour portraits, Historical Center including Historical prints and paintings from the Naval History Manuscripts in the Navy Department and Heritage Centre collection enhance the Library, 1994, an expanded version in 2000 publication. and contributed to U.S. Navy: A Complete As interesting as it is to compare History, 2003; and Leadership Embodied: Isaac Hull’s handwriting with that of James The Secrets to Success of the Most Effective Lawrence, or to see a rare copy of James Navy and Marine Corps Leaders, 2005. He Fenimore Cooper’s original 1843 has also compiled finding aids for Navy publication entitled The Battle of Lake Erie, Department Library of both The George the collection is further enhanced by Henry Preble Collection (2006) and The bibliographic descriptions of each document Rodgers Family Collection (2007). providing date, author, full title, number of In Their Own Words is far more pages, publisher, and appearance in various than selections from a sailor’s collection, as master catalogues such as WorldCat, Howes it is modestly subtitled. It is a preview of (U.S. Iana (1650-1950), 1962) and Moebs some rare and unusual documents that (America’s Naval Heritage. A Catalogue of enhance our knowledge of the War of 1812 Early Imprints from the Navy Department on a more personal and immediate level. Library, 2000). The foreword by Difficult to display in an exhibition format, Christopher McKee of Chicago’s Newberry documents come to life on a printed page Library indicates the serious scholarship where they can be closely examined and behind the catalogue information. There is appreciated as artifacts of their time as well also wonderful contextual information as sources of historical information. I about each item so that the ticket admitting would recommend this small book to 312 The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord bibliophiles, historians and students. It is a highways that connected distant corners of testament to a dedicated collector who has the earth to spread human populations, spent many years of research acquiring a culture, commerce, and ultimately splendid collection and has graciously civilization as well as diverse religions, offered to share it. I, for one, am looking disease and wars. These salty thoroughfares forward to more. bore eclectic vehicles and passengers via winds and tides; their signposts were the Faye Kert sun and stars. Ottawa, Ontario Beyond the Blue Horizon is unique in its organization. Although the topics are Brian Fagan. Beyond the Blue Horizon: presented in chronological order, it is How the Earliest Mariners Unlocked the designed to make sense if read out of Secrets of the Oceans. New York, NY: sequence, each narrative or chapter being Bloomsbury Press, www.bloomsbury relatively independent of the others. Also, press.com, 2012. 3112 pp., illustrations, the author has included a number of maps, chronology, notes, suggestions for insertions or related digressions such as further reading, index. US $28.00, cloth: “The prestige of a canoe,” and “The ISBN 978-1-60819-005-8. Pacific’s waltz of atmosphere and ocean,” etc., which represent just several of many Beyond the Blue Horizon is a multifaceted, informational nuggets. scholarly book; part maritime history, Fagan’s prose is almost poetic at historical fiction, anthropology, archeology times. He introduces his work as follows: and oceanography, with a touch of “You raise your eyes and the land falls away philosophy. It is about anonymous people from your feet … Below me, precipitous who are not the leading figures of maritime cliffs battered by the ocean swells tumble history, but the unsung forbears who form into the surf with a low roar . . . I sat there history’s backbone. They are people who for more than an hour, my face buffeted by floated over the deep studying waves, rain and wind, contemplating the immensity winds, currents, tides, and occasional of the open ocean. My mind wandered, as it landmarks to decode the ocean’s mysteries. so often does, into the past, lulled by the Brian Fagan’s thesis reinforces the endless rush of wind and sea . . . in pursuit commonly-held maritime historian’s view of a dream, of a mythic land . . . a place that water in its guises as rivers, lakes and where the unknown began” (p.1). He later oceans led to the development of human concludes, “The now anonymous ocean is society. no longer in the realm of ancestors, gods, or Fagan, a best selling author, is a dreaded spiritual forces, but, for all our professor emeritus of anthropology at the seeming mastery of its secrets, we ignore its University of California, Santa Barbara. An dangers at our peril. We will never experienced sailor and navigator, he has completely decode its mysteries” (p.281). diverse nautical skills that are reflected in Sailing out of the sight of land, man this tour of the world’s shores. The book is found the need to become knowledgeable a work of imagination, yet it is coupled with about the seasons and predicting weather. historical and scientific evidence to produce Armed with seasonal cycle facts, one could fictional scenes from prehistory as well as a almost guarantee a safe return from a more recent past. He imagines how the voyage. The earliest quasi-scientific oceans, rather than being barriers filled with method of water transportation was dangers and mystery, morphed into coasting, watching headlands and adjusting Book Reviews 313 for current and tidal changes. The detailed the title from a song in the 1930 film, design of these crafts is lost in history. Of Monte Carlo. Richard Whiting and Franke necessity they had to be sturdy working Harling composed the score, Leo Robin boats, but few have survived because the wrote its lyrics and Jeannette MacDonald lumber was so difficult to shape and use, sang the song. that any part of the vessel that could be Louis Arthur Norton recycled found its way into its next West Simsbury, Connecticut iteration. The sailing canoes of the south seas, the Broighter boat, the Ferriby boat, Paul A. Gilje. Free Trade and Sailors’ the Irish currach, and the Dover boat, to Rights in the War of 1812. New York, NY: name but a few, have survived in drawings, Cambridge University Press, www.cam literature, and archeological artifacts. A bridge.org, 2013. xii+425 pp., illustrations, few, such as the Vietnamese basket boats notes, index. US $30.95, paper; ISBN 978- (thung chai), are still used today. The 1-107-60782-8. evolution of more efficient rigging is evinced in maritime archeology and Historians have long debated the causes and expressed in modern versions of specialized meaning of the War of 1812, emphasizing craft for specific waters. Fagan routinely Western land-hunger, the rhetoric of takes his readers on imagined voyages on national “honour,” and Congressional primitive vessels, relating the dangers and politicking to name only three. Among triumphs that these designs may have historians who affirm the centrality of produced. Through these meanderings, he maritime causes, some (most notably J.C.A. investigates the Southeast Asian waters of Stagg) see the conflict as a necessary the Indian Ocean’s Red Sea, Arabia, East “second war for independence,” while Africa, and the Malabar Coast; the Central others (such as Donald Hickey) define American and Northwest coasts of North American grievances as the price of America; the Bering land bridge area; the business during wartime. In Free Trade Northern European and Mediterranean and Sailors’ Rights in the War of 1812, Paul waters; and China’s vast and adjacent A. Gilje speaks authoritatively to this coasts. debate, arguing that by 1812 “the issues of Fagan’s frequently riveting unimpeded commerce and freedom from travel/anthropologic adventure story is impressment became the accepted reason” difficult to classify. It is a hybrid of for a necessary conflict (p.7). Focusing on academic and literary genres, but does not the significance of rhetoric, he skillfully definitively answer the primary question it surveys the entwined histories of legal- raises: How did these natives manage to maritime questions in American politics, conquer the oceans? That said, it is difficult diplomacy, and popular culture during the to argue with the intellectual logic and first half-century of independence. The likelihoods that the author conjures up. phrase “Free Trade and Sailors’ Rights” Beyond the Blue Horizon does much to derives from a banner Captain David Porter stimulate and stretch a reader’s imagination. raised above the frigate USS Essex as she In summary, it is both an entertaining yet cleared New York on 2 July 1812. This challenging read. widely-embraced, pithy motto symbolically As a side note, a reader may be united two initially separate, complex and drawn to hum a vaguely familiar tune when evolving diplomatic principles. The slogan paging through this book. Fagan borrowed advanced American ideals of liberal 314 The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord commerce against European mercantilist Gilje expands upon his central imperial norms. It simultaneously rejected theme of political rhetoric in section three, Old World hierarchical social order, illuminating the Federalist-Republican asserting equitable citizenship and struggle to define and monopolize both the inalienable rights for common tars. Thus, “free trade” and “sailors’ rights” causes. Porter deftly articulated “a potent mixture of While Thomas Jefferson’s administration, patrician ideas borrowed from the for example, justified the 1807 Embargo enlightenment and plebeian ideas derived Act as a stand designed to curtail from experience of the Age of Revolution” impressment and command liberal terms of (p.337). trade, Federalists decried it as ruinous to The book’s first section clarifies the now-destitute merchant and mariner alike. somewhat amorphous concept of “free Section four then explores the ways in trade,” which could variously refer to “the which Americans employed loaded phrases opening of any market, ending colonial to explain the war even as they fought or restrictions, establishing reciprocal opposed it, and in how they celebrated agreements, eliminating tariffs, or victories—particularly on water. Though protecting neutral commerce” (p.30). Federalists continued to attempt Enlightenment ideals of replacing appropriation of Porter’s slogan, Gilje exclusionary commercial empires and the credits James Madison with a propaganda ancient laws of war at sea with reciprocal coup in successfully framing a military low duty rates and wider protection for stalemate and uninspiring peace treaty as a neutrals formed the twin bedrocks of early national triumph. He did so even in spite of U.S. foreign policy. But America’s elite the infamous Dartmoor massacre’s poor statesmen differed as to the best means for reflection on his administration’s achieving these ends. Pragmatic Federalists commitment to speedy repatriation of preferred to compromise and attain limited American sailors from British prisoner-of- concessions by treaty, while Jeffersonians war camps. This fifth and final section then advocated unilateral action and sought to assesses the enduring significance of the withhold trade from those who rejected the war’s most lasting refrain in subsequent “new diplomacy.” Section two addresses the American political, diplomatic, and cultural latter half of Porter’s slogan. Gilje memory. As late as the 1850s “free trade describes the evolution of colonial-era and sailors’ rights” enjoyed association with resistance to Royal Navy press gangs into causes as varied as low tariffs, opposition to the broader principle of “sailors’ rights.” the right of search in British-backed anti- Reflecting his career-long interest in the slave trade treaties, African-American popular politics of common mariners, Gilje resistance to Southern states’ Negro sailors argues that seamen’s determinative acts, and many more. Wide use in often participation in the American Revolution contradictory ways eventually meant that broadened understandings of citizenship