Book Reviews

John A. Anderson. This Noble Ship cargoes carried, ports visited and and Others. Ladysmith, BC: self- navigational challenges. The book is published 2016, xi+217 pp, illus-- illustrated by fascinating, contemp- trations, bibliography, CDN $30.00, orary photographs, nicely produced paper; ISBN 978-1-77136-451-5. in large format so that details can be (Available from author: 523 Louise seen clearly. The author’s descrip- Road, Ladysmith BC, W9G 1W7, tive captions are excellent. Four Canada or [email protected]. colour plates reproduce paintings of ships done at the time. There are Deep sea shipping was arguably the portions of contemporary charts first global industry. Around the time interspersed throughout the narrative of Confederation, large Canadian- to illustrate descriptions of sailing built sailing ships, many under through challenging areas, such as Canadian ownership, traded rounding the Horn or approaching worldwide. In fact, they formed the Bombay (Mumbai). The text is rich fifth largest merchant fleet in the in information about how cargoes world. In this handsomely produced were stowed, navigational tech- book, Captain John Anderson, a niques, passage times, the profess- retired deep-sea mariner, originally ional qualifications of officers, and from Liverpool and now living on how crews were signed on and Vancouver Island, describes the discharged. The author incorporates careers of 17 notable sailing vessels details such as how many lighthouses built in the Maritimes and Québec. were operating along the coasts, These particular ships, previously where his ships traded, and the fact undocumented, typify the efficient that lighted navigational buoys made sail-powered merchant vessels of the their first appearance in 1872. time. What makes Anderson’s Interestingly, Anderson notes that the narrative particularly valuable is his majority of the large ships involved mariner’s perspective. Using con- in transporting emigrants to Australia temporary records, he describes from Britain were Canadian-built. actual voyages, ships’ crews (often The “Noble Ship” in the title is the containing several nationalities), full-rugged ship Morning Light,

The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord, XXVII, No. 2 (Apr. 2017), 185-228 186 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord completed in St John, New The stories Bilton collected deal Brunswick in 1855. About one-third with the Royal Navy at sea, aerial of the book is devoted to this conflicts involving its air branch, the handsome vessel, which was both Royal Naval Air Service, and even large for her time (2,377 net tons, some land warfare carried out in part 80.7 meters or 265 feet long) and by Royal Marines units. The fast. She made several voyages chapters include: the duel between carrying emigrants from the UK to the Cap Trafalgar and the Carmania; Australia. This small gem is the sinking of HMS Audacious; the obviously the result of years of victory of a Q-ship (an anti- research and seagoing experience. submarine ship) over German U- Anyone interested in learning about boats, which earned the ship a how the tall ships built in the Victoria Cross; a long account of the Maritimes and Québec operated will Battle of Jutland; two further find This Noble Ship and Others a accounts of Q-ship activities; an rewarding read and source book. account of the famous Zeebrugge raid in April, 1918; a short remembrance Jan Drent of an air raid over London; the story Victoria, British Columbia of the downing of the highest-scoring fighter pilot of World War One, Germany’s Baron Manfred von David Bilton (ed.) Sea and Air Richtofen; a memoir of Gallipoli; the Fighting. Those Who Were There. incredible story of L.A. Strange, who Barnsley, South Yorks.: Pen and was saved from near-death by freak Sword Books Limited, www.pen-and- luck; and the final story recalls the air sword.co.uk, 2016. xiii+168pp, war over the Somme. photographs, authors’ biographies, Since this is a small anthology, index. UK £12.99, US $19.95, paper; the reader should not expect a ISBN 978-1-47386-705-5. straight-line narrative. Each story reflects its author’s distinctive style The “Great War,” better known as the as well as being a product of its time. First World War, spawned a vast For example, the “n-word” appears in number of accounts and memoirs one story, an unfortunately frequent from both sides of the conflict, most reference to those of African descent of which have been out of print for at the time, although now no longer many years and now nearly acceptable. Another chapter reads as impossible to find. David Bilton’s if Canadian A. Roy Brown was Sea and Air Fighting: Those Who responsible for shooting down von Were There is a compilation of a Richtofen, the “Red Baron,” in air-to- dozen short First World War air combat. While this was a memoirs, all originally published in common belief after the First World an 800-page book in 1936. War, research since the 1950s Book Reviews 187 indicates that Richtofen was fatally suitable reading for a rainy afternoon wounded by ground fire. or evening. Thanks to Bilton’s That said, the chapters in this republication of these memoirs, we book contain the freshness they had are not only reminded of the horrors when first published, making it a of war, but the courage so frequently valuable read. The lengthy chapter shown by its combatants. on the Battle of Jutland has the virtue of being written by an actual partici- Robert L. Shoop pant, as does the chapter on Gallipoli, Colorado Springs, Colorado written by novelist Compton Mackenzie, who describes the battle of 4 June 1915 with the eyes of one Gary Burns. Shipmates. The Men who was in that horrible struggle. of LCS 52 in World War II. The story of L.A. Strange is familiar Jefferson, NC: McFarland Books, to many aficionados of First World www.mcfarland.org, 2016. ix+259 War aviation. While standing in the pp., illustrations, notes, bibliography, open cockpit of his biplane fighter to index. US $39.95, paper; ISBN- 978- change an ammunition drum, 1-4766-6687-7. (E-book available; Strange’s aircraft suddenly turned ISBN 978-1-4766-2646-8.) upside down and he found himself hanging in space. It was a miracle Gary Burn’s 2016 publication of that the drum did not come loose Shipmates: The Men of LCS 52 in before he was able to grab onto a World War II presents a stunningly strut, get back in the cockpit, and intimate series of portraits of the right the aircraft. Again, those sailors who served aboard one of the unfamiliar with the Zeebrugge raid US Navy’s 150-foot island invasion will learn about it from a combatant’s vessels (Littoral Combat Ships) point of view. purposefully designed for the Pacific Sea and Air Fighting includes theatre. Presented much like a brief biographies of the various Hollywood film in organization and authors along with a photograph outline—with just as many emotional section that illustrates many of the asides, politically-incorrect outbursts, subjects in this book. nonchalant meanders down memory The ultimate test of any book—is lane, and childhood flashbacks—the it worth reading? The answer is yes. reader is seldom far from the first- Since the veterans of the First World person accounts that comprise the War have all passed away, their work. This is Second World War memoirs help remind us of that history learned sitting at the feet of ghastly conflict. As an anthology, one’s grandfather, and represents an this book can be picked up on the extremely raw, emotional, unfiltered, spur of the moment, dipped into at and highly subjective account. While any chapter and enjoyed. It is also it proves to be a rich source of 188 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord compiled primary material, it is not, pineapple in one’s vomit (56) might however, a balanced, objective, or arguably make for a good story, it contextually-placed history of the hardly improves a history. battles or events in which partici- While the author appears either pated the men and the vessel on to have researched widely or to have which they served. been personally aware of much of What is lost from the work is a military detail presented in the book, stiff or formal feeling that treats the proper citations are sparse, which reader as an outsider looking on from necessarily lessens the work’s acad- afar. Instead of the typical accounts emic value. So, too, does unmiti- of battles and scenes presented from gated speculation, especially in terms the top down, where a reader has all of the feelings of the Japanese: the omniscience of presidents or “Across Japan, citizens walked dictators, generals or admirals, this humbly, all the while fearing that work treats the reader like a newly- their army’s atrocities throughout a enlisted recruit on an LCS. First, one decade of war might be visited upon knows very little about what is them by the conquering forces. Their happening while it is going on; the compliance was reciprocated with events only make sense in retrospect, none of the rape and vengeance they and this is probably by design. The expected.”(157) Such declarations addition of a map or simple diagram, undermine an otherwise rich and however, to illustrate vessels in detailed account. spatial relationship to one another Several unique gems from this during radar picket duty, especially work warrant special mention. There during the accounts surrounding is an excellent explanation of the action off Okinawa, would have been Japanese kamikaze program and the very useful, without sacrificing the ideology behind it (100) which pro- informal feeling. Second, one is vides rich context for comprehending assumed to be familiar with the the attacks that are later described. lexicon of sailors of the era. For a The author’s discussions of “barrage fuller comprehension, one is advised balloons” (47) and sweet-heart pillow to have a dictionary or other cases (50), as well as “skunk patrol” reference handy for terms and (105) are rare in histories of the era military jargon that are simply never and will be extremely welcome to defined, such as “V-7 program” (54), readers of a younger or future “UDT operations” (87), “Kates” generation. (109), “Zeke” (110), and “Baka” The presentation of the battle of (112). Sensitive readers also are Iwo Jima and picket duty around advised that the storytelling is highly Okinawa, especially the kamikaze irreverent, sometimes for effect or to attack that killed Engineering Officer impart feeling more than information. Spencer Burroughs and severed While descriptions of the taste of Robert Payne’s arm (122), are Book Reviews 189 masterful and gripping. Readers 2017. 293 pp., illustrations, learn the gory details of shoveling a abbreviations, notes, index. US kamikaze pilot’s body, blood, and $30.00, CDN $40.00, cloth; ISBN intestines out of a gun turret so that 978-0-30737-990-0. the LCS can continue defending itself against the next wave of attack. The A. Roger Ekirch’s American battle account is enormously engag- Sanctuary is a meticulously ing and kept this reader on the edge researched and elegantly chronicled of her seat… right up until it was literary triptych. In the first section, abruptly interrupted by a flashback the author recounts an obscure but about the childhood of Ensign Adler tragic 1797 maritime historical event, Wilhelm “Swede” Strandquist. a savage mutiny on board a British While this pattern occurred through- frigate. This little-known affair led to out the book, at times, it felt very a multi-continent dragnet to locate poorly placed. The pivotal attack on the mutineers. The subsequent events the LCS was one such example. and their repercussions significantly This book makes an extremely affected American national identity, valuable, if irreverent, contribution to immigration policy and political Second World War maritime studies history. Most importantly, they led for which the author makes no directly to a national debate concern- apologies. The presentation is ing the granting of political asylum to challenging at times, and the material refugees from foreign governments. often politically incorrect and Initially, the story recounts the occasionally, irrelevant. But as a hard life aboard the frigate HMS whole, the work is engaging, Hermione under the command of personal, and shares a very intimate Hugh Pigot, a cruel martinet. On the view of one crew and their vessel in night of 21 September 1797, off the the Pacific theatre of the Second coast of Puerto Rico, many members World War. For readers who crave a of the crew, brandishing boarding seriously authentic first-hand account axes and cutlasses, killed the captain. of these actions, Shipmates is not to Next, they turned on other officers, be missed. slaughtering ten of them in the most brutal manner. The mutineers then Brandi Carrier sailed to the coast of Venezuela and Alexandria, Virginia abandoned Hermione, thereby making it a Spanish prize, the property of Bourbon King Charles A. Roger Ekirch. American IV. Sanctuary: Mutiny, Martyrdom, and The next part of the book focuses National Identity in the Age of on the British search for the Revolution. New York, NY: Pantheon mutineers who had scattered to Books, www. knopfdoubleday.com, various lands or continued to ply the 190 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord sea as sailors with false names and Thames River island as warning to papers. Many were caught, tried and seamen contemplating a similar executed. Others escaped the hang- crime. man through the mercy of a court The American public, perhaps system that took into account the unaware of Nash’s confession, did frequent lashings Captain Pigot not believe the truth, or chose to visited upon them. One of the ignore it. His fictitious background ringleaders was a sailor known on the grew in the print media, sparking a ship’s registry-log as Thomas Nash. national debate over the rights of He was captured in Charleston, South maltreated refugees who claimed Carolina, over a year after the asylum upon American shores. The mutiny, after he bragged to a sailor fate of the political ghost of on a merchant ship about his Robbins/Nash became the focus of Hermione escapade. When the British diverse opinions between the new learned about his arrest, they Federalist and the Republican demanded his extradition. Upon political parties, and among many of questioning during his incarceration, the important names in American the sailor insisted that he was not history. Thomas Nash, but Jonathan Robbins, One of the most intriguing