Manila and Santiago: The New Steel Navy in the Spanish-American War   

by Jim Leeke, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2009).

Reviewed by JJ Ahern

Theodore Roosevelt referred to the Spanish-American War as a "splendid little war."  It is the shortest declared war in United States history - lasting only four months - and catapulted the nation to colonial power with the acquisition of territories in the West Indies and Pacific Ocean.  It also put the U. S. Navy in the spotlight following decades of neglect.  With two stunning victories over an aging Spanish Navy, the theories of those who supported a strong navy were proven to the nation.   

In Manila and Santiago: The New Steel Navy and the Spanish-American War, Jim Leeke looks at the principle participants and events in U. S. naval history leading up to the two battles and the effects of their outcome.  Leeke organizes his work into three parts: Part One: Thirty-Three Years (1865-1898), Part Two: Manila, and Part Three: Santiago.  In the first part, we are introduced to two of the leading naval officers at the battle of Fort Fisher in 1865: George Dewey as a young lieutenant in USS Colorado, and Robley Dunglison Evans serving in USS Powhatan.  From there Leeke charts the careers of Dewey, and Evans through the post-Civil War Navy; the state of the Navy, and the explosion of the USS Maine in Havana.  In all cases, the reader comes away with a solid, if brief, introduction to the state of the fleet and the life of the two men who would prominently lead the ships into battle in 1898.  

In Part Two, we follow Dewey as he is named commander of the Asiatic Squadron (with help from Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt), and introduced to the ships and officers of the force he commands.  Leeke provides the reader with a solid picture of the Spanish Fleet and its officers at Manila, and compares them with U.S. and European navies.  While today the outcome of the war seems obvious, at the time there were those who thought that Spain might defeat the United States.  As Leeke notes, "The American star was ascending, while that of the Spanish was clearly in decline - although just how precipitously wasn't apparent to most observers" (47)."  Through the rest of the chapters, the author provides a sound narrative of events, with commentary from both American and Spanish participants.   

The final part of the book shifts to the Atlantic Ocean, and events around Cuba.  Again, Leeke nicely describes both the American and Spanish participates in the coming battle at Santiago.  The reader is given an account of political events in both the U. S. and Spain, in addition to the movement and state of both commanders.  In particular the reader sees the commander of the Spanish fleet, Admiral Don Pascual Cervera y Topete, more as a noble tragic figure and less as an enemy.  Leeke also provides a nice balance in describing the relationship (or lack there of) between Evans, Commodore Winfield Scott Schley, and Admiral William T. Sampson.  The description of the Battle of Santiago is a well written narrative, with voices from both fleets, and a review of the aftermath of the engagement.   

From a scholarly viewpoint, Manila and Santiago does not break any new ground in the interpretation of the U.S. Navy in the Spanish-American War.  All of the sources that Leeke consults are published primary and secondary works - in particular the autobiographies of Dewey, Evans, and Schley.  Though this does not detract from the value of the work, Leeke excels at weaving together the naval, social, and political aspects of the War together.  Anyone looking for a well written, concise narrative of the naval aspects of the Spanish-American War will be more then pleased by Manila and Santiago. 

Joseph-James Ahern, senior archivist at the University Archives and Records Center of the University of Pennsylvania, specializes in U.S. naval and military history and the history of technology.

Passport Not Required: U.S. Volunteers in the Royal Navy, 1939-1941    

by Eric Dietrich-Berryman, Charlotte Hammond, and R. E. White, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2010)

Reviewed by Captain Roger F. Jones, U.S. Navy (Retired.)

This book describes how twenty-two relatively unknown Americans initially fought beside the British by serving in the Royal Navy during the early years of World War II.  During this period, the United States remained a neutral county, although Nazi Germany had already either annexed or conquered Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and France, with the subjugation of Great Britain as its next objective.  It is a remarkable story of idealism and bravery that one seldom reads about in a military-adverse press today.  To a large degree, these volunteers followed in the footsteps of those Americans who fought in World War I with the French and British, before the U.S. jettisoned neutrality and joined the Allies against Imperial Germany.