and “Porter’s motto… became disembodied and human rights. Opposition to British gradually lost its currency” (p.323). impressment following U.S. independence Nevertheless, Gilje argues that its longevity continued this trend. By 1799, is a testament to the widely understood Congressman Albert Gallatin represented centrality of maritime questions to the war’s almost universal sentiment in denouncing origins, meaning, and legacy. impressment “an act of lawless violence” Free Trade and Sailors’ Rights in (p.122) and justifying even homicide in the War of 1812 is engagingly written and, mutiny as a means to emancipation. while experts will find much treasure to Book Reviews 315 mine from exhaustive footnotes, it is easily This is a significant work that accessible to neophytes. Succinct provides an intimate history of Madeira and definitions of terms laymen cannot be its wine industry through two centuries expected to understand do not unduly while offering a fresh view of the Atlantic disrupt the narrative. A broad research base merchants and the development of the reflecting four decades of Early Republic American colonies from the perspective of scholarship is particularly impressive for the an island situated along the most important breadth of newspaper citations and Gilje’s trade route. David Hancock accomplishes a mastery of the secondary literature. thorough, deep, and wide study that is well Historiographically, the monograph organized and well written. In fact, I found reasserts the centrality of the War of 1812’s this book difficult to review in a reasonable maritime causes, and presents a strong case amount of time as I carefully read and for a clearly meaningful and ultimately considered almost every paragraph, rather successful conflict. Gilje suggests that than reading it quickly for content and domestically the theme of “sailors’ rights” conclusions. belongs to the broader context of nascent Hancock presents the geography of popular democracy—a historical process Madeira in the Atlantic, far away from the reaching back to the Revolution and inhabited continents and yet perfectly forward into the Jacksonian era and beyond. positioned in the most important Atlantic He makes a far bolder claim in portraying trade route that developed in the sixteenth the war as a diplomatic success, pointing century. The island’s climate and soil were out that despite the Treaty of Ghent’s perfect for growing almost anything, but shortcomings the U.S. secured many Madeira’s Portuguese inhabitants in the reciprocal commercial agreements during seventeenth century found that wine grapes the immediate post-war decades. Equally were the most lucrative. importantly, “by the 1840s the American In time, Madeira wine became the flag came to protect a ship’s crew” despite important drink in the American colonies the absence of any “official concession in a because of the treaty” (p.340). Only two chapters island’s geographical location and reviewing the politics and diplomacy of the willingness of the growers, winemakers, westward expansion between 1783 and and merchants to produce and send to each 1812 without adding anything to the central region of the Americas the kinds of wines narrative detract from the book’s overall they preferred. The island’s wine merchants, strength. Regardless, this work must increasingly British in the eighteenth become a standard text on legal-maritime century, added various amounts of brandy to issues during the Early Republic era. the wine, to fortify it according to their customers’ feedback. Since Madeira wines Samuel Negus improved with tropical heat and were hurt Hillsdale, Michigan by cold temperatures, quite unlike French wines, merchants sometimes sent pipes of David Hancock. Oceans of Wine: Madeira Madeira to the East Indies and back in and the Emergence of American Trade and ships’ holds to ready it for sale. Taste. New Haven, CT: Yale University Hancock details the process of Press, www.yale.edu, 2009. 660 pp., growing several types of grapes on the photographs, illustrations, maps, references, island, the processing, and the multifarious index. US$ 50.00, cloth; ISBN 978-0-300- ways the wine business proceeded on 13605-0. Madeira, always shifting to meet 316 The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord consumers’ demands. He provides much overview and intricate look at the information on the British/Madeira wine complexity and importance of the Atlantic politics and shipping business through the wine trade—an essential component of the centuries, and explains the many-faceted Atlantic merchant trade and culture, distribution system, using individual especially in Madeira and the British examples, in the British American colonies. colonies of the seventeenth and eighteenth The author also brings the story to the table, centuries. describing the utilitarian and cultural Warren Riess aspects of storing, consuming, and Bristol, Maine presenting wine in eighteenth century America. Throughout his book Hancock John Jordan and Jean Moulin. French explores many interesting aspects of the Cruisers 1922-1956. Annapolis, MD: Naval Madeira wine trade/business. One example Institute Press, www.nip.org 2013. 232 pp., is “The Factory,” a British merchants’ illustrations, photographs, maps, tables, organization in Funchal that dealt with sources, index. US $74.95, cloth; ISBN quality control and local officials, set prices, 978-1-59114-296-6. helped travelers, and generally kept the island’s business peaceful and profitable. He In this superbly written and lavishly describes a complex relationship in which illustrated book the authors, both with the merchants consciously educated excellent credentials, take an extremely American consumers about better ways to detailed look at the development and history store and serve their wines, while at the of France’s cruiser type warships. Part I, same time the customers’ demands changed the technical section, with an introduction, the way wines were made. Such was the and chapters on the various cruiser classes, organization of the American wine was the work of John Jordan, with some distribution network that when there was a assistance from Moulin. Jordan took over glut in one port, distributors in the colonies the editorship of the annual Warship had a working system of selling for credit following Antony Preston in 2005; he also their wine to another port in need. wrote French Battleships, with Robert The author’s important conclusions Dumas, published by Seaforth in 2009. include a correction for those who view the Part II, the historical section, is the colonial Atlantic trade as a system ruled by work of Jean Moulin, who has authored or a few men with set routes, cargos, and co-authored, numerous monographs on the regulations. He found that the Madeira trade light cruisers of the La Galissonniere class, was based on an intricate web of variables, the Treaty cruiser Algerie, and the contre- communication lines, and many people torpilleurs (destroyers) of the Guépard and making individual decisions. There were no Aigle classes. So each of the authors brings central firms or figures that controlled the a wealth of knowledge to this book in which development of the business or conducted they present a study that will likely satisfy the trade; or who determined the evolution the most fastidious researcher, or at least of Madeira wines. provide sufficient information from which David Hancock’s Oceans of Wine is researchers can easily expand their own a scholarly work with textual information, knowledge. data, statistics, and anecdotes skillfully While this imprint is from The analyzed and woven into a very readable Naval Institute Press, the first edition was book. The author provides an exceptional from Seaforth. The superb drawings, Book Reviews 317 schematics and tables, of which there are ships was built in the Brest Naval Dockyard many, were prepared by John Jordan from with Brest being responsible for providing official plans and other documentation. detailed plans to yards building the follow- There are also countless excellent on cruisers. photographs of the various ships throughout Part 1 discusses development, the book. design and fitting out of the ships through to The book contains a preface, successful trials. The design of French followed by a section on acronyms and cruisers was seriously hampered by the fact abbreviations, and then, in Part 1, chapters that, during the inter-war years, French on the Duguay-Trouin class; Duquesne and metallurgy lagged well behind that of Tourville, the Suffren class; Pluton, Jeanne Britain and the U.S. Consequently, French d'Arc and Emile Bertin; and Algérie, which ships had to be built with heavier, thicker was the only cruiser not named for a noted rolled steel to obtain the same degree of French individual. This is followed by tensile strength as in British and U.S. coloured plates of paintings of the ships by warships, thus denying the French the same Jean Blade, who also produced the dust- degree of armour protection in critical areas. jacket painting. Blade was the Director Moreover, riveting was used throughout Central du Service des Armes. A chapter on France for all hull construction adding the De Grasse Class follows, with chapters additional weight. Electric welding was on the C5 and Saint Louis designs only used in internal, and less critical areas. completing the design section. Part 2, the Even considering that duralamin was used history section, discusses four periods: extensively in interior structures, meeting 1926-1939, 1939-1943, 1943-1945 and the overall weight limitations imposed by 1945-1956, and closes with a sources the Washington Treaty (1922) was section and an index. impossible without sacrificing armour It’s amazing that the records on protection. Therefore, the French relied on which the authors based much of their speed and subdivision for protection by research survived. When the armistice took using a combination of longitudinal and effect the Germans, long known for their transverse bulk-heading so that relatively penchant for amassing records, seized small spaces could be isolated if breached. French naval records, including the files In addition, by finally adopting the dealing with the cruisers and moved them to conventional practice used in other navies the Kriegsmarine headquarters in Berlin. where only part of the weight of When Berlin in turn was overrun, the combustibles, rather than the full weight, records were seized by the Russians, but was reported, additional weight became were returned to France after the Berlin available for armour in later ships. Wall fell; there they were archived at the In Part 2, Moulin provides an Centre d'Archives de l'Armament (CAA). extremely detailed history of the various The records were made available on the ships prior to, and following the Armistice, website of the Service Historique de la including the scuttling of seven cruisers at Defense. That these records were neither Toulon. Other ships were impounded by the destroyed in the war, or simply kept by British at Alexandria, while three were Russia is quite remarkable. stranded in the Far East. This book goes There were nine classes of cruisers well beyond the history of the ships, totalling 20 ships designed and built for the however, and presents the complicated Marine Nationale over the period discussed. political situation surrounding their scuttling Part 1 indicates that the first of each class of or internment, and, more broadly, France’s 318 The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord situation following the Armistice. Moulin gradually expanding his business to 15 goes into depth regarding naval employees. infrastructure, tactical organization, and In September 1944, Schemkes’ even delves into national culture, something photo shop was destroyed, bombed out of that is not well understood in the English- business, along with nearly two decades of speaking world. work as his entire archive of negatives was Highly recommended—an excellent lost. In 1948, Schemkes started over, study of a complex period in French naval rebuilding from scratch like Germany itself, history. while the country’s economy once more took off. Karl Schemkes surfed along on N. Roger Cole the waves of prosperity in Bremerhaven. Scarborough, Ontario Besides taking photographs, he sold cameras, photographic material and Klaus-Peter Kiedel. Schiffe, Helgen, Docks instruments. His photographs of ships, und Kaijen. Mit dem Fotografen Karl slipways, docks and quays ended on the Schemkes in der Bremerhaven Häfen 1950- walls of board rooms, in books and leaflets. 