a native of Danbury, Connecticut, chapters, “Revolution of 1800,” who had been impressed into the details the acrimonious election battle Royal Navy. between John Adams and Thomas The resulting legal squabbles Jefferson. Once there was clear focused on whether a reputed evidence that “Robbins” was really American citizen who claimed to Nash, the mutineer, President Adams have been impressed (essentially ordered the murderer turned over to kidnapped, while sailing on inter- the British consul for extradition. national waters), and then brutally Many Americans were convinced that abused, should be remanded to Robbins/Nash was an unjustly-treated British custody for trial in a foreign American, although there was no land. The arguments on both sides of record of his birth or residence in the issue are compelling, but ulti- Connecticut. Despite the clear evi- mately, the fugitive was “loaded with dence of Nash’s deceit, political irons” (83), handed over to the opponents of Adams used the many British and tried in a court-martial newspapers of the day to accuse him during which “Robbins” confessed to of bartering away an innocent being Thomas Nash. Convicted of American citizen to placate the still- mutiny and murder, he was hanged detested British. It was, after all, less from the fore-yardarm of the frigate than a decade and a half after the HMS Acasta. Adding to the humil- Revolutionary War. During the iation, his body was suspended in unpleasant election of 1800, Thomas chains from a gibbet beside a small Jefferson and his followers were Book Reviews 191 determined to use the “Robbins” case To what might have been an to unseat the president and spread the historical footnote, Ekirch’s scholarly hoax as truth to damage the chances work adds a perspective on the of Adams’s reelection. By means of current worldwide refugee issue that this issue, the repeal of the Sedition is uncomfortably contemporary in its Act and other political “bones of con- recounting of historic changes in tention,” the Republicans succeeded. criteria for admission or rejection of In the first fifty years of the immigrants to the United States. The republic, politicians kept drawing book’s sub-title, Mutiny, Martyrdom, upon the “ghost of Jonathan and National Identity in the Age of Robbins” as an election issue because Revolution, succinctly captures the national expansion was important and central topics: a mutiny in all its gory refugees were ideal sources of badly details; the worldwide pursuit and needed new citizens. They would be apprehension of the perpetrators opposed to oppression because most leading to a martyr’s death; and had fled from it. For four decades, finally, an analysis of the aftereffects the United States did not extradite of the Robbins/Nash affair that people facing charges from a foreign produced a far-reaching political government. debate played out in the pages of the There was frank hypocrisy, era’s highly partisan press. however, when it came to the extrad- Illustrations, woodcuts, and por- ition of rebellious slaves and the traits of many prominent members of exploitation of America’s indigenous the story’s dramatis personae are people. When the American brig, intermingled with the text. Academic Creole, taken over by recalcitrant non-fiction usually includes a biblio- slaves, was landed at the British graphy, but this is missing. In its island of Nassau, the American place, Ekirch has provided detailed owners pressed for its return to the notes concerning source material United States. Britain refused used to tell this story, papers of because it had declared slavery illegal participants, official documents and in 1833. Many Americans believed secondary resources. A minor proof- that right of resistance should not be reading error on page 220 names dependent upon the colour of one’s Thomas Truxtun as the captain of the skin, an argument that was contrary USS Constitution when he actually to opinions held in slave-owning commanded the USS Constellation, a states. Yet, morality was primitive fact correctly cited in an earlier by today’s criteria. The economy of reference (87). the southern states depended upon In summary, this is a dramatic slave labour, while the rest of the story of the legal evolution and country expressed little concern politics of the early 1800s that is about the nation’s theft of Indian well-written and masterfully told with land. cohesion, insight and skill. I enthus- 192 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord iastically recommend American PhD thesis completed in 2013 by Sanctuary to maritime historians and Mike Farquharson-Roberts, a the general public. Surgeon Rear Admiral, who took up academic studies in retirement. The Louis Arthur Norton credibility of his narrative is West Simsbury, Connecticut buttressed by the use of a sample of performance reports on naval officers which were provided by the Ministry Mike Farquharson-Roberts. Royal of Defence. Naval Officers from War to War During the technological changes 1918-1939. Basingstoke, Hants.: that were profoundly affecting all Palgrave Macmillan UK, www. navies in the run-up to 1914 the RN palgravemacmillan.co.uk, 2015. xi + is described as…..” a vibrant organ- 282 pp., illustrations, graphs, biblio- ization, well aware of technological graphy, index. US $90.00, hardback; changes and developments…” (11) ISBN 978-1-137-48195-5. and a “…seething mass of innovation and changes:” (9). The author demon- This is a rewarding, in-depth exam- strates that up until the Great War, ination of the Royal Navy’s officers there “…were actually very highly during the years between the two educated and able officers whose world wars. It covers how officers abilities were multidimensional.”(8) entered the Navy, their training, The war was eventually won by professional development and attrition, but at the time, the critical initially haphazard career contribution of the Royal Navy’s management, the quality of oversight blockade of the Central Powers was and leadership they experienced not understood. The fact that there under successive First Sea Lords (the had been no dramatic victorious fleet professional heads of the RN) and action had a serious impact on the how these affected overall officer self-confidence of the Royal Navy’s morale. While the focus is on the officer corps. years between 1918 and 1939, the Career prospects had been narrative first sets the stage by excellent in the Royal Navy during its examining officer development dramatic expansion in the decades leading up to the end of the Great just prior to the First World War. War. The penultimate chapter looks Farquharson-Roberts cites figures at officer performance in the Second which show how personnel strength World War in light of the mushroomed 2.4 times from 62,400 effectiveness of changes in the 1930s in 1888-89 to 151,000 in 1914. (30) to career management and devel- In fact, by 1912, the training system opment. The book is based on the which took cadets at age 13 was Book Reviews 193 producing too few junior officers to volunteer for specialisation training meet the expanding demand. To in a particular field such as gunnery, distinguish it from trainees entered at torpedoes, or navigation (other 13, a new scheme of “direct” or specialisations were added later). The “special” entry for cadets at age 18 requirements for officers with deeper from public school was introduced in training in these areas had grown to 1913 to run in parallel with the keep pace with increasingly existing system. By the 1930s, 20 technological equipment afloat and percent of officer trainees were direct the need for officers in staffs ashore entries and thereafter, this training with adequate technical grounding. scheme provided an increasing By the early 1920s, roughly half of portion of career officers. Once the the junior officers opted for specialist Royal Canadian Naval College was training. The various schools, axed in 1922, the Special Entry particularly Excellent, home of the system became important for the prestigious gunnery branch, played interwar RCN, because it was how an active role in the future 128 Canadian permanent force appointments and thus, careers, of officers were prepared for their their specialist trainees. The author careers between 1924 and 1942. observes that having command was Formal training ended with the award not seen as essential for of a bridge watchkeeping certificate advancement. Instead, there was a by one’s captain, generally as a Sub- perception that the road to flag rank lieutenant. After 1918, the Royal was through specialization. Navy faced serious retrenchment. Command of smaller warships up to Poorly planned personnel reductions destroyers was, therefore, dominated were handled insensitively but still by non-specialists. For example, left too many officers in some ranks. specialist officers in the Second These reductions, coupled with four World War and immediately pay cuts in the 1920s and indifferent afterwards, sometimes reached the management by successive First Sea rank of Captain before they were Lords, contributed to poor officer given a command. Examinations for morale by the time a cut in pay for command of a destroyer were intro- the lower deck ineptly handed by the duced in 1921. Preparation was by Admiralty triggered the Invergordon self-study and recommendation by Mutiny in 1931. The author calls this the officer’s captain was also period the Nadir of the officer corps. required. Farquharson-Roberts The author traces the impact of observes that it was not until 1931 specialisation on individual careers in that prospective destroyer COs were depth. Since the nineteenth century, required to receive tactical training. Seaman Officers had been able to Interestingly, after 1930, specialist 194 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord officers who gained command of seniorities, were major improvements flotilla leaders or cruisers and above in career management. were required to do a tactical course. Farquharson-Roberts pays They did not, however, have to pass particular attention to promotion command examinations, presumably from the lower deck. There was because qualified specialist depart- steady resistance, largely class-based, ment heads in large warships or on a to expanding this source of officers. flotilla staff had the required He notes that in today’s Royal Navy, specialist background. roughly 40 percent of officers started Between the wars, the Admiralty their careers on the lower deck (46), gradually accepted overall respon- a truly impressive utilization of sibility for managing officer careers. personnel resources. (Statistics for Until 1929, junior officer today’s Canadian Navy are not appointments had been handled available, but reliable estimates place entirely by civil servants in what the the percentage as under 10). The RN author terms “an impartial and figure is achieved by a flexible arbitrary system.”(142) The creation system which employs some ex-lower of an embryo cell of serving officers deckers in areas where their technical responsible for overseeing junior background is suitable, while also officer appointments that year was qualifying others to take on broader the start of centralized career man- responsibilities. agement oversight by the Admiralty. The key improvements in officer Until then, the system had involved a development during the 1930s, combination of patronage by senior including a formal recognition that officers, influence by the specialist leadership had to be inculcated, schools, and efforts by officers reflected sustained attention by themselves to secure positions they successive Fist Sea Lords. In 1932, thought would advance their careers. an Admiralty Fleet Order stressed the An essential tool in tracking and importance of nurturing “officer-like ranking the performance of individual qualities” and resulted in an emphasis officers was the confidential report on developing leadership in officer (known as the 206) rendered by the trainees. When war came in 1939, commanding officer. Numerical almost 90 percent of lieutenants scoring in specific areas of perform- would have been exposed to the ance was not introduced until 1931. improved training system. (153) The Thus, innovation, along with estab- author makes several interesting lishing a “batch system” for officers observations about performance eligible for promotion which ensured between 1939 and 45. He argues that that they were being considered the pre-war emphasis on special- against others with similar isation resulted in too few officers Book Reviews 195 able to command ships up to dest- the war was fought by the Royal royer size in a vastly expanded fleet. Navy supported by the RNVR but He also cites cases of burnout and within a Royal Naval structure.” excessive periods of time in (228) Farquharson-Roberts deals command. robustly with the argument that the The officer corps was expanded Battle of the Atlantic was left largely during the Second World War by to RNVR officers. He observes that producing large numbers of officers while RNVRs were the bulk of the who were intended to serve in the Navy’s junior officers—6,967, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve excluding the Fleet Air Arm, (RNVR) only for the duration of the compared with 1,721 Royal war. “The Royal Navy’s greatest Navy—leadership and command achievement during the war was that positions were predominately held by it expanded its officer corps from RN officers. (226) 9,762 (excluding marines) in January The author claims that the growth 1939 to 57,682 by June 1943, but in of the RN was unprecedented, so doing maintained the ethos of the claiming that it was probably original organisation; indeed it matched in history only by the managed, in the modern idiom, to lift expansion of the Roman navy during its game.”(197) Some writing about the First Punic War. This is followed the prodigious expansion of the by a general remark that the USN wartime RCN, through growing the would manage a similar expansion RCNVR, has suggested that the and “certainly gained from the Royal wartime Canadian Navy somehow Navy experience.”