While each volunteer had unique background and experience they could offer, there were several defining characteristics they shared.  Perhaps overriding everything else, there was a desire to oppose the Nazi blitzkrieg on moral grounds.  Unlike their countrymen who flew Spitfires in the Battle of Britain, these men fought out of the public sight, such as deck officers on Royal Navy ships escorting convoys across the North Atlantic during a time when German U-boats were exacting a terrible toll in lives and ships. Of particular interest, the authors persuaded a former Kriegsmarine U-boat captain, Otto von B�low, to write a brief reflection on the war at that time, for inclusion in this book.

The larger part of the book is organized largely along chronological lines, and provides a sense of how these individual volunteers fitted into the major events of the war as they evolved.  This does present some challenge to the reader to try to follow the continuity of each individual's experience.  A call by the reviewer to one of the authors also brought out that, since the amount of information on each person varied from extensive to very little, it made more sense to follow the group's experiences in the course of the time line of the war rather than attempting to construct twenty two chapters that describe each individual's experiences in the course of the war.  Nevertheless, there are extensive biographical notes on each of the volunteers near the end of the book that provide as much information as obtainable about their lives apart from wartime operations.

Passport Not Required came into being due to the unflagging interest and energy of two British authors, Ronald E. White and Charlotte Hammond, who were eager to tell the story of how these brave and idealistic men overcame many obstacles to join the Royal Navy.  White served in the Royal Navy for nine years before becoming a police officer; sadly, he died a year before the publication of this book.  Hammond joined White to research the material - much of which needed individual contacts to obtain.personal details (access to British service records is much more restrictive than to American ones), and families are not always eager to share such information.  Between the two authors, they contacted families and friends of the volunteers, and persuaded them to share what information they could.  Later, White and Hammond were joined by the third author, American Eric Dietrich-Berryman; his background as a retired U.S. Navy officer and his writing skills are well-suited to the collaboration.

This should be an interesting read for World War II buffs; both heroic and tragic stories abound.

Captain Jones served 3 years on active duty and 30 in the active reserve as a cryptologist. He also served many years as a paper reviewer in the American Chemical Society and the Society of Plastics Engineers and contributes reviews to Amazon.com.

Books Currently Available for Review    

We have a number of books here in our offices that are available to be reviewed. If you are interested, please contact Dr. Dave Winkler at [email protected].

Ship Killers: A History of the American Torpedo, Thomas Wildenberg & Norman Polmar, Naval Institute Press, 2010, 288 pages

Where Do We Get Such Men: The Story of One Such Man - Charles Erb, Crd. USN (Ret), Steven Craig Reynolds, Author House Publishing, 2009, 237 pages

Leadership in Action: Principles Forged in the Crucible of Military Service Can Lead America Back to the Top, Greg Slavonic, Rear Admiral, USN (RET), Fortis Publishing, 2010, 245 pages

SEALs: The US Navy's Elite Fighting Force, Mir Bahmanyar with Chris Osman, Osprey Publishing, 2008, 256 pages

First South Pole Landing: The Pilots Story, Jan Churchill, J. Churchill Publishing, 2011, 82 pages

Digesting History: The U.S. Naval War College, the Lessons of World War Two, and Future Naval Warfare, 1945-1947. Hal M. Friedman, Naval War College Press, 2010, 375 pages 

The Ablest Navigator: Lieutenant Paul N. Shulman, USN, Israel's Volunteer Admiral. J. Wandres, Naval Institute Press, 2010, 174 pages.  

A Hard Fought Ship: The Story of HMS Venomous. Robert J. Moore and John A. Rodgaard, Holywell House Publishing, 2010, 360 pages.

Preparing for Victory: Thomas Holcomb and the Making of the Modern Marine Corps, 1936-1943. David J. Ulbrich, Naval Institute Press, 2011, 285 pages.  

Stockpile: The Story Behind 10,000 Strategic Nuclear Weapons. Jerry Miller, Naval Institute Press, 2010, 273 pages.

The Great Expedition: Sir Francis Drake on the Spanish Main, 1585-86. Angus Konstam, Osprey Publishing, 2011, 80 pages. 

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