1965. (Schriften des Deutschen From the 1930s onwards, many Schiffsfahrtsmuseums, Vol. 82; Schiffart photographers switched to small film und Fotografie vol. 2) Bremerhaven: cameras (24x36mm or 6x6 cm). These Deutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum, Wiefelstede: cameras were more suited for a dynamic Oceanum Verlag, www.dsm.museum, 2011. subjects but images suffered a loss in 96 pp., illustrations. €19,90, cloth; ISBN sharpness; details were less clear than on 978-3-86927-082-1. the 13x18 cm images. Karl Schemkes stuck to his old camera, more static but rich in Modern maritime history is occasionally detail and sharpness. If necessary, the written with the ink of light. Although there pictures were retouched and unwanted are many enthusiasts, a mere few are background features like buildings, professionally involved in photographing chimneys or other vessels were removed. ships and ports. One of these professionals Schemkes retired in 1963 and died in 1994 was Germany’s Karl Schemkes (1890- at the age of 103. Among his legacy were 1994). Born in the city of Duisburg, near 3500 glass plate negatives, mostly black and Europe’s largest inland port on the river white on glass plates 13x17 and 9x12cm. Rhine, the young Schemkes got a whiff of About five percent of the collection was in the maritime life. He joined the German colour. The negatives were given to the Imperial Navy but soon found his Bremerhavener Schiffahrtsmuseum, now enthusiasm fading, left the navy and went the Nationalmuseum Deutsches back to school. On the outbreak of war in Schiffahrtsmuseum (National German 1914, he joined the navy again. A few Maritime Museum). weeks after he boarded the armoured cruiser The book is really a showcase for Yorck, the ship was sunk by a German Schemkes’ images of classic liners, defensive mine. Although hundreds of merchant vessels and docks, a wonderful crewmen perished, Schemkes survived. composition with beautiful photographs of a After the war, Schemkes finished his study time gone by. as an engineer and shortly afterwards, took over a small photography business in Jacob Bart Hak Bremerhaven. He specialized in taking Leiden, The Netherlands photographs of ports and ship building, Book Reviews 319 Mark Lardas. Decatur’s Bold and Daring simultaneously Edward Preble, the Act: The Philadelphia in Tripoli, 1804. commander of the U.S. Navy’s Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, Mediterranean Fleet, William Bainbridge, www.ospreypublishing.com, 2011. 80 pp., and Stephen Decatur, a promising young illustrations, maps, chronology, lieutenant, came to the conclusion that the bibliography, index. UK £11.99, US $18.95, frigate had to be destroyed. According to CDN $22.00, paper; ISBN 978-1-84908- Lardas, each of these men made significant 374-4. contributions to the operation which would result in destroying the Philadelphia. Decatur’s Bold and Daring Act: The Despite his imprisonment, Bainbridge was Philadelphia in Tripoli 1804 by Mark able to smuggle valuable intelligence Lardas is one of the latest editions of concerning the Philadelphia and Tripoli’s Osprey’s Raid series. Many scholars have harbour to Preble through the Danish recounted Stephen Decatur’s heroic raid to consul. Decatur captured a Tripolitan ketch keep the captured American frigate, USS named Mastico and proposed to use it in an Philadelphia, out of the hands of pirates, attack similar to the one Preble was but this new interpretation attributes the planning. Renamed Intrepid, Mastico was raid’s success squarely to Decatur. Lardas placed under Decatur’s command for the gives Decatur credit for planning, preparing raid. and leading this covert operation. Although Decatur volunteered to In order to appreciate Lardas’ lead the operation, Preble gave command to contribution to the historiography of Charles Stewart, a senior lieutenant who Stephen Decatur’s raid, it is necessary to commanded the Syren. According to examine the book’s title. This new Preble’s plan, the officers and men on both interpretation owes its name to a comment vessels would disguise themselves as Arab from the great admiral, Horatio Nelson, and Maltese sailors, while Syren would alter who called the burning of the Philadelphia, its rigging to appear more like the vessels in “the most bold and daring act of the the harbour. Since both the attackers and age”(p.6). After achieving success in the the defenders of the Philadelphia would be Quasi War, the United States Navy turned dressed the same, the attackers would its attention to combating pirates from the identify themselves during this nighttime Barbary States in North Africa. Although raid by shouting “Philadelphia”. The William Bainbridge, the commander of USS raiders practised their technique by Philadelphia had successfully blockaded boarding the USS Constitution and placing the harbour of Tripoli, he made a grievous incendiaries while it was moored in error when he pursued two pirate vessels Syracuse Harbour, training, Lardas argues, into the harbour on 31 October 1803. that increased the men’s confidence. When the frigate ran aground on a “When they carried out the raid in earnest, sandbar and attempts to free or scuttle it they knew they could reach their failed, gunboats from shore were able to destinations and return to the spar deck in capture the Philadelphia and its crew. less time than it took during their practice American naval officers quickly realized the sessions”(p.30). danger their frigate in enemy hands Despite careful planning and presented to international shipping. Yusuf considerable practice, the operation was Karamanli, Tripoli’s ruler, could refit the hamstrung by unforeseen problems, Philadelphia and engage in piracy on an beginning when Decatur learned that the unprecedented scale. Almost provisions of salted beef had been 320 The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord contaminated. Then a storm off the North the book is worth spending the afternoon it African coast blew the raiders off course. takes to read it. In spite of these difficulties, Decatur was Edward Martin able to achieve the raid’s objective through Orono, Maine his extraordinary leadership. When the Syren failed to arrive at the entrance of Tripoli Harbour, Decatur ordered the Robin Law (ed.). Dahomey and the Ending Intrepid to enter the harbour before the wind of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. The died. Once within twenty yards of the Journals and Correspondence of Vice- Philadelphia, Salvatore Catalano, the Consul Louis Fraser, 1851-1852. Sources of Intrepid’s multilingual Sicilian pilot was African History, No 10. Oxford, England; able to convince the frigate’s Arab Published for the British Academy by defenders to pull his ketch alongside. Oxford University Press, www.oup.com, Decatur and his men boarded the 2012. 287 pp., introduction, maps, Philadelphia and defeated its defenders appendices, sources, bibliography, UK £55, using only cutlasses and clubbed pistols. cloth; ISBN 978-0-19-726521-5. Since Preble had ordered the raiders to burn the Philadelphia, no time was wasted This book is part of a major international attempting to rescue the frigate. Decatur’s editing and publication project initiated in men placed their incendiaries in key 1962 under the auspices of the Union locations within the frigate’s hull and set Academique Internationale, whose aim was them ablaze with battle lanterns they carried to create critical editions on the sources for with them. After Decatur and his men fired a history of Africa covering most of the sub- the Philadelphia, they boarded the Intrepid Saharan lands. A decade later, the British and made a hasty escape under the power of Academy established an international large oars, known as sweeps. committee to publish a series of books and Unfortunately, the reader will find by 1995, ten had been prepared, mistakes in the text that should have been representing about half the project’s output. caught by a proof reader. For instance, the Robin Law is Emeritus Professor of text refers to the commander of the African History at the University of Stirling Mediterranean fleet as Edwin Preble instead and Visiting Professor of History at the of Edward Preble. Although irritating, the University of Liverpool. He is the author errors do not detract from Lardas’ overall of, among other books, Ouidah: the Social argument which is informed by his History of a West African Slaving Port extensive knowledge of naval architecture 1727-1892, The Slave Coast of West Africa and engineering. These insights help the 1550-1750 and The Horse in West African reader to understand key aspects of the raid History. He has also edited The English in such as rearranging sails and ropes to West Africa 1691-1699. The Local disguise the Syren’s true identity, as well as Correspondence of the Royal African how the placing of incendiaries on the Company of England 1681-1699 part 3. Philadelphia could destroy a frigate. In the early sixteenth century, the Even though the Philadelphia’s slave trade emerged as an important story has been told before, Decatur’s Bold mainstay of commerce between Africa, and Daring Act: The Philadelphia in Tripoli Europe and America. Although the 1804 will entertain the reader with its principal concern of this book is how the engaging narrative, perceptive insights and British trans-Atlantic slave trade ended, the beautiful illustrations. Despite minor errors, author also considers how it developed from Book Reviews 321 small-scale beginnings in West Africa in the Efik merchants acted as middlemen 1560s into a partnership (albeit of an between ship captains and inland African increasingly unequal nature) between black traders, overlapping colonial plundering and and white traders in the nineteenth century. overseas trade. In the Angolan territory, the Now known as part of the Republic peak was reached in 1782, as barter, pillage of Benin, the Kingdom of Dahomey was and even military raids generated new one of the most active West African states cycles of demand for Portuguese and and ports involved in both the European and Brazilian goods in the inland markets of trans-Atlantic slave trades. Growing Central Africa (Bethancourt 2007). demand along the coast for slaves created a The book is an indispensable strain on the established sources of supply, source for understanding African and which gradually shifted southwards to reach European interconnections and the deeper into the interior (Kolchin 1993). extensive bibliography includes 19 of Law’s Visitors to Dahomey vied with one another own works. His ample footnotes and lists in depicting the savagery of King Gezo’s of sources, as well as his comprehensive regime. Archibald Dalzel, the sometime comments on the journals and documents, governor of Cape Coast Castle and a slave augment the value of the letters and reports trader, historian and bankrupt, described of the British vice-consul, Louis Fraser, Gezo’s palace as “ornamented with human who was appointed by Queen Victoria in heads and bestrewn with bodies” December 1850. These documents cover (Christopher 2006). not only the development of Britain’s policy Much has been written about the on the slave trade but also explain the West African coastline being the least important role of Dahomey which, since the healthy place on earth for Europeans, but seventeenth century, had affirmed its this generally alluded to the islands off the independence and