(197) In fact, the reflected a largely civilian ethos. The numbers of officers in the Canadian RCNVR members naturally reflected Navy grew from 650 in December their recent civilian backgrounds, but 1939 to 6,621 in an expansion they were functioning as part of a modelled on the British organ- fighting organization with its own izational system. It is surprising that distinctive way of doing things. The a well-informed British writer is author’s description of the wartime unaware of how a navy closely RN could apply equally well to the modelled on the Royal Navy grew wartime RCN: “To repeat this exponentially to meet the demands of important point, the RNVR produced war. To be fair, Farquharson- junior officers, and they were Roberts’ topic is the Royal Navy, but inculcated into the navy to a a straight comparison with wartime surprising degree… They had been growth of the RN is not valid for moulded by the navy and became part several reasons; the much wider of the navy. Inevitably the navy had scope of the requirements for officers adapted to some degree to them, but in the Royal Navy for one, and the 196 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord reality that the RCN expansion was www.boydellandbrewer.com, 2016. based in part on training in the UK xvii+278 pp., illustrations, notes, and gaining sea experience in British bibliography, index. US $115.00, UK warships. Nevertheless, his extensive £65.00, hardback; ISBN 978-1- 16-page bibliography does not 78327-109-2. include anything about Common- wealth navies. This book provides a very different The stiff US $90. price of Royal access to the lives of those who Naval Officers from War to War, entered the Royal Navy to serve king 1918-1939 will, unfortunately, pro- and country from the War of Jenkin’s bably limit sales and availability to Ear (1739-48) to the years immed- all but specialist libraries. It has also iately after the fall of Napoleon. been produced in a compact, hard- Employing private letters, memorials back format which means that the and petitions, Ellen Gill has added book does not lie flat for reading. The new depth and strong familial twist to author’s own photographs docu- the usual narrative delving into naval ments, such as an official letter, an career and duty. We see a side of the officer’s ledger or a sample 206, are officers that is seldom even hinted at so dark and stingy in size that they in general surveys of the officer frustrate rather than enlighten the corps. reader. Gill organizes her book around Mike Farquharson-Roberts the different recipients and purposes quotes extensively from con- of the correspondence. She begins temporary sources and his analyses of with spouses, partners and duty. official records underpin a narrative Married officers had three rich in pertinent observations. Royal allegiances, their wife, their ship and Naval Officers from War to War, crew, and their country. A sense of 1918 -1939 is an essential source of duty called them to sea and kept them information about the professional there, but the struggle between development of the Royal Navy patriotic duty and the desire to return officers who fought the Second to the one they loved pulled sharply World War. at most, creating anxiety, and at times, a crisis of dissatisfaction with Jan Drent the service. Gill’s evidence indicates Victoria, British Columbia both officers and their wives accepted the immediate primacy of the call to national duty, suggesting women felt Ellen Gill. Naval Families, War and a sense of fulfilled national service as Duty in Britain, 1740 to 1820. New they sent their husbands off to war York, NY: Boydell & Brewer, and tended to their domestic life. Book Reviews 197

Family takes centre stage in the writing these letters is not surprising, second chapter with a continued for their outcome could start, make, exploration of letters between sea or end a career. This chapter draws officers and their wives and children. out the importance of social Separation and pending reunion were connections and the role played by favourite topics and demonstrate the wives and mothers in working this officers’ love of wife and family. system. The letters also reveal the men’s The place of patronage and efforts to maintain their involvement friendship among officers is in daily activities and decisions at discussed in chapter four. Patronage home. Of particular note are the did not end with entry into the navy, passages that demonstrate a common it was essential for moving from practice among officers to proffer midshipman to lieutenant to captain, supportive advice when their wives and into ships where one’s “service” were pregnant and about to deliver. could yield advancement, prize They appear to have sought out money, and the notice of still more reading material and the opinion of powerful patrons. Small offences ship surgeons on the subject, passing could end a career, or make gaining along any information they collected. patronage difficult. Patronage might Officers often arranged for shore also lead to friendships that could last based naval surgeons to provide care a lifetime. Friendships between to their pregnant wives. junior officers serving together Chapter three focuses on ways certainly developed as well. Cor- the sons of officers (and other respondence between friends reveals relatives) gained a berth aboard ship the personal side of captains, their as a midshipman or officer’s servant, interests, sense of humour, goals and and the issue of patronage. This concerns, such as a series of letters accepted means of entry into service, between Henry Hotham and Philip and the path to a career as an officer, Broke. They stand in sharp contrast was at its high point during the time to the carefully constructed letters period of the book, with the seeking a patron’s aid. alternative, meritocracy, just begin- The next chapter examines the ning to eclipse this tradition. Gill “women of war”, the wives of serving explores letters of introduction by officers. Wives of naval officers mothers as well and letters of bonded together, forming friendships, encouragement and chastisement by supporting each other in child fathers and patrons, noting that from rearing, domestic chores, and their salutation to closing, the words were separation from spouse. The letters crafted for maximum effect. That between them allow a glimpse at their there were guidelines available for experience, from family dynamic 198 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord issues, to miscarriages, through role as men with familial respon- marriage, illness and death. It is clear sibilities. Books and pamphlets on the women provided critical support how to craft petitions, and profess- and guidance for each other, a point ional petition writers, were available Gill masterfully illustrates with a to help the seeker obtain their desired series of letters from Susan Mid- end. dleton (wife of Captain Robert G. Besides exploring naval careers Middleton). from these various perspectives, Gill In the debate over the nature of includes a small number of military the press gang, Gill chooses a course officers, as seen from the pages of that takes the reader through the their letters. This seems odd, given current perspectives accepting a the book’s title and the predominance middle position on the press gang’s of naval references. She mentions treatment of the men it collected and the intent to have both in the text, but people’s acceptance of the process. there is little interconnection between Chapter six wrestles with this topic naval and military correspondents, and the seaman’s perspective on life though some comparison appears in afloat. In a series of letters from the chapter on advancing of children James Whitworth to his wife, he into the service. It is a small concern describes his experience in the and easily overlooked by the amount British navy, unleashing his thoughts of insight gained through all the in a way that the author suggests, correspondence and personal writing “would have been considered covered in her volume. unacceptable, and possibly mutinous, Gill includes correspondence if expressed verbally aboard ship.” from some famous officers, such as (184) Letter writing provided lower Sir Philip-Bowes-Vere Broke, but deck seamen (like their officers) with otherwise shies away from those an ongoing connection to their life officers whose letters have been outside the wooden walls. deeply dredged (Nelson, and Emma The final chapter covers the use appear only in the introduction). of petitions by seamen and their Instead, she draws on less well- families to extract pensions and other known correspondents, providing forms of assistance from the Admir- insights into the lives and families of alty. The petitions of the mutineers the average officer. This choice is to at Spithead and the Nore, and those be applauded since she has provided from Royal Dockyard workers dom- information that will be used by inate the chapter. When seeking future researchers. assistance, the dockyard workers took An appendix containing short care to note their loyalty as biographical statements on 21 of the subjects/workers, but stressed their people whose correspondence Book Reviews 199 appears in the book adds a sense of tional sealing rights. The book high- completeness to their stories. The lights Gillett’s career as a swiler, bibliography is very thorough, and a encompassing decisions on whether significant aid to those wishing to or not to hunt each year, piloting find Gill’s sources. She has touched ships through ice packs, the seal on much of the traditional naval hunts, selling the cargo, and dealing historiography. The four illustrations with increasing regulations. spread throughout the book are As a memoir, the book adheres to interesting and the index is very a very conversational tone, with useful. individual stories linked by connect- This book will be very helpful to ions in the teller’s memory between those using personal correspondence people and places, but following a as the basis of research, as her roughly chronological order. Chapter discussion in chapter one on the letter one covers the childhood stories as historical document, and her own Gillett heard growing up, and use of such material, are very strong. encompasses oral traditions from as Those interested in the career of a early at 1862. The next six chapters naval officer and its interplay with describe four sealing trips, two on his his “land life” will find Gills’ work uncle’s large sealing vessel, the illuminating. It will also appeal to Arctic Endeavour, in the years 1961, people studying broader aspects of 1971, 1972/1973, and 1974, respect- gender roles, gender interaction and ively, in some depth. class issues within this period of The remaining chapters of the time. book are devoted to later seal hunt- ing, increasing government regul- Thomas Malcomson ation, and external pressure from Toronto, Ontario animal rights groups to control the sealing industry, about which Gillett openly expresses frustration and con- John Gillett. Leaving for the Seal cern. Overall, Gillett gives the most Hunt. The Life of a Swiler. St. John’s, in-depth descriptions and accounts of NL: Flanker Press, www. the actual processes of seal hunting in flankerpress.com, 2015. xvi+172 pp., two eras: the early 1970s, when he illustrations, index. CDN $18.95, was employed on the Arctic paper; ISBN 978-1-77117-413-8. Endeavour, and in the early 2000s, when he ran his own vessel, the This slim volume contains the Gillesport Hawk. This later block of memoirs of John Gillett, a accounts also describes the economic Newfoundland swiler (seal hunter), and mechanical concerns of running fisherman, and advocate for tradi- a vessel in the North Atlantic, 200 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord including detailed accounts of pelt Gillett does an excellent job of prices and seasonal takings, as well describing the logistics of captaining as descriptions of the vessel repairs a seal-hunting vessel, offering a rich needed after foul weather and source of information on local ter- difficult sailing. minology and contemporary attitudes As an oral history, this book towards the seal hunt from this time usefully shows the slang and special- period and community. The text, ist terms in use on Newfoundland however, can be rather dry in places swiler vessels, including various when seal pelt prices and daily catch terms for ice varieties, seal species numbers overwhelm descriptions of and ages, and items aboard ship. day-to-day life on board. This book also holds interest for The author’s aim, especially in those looking for first-hand accounts the last chapter of the book, is to of those affected by fishing and show the past and ongoing import- hunting regulations, and the views of ance of the sealing industry in his those who oppose the current own life and that of his community of legislation. Most stories in this book Twillingate, Newfoundland. In this are first-hand accounts by Gillett reviewer’s opinion, the book falls himself, supplemented by his log short of this goal by including only books or stories from other members the seal hunts in the narrative. There of his community. is no sense of the impact of sealing Writing from personal on the North Atlantic communities, experience, the author does not tend or how it fit into the community’s to use academic references, but does daily life as a source of livelihood. note in the text when his accounts are Although the author repeatedly states supplemented by other sources. In the importance of the seal hunt to addition, he includes personal photo- “our culture and heritage,” the graphs, original artwork, letters, and cultural connection was unfortunately newspaper clippings. This material is missing for this reader. Read with used to greatest effect when he local context and knowledge, the describes legal proceedings against book provides a useful insight into him in 2007, when the opening date the local attitude to seal hunting, but, for the seal hunting season was like many memoirs, it would be changed unexpectedly. He uses doc- enhanced by a deeper understanding umentary material from other swilers of the fundamentals of the topic. to support his (eventually successful) In summary, Leaving for the Seal contention that the date was changed Hunt is an easy, fast-paced read, without his knowledge. This section based and arranged around John serves as the crux of the theme of the Gillett’s personal experiences. While second half. sparse on descriptive detail due to Book Reviews 201 covering such a long swath of pinnacle moment revolves around the experiences, and in need of more 1781 British defeat at the Battle of context within the text itself, Gillett’s Yorktown, where the great General book provides an overarching look at Charles Cornwallis was forced to the changes within the North Atlantic surrender to General George