exploited European coast where ships weighed anchor for long rivalries in neighbouring Lagos, Cotonou periods. For seamen, it was also the scene and Porto Seguro. of desertions and rebellion, unrequited In laying the foundations for social fantasies, tall stories and a place of histories of West African ports as part of the punishment. Yet most of them also larger Atlantic context, the British Academy considered Africa to hold a dreamlike has highlighted the extent to which the quality where untold luxuries and welcomes Atlantic trade networks maintained control could be found. over local cross-cultural commerce. The first 250 years of African- Professor Law has come to the conclusion European commercial relations used gold as that in the years 1851-1852, the the basis of exchange. Not until the early appointment of Louis Fraser proved to be a eighteenth century did the value of slaves very poor choice on the grounds that the exceed that of gold, and some historians diarist was no linguist, was abrasive with have claimed that Europeans were in search naval colleagues and arrogant towards the of gold rather than slaves (Greene and king and the people of Dahomey. Morgan 2009). It was considered that Robin Law presents a master class Africans were eager, discriminating in editing in this remarkable work of consumers and not easily satisfied with scholarship that adds considerably to our shoddy goods. They willingly sold gold, knowledge of the Atlantic world in general then ivory, hides, pepper, beeswax and dye- and the nineteenth century slave trade in woods for the European textile industries particular. Fortunately for the modern and, only finally, slaves. reader, Mr Fraser’s shortcomings as a 322 The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord diplomat do not detract from the value of dug in, fighting to the death and, to prevent his account as a historical resource. This American “victory,” killing their own book will not only fascinate but greatly civilian population rather than allowing entertain readers of social, political, them to surrender to the Marines. Bob commercial and maritime history. Sheeks was called to the front lines with his radio equipment and megaphones, tasked Michael Clark with the job of convincing the Japanese London, England forces killing their own brethren-in-arms to surrender, if not to save their own lives, Gerald A. Meehl. One Marine’s War: A then at the very least, to save the lives of the Combat Interpreter’s Quest for Humanity in Marines they fought. In 1944, Sheeks the Pacific. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute shared a generalized perception of the Press, www.usni.org, 2012. xviii+244 pp., Japanese soldier as a nameless cog in the illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. US “Imperial Japanese machinery”. His $43.95, UK £22.50, cloth; ISBN 978-1- experience with a young Japanese soldier, 61251-092-7. who was willing to kill his own countrymen in order to prevent further deaths, A U.S. Marine Corps Japanese language contradicted everything he had learned specialist and intelligence officer during the about the Japanese. He couldn’t see it as a Second World War, Bob Sheeks became the betrayal, although perhaps it was: rather, target of Gerald Meehl’s interest during a what he witnessed was an act of humanity, snorkelling expedition in Borneo in 1979. the willingness of a hated enemy to end Meehl, a prolific author and a specialist in senseless violence in the interests of the American Pacific Campaign during the everyone on the battlefield. Moreover, it Second World War, was also a member of was an incident that shook the very the “science team of the Intergovernmental foundation of his opinion of the Japanese Panel on Climate Change that was awarded that he had held since growing up in the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.” He has Shanghai. traced Sheeks’ tale from his birth in Sheeks was raised in a life of Shanghai in 1922, to his language training relative luxury as the son of an American at the Navy Japanese Language School in business executive. The local presence of Boulder, Colorado in 1942-43, and then to the U.S. 4th Marine Regiment prompted him his deployment as a Japanese-language and his brother to dream of becoming officer in island combat with the 2nd Marine Marines, goals they would eventually reach. Division in the Pacific in 1943. Meehl tells In downtown Shanghai, the young Sheeks this one Marine’s tale from when he began had already been exposed to death: the gang his war-time adventure with a deep hatred violence that had plagued the area was for his Japanese adversaries to when he exacerbated as the Japanese came in and ended his time in the Corps (but not as a began executing any Chinese civilian who Marine) with a greater understanding and resisted their presence. The grim reality of appreciation for the sympathy, compassion, murder, however, did not hit home for him and simple humanity that balances all our until, one day, he watched a young boy—a personalities with the darkest impulses of peanut seller—topple out of the back of a our most hidden nightmares. truck and dash his head to bits, literally, on Meehl opens his book with a look the asphalt. As reports of Japanese at the battle at Saipan in the Western atrocities became increasingly frequent, the Tropical Pacific in 1944. The Japanese had young Bob Sheeks became increasingly Book Reviews 323 hostile toward the invading Japanese, Meehl tells us of Sheeks’ time in unable to understand why they were Hawaii in 1943-44, and return to the targeting his friends and their families: operation at Saipan in 1944 to round out his when, one weekend, his father took him and tale of Sheeks’ most formative period as a his brother George to visit the home of Marine on the front lines. When Sheeks some family friends, Bob Sheeks came was sent to Tinian in 1944, he formed “A face-to-face with the nightmare that, until Human Connection with the Enemy,” a then, he had been divorced from—the phrase appropriately titling Meehl’s eighth Chinese servants of his friends’ family had chapter. The end of the brutal landings at been roasted alive. This coloured his Tinian found Bob Sheeks caught between perception of the Japanese for the rest of his the “can-do” attitudes of those directing the youth. American efforts and the war-weariness of Sheeks’ academic career saw him the Japanese ensconced on the island. A attend Harvard University on a full cooperative relationship with Warrant scholarship while in the Marine Corps Officer Nakazawa, who helped smooth the Reserve, but once the United States entered cessation of hostilities at Tinian, gave the war, his particular linguistic skills Sheeks an insight into the mentality of a became in high demand, and, as a reward culture he had hated for most of his life, and for attending the new Japanese language he was able to negotiate a conference school at Berkeley, he was offered a between Colonel Dave Shoup and potential commission as a Marine Corps Nakazawa. Interpreting this conversation officer. Meehl follows Sheek’s life forced Sheeks to realize that he had begun chronologically from his studies at to sympathize with the perspectives of the Berkeley, to combat training at Camp Japanese, while becoming alienated from Elliott. Afterwards, in 1943, he spent time the “gung-ho” militancy of the American in New Zealand and New Caledonia command, who seemed totally uninterested refining his grasp of the Japanese language in forging a connection with their Japanese and working to aid the American war effort. counterparts: “It was a mismatch of minds, Sheeks saw his first combat at Tarawa, an perceptions, and beliefs, with no real operation nearly crippled by the ill- communication. Language was not the conceived (if necessary) use of the deep- barrier,” says Meehl. The final chapter keeled Higgins boat and the constant, relates the events of a reunion of Japanese inevitable miscommunications between the Language School recruits in 2002, and Marines at the front lines and command summarizes Sheeks’ post-war career. units farther back. His general orders were Poignantly, Meehl underscores his book to gather intelligence, but this was with Sheeks’ own reflection at the reunion hampered by the Japanese practice of that racism, whether consciously held or committing suicide, in one form or another, merely an unconscious bias ingrained by rather than being captured by the enemy. simple, benign ignorance, combined with an By the end of the battle, Sheeks had unwillingness or inability to understand one determined that the Japanese had never another’s cultures, prolonged the war learned of surrender as a military option, beyond its rational ending point. Of and the cultural barriers that prevented the Sheeks, Meehl says: “He was an eyewitness Japanese from understanding the to that great range of human behaviour and significance that raised hands or white flags had, in the end, found life-affirming held for the Americans had almost certainly humanity in the midst of the brutality of led to many unnecessary deaths. war.” 324 The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord The technical aspects of the book, of attrition was fraught with danger and given its nature, are quite acceptable, and drama. Yet the lives of the men who served Meehl has done a good job balancing his in the submarine fleet and their experiences references with the material at hand: have yet to be truly heard by the masses. anything more would be excessive and With The Silent Service in World War II: detract from the book’s content. One The Story of the U.S. Navy Submarine Marine’s War is an undeniably valuable Force in the Words of the Men Who Lived It resource for anyone interested in the Edward Monroe-Jones and Michael Green Marines’ war in the Pacific, whether as a have attempted to rectify this, at least in student, an “arm-chair historian,” or as a part. professional. This is one of the few books Neither editor is new to military this reviewer has read that successfully history. Michael Green is a freelance author combines popular history, biography and with 90 books under his belt with an military history in a single volume without emphasis on military history. Edward making it either too light-hearted or too Monroe-Jones is himself an ex-submariner intense. Meehl’s telling of Sheeks’ story who writes on military matters. Together effectively illustrates the micro- and macro- they strive to bring the submarine perspectives of the American Pacific experience to life for the reader by campaign and the cultural difficulties that associating it with the people and their prolonged it. It is strongly recommended experiences. for American war-studies classes as well as Primarily chronological in format, for courses on international relations. 249 pages of text provide a series of vignettes about individual crew members Ambjorn L. Adomeit deployed throughout the fleet spanning the London, Ontario entire period of the Second World War. In each case, the subject is introduced with a Edward Monroe-Jones and Michael Green short excerpt regarding his rank, the boat he (eds.). The Silent Service in World War II: was assigned to and brief one- or two- The Story of the U.S. Navy Submarine sentence descriptions of the experience Force in the Words of the Men Who Lived presented to the reader. The result is an It. Philadelphia, PA: Casemate Publishers, interesting taste of the submarine war at all www.casematepublishing.co.uk, 2012. 264 levels. The value of this approach is that pp., illustrations, index. ISBN 978-1- the editors are able to feature examples 61200-125-8. from both the Atlantic and Pacific theatres, as well from every command area. Thus, The Battle of the Pacific was really waged patrols are sampled from older O and S at two levels. The most visible one was the class submarines as well as from the Gato- surface and air war, the story of carrier and Balao-class fleet boats. Operations battles and dramatic amphibious invasions. from treacherous Alaskan waters to the Exciting and flashy, it has drawn the South Pacific, from the Sea of Japan to the attention of scholars and readers for American east coast are also highlighted. decades. The second war, waged beneath With all ranks included and such a the surface by small submarines against the wide swath of experience sampled, the length and breadth of the Empire of Japan authors have captured a great deal of the has not received nearly the dramatic flavour and experience for the reader. They attention that the surface war has. augment this with a glossary of terms, a Conducted by the “Silent Service,” this war short introduction presenting various Book Reviews 325 aspects of submarine design and structure, academics, the book is long on anecdotal and finally, a criticism of Hollywood’s evidence but short on research value. portrayal of submarines. The combination Robert Dienesch reproduces a sense of the submarine Windsor, Ontario experience with slightly more historical accuracy than most anecdotal accounts of the war. The text, however, is not a history R.J. Moore and J.A. Rodgaard. A Hard of submarine operations. As the title Fought Ship: The Story of HMS Venomous. suggests, it is the story of the submarine St. Albans, Herts: Holywell House fleet. There is a clear and defined Publishing, www.holywellhousepublishing difference. The absence of any real .co.uk, 2010. xxi+360 pp., illustrations, systematic study that places the accounts maps, figures, appendices, notes, into the greater context of the submarine bibliography, index. UK £18.99, paper; war limits the value of the work. For ISBN 978-0-9559382-0-7. example, stories of submarine operations out of Alaska, as in chapter 6 “The First and In the wake of the Second World Only Patrol of the S-27,” are fascinating to War, many books have been written about read, since submarine activities in Alaskan the exploits of the Royal Navy and its ships. waters are not the usual ones associated Very few, however, chart the history of a with the submarine fleet. Yet without any single ship. More specifically, the vast supporting material, it is just a neat story majority either examine a specific naval about the crew’s survival after grounding campaign, or detail the operations of well- the submarine. It lacks context which known capital ships such as HMS Hood or diminishes its value (pp.48-54). Similarly, HMS Ark Royal. The life and commission the discussion of operations in the first of a single destroyer is hardly ever the focus months of the war, and the problems of the of such attention. This book does just that, fleet deployed in the South West Pacific however, and does it exceedingly well. lack the context needed to explain why this Now into its second edition, John is significant. A. Rodgaard has taken up the story of HMS While an enjoyable read, the Venomous previously covered in a 1990 absence of historical analysis is a clear study by his close friend, Robert Moore. As limitation of the work. The text does not the former commanding officer of the Sea even emphasize the torpedo problems with Cadet Corps’ Training Ship Venomous, which the fleet suffered. Here anecdotal Moore had sought to provide the corps with information might help shed light on this a history of their namesake. By updating important issue. It is not even mentioned in the original manuscript with additional the index. These limitations seriously research and numerous personal interviews reduce the value of the book to most and photographs, Rodgaard has provided readers. the reader with an exceptional insight into If you are looking for an enjoyable the life of a destroyer crew. Deftly written, collection of good sea tales, with stories that this edition provides further context to the intrigue and capture the imagination, then story of HMS Venomous within the by all means buy this book. It is fun and international sphere from her tantalizing and a really good read. But if commissioning in 1919 to her final paying- you want a history of the submarine war, the off in the breaker’s yard 28 years later. This book alone does not satisfy that role. You is a book that not merely discusses the will need to keep looking. For scholars and exploits of a destroyer, but instinctively 326 The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord captures life aboard a destroyer. this book, if only by enabling him to so Laid down on 31 May 1918, HMS clearly articulate the experiences of the Venomous was a V&W Class destroyer and crew of a Royal Navy destroyer in the was subsequently launched on 17 April Second World War. 1919. With a full displacement of 1,120 This book will also be greatly tons, 300 feet long, 29.5 feet beam and a appreciated by anyone who wishes to know draught of 10.8 feet, Venomous was not a more about the average sailor in Britain’s capital ship by any stretch of the wartime fleet or more importantly, to obtain imagination. Instead, it was a workhorse of a better understanding of what their great- the fleet with a top speed of 32 knots uncle or grandfather might have carrying a mixed armament comprising four experienced during the war at sea. While a 4.7-inch guns, one 12- pounder gun, and six great deal of attention is paid to some of the 21-inch torpedo tubes. finer points of ‘fitting out’ and maintaining Having started this edition by a ship for operations, the book is detailing the role and purpose of a destroyer outstanding for its detailed insight into the within the Royal Navy, Rodgaard goes on to life of not just a single destroyer but, by lay down the foundation upon which the extension, life at sea aboard any Royal reader will better understand the value and Navy destroyer. utility of this particular type of warship and Venomous participated in truly appreciate all that Venomous covered operations in the Baltic during the inter-war throughout its commission. It is not simply years, the evacuation of Dunkirk, convoy the story of the ship, as much as that will duty in both the Arctic and Mediterranean interest readers; it is the author’s pulling theatres along with the Invasion of Sicily together of a broad assortment of personal and the loss of HMS Hecla during insights and recollections, along with Operation Torch. Further service as a target official reports, photographs and personal ship before joining Operation “Apostle” in caricatures drawn by those who actually which she accepted the surrender of German lived the events, that really brings the story naval forces in Norway cannot help but of HMS Venomous to life. leave readers amazed by the career of HMS The story itself will be of interest to Venomous and the accompanying exploits of professional historians and people with a the crew, a shining example of how ordinary general interest in naval history. Historians men rise to the challenge during will appreciate the attention to detail and the extraordinary and difficult times. vast use of primary sources that would have This book is a must-read for all otherwise been lost. As an examination of a who desire to understand the daily life of a single warship in the vast wartime fleet of sailor in the Royal Navy from between the the Royal Navy, it provides a personal wars and until the end of the Second World perspective on life in the Royal Navy during War. While helping readers better the war and the dangers encountered; as comprehend the challenges associated with written by the author, with corroboration by life aboard a Royal Navy warship, it will those who experienced it firsthand. In that make them realize that Venomous clearly sense, the story of HMS Venomous is a time lived up to the ship’s motto: “Deadly to capsule, which allows the reader to foes, Harmless to friends.” rediscover a world that existed several Malcolm A.P. Butler decades ago. The author’s own experience Nepean, Ontario as a captain in the United States Navy must have exercised an influence in his crafting Book Reviews 327 Peter C. Smith. Offshore Ferry Services of steamer’s elegance, they greeted steam- England & Scotland. Barnsley, S. Yorks: powered boats in general with a mixture of Pen & Sword Books Limited, www.pen- disbelief and fear. Early steamers and-sword.co.uk, 2012. x+213 pp., frequently suffered fires and boiler illustrations, glossary. UK £25.00, US explosions but, as their technology $50.00, cloth; ISBN 978-1-84884-665-4. improved, coastal services grew more reliable. After a slow start, steamers Ferry fleets, which transport reached their heyday between 1820 and people, goods and vehicles in many parts of 1850 and were one of the most popular the world, are remarkably diverse. The forms of transport to remote areas of ships, however, share some common mainland Britain. Glasgow and the Firth of characteristics, such as spacious vehicle Clyde prospered through a well-established decks and air-conditioned passenger network of offshore ferry services accommodation. They also range in size transporting goods, passengers, livestock from small, fast vessels that traverse narrow and mails. channels to large roll-on roll-off ships Steamship companies catered to carrying up to 3,000 people and some 650 two markets: the essential communication vehicles. link between coastal communities and the The author, Peter C. Smith, has nearest railhead, and the leisure travel of a published over 20 books on nautical population with previously unheard-of free subjects, principally concerning naval time. The turning point came in the early vessels in wartime. This book, subtitled “a 1900s, when ferries faced strong useful guide to the shipping lines and competition from the Government’s rail- routes,” is a detailed review of the state of friendly policy of building bridges and European offshore and channel ferry tunnels, rather than harbours and landing services and the ships that are employed in stages, leading to the wholesale removal of them. It is indicative of the steamers’ sad ferry routes. Whereas in 1913, 40 steamers decline, however, that all the current daily plied their trade between 120 working services within and between Scotland, piers on the west coast of Scotland, in the England, Wales, Ireland and the near 1930s, that number had declined to 53. In Continent can be contained within this one 1955, 32 piers remained open but only 18 slim guide. The author is presently working were still open to traffic in 1963. (Paterson on a second volume covering river and 2001, Robins 2006, Sherwood 2007, inshore crossings. Osborne 2007) Britain is a land of rivers, estuaries, While this book does not claim to sounds and straits, where the development be a history of steam ferries, Smith devotes of outlying island communities in the several chapters to the origins of regular nineteenth century was hindered by a lack cross-channel passenger traffic. He of reliable shipping services to and from the includes a short article on the first mainland. Travellers risked their lives in excavations of Ramsgate harbour in 1749, rustic coracles or primitive chain ferries to which were not completed until a century reach island destinations. Until 1812, later, and a sailing ship route between Liverpool, London, Hull and the Clyde Sussex and the French coast which existed Estuary were virtually inaccessible, but in as early as 1790. Two years later, packets that year, Henry Bell launched Europe’s were plying their trade between Brighton first commercial steamship, the Comet. and Dieppe. The Firth of Clyde was Although the public were charmed by the another competitive arena with intense 328 The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord rivalries between companies. The roots of in the Second World War with the Japanese the ferry service between Ardrossan and the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Isle of Arran can be traced back to the the nadir of America’s preparedness for war. Castle Steam Packet Company founded in Toll tells how the American sailors and 1832. The route was so popular that during marines frequently conducted simulated the next sixty years, some ten vessels, each combat exercises on the island of Oahu. one larger than the one before, succeeded “On these days, a colossal amount of each other. ammunition was thrown up into the air, and Today, the economics of the ferry the island’s lightly built wood-frame houses business remain complex, with fleets would shake and rattle as if an earthquake generally operated by large companies, and had struck. So when the familiar racket even long established routes face changes as started up, at a little before eight in the local communities cope with financial morning on that first Sunday in December restraints on services and timetables. 