Wash- sealing community, and offers an ington. In the wake of this defeat, a insightful depiction of the political crisis in England led to problematic effects of greater negotiations and the final Peace regulation without community input. Treaty in 1783. The rest, of course, It is an excellent look at the is history. But that is not completely frustrations and tensions that have accurate; the war did not end immed- developed between national iately. In fact, fighting continued regulatory agencies, activist groups, right up to the day the peace treaty and local communities in the past was signed. fifty years. Don Glickstein, award-winning journalist and author, examines the Mara Deckinga post-Yorktown American experience. Grand Rapids, Michigan Through extensive research and careful analysis he presents a well balanced argument that rather than Don Glickstein. After Yorktown: The ending the conflict, Yorktown just Final Struggle for American changed the nature of it. Within Independence. Yardley, PA: West- North America, the two years follow- holme Publishing, www.westholme ing the battle were characterized by publishing.com, 2016. xvii+432 pp, hundreds of fights and skirmishes. illustrations, maps, notes, indices. US While there were relatively few $25.00, paper; ISBN 978-1-59416- major engagements between Red- 261-9. coats and the Continental Army, a virtual civil war arose between loyal- The usual conception of the ists and revolutionaries which dom- American Revolution is an interesting inated the struggle in North America. cross between mythmaking, on the The battlefield was not the Thirteen one hand, and historical accuracy on Colonies, however, it was worldwide. the other. Generally, most accounts Aided by European powers and the of the war centre on the story of how greater conflict that spanned four a group of colonial individuals, continents, Britain’s final defeat was largely farmers and merchants, came not solely an American victory. together to stand up to the oppression Glickstein’s account is a fascin- of the British Empire. The struggle ating merging of the colonial exper- was a desperate one. Usually the ience with the international struggle 202 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord against the British. Divided into 43 the colonies towards war. His brief chapters that are concise and involvement, however, was not based focused, the lively narrative easily on revolutionary passion but the captures the mind of the reader. The result of illegal activity—it was his author skillfully grounds his family that owned the smuggler discussion of the latter half of the seized by the customs schooner, revolution within the greater colonial Gaspee. The fact that he retained a experience addressing both sides of good reputation despite his lacklustre the conflict to produce a balanced performance is impressive, but also account. In the process, he reminds fits in with the prevailing mythology. us of the great interconnectivity of Even Washington had his myth- people within history. In this case, making moments. Glickstein does some of the names are famous in not avoid the first President’s role in their own right, but not often triggering the French-and-Indian War remembered within the context of the for example, one of the not-so- American Revolution. Horatio pleasant aspects of American history. Nelson, who later rose to great fame After Yorktown has many after defeating the French fleet at strengths that make it stand out, Trafalgar in 1805, stumbled during including a far better account of the Revolution as a junior officer Native American involvement than failing to gain any victories. Eli most texts. It also relies heavily on Whitney, who went on to invent the both British and North American cotton gin in 1794 and single- archival sources which forced the handedly saved slavery in the south, author to wrestle with the challenges received some of the inspiration for of conflicting accounts and frag- his gin from an unlikely source, mented materials. Well researched General Nathanael Greene’s wife, and documented, the text provides a Caty. solid body of work for scholars and In some cases it is both students. Unfortunately, factors be- fascinating and not always pleasant to yond the author’s control limit the watch the mythology of American strength of the book. The sheer scale history break down. General of the conflict makes an all-inclusive Nathanael Greene is an excellent text impossible. For example, the example. Often portrayed as a key role of the frontier in the American figure of the Revolution, Greene Revolution is not explored because it fought throughout the war, never won is an entire story in its own right. a battle, and yet he had the Likewise, the role of America’s confidence of Washington and many Dutch allies or even the Hessians for others. He was also linked to the the British, are not well discussed. Gaspee affair which helped propel Again, the scale of operations and Book Reviews 203 scope of national involvement makes being, and provided more than a this understandable. glimpse of British naval endeavours After Yorktown is definitely in the Pacific theatre before the First recommended for anyone fascinated World War. Fifty-two years later he in the early period of American has expanded on that well received history. It reveals just how tenuous book, bringing to bear his own exten- the American Revolution really was. sive work in the field, together with Grounded in the international some new scholarship that has conflicts of the day and solidly appeared in the intervening years. It documented, this text is a must for is the kind of revision to their own any student of the Early Republic. In work that few scholars undertake in fact, anyone who enjoys a really well their own lifetime. written book will appreciate Historians of the Royal Navy Glickstein’s clear prose and skillfully have not had much to say about the crafted text. Pacific in the nineteenth century. In 1962 Gerald Graham and R.A. Rob Dienesch Humphreys produced, for the Navy Windsor, Ontario Records Society, a collection of the correspondence generated by Commanders-in-Chief on the South Barry Gough. Britannia’s Navy on American station from 1807-1823. the West Coast of North America, Arthur Marder, in The Anatomy of 1812-1914. Victoria, BC: Heritage British Sea Power, related problems House Publishing, www.heritage in the Far East to the rise of navalism house.ca, 2016. 408 pp., illustrations, in the 1890s. Admiral Sir Reginald ma p s , a p p e n d i c e s , n o t e s , Bacon, in his biography of Earl bibliography, index. CDN $32.95, Jellicoe, dealt in some detail with the cloth; ISBN 978-1-77203-109-6. British naval presence in China from 1897 to 1907. British naval activities I first met Barry Gough in 1964, east of Suez are recorded in some when he was beginning his secondary sources, such as Send a groundbreaking study of The Royal Gunboat, a 1967 study of the gunboat Navy and the Northwest Coast of as an instrument of British policy by North America: A Study of British Anthony Preston and John Major. In Maritime Ascendancy, which would addition, Ross Gillet and Colin Jones be published by UBC Press in 1971. have published useful histories of A significant addition to the liter- Australia’s colonial navies, but Barry ature, it recorded naval activities in Gough’s own books and articles now the northwest Pacific before the comprise the most complete study of Royal Canadian Navy came into 204 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord the Royal Navy in the northwest Research Society, Barry Gough has a Pacific from 1812 to 1914. warm attachment to this journal, and Some observations are in order. we now have an opportunity to Firstly, the Hudson Bay Archives, reciprocate that feeling. I strongly which Barry Gough consulted in the recommend this book to your 1960s, as a graduate student in attention: it fills large gaps in the England, have since been transferred literature, and it brings together the from London to Winnipeg; secondly, wide range of scholarship that has a this edition incorporates his research bearing on nineteenth century naval for various significant articles over activities in the Pacific. the past fifty years, and especially for two important books, Gunboat Fron- W.A.B. Douglas tier: British Maritime Authority and Ottawa, Ontario West Coast Indians, 1846-1890 (UBC Press, 1984) and Pax Britannica: Ruling the Waves and David R. P. Guay. Passenger and Keeping the Peace before Merchant Ships of the Grand Trunk Armageddon, (Palgrave Macmillan, Pacific and Canadian Northern 2014). Barry Gough, in my view, is Railways. Toronto, ON: Dundurn one of those scholars who have Press, www.dundurnpress.com, 2016. approached evidence which has been 264 pp., illustrations, appendices, the subject of controversy with an sources, index. CDN $22.99, UK open mind. His Historical Dread- £15.99, paper; ISBN 978-1-4597- noughts: Arthur Marder, Stephen 3555-2. Roskill and the Battles for Naval History (Barnsley, 2010), and his By the early years of the twentieth interpretation of British naval history, century, the Canadian Pacific reflects the mindset of those histor- Railway company (CPR) had evolved ians who are not slaves to the into what we would consider a revisionists. They do not, as James modern transportation system. From Goldrick once observed, “ ... despise the Far East across the Pacific, the the efforts of predecessors or seek to company’s white “Empress” liners detail their faults without granting connected to the western rail term- equal exposure to their merits”. This inus in Vancouver, then crossed the point has been made exceptionally Canadian land mass and on to the well by Matthew Seligman in The Atlantic, where other “Empress” International History Review (Vol. liners ran scheduled services to 13, No.5, 2016). Britain. In addition, the company As a former president (from 1987 operated ferry and freight services in to 1990) of the Canadian Nautical coastal British Columbian waters. In Book Reviews 205 effect, the CPR was what today In addition, there was the formidable would be called an integrated trans- Alaska Steamship Company. In the portation company and for many East, the Canadian Northern would years, it went unchallenged. have to compete in the trans-Atlantic Competition for the CPR began trade with the likes of Cunard, White in 1899 with the formation of the Star and other well-known British Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR). and European shipping companies as In 1903, the Grand Trunk Pacific well as the Atlantic “Empresses” of (GTP)—a subsidiary of the Grand the CPR. Trunk Railway based in Eastern Three chapters are devoted to a Canada—became the second detailed history of the principal competitor. Both ventures were companies that were absorbed into, strongly supported and encouraged created or acquired by the Grand by the federal and western provincial Trunk Pacific Steamship Company governments which had become during its formative years. It is outraged by the protectionist, anti- fascinating to read of the wild competitive behaviour of the CPR exploits that some of the company’s and its pricing policies affecting intrepid mariners undertook in the western farmers. Both new railways tugboats and stern-wheelers working also acquired shipping arms to the Skeena and upper Fraser Rivers. compete with the CPR especially on Guay also gives a detailed look at the the coast of British Columbia. In company’s express service, estab- 1923, both companies were event- lished in 1910 with two new “Prince” ually absorbed into the newly formed ships, between Vancouver, Victoria, Canadian National Railway in 1923. Seattle and Prince Rupert and other How these short-lived marine northern ports. One is frequently branches were acquired, operated and reminded of just how essential the met their eventual demise is the basis coastal shipping services were to the for this book. isolated towns and settlements on the The author starts out with a BC coast. comprehensive survey of the key The second half of the book players in the maritime trade to focuses primarily on the marine arms Canada during the early years of the of the Canadian Northern, which twentieth century. As he points out, ventured into scheduled passenger the timing of the entry of the Grand service on the North Atlantic run in Trunk Pacific into the coastal freight 1910 with its ‘Royal Line’ ships. It, and passenger trade was not aus- too, assimilated a variety of other picious as the region was already steamship lines involved in the trans- well if not over-served by a multitude Atlantic trade. The author covers this of established Canadian companies. period in considerable detail. There 206 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord some surprises—at least for this ping companies engaged in the reviewer—in that Canadian Northern regions against which the two new Steamships operated their passenger entrants began to compete. In this service from the UK out of the port reviewer’s opinion, the inclusion of of Bristol. This seems a somewhat some companies on the trans-Atlantic unusual choice, but given the protect- trade is a bit of a stretch (for ionist nature of the North Atlantic example, Manchester Liners which Liner conferences, it could have been the author insists on calling that Liverpool, Glasgow, Belfast or Manchester Lines; once my employer Southampton were off limits to an for a brief period!) since they did not upstart. That the service was quite compete in the primary passenger luxurious—and on a par with its trade. These tables can be distracting contemporaries—is indicated by a and they would have been better sample dinner menu reproduced in placed together in an Appendix. the book. The ships in this service The book is not an especially were requisitioned by the British easy read, although profusely and Admiralty for war service in 1914. intelligently illustrated with Guay discusses the extensive photographs, maps and diagrams. operations of the Canadian Northern The style is not conducive to an in the coastal and inland waters of informative flow despite the wealth British Columbia, including a double- of interesting information. This is ended railcar ferry operating between unfortunate since the author has made the mainland and Vancouver Island. a major contribution to an overlooked It also covers the extensive tug and part of Canadian maritime history towing operations in the province as and he deserves credit for that. well as the surprisingly extensive shipping activities on the Great Lakes Michael Young system in the east. The scope is Nepean, Ontario remarkably comprehensive. This is not a book to attempt to digest in one or two sittings. The Gill Hoffs. The Lost Story of the level of detail is quite astonishing and William and Mary. The Cowardice of obviously reflects an enormous Captain Stinson. Barnsley, S. Yorks: research effort on the part of the Pen & Sword Books, Ltd., www.pen- author. There are voluminous tables, and-sword.co.uk, 2016. xi+162 pp., mostly at the end of each chapter, illustrations, appendix, bibliography, which detail the principal character- index. UK £19.99, US $34.95, cloth; istics of each vessel in the respective ISBN 978-1-47385-824-4. fleets. They list the established ship- Book Reviews 207