1941, most of the residents pulled a pillow Surprisingly, the number of genuine islands over their heads, or turned back to their surrounding Britain’s rocky coast is still coffee and comic strips and radio programs, hotly disputed. The currently accepted and tried to ignore the deep concussive estimate is that a boat would be needed to thuds of distant bombs, the heavy booming gain access to 6,289 of them, most of them of antiaircraft batteries, and the faint rat-a- located in Scotland. tat -tat of machine-guns. . . But it was soon Ferries are still an essential means clear that these were no ordinary exercises. of transport for many outlying communities Floors shook, windows rattled, airplanes in Europe, and on routes that have roared low overhead, and empty machine- constantly adapted to changing gun casings fell on rooftops like hail” (p.7). circumstances, economic as well as Japanese Admiral Isoruko political. This intelligent book is a snapshot Yamamoto saw the conflict that his carrier of important offshore ferry routes as they fleet initiated as “two combatant’s strategic currently stand, as well as a guide for paradigms for the remaining war. Japan’s passengers to the maze of services run by transcendent ‘fighting spirit’ was [to be] various shipping lines. It is profusely pitted against America’s overwhelming illustrated and informative and makes a industrial might” (p.486). valuable contribution to an oft-neglected During this brief span of time, aspect of the history of maritime commerce many historical events changed naval that would be enjoyed by those interested in warfare for all time. Ian Toll’s Pacific economics and the maritime industry. Crucible covers a wide range of topics related to this period in a masterful manner. Michael Clark Historians have a penchant for writing about London, England minutia, yet Toll weaves trivia and anecdotes into a captivating chronicle using Ian W. Toll. Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in clear, well-crafted language. the Pacific, (1941-1942). New York, NY: He vividly describes the primary W.W. Norton and Company, www. battles from Pearl Harbor through the raid wwnorton.com, 2012. 597 pp., notes, on the Marshall Islands, the carrier-based bibliography, index. US $35.00, cloth; Doolittle raid on mainland Japan, and most ISBN 978-0-393-06813-9. graphically, the Battle of Midway. He describes the storied Battle of the Coral Sea The United States became involved as “one of the most confused and confusing Book Reviews 329 battles in the history of war at sea, thoroughly enjoyed, more food than two characterized on both sides by an almost men or three diplomats; and he consumed incredible series of miscues, brandy and scotch with a grace and miscommunications, misidentifications, enthusiasm that left us all openmouthed in misinterpretations, and miscalculations. . . awe” (p.178)—much to the annoyance of A tactical victory for the Japanese: a Eleanor Roosevelt, who feared that the strategic victory for the Allies” (p.374). affable and ebullient British prime minister America’s revered naval strategist, was influencing her Franklin. Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan, was William “Bull” Halsey is depicted convinced that dreadnaughts controlled sea as a decent man, but a flawed leader; more battles, but aircraft carriers evolved into the of a product of the media that needed a navy’s main battle asset. Toll analyzes the naval hero. Halsey fit the image. Frank weapons or weapon systems used on both Jack Fetcher appears as somewhat timid and sides. Some worked superbly while others indecisive, but brave. Enigmatic Ernest were incredibly deficient, especially the King, who combined the positions of poorly-designed American torpedoes. commander-in-chief U.S. Fleet and chief of Rapid advances and dependence on code- naval operations, was part curmudgeon, part breaking and sophisticated intelligence martinet and part brilliant commander, a units, such as the secretive “Station Hypo,” lady’s man, heavy drinker, and avoider of plus the installation of radar on vessels at the limelight. Toll considers Douglas sea made for a deadly chess game where MacArthur the prototypical military self- advantages changed constantly. There were promoter and, because of many serious triumphs, mistakes, good and bad luck blunders, the author does not consider the situations, losses on both sides, all played storied general the great military hero of the out against a constant backdrop of war in the Pacific that most people now incredible heroics performed by ordinary perceive him. men under extraordinary circumstances. Toll also profiles many of the Toll examines and assesses the Japanese leaders including Emperor leadership qualities and quirks of many of Hirohito, Hideki Togo, Takeo “King Kong” the most famous personages of the times. Takagi, and Matome Ugaki. The most On the American side, the author starts with extensive examination is that of Isoruko Theodore Roosevelt and Alfred Mahan then Yamamoto, who comes across as a worthy goes on to Franklin Roosevelt, George opponent on many levels. Yamamoto, an Marshall, and Chester Nimitz. All of these inveterate gambler and geisha frequenter, men come across as very competent in their made his share of blunders, but, as a two- positions. England’s Winston Churchill year “Harvard Man” and former naval appears by far the most colourful of this attaché in the Japanese Embassy in band of allied leaders. As a White House Washington, he understood and respected guest, “[Churchill] imbibed throughout the the Americans because of their vast day, remaining razor sharp and supremely untapped resources and ingenuity. He articulate like the high-functioning thought it unlikely that Japan could defeat alcoholic that he was—he drank sherry in the United States, having seen “enough of the morning, whiskey at midday, wine with the United States to develop a healthy dinner, smoked Cuban cigars and nursed respect for the size and military potential of glasses of brandy well into the small hours its industrial base” (p.70). The best that of the morning.” The chief of the Secret Japan could hope for was a stalemate and Service added that Churchill, “ate, and post-war gains from diplomatic and political 330 The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord negotiations. the world of submarine warfare. There had In summary, the Pacific Crucible is been earlier odd sinkings and attacks by excellent; one of the best Second World War what passed as submarines, such as the maritime histories that this reviewer has Confederate States’ C.L. Hunley of 1863 encountered. It is packed with details that that sank the USS Housatonic. But such mark the tide-like ebb and flow of events, submarines were so little regarded that some monstrous in magnitude and others Hunley, for instance, was a private venture minor mosaic pieces. All those who ship, manned by civilians. In fact, before participated in these actions come alive in 1914, submarines as a genre were regarded Toll’s narrative. This book is scholarly, but with much suspicion by all major navies as at the same time both moving and simply a minor threat to their surface occasionally entertaining—a significant dominance. Only Germany, patently contribution to the Second World War threatened with some sort of blockade in historical literature. I heartily recommend any war with Britain, had adopted the Pacific Crucible to anyone with an interest submarine as a very real challenge to the in this fascinating period of naval history. RN’s superiority, at least in numbers. The RN and the USN were still reluctant to Louis Arthur Norton adopt the submarine into their planning, and West Simsbury, Connecticut largely added them “because the other fellow was doing so.” Although both had Henk H.M. van der Linden. The Live Bait included submarines in their navies for six Squadron; Three mass graves off the Dutch or eight years, those who elected to serve in coast, 22 September, 1914. Soesterberg, them were usually ill-regarded, and no anti- Netherlands, Uitgeverij Aspekt b.v., submarine doctrine had been developed. In www.uitgeverijaspekt.nl, 2012, 206 pp., fact, in an exercise in the Channel about illustrated, maps, drawings, sources, index. 1912, when a squadron admiral was told by €18.95 in Dutch, €25.99 in English, paper; signal that his flagship had been ISBN-13: 97-894-6153-260-2. (theoretically) torpedoed, he responded “You go to hell!!” There were no depth This interesting small book is not the first, charges of any type, nor anti-submarine nor even the most comprehensive, on the nets. sinking of three Royal Navy cruisers off the On 22 September 1914, the coast of the Netherlands in September 1914. torpedoing and subsequent sinking of three Probably the best known to English readers somewhat out-of-date RN cruisers—HMS is Alan Coles’ Three Before Breakfast Aboukir, Hogue and Cressy—on blockade (Homewell, Hampshire: Kenneth Mason, patrol off the Dutch coast, in just over an 1979). This book is rather a more personal hour by a single U-boat, was a tremendous telling of the tale by a local man who came shock, particularly to the Royal Navy. So across some graves in a Dutch cemetery much so that many responsible officers and, knowing nothing of the story, has announced assuredly it could not have carefully researched it, almost entirely from possibly been accomplished by one boat, secondary sources comprising books, both but certainly there must have been several. official and like Coles’, based on local, In fact there was only one — English and German newspapers of the day Kapitänleutnant Otto Weddigen’s U-9, who and some supplemental background records. was at once very much a hero. In particular Its primary interest lies in the fact that this the story points out that although most is the story of the very first opening salvo in major nations had acquired submarines, and Book Reviews 331 reasonably efficient ones for their day, agreeing they were but distressed seamen there was absolutely no way of either and could be returned home. He makes the locating or attacking them if submerged. point, as the British were to furiously Ramming had been successful in a few comment, that the second and third ships cases—both accidentally and after war were sunk as a result of their humanitarian started, intentionally, but that required the efforts to rescue Aboukir’s survivors. It was submarine to be sighted on the surface. an eye-opener for all that naval warfare had Mining was considered, and was, a far changed, and not for the better. greater danger. Submarine detection was The book particularly features really only being studied by 1915, and it personal stories, of the senior officers who was 1917 before any effective devices were ordered the patrols, the commanding officers developed. Even then ships usually had to of the three cruisers and of Weddigen and his stop and lower hydrophones over the side to first officer, and the survivors, some of listen, a dangerous practice in itself. It was whom were subsequently lost in other ships. somewhat ex post facto called a “live bait The action, really the start of squadron,” not to bait submarines but to submarine warfare that was to dominate both lure out German surface forces, which just world wars, provides a fascinating picture of did not happen. how unprepared navies were for this new Van der Linden does not dwell weapon. But then we