While conducting research for detail from both a macro and micro another project, Gill Hoffs found point of view. It explains why so accounts of the American sailing many Europeans would dare leave vessel William and Mary and the their homes and head to unseen spurious tale surrounding the loss of places in North America, and even the ship and her passengers; some Australia. In the decade before 1853, two hundred European immigrants. millions suffered as crop blights, The William and Mary was one of famine, and subsequent diseases rav- many ships cashing in on the aged the impoverished populations of lucrative immigration trade, but after Europe. This deadly time also came departing England in 1853 and on the heels of the Industrial making their way across the Atlantic, Revolution where whole villages the captain and crew encountered crowded into city tenements seeking severe weather and found themselves work in mills and factories. With in dire straits on reaching the increasingly limited opportunities in Bahamas. Fearing the worst, the Europe, many of those most affected captain and crew murdered at least sought a living elsewhere. The sub- two of the passengers and abandoned sequent chapters reveal the hopes, the others to their fate in an effort to dreams, troubles, and horrors faced save their own lives. Intrigued by the by those who embarked on the story, the author set out to create a William and Mary’s unfortunate work that not only documented the voyage. Hoff’s book is well events of the voyage, but gave voice organized with an easy-flowing and justice to those left abandoned on narrative that could also serve as a the high seas, and credit to the case study of the wave of European Bahamian wreckers who risked their emigration at the time and its effect own lives, and profits, to save them. on countries elsewhere. At the same time, Hoffs sought to One reason why this story is such bring to light the crimes of Captain an intriguing read is Hoffs’s excellent Timothy Stinson and his crew. research and use of primary inform- A preface followed by twelve ation. She incorporates all manner of chapters presents the entire saga in sources including newspaper articles, chronological order. The preface eye-witness accounts, obituaries, provides an excellent overview of the diaries, and official reports to present work, and a compelling reason why the entire story. Quite often, this anybody should read this work. The reader found himself engulfed in the first chapter is an interesting and in- plight of the immigrants, their depth discussion about the plight of sufferings aboard the ship, their Europe’s poor, described in great abandonment and eventual rescue. 208 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord

While the extensive use of so many Wim Klooster. The Dutch Moment. sources revealed a story that needed War, Trade, and Settlement in the to be told, it occasionally feels as if Seventeenth-Century Atlantic World. Hoffs simply pieced together an New York, NY: Cornell University extraordinarily long series of quotes Press, www.cornellpress. cornell.edu, and created a book by inserting 2016. 432 pp., illustrations, maps, connecting paraphrased passages of tables. US $35.00, cloth; ISBN 978- her own words. This reader found 0-8014-5045-7. the text over-full of in-text quotes and extensively long block quotes, but Dutch overseas history in early others may feel differently. If fact, modern times is more than the Dutch the final story of human desperation, East India Company and its all depravity, and kindness is so important shipping and trade, or its powerful, the author can be forgiven settlements all over Asia and in Cape the excessive references. Town. Dutch historian Wim Despite growing up on the coast Klooster (Clark University, MA) of Scotland, Gill Hoffs’ background takes us along to another part of is not particularly maritime. She Dutch overseas enterprise. While not earned a BSc in psychology and unknown, Dutch Atlantic expansion worked with children with special has not previously been analyzed and needs but wrote several award- described in such a comprehensive winning pieces on maritime history and detailed way. The Dutch out of a deep personal interest. In Moment deals with war, trade and this book, I believe Hoffs has settlement in the Atlantic world from succeeded in telling a story for those the 1620s into the 1670s. At the end who were not able to tell it of the Twelve Years’ Truce in 1621, themselves: those poor Dutch, the West India Company (WIC) was German, and Irish immigrants who founded, primarily as a war machine risked their lives fighting against against the Iberians in the Atlantic deadly seas and a murderous ship’s area and in South America. In 1623, captain and crew. Again, regardless the Dutch developed a Grand Design of the excessive use of citations and to send two fleets to conquer lengthy quotes, this book should be Salvador da Bahía, the sugar district useful to anybody interested in in Brazil, and Luanda in Angola for general maritime history, the slaves. Sugar would then become Bahamian wrecking industry, and available as trading commodity, European immigration to North thereby making the WIC the America in the 1850s. dominant commercial force in the Wayne Abrahamson Atlantic. War against the Iberians Pensacola, Florida was preferred over trade. Book Reviews 209

This story with all its defeats and empire: from relations with the victories has been described before, Amerindians, slavery, conversions, but Klooster puts it in the perspective religious ministers, tolerance, Dutch of three stages: the unleashed lion, application of violence, defection, the imperial expansion, and imperial immigration of Jews and other Euro- decline. The Grand Design had peans and so on. The WIC possessed already failed in 1625, though Portu- a military force larger than any other guese and Spanish losses at sea were country in the Atlantic. It was, how- heavy, particularly the loss of the ever, unable to cope with all its Silver Fleet in 1628. The imperial related problems, such as shortage of expansion came later and reached its food and lack of money to pay its peak in the 1630s with the conquest men. The author sketches a gloomy of Pernambuco in North East Brazil, picture of defecting, starving and and Luanda where sugar plantations unpaid seamen and soldiers, many of were started. The Portuguese whom claimed their wages in vain resurrection in 1645 marked the back in Holland. The chronic lack of beginning of the WIC’s demise as an money was always at the heart of the overseas political and military power, organization. formalized in the total surrender in The WIC settlements never Brazil of 1654. The company ended managed to attract sufficient Dutch up without a plantation empire, colonists, not even in North America. without sugar, without its own slave White women were always in high trade, and without financial returns. demand. Unlike in England, convicts It was dependent on subsidies from were never transported to the West, the States General in Holland. and only a few small groups of orph- This history is only a part, though ans were sent. Many Dutch settle- a substantial one, of the book’s first ments did not produce sufficient three chapters. The WIC and private foodstuffs for their inhabitants. In entrepreneurs were also active in this context, Klooster mentions the other areas of the Atlantic: in the role of the rather unknown com- settlements along the North- forters of the sick next to the relig- American east coast, on the Carib- ious ministers. The settlements in bean islands (occupying Curaçao in Brazil and elsewhere, particularly 1634), and in West Africa. Multiple later in the Guyanas, were often stories about military operations are populated by groups of Jews from presented. Amsterdam, who had fled from The other four chapters are more Portugal. The first synagogue in the innovative, dealing with various Western Hemisphere was built at aspects connected with the impact of Recife in 1636. Klooster also dis- the Dutch effort to build an Atlantic cusses Dutch relations with the 210 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord

Amerindians, the native neighbours book. The most obscure or the most of their settlements. He remarks that recent publication did not escape his in these contacts, as with other attention. He has also used a massive overseas Europeans as well, violence variety of archival sources, pamphlets was the ultimate expression of what it and newspapers, reflected not only in meant to be Dutch in a religious and a book full of panoramic views, but cultural sense. In religious affairs, also in many colourful details Roman Catholics and Lutherans were —perhaps too many as the author tolerated, but for the Dutch, tolerance hops from one settlement to another. meant coping with religious diversity, Of the book’s 419 pages, 133 are for not fostering it. the notes. A more efficient system of Their failure to establish an reference would have made this mat- Atlantic empire did not hamper the erial more accessible. Despite a few Dutch from becoming masters of illustrations of poor quality, the book trade during the 1650s and into the is nevertheless, strongly recom- 1670s. Their ships crisscrossed the mended. Atlantic Ocean and traded with nearly all territories, the Spanish Jaap R. Bruijn included. The author provides us Leiden, The Netherlands with many details about the tricks applied to supply Spanish settlements and to carry away their commodities. Angus Konstam. Commonwealth A simple but basic trick was to name Cruisers 1939-45. Oxford, UK: the ships after a Roman Catholic Osprey Publishing, www.osprey saint. The English Act of Navigation, publishing.co.uk, 2015. 48 pp., French mercantilism, and successful illustrations, tables, bibliography, raids by the French navy finally index. UK £9.99, CDN $23.50, curtailed the Dutch freedom of trade paper; ISBN 978-1-47280-501-0. (E- and shipping very severely. By the book available.) end of the 1670s the Dutch moment was over. The Dutch had to abandon Commonwealth Cruisers is a most most of their trade with foreign necessary work, because it treats the American colonies, restricting them- navies of Britain and the Dominions selves to the few territories in the as if they were one navy, which in Caribbean and in West Africa that many ways they were. Officers, still could show the Dutch flag. ships, and training were not only Curaçao became a staple market for interchangeable but often were slaves. exchanged. Allowing all Common- Klooster has to be complimented wealth naval personnel to gain more on his very thorough research for this experience, as well as enabling the Book Reviews 211 navies to achieve economies of scale Royal New Zealand Navy (which in purchase and deployment ability, started as the New Zealand Naval really helped Britain meet the D i v i s i o n ) o p e r a t e d t h r e e defensive needs of Empire. Further- battlecruisers during this uncertain more, in an era of treaty limitation on period, and the Royal Australian construction tonnage, the ‘indep- Navy, seven. endent’ dominions qualified for their For all these navies, cruisers were own tonnage, allowing to an extent their big capital ships, these were for a larger overall force to be fleets that were largely based around constructed. Konstam presents all destroyers (the RAN and RCN Tribal this in a small book with an eloquent, class vessels would see extensive use almost laconic, style that allows in quasi-cruiser roles), escort carriers, readers to absorb the information the few light carriers and cruisers virtually at their own pace; the book they had were the prestigious major suits either a fast or a slow read. fleet units. This affected how they The structure of the book helps were used, and the prestige attached set the pace. The author first to their service, potential loss and explains the Dominion navies, their actual loss. Konstam examines this, situations, their realities; while the in the level of detail which Osprey British Royal Navy is not the focus, it books are known for, he has also is always a presence. The focus is worked to make sure every page has the Commonwealth, unlike some of either a tip bit of ‘human interest’ or Konstam’s other work (also ‘ship interest’; the sort of things published by Osprey, and also worth which provide the answers to tie- a read) British Light Cruisers 1939- breakers in class quizzes. What is 45. It provides an alternative for more is that this book also includes a readers interested in this period (who large chunk of Second World War might be more used to reading about history, making it a book not only for the Royal Navy, the US Navy or the those interested in warships, the Imperial Japanese Navy) with an politics of procurement and struggles invaluable insight and introduction to of nascent navies, but also for those three very distinct navies of the who are interested generally in the period that had a real impact on history of the Second War. world events. It starts with the Royal This is most definitely true of the Canadian Navy, a force which illustrations, which are a lively and became the fifth largest fleet in the stimulating mix of original photo- world by the end of the Second graphs, and vivid paintings—none World War, yet would never have a more so than the front cover, which is battleship, and only operated two a highly evocative picture of the cruisers. In contrast, the far smaller modified Leander (Perth class) 212 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord

HMAS Perth fighting at night in the Heather Noel-Smith and Lorna M. Sundra Strait (1942), which is Campbell. Hornblower’s Historic repeated with caption on p.43. There Shipmates, the Young Gentlemen of is also a cutaway drawing plus many Pellew’s Indefatigable. Rochester, illustrations. Illustrator Paul Wright NY: Boydell & Brewer Ltd., has done both Konstam and the www.boydellandbrewer.com, 2016. reader a great service with a very fine xii+248 pp., illustrations, appendix, hand. All of this combines to provide notes, bibliography, index. US an above-standard work, even by $45.00, CDN $59.00, cloth; ISBN Osprey’s reliably high quality 978-1-78327-099-6. reputation. Unfortunately, even though the This book examines a group of 17 bibliography cites several excellent midshipmen and master’s mates who authors and their works, academic were on board the 46- gun HMS readers will have a problem with Indefatigable, under the command of Osprey’s lack of footnotes. While Edward Pellew, in the two months Commonwealth Cruisers 1939-45 centred around the Indefatigable’s serves as a good entry point and an impressive defeat of the French 74 attractive, quick reference, it does not Droits de L’Homme, on 13 January offer an academic chain of evidence 1797. They would have been the to supplement and nuance the factual companions of the fictional Horatio data presented. This may be nit- Hornblower, when Forrester had him picking, however, for most scholarly serving in the Indefatigable. The researchers would not expect an stories of the individuals (including Osprey book to do more than offer a Pellew's) are separated and parceled solid overview of a topic, into chapters which deal with specific bibliographies that enhance a topics (such as, patronage, education researcher’s own reading list, and an and interpersonal relationships). This ability to quickly check the context of type of research is a critical compon- something before diving in deeper. ent in the pursuit of the larger picture With that in mind, this work is most of life (and career) in the British definitely a must-read for both the Navy, during the long eighteenth hobbyist and the academic. Everyone century. who reads it will most certainly come The authors selected 17 men for away knowing something they didn’t whom enough biographic information know before they picked up the book. and some correspondence existed, from which their stories could be Alex Clarke fleshed out. Although the inform- Epsom, Surrey ation is thin for many of the men, the authors weave these slender threads Book Reviews 213 into rich descriptions of their lives, making it a heavy frigate, carrying giving us insight into the naval career more guns and significantly more of the average officer, most of whom weight of shot than most frigates of history would otherwise forget. The the day. The ship became Pellew’s small sample is warranted by the time favourite vessel, never to be replaced, taken to research and write the stories which made it particularly difficult to of people who left little evidence leave it in 1799. Chapter 3 deals with behind them. The restricted time how the group of 17 young men came period was chosen to focus on a to be on Indefatigable. Ten had come group of young men who had lived to the ship with Pellew, having been and worked together during that in one or both of his previous two important phase of their naval commands. The other seven entered development, as midshipmen and the ship while Pellew was Captain. master’s mates. The battle with Many had previous service in Droits de L’Homme is a high point in merchant ships. Pellew’s (later Lord Exmouth) career Chapter 4 covers the engagement as a frigate captain. His power as with Droits de L’Homme, when patron and his reputation as a great Indefatigable and its consort, the 36 officer make him an ideal fulcrum, gun Amazon, intercepted the French around which the other stories are ship returning to France after the posed. failed assault on Ireland. Rough seas In the first chapter, the authors prevented the Droits de L’Homme place Pellew within his own historio- from opening its lower gunport, thus graphy, preferring S. Taylor’s reducing its broadside. That Commander: The Life and Exploits of handicap, and the presence of a large Britain’s Greatest Frigate Captain number of troops being carried home, (London, 2012) as a basis for their encouraged the captain to run for central character. Pellew is portrayed port. Indefatigable and Amazon assu- as intelligent, individualistic, deter- med positions that allowed them to mined bordering on stubborn, a man hit the French ship, while it could who was able to forgive and move return little fire. In the end, with the on, a devoted husband, and a father- aid of a storm and night’s darkness, like figure for those who served Indefatigable ran Droits de L’Homme under him, even long after they left ashore. The victory (though the his service. Amazon was lost ashore as well) Indefatigable takes centre stage received great praise in Britain, in chapter two. Originally designed adding to Pellew’s status. as a 64-gun ship it was converted to a Chapters 5, 6, 7, and 8 deal with rasée frigate by cutting away the patronage, development of the core original forecastle and quarter deck, group as officers, Pellew’s method 214 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord of training his officers, and the necessary to expertly sail and promotion of his protegés, respect- command a ship. In an age when ively. Here the narratives of the 17 names appeared in ships’ musters young men take centre stage. while the person resided ashore, in Describing their entry into and order to reduce time at sea before progress through the navy, the qualifying for their lieutenant exams, authors effectively illustrate the and the dark threat of that tradition various themes raised in each on ability, Pellow’s method of chapter. rotating experiences is a piece of The sections on patronage and brilliance. These two areas, patron- education stand out. Patronage is age and education, are the strongest clearly evident in Pellew’s transfer of elements of this book and its most ten men from his previous ships into significant contribution to our Indefatigable. The chapter dedicated knowledge of leadership afloat. to the subject provides well fleshed- The everlasting interpersonal out examples of patronage, but it web of relationships proposed in reappears in other chapters where chapter 9 are not entirely convincing. Pellew uses his influence again and Certainly some of the men may have again to keep a group of followers continued their relationships with together (as best he can), and each other, and Pellew clearly contin- promote them into positions where ued to correspond with, and act to they can flourish and be noticed by improve the lot of, these men across more powerful patrons. Like the the rest of his life. But, since not prototypical naval patron, Pellew also everyone wrote to everyone else as is takes on new clients (of friends, suggested (180), the evidence is not family and acquaintances from there. Falmouth) as he is asked. What is the place of Hornblower The discussion of how Pellew in all this? As the title suggests, developed his junior officers show- Hornblower is conjured out of fiction cases his strength as a leader and and placed into the real world occu- developer of his subordinates. In the pied by these men. It is a ‘what if’ in various individual narratives, we see some ways, a brush with historical Pellew moving the midshipman and fiction, demonstrating the authors’ master’s mates back and forth, from deep appreciation for Forrester’s one position to the other, even knowledge of life afloat and his hero, making them able seamen for a time, Hornblower. It does not add signi- and then promoting them to either ficantly to the book. acting-lieutenant, or acting-master, as The volume includes ten opportunity allowed. He gave these illustrations of various people and young men the range of experience places mentioned in the text. There is Book Reviews 215 an appendix, which contains the Press, www.usni.org, 2016. 286 pp., letters between Pellew and Lord illustrations, notes, bibliography, Spencer (First Lord of the Admiralty) index. US $34.95, UK £36.95, cloth; when Pellew was ordered to move ISBN 978-1-68247-07760-0. (E-book from Indefatigable, at the beginning available.) of 1799. He wanted to take a large number of people with him, but Lord The American Navy may sail on Spencer refused. The exchange is not water, but in reality, it floats on the flattering to Pellew, who appears to whims of Congress and a succession whine in his last letter to the First of U.S. presidents. This is the theme Lord. Footnotes are ample and help- of Paul Pedisich’s studious examin- ful throughout. The bibliography is ation of American naval power thorough and provides good access to during the post-reconstruction era the new archival material presented through the First World War. The in the book. The index is clear and national purpose of sustaining a naval useful. force significantly evolved over the Heather Noel-Smith and Lorna 40-year period of the author’s core M. Campbell have written a very theme. important and useful study of a group In the aftermath of the Civil War, of young man entering the world of the navy was left with few ships, warrant or commissioned officer, in most of which had deteriorating the British Navy of the French wooden hulls propelled partly by sail Revolutionary and Napoleonic War and partly by steam, and obviously period. It will serve well as a map for outdated by the world’s maritime other studies of the development and technological standards. Added to careers of the junior officers. This this predicament, the navy had too book will appeal to those with a many officers on its payroll who were general interest in the British Navy of reluctant to retire. America’s naval the era, and those more focused on capabilities ranked poorly among the naval education, patronage, and the nations of the world and there was life and influence of Lord Exmouth. little countrywide incentive to project American sea power beyond protect- Thomas Malcomson ing the nation’s coasts and merchant Toronto, Ontario vessels within littoral waters. A series of presidents, senators, house members and secretaries of the navy Paul E. Pedisich. Congress Buys a often used their political offices to Navy. Economics, and the Rise of the acquire lucrative contracts for their American Naval Power. 1881-1921. constituents to gain re-election Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute approval. Many politicians or 216 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord businessmen were appointed to Navy,” established his home state as leadership roles, but most lacked any a crucial supplier of armour plate. background in naval affairs. Finally, Congress, however, set a low ceiling America’s great industrial barons price the government would pay for were emerging, eager to furnish the armour plate over several years, thus needs of the navy, sometimes for controlling the design and number of unwarranted profits. vessels that could be built. Up to Each chapter generally starts with roughly the 1890s, the United States a brief biography of a new president, Navy largely consisted of small ships, his naval agenda (if any) and his such as torpedo boats and rams, along relationship with powerful congress- with commercial vessels converted to men of that time and progressed to carry guns. Politicians debated the secretaries of the navy, and whether the ships should be built and finally how senior naval officers maintained in federal navy yards or influenced events. The large cast of private facilities. This was the time characters and events are reminiscent when naval engineers and staff of Dickens’s Nicholas Nickleby or officers battled for recognition and Tolstoy’s War and Peace. The first equality with line officers as the real attempt at modernization was the requirements of ship-manning and authorization and building of the so- naval planning burgeoned. Merchant called ABCD vessels (the Atlanta, mariners and even longshoremen Boston, Chicago and Dolphin) in the were recruited to supplement the 1880s. Unfortunately, the ships were navy as it expanded into the twentieth considered obsolete before they were century. The latter order occurred via even launched. In 1890 came the a message from President Taft on 7 publication of Alfred Thayer December 1911. One obscure factoid Mahan’s The Influence of Sea Power is how General Order No. 99, the upon History where he put forth a prohibition of liquor onboard all world view implying the inter- Navy vessels, was accompanied by connection of status with naval four pages of explanation. Illum- power, and outlined several strategies inating these and other facts, Pedisich for the most efficient use of naval lucidly narrates the influence of forces. George Meyer, William McAdoo, Influential congressmen, such as William Moody, and the Senators South Carolina’s Benjamin Lodge (John D. and Henry Cabot) “Pitchfork” Tillman, managed to plus Admirals George Dewey and keep naval bases and ship yards in his Stephen Luce among many others. state. Navy Secretary Hilary A. The most engaging chapters Herbert of Alabama, one of several involve the administrations of men called “Father of the New William McKinley, Theodore Book Reviews 217

Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and cronyism. The navy sprouted and Woodrow Wilson. This was the shriveled during the administrations advent of the modern navy partici- of seven presidents, twenty con- pating in the Spanish American War gresses, dozens of secretaries of the (1898) and the First World War I navy (Roosevelt alone had six). This, (1914-18). Arguably, former Assist- and the ever-changing press of ant Secretary of the Navy, Vice foreign powers makes fascinating President and President Teddy reading. 1881-1921 was an important Roosevelt had the strongest effect. juncture in American history that Congress Buys a Navy relates to the development of its successfully focuses on the role of naval officer hierarchy, naval fleet politics on the evolution of the and reserves as well as its relation to United States Navy. What are miss- America’s merchant marine. ing, however, are the political drivers Pedisich`s well written but succinct of naval readiness, as well as the role work addresses a sphere of maritime of technological advances in the history that is often neglected; it is a navy’s progression. These include book that deserves a place in any the change of fuel from coal to oil historian’s library. which decreased the need for colliers and worldwide coaling stations; Louis Arthur Norton advances in naval gunnery which led West Simsbury, Connecticut to increasing accuracy and damage per round; improvements in armour, propulsion and ship design; Leonard C. Reynolds. Dog Boats At innovative tactics involving War; Royal Navy D Class MTBs and torpedoes and aviation for long-range MGBs 1939-1945. Stroud, UK: The scouting and ultimately, effective History Press, www.thehistorypress. offensive weapons; and finally, co.uk, 2009. x+289 pp., illustrations, electronic communications between tables, bibliography, appendices, ships allowing rapid coordination of glossary, index. UK £16.99, paper: offensive and defensive manoeuvres ISBN 978-0-75245-045-2. (E-book within a fleet. available.) Congress Buys a Navy is an excellent work that covers the politics This is a book about the little ships of behind a nation that had just suffered the RN’s war, the ‘Dog Boats’, or the a huge loss of life from the Civil D class MTBs and MGBs. Their role War, subsequent regional animos- is often overlooked, but just as ities, reconstruction that fostered crucial as many larger vessels. There corruption, an economic recession was not a scrap of water in the and a period of weak leadership and European Theatre of war that these 218 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord boats did not traverse; evidenced by which would be so well used by the the titles used for the 11 main body Royal Navy, the very first flotilla was chapters and underscored by the allocated to the Royal Norwegian foreword written by Admiral of the Navy. They were very successful, Fleet Lord Lewin: “Early respon- despite an unusual hazard for a sibility, small close-knit crews, the stealth vessel; “Occasionally, boats chance to get to grips with the were faced with the dilemma of local enemy… What little those of use fishermen coming alongside! The serving in destroyers and bigger policy was to be as nice as possible ships heard of their dramatic deeds to them, invite them on board, serve filled us, young as we were, with them coffee and food and impress envy.” (vi) upon them that what they had seen Reynolds extolls the history of and heard should not be mentioned to the Dog Boats in an absorbing anybody. Quite often the visitors tapestry of interwoven big-picture provided useful information on the events and personal stories that German coastal activities. In some brings to life this corner of the cases there were even touching Second World War. There are meetings between MTB crew beautifully drawn diagrams, a members and men from their own plethora of pictures which allow the families.” (35) Norway`s choice of reader to glimpse all aspects and crews experienced in inshore waters levels of life on these boats. The meant they could often get their book may be printed in grey tones, camouflaged boats close to crucial but it is certainly not grey in timbre, ports and hide, sometimes for days, maintaining a useful academic stand- lying in wait for the big target. In ard and a simple, logical structure one case, MTBs 626 and 620, spent that guides the reader from the pre- two days not far from Bergen with a conception of the Dog Boats to their German airbase close by, before eventual redundancy and slide into sinking the SS Altenfels, carrying obscurity at the end of the war. Built 8,000 tons of iron ore, and damaging as a “power pack within the confines the ‘M’ class minesweeper that was of thin plywood” (9) these ships escorting her. (39) Interaction with weren’t meant to last, and they civilians and daring feats of courage certainly weren’t preserved. Out of were not confined to Norway, 228 boats built, only 42 were lost in however. combat, and even though a few were Britain’s wider Home Waters sold as houseboats, none have ‘theatre’ was of massive importance, survived. (257,274) and Dog Boats were employed During their short lives, these extensively on both defensive and boats earned their keep. For a craft offensive operations—although the Book Reviews 219 presence of radar-directed shore York, NY: Harper Collins, batteries made it necessary to employ www.harpercollins.com, 2016. 464 very different tactics. Boats in this pp., illustrations, map, notes, area were often asked to allow war bibliography, index. US $ 35.00, correspondents to accompany them paper; ISBN 978-0-06-240551-7. (E- —ensuring the survival of another, book and CD formats available.) often florid, perspective on their war. For example, an American reporter Readers will be aware of the events who went to sea with MTB 628 on of 7 December 1941 at America’s the 24/25 July, described the action: Pearl Harbor Naval Base and the “The moon, the convoy and the airfields on Oahu Island in the intruding flotilla all met at the same Hawaiian chain in the central Pacific, time. Through a rift in the clouds the FDR’s “date that will live in infamy.” skipper picked out four flak trawlers On that day, Japanese carrier aircraft and ‘something big’ – the convoy had crippled the USN’s Pacific Fleet and been sighted…. Suddenly night Army and Navy Airforces as the became day” (75); no comparison opening shot of an advance into with the official description on the American, British and Dutch possess- same page, “During the night of ions in Southeast Asia, thereby 24/25 July, Light Coastal Forces extending the war they had already under the command of Lt W.S. Strang been fighting in China since 1937. RNVR encountered a heavily Few events in America history escorted enemy convoy of Texel.” have generated as much controversy. Such contrast adds so much to the That people still argue about this reader’s enjoyment of the book, and attack shows the depth of feeling that the information that can be gained. has grown up about it. But why do Reynolds writes well, interweaving we need another book about it, even details that, instead of distracting the though 2016 was the 75th anniversary reader, actually focus on the events at of the attack? Perhaps the answer hand, making the book both readable, lies in the title of this book. and still academic. Although yet another book about Pearl Harbor, this one is presented in Alex Clarke two parts, “Catastrophe”, which Epsom, Surrey describes the events leading up to the attack in chronological order and “Consequence”, which covers the Anthony Summers and Robbyn various recriminations and inquiries Swan. A Matter of Honor–Pearl afterwards. Its second part deals Harbor: Betrayal, Blame and a primarily with attempts by Adm. Family’s Quest for Justice. New Husband E. Kimmel, the C-in-C of 220 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord the USN’s Pacific Fleet, to clear his War, when it was felt that there was name following the verdict of Justice an opportunity to review the verdict, Roberts’ Commission in the especially as wartime secrets about immediate aftermath of the attack code-breaking could now be revealed. that Kimmel and Army Commander As other information was beginning Lt. Gen. Walter Short, were guilty of to leak out, a Joint Congressional “dereliction of duty” in not heeding Committee was appointed in 1945/46 the war warnings they received to to reinvestigate the attack. defend Hawaii. After seven months of It is important, however, to be deliberations and countless witnesses aware of how this verdict was (including six days of testimony by subsequently modified. Both com- Kimmel himself), it concluded that manders fought long campaigns to FDR and his Ministers were blame- clear their names after being coerced less, but some of the senior Army and into early retirement following the Navy Commanders had failed to give Commission’s verdict. In many res- proper consideration to the MAGIC pects, the Commission had been a decrypts of the Japanese diplomatic hasty affair, but America was at war code messages and Kimmel and and needed a clear-cut decision on Short, although not guilty of “dere- who was responsible. Both Kimmel liction of duty”, had still made and Short were replaced immediately. “errors of judgement.” This partial While it was possible to replace the vindication did not satisfy Kimmel immediate commanders in wartime and he fought on, determined to (and selecting Chester Nimitz to obtain the release of all information replace Kimmel proved to be a that he felt had previously been masterstroke), the replacement of the concealed. Short died in 1949, but President, his Ministers and the Kimmel campaigned until his death Chiefs of Staff was less likely, in 1968, when relatives and friends especially in the dark days of early continued to keep the campaign alive. 1942 when the Allies faced one Over the years, the revisionist problem after another, and not just in approach that FDR and his ministers the Far East. Clearly, the Commiss- were really to blame grew stronger, ion did what it set out to do, which fuelled by the conspiracy theorists, a was to find someone to blame. notable example being John Toland’s Attempts by Kimmel and Short to Infamy – Pearl Harbor and its clear their names started soon after, Aftermath (1982), though some initially by requesting a full Court aspects of his conclusions have Martial. Efforts grew following the subsequently been challenged. death of President Franklin Delano Finally, it seemed that the work Roosevelt and the end of the Pacific of Kimmel’s family would pay off Book Reviews 221 despite repeated rejections by various though the campaign has continued. Secretaries of the Navy and Defence In 2001 the National Parks Service, and Presidents as well, when a group responsible for the Arizona Mem- of influential Senators led by Sen. orial, organized a symposium at Strom Thurmond agreed to raise the which both sides argued their case. matter in 1995. Under Secretary of In terms of public perception, Defence Edwin Dorn was assigned to however, the two original guilty carry out a review on behalf of the parties had finally come to be seen as Dept. of Defence independent of the “scapegoats”, albeit not entirely inno- Navy and Army Departments. The cent ones. Even if they were partly result was not exactly what Kimmel innocent, some guilt had to rest would have wanted. It supported the elsewhere, as Clausen had shown. earlier conclusion that responsibility Since 1999/2000 there have been should not fall solely on Kimmel and further revisionist volumes which lay Short but should be broadly shared the blame more firmly in Washington with the Chiefs of Staff and other and particularly on FDR and his Washington officers. It did not name Ministers who had earlier been exon- them, though a report by Maj. Henry erated, as well as on the senior Clausen for Sec. of War Stimson in Admirals and Generals who had been 1944/45 had actually named 14 men partly blamed. These volumes (including FDR) who had varying include Robert Stinnett’s Day of degrees of responsibility. As Deceit (2000) and Michael Gannon’s Commanders, Kimmel and Short Pearl Harbor Betrayed (2002). were still accountable for the lack of These writers (among several others) readiness, but only to the extent of contend that there was such a wealth “errors of judgement” and not of evidence of a Japanese plan to “dereliction of duty”, hence their attack Pearl Harbor that the local wartime rank should not be commanders should have been given reinstated. Vice-Adm. D.C. Richard- this specific tactical information and son produced a very detailed rebuttal not just vague strategic war warnings of this on behalf of Kimmel’s family that did not specifically mention in 1997. This rebuttal raises a Pearl Harbor. But other writers number of doubts about the extent of pointed out that Kimmel and Short Dorn’s investigation and conclusions. must still bear a measure of respon- But it took until 1999 for the matter sibility for the lack of proper of rank to be raised again and for the reconnaissance and preparedness and House to vote 52:47 in favour. Still for failing to change the culture of both Presidents Clinton and Bush Pearl Harbor as a relaxed and dallied. This is where the matter of comfortable posting. So now there rank and responsibility still stands, was a post-revisionist view as well. 222 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord

With such opposed views being aired, files. Neither his staff nor Lt. Cmdr. it is not surprising that the reinstate- Kramer, the MAGIC traffic coord- ment of Kimmel’s rank has still not inator, could find the missing items. been decided. Meanwhile, to his The information might have been family, it had become “a matter of misfiled, but these were the men who honour”. should have known. Safford later Every new book about Pearl testified that in the month before the Harbor claims to be based on new attack, 1900 MAGIC messages had research and unseen archive material, been received in the Navy Depart- but after 75 years, is there any ment alone (others would have been archival material left unseen? There dealt with by the Army), though only has long been a feeling that not all of 950 were considered important the information available has been enough to decode in full. So where released into the public domain are the missing ones? There were which is what has fuelled the also questions over the evasiveness conspiracy theories. But given that all under questioning of the Chief of of the principal characters are long Staff, General George Marshall, and dead, and even the youngest of the the Chief of Naval Operations, sailors present during the attack are Harold Stark, and the different treat- now over ninety-years-old, new ment of General MacArthur, in testimony is unlikely. It was for this charge in the Philippines during the very reason that the USN’s former Japanese attack on 8 December 1941. Asiatic Fleet Commander, Adm. With new witnesses unlikely, it is Thomas Hart, was appointed in still perfectly possible that what had February 1944. He was to obtain, in been said at the time and lost, might secret, testimonies from survivors of be found. Equally, when the mem- the attack and Washington staff and bers of Dorn’s team visited Hawaii in politicians while they were still alive, 1995, Daniel Martinez, the National in case it was needed during any Parks Service’s historian at the future post-war inquiry. Unfor- Arizona Memorial, referred them to tunately, not all the characters agreed local newspaper reports, including to be interviewed and the number of interviews with Kimmel and Short, Washington interviewees was small. and the cuttings were still available to There is also the evidence of Capt. view. Additionally, over the years, Laurence Safford, in charge of code Kimmel had accumulated a vast breaking in 1941, who informed treasure trove of some 56 boxes of Kimmel and Hart (at no small risk to files, which are now held by the his career) that when he checked for University of Wyoming’s Heritage information on MAGIC sometime Center. after the attack, not all of it was in the Book Reviews 223

The two authors, Anthony of his 4-star rank, an issue which the Summers and Robbyn Swan, are not Depts. of Defence and Navy found primarily known as naval historians. easier to refute than to re-examine the They have explored and written about blame objectively, lest it reveal other many of the seminal events of the information they would prefer to past century including 9/11, the remain hidden. There are many Mafia, the Kennedy assassination and people who are convinced that there Watergate and have produced is information that is unreleased or biographies of Richard M. Nixon, J. has been destroyed, though the Edgar Hoover, Frank Sinatra and authors concentrate on the issue of Marilyn Monroe. If there is a theme honour rather than conspiracy. In his running here, it may be encapsulated later years, Kimmel himself said that in the word “conspiracy”, yet they his rank was not the main issue; have not allowed this book to be rather, it was the betrayal of the men taken over by the conspiracy theor- under his command at Pearl Harbor. ists. They are, therefore, to be Instead of Washington giving him the congratulated, not only on the scope information it possessed that pointed of their research into what is a naval to an attack on the base itself, he and military matter as well as a received vague warnings about political one, but also on the extent to Japanese intentions and the likeli- which they galvanised help not only hood of war in unspecified locations. from the Kimmel family, but from the There have been no further keepers of various archives both in inquiries since the Dorn Report in the USA and the rest of the world. 1995 and it seems that the events of What is clear from the two authors’ 9/11 will reinforce the case about acknowledgements of the assistance responsibility when America is they received as well as their attacked, meaning that the pendulum extremely detailed end notes section of public opinion, which had swung of the book stretching a very lengthy in favour of Kimmel 1995-2000, may 106 pages, is that they carried out an well have swung back. It may be a enormous amount of research which matter of honour, but it seems that they have woven into a highly read- honour is not going to be satisfied. able narrative. It is a measure of the scholarship In the final analysis, have the of this book that it has taken two non- authors made a sufficiently robust naval historians to see the events of case for reinstating Kimmel to his the attack and the treatment of wartime rank of Admiral, and is this Kimmel in a different light and as a still important? In some respects, the matter of honour rather than wartime whole issue of “responsibility” has expediency. been taken over by the family’s John Francis unsuccessful pursuit of reinstatement Greenwich, UK 224 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord

Michael D. Thompson. Working on beginning of a cataclysmic war in the Dock of the Bay. Labor and early 1861. Enterprise in an Antebellum Southern In Dock of the Bay, five vivid, Port. Columbia, SC: The University topical chapters lay out the ongoing of South Carolina Press, www. historical struggles of the black uscpress.com, 2015. x+284 pp., illus- slaves who were the earliest water- trations, maps, notes, bibliography, front workers (even the poorest white index. US $44.95, hardback; ISBN Charlestonians always refused to do 978-1-61117-474-8. (E-book such demeaning work). Eventually, available.) they elbowed room for themselves as independent workers rented out by Maritime history has been described their slaveholder masters to earn by some of its practitioners as the extra income, provided, of course, history of the World, including of that most of it came back to their course, the littoral zone where the owners. water meets the land. Working on the Their existential fight is an epic Dock of the Bay examines the lives of one. Leveraging their status as essent- ‘longshoremen’ who met, unloaded ial cogs in the local economic and reloaded the ships sailors brought machine, they struggled against to port. slaveholders, dockside employers and Surprisingly, this well-balanced supervisors, ship owners, town labour history of the antebellum councils setting wages and ever- waterfront of Charleston, South more-restrictive regulations, the Carolina, begins with a vignette from dangers of hauling 400-pound cotton the post-Civil War Reconstruction bales about, and stowing them with Era. When a white cotton stower was screw jacks so expertly and tightly fired for being a “white Republican that when the wet cotton swelled, the and a member of the port’s mostly cargo occasionally pried the ships’ black Longshoremen’s Protective planking apart, turning cotton ships Union Association” in late October, into ‘widow makers.’ Dreadful 1869, hundreds of dockworkers summer heat, even snow and ice in organized an impromptu supportive the winter shipping season, and strike that forced the exporters to sharks in the harbour were all oppon- rehire him within a few days. ents to be overcome or avoided. Thompson uses this example of the Fascinatingly, this daily fight to complex history of Charleston’s survive eventually became one dockside existence to guide the against competition from free, white, reader back to the period preceding Irish and German immigrants in the secession, and the Confederate final decades preceding the Civil bombardment of Fort Sumter in War. These poverty stricken immi- Charleston’s harbour that marked the grants possessed two main tools they Book Reviews 225 used to dominate the traditionally white people doing “black” work. black dockyard world; their white This situation held underlying race, and their right to vote. implications for a society founded Some recent histories of entirely on slavery, which was American slavery have convincingly becoming increasingly defensive argued that, absent the slave labour of about it as the early 1800s rolled, millions of men and women of seemingly inexorably, down to the African descent, and the millions of apocalyptic ‘War of Northern tons of raw cotton they harvested by Aggression.’ hand in the American South, western The fifth chapter is an interesting industrial capitalism, based initially exploration of how perceptions of on the industrialized production of differing susceptibilities to infectious cotton cloth, could never have diseases helped determine decisions achieved the rapid growth and world by local authorities on who should dominance it achieved during the get the upper hand in waterfront nineteenth century. Given that pers- Charleston. For example, cholera pective, it should not have been (brought by white immigrants) startling to read about thousands of appeared to infect black slaves and poverty-stricken immigrants from black freedmen more than whites, Western and Central Europe sailing while yellow fever (which slaves of away from New York and Boston for African descent appeared to be the winter shipping season to relatively immune to) attacked white compete for slave labour wages in populations more severely. This southeastern U.S. ports, but it was. provides an intriguing glimpse into The often-violent struggle for how the history of disease can domination of such waterfront work directly influence politics, perhaps opportunities between the very inspired by Michael Willrich’s bottom tier of white and black history of smallpox vaccination in the workers fighting for bare subsistence United States (Pox, 2011). This in a very dangerous workplace lays reader`s one criticism is that the bare again this cruel, unsavoury and chapter seems to explore the infect- oft-overlooked aspect of capitalism’s ious diseases angle in somewhat modern roots. There is fine historical excessive and repetitive detail. irony in the fact that where Using primary sources including Charleston’s insecure leading societal census, tax, court and death records, lights once feared the threat of slave city directories and ordinances, state rebellion in a city where blacks statutes, wills, account books, news- outnumbered whites by the early papers, diaries, letters and medical 1830s, after the flood of immigrants journals, Thompson has created an from the North and Europe, they exemplary and comprehensive labour were frightened by the prospect of history of Charleston’s antebellum 226 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord dockside. In the end, he elegantly value of Daniel Todman’s brings the discussion full circle, monumental study Britain’s War emphasizing the origins of 1937-1941 is that it does it all, and it Longshoremen’s Unions as defensive does it exceptionally well. measures by dockside workers (the Britain’s War is an ambitious lowest of the low), against the project, to say the least. In this first rapacious and unrelenting demands of volume of a projected two volume employers, and the surprisingly series, Todman sets out to weave a multiracial character of their wholly integrated tale of Britain’s emergence in the early post-Civil experience of the final stages of War South. Thompson was Assistant peace in the 1930s through to the Professor at the University of globalization of the war in December Tennessee at Chattanooga when this 1941. The first 200 pages of this volume, his first book, was published. tome (fully 718 pages of text) are I look forward to subsequent works. devoted to the approach to war. These first two parts reveal the scope David More of Todman’s effort. He tracks Kingston, Ontario economic and social policy, the machinations of British domestic politics and the efforts of a series of Daniel Todman. Britain’s War. Into British governments to avoid war Battle 1937-1941. Oxford, UK: while striving to find the resources to O xf o r d U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , build the armed forces that might www.oup.com, 2016. xvii+827 pp., prevent war from happening. What illustrations, maps, tables, notes, emerges is a complex and nuanced bibliography, index. US $34.95, picture, yet one described with cloth; ISBN 978-0-19-062180-3. r ema r ka b l e c l arity in an unpretentious writing style. Neville Much has been written about Great Chamberlain comes across as a Britain and the Second World War. respectable man walking a fine line As a rule, historians have approached between bankruptcy and coalition the subject from their own particular politics at home and the maniacal angles. Economic historians write ambitions of despots abroad. The about the perilous state of Britain’s British economy is revealed as much finances and industry. Diplomatic shallower than it had been in 1914, historians focus on appeasement, with less scope for mobilization of alliance politics and the perils of industry for military production than wooing the Americans. Social many thought, coupled with the need historians track the impact of war on to keep export industries going in civilians from enlistment, to labour order to pay for increased defence management and the Blitz. The great costs. We have long known that Book Reviews 227

Chamberlain was caught in a cleft particular, of Britain’s situation in stick, but Todman’s calm and careful late 1940 and early 1941 is probably articulation of the British dilemma the best and most comprehensive in before September 1939 is probably print. Having lost her only major the most succinct available. ally, France, and under the threat of Parts three, four and five of first invasion and then aerial assault, Britain’s War take the story through Britain also fought Italy and Vichy a series of crises that cast a critical France, as well as Syrian, Iraqi and eye on Winston Churchill’s Persian nationalists in the Middle leadership and a sympathetic gaze on East. In the process, she drove the Britain’s accomplishments. Once the Italians back into Libya, conquered “Bore War” was over (part three), the Italian possessions in Ethiopia, what follows is a series of Eritrea and Somalia, pacified the unanticipated crises that system- Middle East and sent an ill-fated atically erode quite dramatic and expeditionary force to help the dynamic British advances in military Greeks. In the meantime, Britain and industrial preparedness. By fought the Battle of the Atlantic to a Todman’s estimates, Britain soon standstill, and fended off the worst of outstripped Germany’s production of the Blitz. Then, after the German war supplies, especially tanks and attack on Russia, the British offered aircraft, but it was never going to be tanks, aircraft and supplies to the enough to equip the roughly 54 Soviet Union, while watching divisions the War Office wanted to nervously over their other shoulder at raise or the bomber force the RAF the Japanese – who are now feeding wanted to build. So Britain’s on French imperial possessions in the financial reserves were poured into southeast. There is little to send to America to jump-start American war Asia, but as Todman observes, when production. When those ready funds the Germans reached the gates of were exhausted – and British assets Moscow in December 1941, one-third and investments were liquidated in of the tanks they encountered were America – Britain was “saved” by British Matildas and Valentines. He Lend-Lease: which enabled her to does not say so explicitly, but that fight on while systematically may well have been Britain’s single destroying the her economy and her most important contribution to the empire. defeat of Nazi Germany in 1941. Todman describes all this, as well Little of Britain’s War is really as Churchill’s machinations, his new——the book is based on bullying, his precarious situation in mastering an enormous body of Parliament and within the coalition secondary sources—but the way against the backdrop of unrelenting Todman pulls it all together is. stress and disaster. His account, in Indeed, in the final parts of the book, 228 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord he does a remarkable job of conveying the idea of Britain being like a man standing on a pile of rocks in a rising tide. Every time it looks like the Brits will go under, the Americans throw them another rock. When the Japanese attack on 7 December 1941, everything changes. Highly recommended.

Marc Milner Fredericton, New Brunswick