learn slowly. HMCS much on this discrepancy between the Regina was torpedoed off the north coast of submarine weapon and defence against it. Cornwall in August 1944 when she stopped He devotes a couple of chapters to to see if a merchantman she was escorting preparations for war, the battle off could be towed after, supposedly, being Heligoland, and the reasons for the three mined; this is what Cressy and Hogue cruisers being on patrol. He is as much initially believed had happened to Aboukir in interested and affected by the loss of some 1914. But Regina’s ship had also been 1,459 men and boys from the three ships. He torpedoed, by U-667, and 30 RCN seamen gives a clear minute-by-minute description paid the price—as had the RN crews 30 of the four attacks by Weddigen, and the years earlier. subsequent rescue of survivors by two small An easy read, and an interesting Dutch merchantmen, Flora and Titan. There perspective on the first days of submarine were four attacks because Weddigen put two warfare. torpedoes into Cressy but she didn’t seem to Fraser McKee be obviously sinking, so calmly circled Toronto around and added a third and fatal one. In particular van der Linden notes the presence aboard the three largely Reserve-manned Hans van Ham and Joan Rijsenbrij. ships of 28 fifteen and sixteen year old Development of Containerization. Success cadets from Dartmouth. With the outbreak through Vision, Drive and Technology. of war, their classes had been abruptly ended Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Delft and the youngsters sent off to be shared University Press, www.iospress.nl, 2012. around the fleet. Thirteen of them lost their x+325 pp., illustrations, bibliography. US lives in the sinking. There then developed a $109.00, hardback; ISBN 978-1-61499-146-5. political contretemps regarding all the survivors, since the Netherlands was neutral This is an important, impressive book. and naval personnel should be interned. This Owing to tremendous savings of costs and was resolved primarily by both sides time, containerization has transformed 332 The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord maritime transportation and become the of significant developments in shipping and major pillar of global trade. According to liner trading around the world. Thus, the The Economist (18 May 2013), the first post-1956 decade treats the take-off of container has been more of a driver of the concept of container shipping, the globalization than all trade agreements in genius of Malcom McLean, an American the past 50 years taken together. Yet, much trucking magnate, and the impact of the remains to learn in order to understand the Vietnam War, while the next decade breadth of the transportation revolution that examines the spread of containers to has remade the world. Most accounts of the Europe. The third decade focuses on ship container revolution have been presented development, liner trading and the transport from the viewpoint of changes in chain and containerization spread around transportation or its economic impact on the world. Shippers struggled with the trade. Hans van Ham and Joan Rijsenbrij question of how much vertical and have a different perspective and have made horizontal integration was possible or an important contribution to greater desirable. The fourth decade, 1996-2006, understanding by presenting the history of characterized by fluctuating profits, the container revolution from a emphasizes mergers and acquisition, further technological viewpoint. ship development and economic They are well qualified to do so. performance. The final period, post-2006, Both authors teach at the Delft University of stresses the confrontation of ship Technology and combine a broad general development and container liner shipping knowledge of trade economics and business with the cyclical nature of the transportations policies with decades of container industry. While these chapters operational experience in container handling provide excellent overviews of the and movement and terminal management. development of containerization during the This expertise has been employed to gather last half-century, the seven additional together knowledge from shipping lines, chapters interspersed between these five terminals and equipment manufacturers provide much that is new and important and about rapidly developing technologies both reinforce the book’s technological afloat and ashore, the innovative approaches perspective. of engineers and technicians to countless The development of container new problems, and ever changing standardization, for example, was a long challenges to logistical management in the difficult struggle that has not ceased, nor is face of rapid, monumental growth to deliver it likely to. Brilliance and excellence shone a broader understanding of containerization during the early years, but as companies than might be found in a strictly historical reduced staffs, focused on their core account of its evolution. business and on shareholder value, Their book is organized in an standardization committees grew weaker as interesting fashion into 15 chapters. The lower level personnel without power of first two deal with early developments in attorney and less keen on upsetting their the years before 1956 and are by way of a superiors introduced non-standard comprehensive introduction. Each of five containers. The case of the straddle carrier brief chapters (nos. 3, 5, 9, 11 and 14) deals illustrates how a technology adapted from with subsequent decades of development the timber industry became the workhorse (e.g. 1956-1966, etc.). The authors of the container industry. Universally highlight one or two features from each adopted for stacking and moving containers period to present straightforward accounts in terminals and for loading trucks and Book Reviews 333 railway cars, it then declined in usefulness not infinite and further developments must as the industry grew beyond the carrier’s rely on entrepreneurship, innovation and capabilities. Though still used extensively, drive. straddle carriers have been by-passed in More than 400 illustrations enhance favour of ever-larger cranes. Other chapters the text, but the several useful graphs and deal with the challenges posed by larger technical drawings are so small they must and larger ships, requiring even larger be read with a magnifying glass. The terminals and cranes. As the authors point authors’ explanations are generally clear and out, shipping lines push ports and terminals to the point, but English is not their first to invest in overcapacity to satisfy their language and the text would have benefitted hunger for economies of scale. But massive from a good English editor. The detailed investments in hinterland terminals and table of contents partially offsets the lack of transportation infrastructure lead to an index. Few readers will tackle this book questions of whether the imbalance between in a single read. It is rather a useful vessel size and the demands on port and handbook, a reference work that readers terminal facilities and the hinterland are will want to go back to. Every engineering cost effective for the whole industry. library should obtain a copy and Chapter 12 is almost a book in itself. Its professionals will want their own copy for focus on container terminal development ready reference. introduces the reader to the great changes James Pritchard during the last half-century, first in the Kingston, Ontario United States, then, following a decade of turbulent development, the subsequent spread of container ports around the world. Michael G. Walling. Forgotten Sacrifice: As vessels increased in size and volumes The Arctic Convoys of World War II. continued to grow, terminal capacity lagged Oxford, UK: www.ospreypublishing.com, behind demand. The building blocks of 2012. 284 pp., illustrations, map, resources, automation began to appear, first in the index. UK £18.99, US $26.95, CDN $32.00, handling of paper work and yard cloth: ISBN 978-1-84908-718-6. inventories. Computer companies installed systems to reduce the paper burden and The annals of Second World War naval assist with sorting data. Telephones and history are truly rich with the actions of telex gave way to VHF radios. Today, belligerents waging fierce and exhaustive central computers control several battles across the globe. From American semiautomatic stacking cranes equipped and Japanese carriers in the Pacific to with sensors and on-board minicomputers outmoded battleships seeking prestige in continuously monitoring crane movements, European waters, rival navies continuously stacking positions, yard inventory and sought to overtake their foes at all costs. stacking profile. As utility and savings did Forgotten Sacrifice: The Arctic Convoys of not always follow innovation, terminal World War II, explores the real-life companies introduced operations research adventures of sailors, airmen and civilians in order to speed up activities to keep up who participated in the “Murmansk with the always growing volume of trade. Runs”—Arctic convoys—that sailed Over half a century, the container revolution between the United Kingdom and the Soviet has developed into a worldwide utility Union from 1941 until the end of the war in indispensable for the global economy, but as 1945. Walling, a Coast Guard veteran and the authors argue, economies of scale are accomplished author, uses a plethora of 334 The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord firsthand accounts written by Allied sailors substantial supplies reaching the Soviets to help bring their hell-on-earth experience right over their heads. Convoys PQ-4, 6, to life. Beginning with a general synopsis and 7A were the first to suffer significant of the conception of the Murmansk Runs, damage from Luftwaffe Junker 88s dive Walling focuses mainly on individual bombing PQ-4, and German destroyers convoys sailing east and west which mistaking ships of PQ-6 for Russian endured countless attacks by the German destroyers. They opened fire and damaged Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine. He also HMS Speedy, forcing her to return to highlights the sheer brutality of the Arctic Murmansk. The first U-boat encounter was weather conditions responsible for many of between U-134 and the British freighter the deaths and horrors experienced by those Waziristan, stranded within heavy ice, either stranded at sea or forced to endure making her a prime target. After crippling bitter frostbite and gangrene while attacks by the Luftwaffe, U-134 sank the recovering in hospital. British freighter with all her crew. Forgotten Sacrifice opens with a According to Walling, as Allied convoys general overview of the conception and continued carrying supplies to Russia, the organization of Arctic convoys and a German High Command decided to station synopsis of events culminating in the more U-boats, capital ships, and cruisers, Second World War. The author essentially namely, the Tirpitz, Scharnhorst, and credits Winston Churchill with the idea of Gneisenau, to patrol the Arctic waters. This first gaining control of Iceland; Churchill tactic led to an all-out “arctic shooting agreed that “Whoever possesses Iceland gallery” in 1942. The presence of the holds a pistol firmly pointed at England, British Home Fleet, however, helped curb America, and Canada” (p.29). British the threat of German surface ships. forces, while part of a cooperative Aside from Luftwaffe and occupation maintaining Iceland’s neutrality, Kriegsmarine attacks, the worst threat bore the brunt of escort duties due to their sailors faced was the brutal Arctic weather location and objective to provide aid to the conditions that Walling successfully Soviets. By 1941, Wehrmacht forces had recreates for readers. One particular story already invaded and occupied Poland, was that of shipmate Bill Shorts of the Norway, Denmark and Western Europe, merchant vessel Induna, sunk by Luftwaffe bringing most of Europe under Nazi control bombers in April 1942 while in port at and further isolating the United Kingdom. Murmansk. As he recovered in a makeshift With Operation “Barbarossa” in June 1941, hospital, formerly a school, Shorts’ Russian not only were Soviet forces preoccupied doctors discovered gangrene in both his legs fighting the German army, but more warranting amputation; with no anesthetic, important logistically, they were cut off Shorts passed out from the excruciating pain from any outside Allied aid, which is and awoke to discover both legs “literally essentially the crux of Walling’s argument chopped off…the bone sticking out; the throughout the book. With the British at the nerve endings exposed” (p.83). Then, to helm, the Allies sought to open up the make matters worse, the Russian cold set in, Arctic route to send relief aid into Soviet bringing the threat of frostbite to those, like ports, despite the real threat of German Shorts, whose wounds were still exposed attack. five months after the amputation. Other The first encounter with enemy air references to the extreme suffering of crew and sea power occurred in December 1941, members include men stranded at sea and after the Germans realized the possibility of exposed to frostbite, hypothermia, Book Reviews 335 starvation, and dehydration, or those aboard thankfully leans on more sources, including the Russian ship SS Dekabrist marooned on primary ones. Osprey, publisher of the Hope Island near Spitsbergen, who had to present volume, has also published related endure the winter and spring months until booklets with titles like Salamis 480 BC, rescued by U-703. Syracuse 415-413 BC, Ancient Greek Targeting a general audience, Warship and finally, Bronze Age War Walling’s examination of Arctic convoys Chariots. succeeds due to his reliance on first-hand Wood starts with a short accounts. Unfortunately, some readers may chronology beginning with Egypt in 2,500 find his lack of analysis of the effectiveness BC, then discusses Minoan Crete, Bronze- of Allied convoys in aiding the struggling Age Syria, Phoenicia and finally Greece. Soviets in the east slightly tiresome. Unfortunately, Roman ships are left out of Nevertheless, the author uses the words of the timeline but could, in fact, occupy a sailors, airmen, and civilians to recreate book like this per se. The Greek triremes scenes of hell-on-earth and gruesome are also absent, due to the cut-off in time, combat images like those generated by although the first ones were introduced in Hollywood blockbusters. In Forgotten the 8th century BC. The book ends with a Sacrifice, Walling vividly tells the story of one-page bibliography (unfortunately, war in frigid temperatures through men without many recent sources) and short whose struggles in the Arctic seas should index. A brief glossary covers the 30-odd never be forgotten. most frequently used terms. The chronology at the start would Christopher Pearcy have read more easily had it been put into a West Haven, CT table, with the addition of colours or symbols for readability. This is a piece of Adrian K. Wood. Warships of the Ancient information which only makes sense after World, 3000-500 BC. Oxford, UK: Osprey having read the whole book— something Publishing, www.ospreypublishing.com, one would like to page back to. 2012. 48 pp., illustrations, maps, Because of the lack of space, the bibliography, index. UK £9.99, US $17.95, author is forced to assume his readers’ CDN $18.95, paper; ISBN 978-1-84908- background knowledge, like when he 978-4. discusses Pharaonic Egypt (when for example was the New Kingdom?). Also A seemingly simple little book has been missing is the 2500 BC Egyptian Khufu published about ancient warships. How can ship. It might have been a good idea to first one give a good overview in only 48 pages? discuss a bit of ship terminology before Credit goes to both the author, Wood, and discussing any specific types of ship and the illustrator, Giuseppe Rava, for their use, but with less than 50 pages, explaining 2,500 years of the history of including almost 50 illustrations, this just is naval warfare. Wood has training and not the goal of this book. Due to the experience in several different fields which concise format, the author is unable to give enables him to translate well from academic as many details as could be wished, or science to this popular book. supply exhaustive references. Warships in the Ancient World is Wood does not describe only reminiscent of Sean McGrail’s Ancient specialized warships. He refers, for Boats and Ships, published in the Shire example, to the Uluburun find to illustrate Archaeology Series in 2006, although he how trade vessels may have played a role in 336 The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord both ancient trade and the protection of it. further than this study to realize that rivers Another reason to include such important and seas were the most practical highways finds is because there is not always much of the early modern period. They were the known about specific warships. Wood does sinews that allowed mercantile, military and offer a few great images of, among others, political activity in the lands between the the Phoenica, but could have spent a few Elbe and Weser, and the lands to the south, words more on what we have learned from west and north. building and sailing these ship replicas, for Zickermann’s first chapter is an example, Kyrenia II. overview of the conflicting jurisdictions and Images in the book comprise interests in the Elbe-Weser region. As she illustrations other than Rava’s. With almost rightly points out (pp.10-11), most scholars one image per page, there are photographs of early modern Europe have at best only a of archaeological artefacts, landscapes and passing knowledge of its intricacies, which coastlines as well as black and white line involved the emperor, the king of Denmark- maps and drawings on boat building Norway, the free city of Hamburg and a techniques. The 13 watercolours by Rava number of local lay and secular rulers, as show ship reconstructions as well as well as outsiders (the Dunkirkers, Dutch moments from important battles. and English) who intervened militarily. She The combination of different types adroitly provides a solid foundation for the of illustrations, together with the concise venue in which the Scots interacted. It is texts offer the reader a good “touch and not uncommon for historians providing this feel” for these old warships. This book will sort of background to build largely upon certainly draw quite a number of readers, secondary and printed primary works, but young and old, into the Mediterranean Zickermann’s felicity to scholarship leads world of ancient warships. While re-reading her to use manuscript sources, too. and paging through the book, a lot more The following three chapters deal details surface than first meet the eye. with commerce, political and military networks, and attempts to establish a Roeland Paardekooper community of exiled British Calvinists. As Eindhoven, the Netherlands the author observes, these themes often overlap and extend beyond the area (back to Kathrin Zickermann. Across the German Britain, south to the United Provinces or Sea: Early Modern Scottish Connections north to Denmark-Norway or Sweden). with the Wider Elbe-Weser Region. Brill: Again that phenomenon sustains the vital Leiden and Boston, www.brill.com, 2013. importance of sea lines of communications ixv+272 pp., illustrations. €107,00, US in early modern Europe. Zickermann $149.00; hardback; ISBN 978-90-04- examines the region’s ties with Scotland 24834-2. between c.1590 and c.1740. From the 1590s to the 1630s, Scots helped crew The book is not overtly about maritime or Hamburg’s ships. Longer lasting was the naval history, yet without those factors the insinuation of Scots into the English Elbe-Weser region would have been the Merchant Adventurers in Hamburg. epitome of a backwater. Its ties to the North Fishing exports (followed by salt and coal) Sea fishing industry and European predominated in connecting Scotland to the commerce made the area one that attracted area. The focus of both the whitefish and keen interest from local and outside herring trade was Shetland (starting in governments. Historians should look no 1547)—a county often ignored in both its Book Reviews 337 Scottish and British contexts in the 1600s. tone of authenticity, but these maps are hard Charles II’s enforcement of the Navigation to read. Modern renditions would have Acts and the growing prevalence of war in been preferable. Two maps showing the northern Europe from the 1670s hampered political boundaries before and after the the trade. Naturally, the Firth of Forth ports Treaty of Westphalia, and another showing contributed the most to the salt and coal its trading partners, would have been helped trades. Between the 1650s and 1690s a in following the text. Scottish commercial network, partly kin- Zickermann’s study also illustrates based, operated in Bremen and Hamburg, the pitfalls faced by early modern linking those ports to Britain, the United historians. With her linguistic skills, she is Provinces and Sweden. Still, Shetland was far better prepared than most historians to the longest thread. Chapter three, examine multiple archives in hopes of examining the Scots’ diplomatic, political eliminating lacunae in the sources. In the and military networks, reinforces the course of her research she consulted nearly concept of the North Sea as a unifying 20 archives in four countries. Still, the factor. It also shows that strict thematic disappearance of sources (especially port divisions are impossible, because merchants registers and customs books) or their played a role in political and military intentional contemporary suppression (for affairs, which could be continental or reasons of statecraft or personal security) British. The propensity of the Scots to leave an untidy landscape, which early serve anti-Hapsburg countries during the modernists share with medievalists. Despite Thirty Years’ War reinforces recent the author’s linguistic ability, gaps in the academic work. Initially, the British civil evidence prevent her from determining the wars saw a mixture of Royalists, precise nature of economic activity, the size Covenanters and Parliamentarians frequent of the exiled reformed British community in the region. That it served as a rallying Bremen or Brunswick-Lűneburg, or the full ground for Royalists may seem odd, until scope of Jacobite activities in the region. one realizes that Sweden, which gained The book makes two general possession of Bremen and Verden, favored contributions to our understanding of early Charles II. After 1660, the ideological modern Europe. First, it illustrates how sea factors in military service become confused lanes connected disparate populations from as professional soldiers sought service with different political entities in commercial, Protestant polities in conflict with each military, political and religious affairs. other. Chapter four deals with attempts of Second, it discusses English, Scottish and exiled British Calvinists to establish an British identities amongst those born in economically viable haven in the area and Britain and their descendants. While the the subsequent transit of Jacobites (1689- area may not have served as an important 1717). Again, the importance of maritime strategic region, similar to the Low routes, this time in a largely political Countries or northern Italy, it was an area of context, becomes apparent. contention. In some respects Zickermann’s The book has many attractive book exemplifies the untidy nature of early features. For instance, footnotes, as modern Europe and its dependence on opposed to end or chapter notes, are used seaborne communications. for citations. Furthermore, it has a complete Edward M. Furgol bibliography–not just selected sources. The Rockville, Maryland use of contemporary maps of the area and the cities of Bremen and Hamburg has the 338 The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord