Voyage to Jamestown: Practical Navigation in the Age of Discovery
By Robert D. Hicks, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis MD. (2011)
Reviewed by Mark Lardas
When Britain's first North America colonies were established, transatlantic voyages were challenges analogous to trips to the Moon today. What did it take to sail the Atlantic four centuries ago?
Voyage to Jamestown: Practical Navigation in the Age of Discovery; by Robert D. Hicks, explores that question.
The book presents the trip as a fictionalized voyage of the ship Guyft as it sails from Bristol, England to Jamestown in the Virginia colonies in the last four months of 1611. The reader sees the voyage through the eyes of Tristram Hame, Guyft's captain, as he takes his ship from Bristol's docks to the James River.
While the voyage is fictionalized, Hicks's descriptions are based on hard fact and the results of a lifetime of research on the archeology of the era, study of navigational techniques then used, and seamanship acquired through practical experience.
Hame is based on an actual captain of the period, Tobias Felgate . Guyft is based on the 120-ton Susan Constant, flagship of the expedition that established Jamestown in 1607.
Hicks used a composite voyage to allow readers to better experience all aspects of a trip to the New World. During its journey Guyft fights foreign ships, visits mid-Atlantic islands, cruises Spanish waters, experiences death, and weathers a hurricane.
Hicks places each encounter and adventure in historical context. He details then-current legal theories, medical practices, and technology affecting the actions of Guyft and Hame. Hicks also explains the centrality of religion and shows that science was viewed differently. To Hame, "science is theoretical knowledge that could be ascertained with certainty."
The heart of Voyage to Jamestown is Hicks' explanation of the period's navigation. Hame is used to take the reader through the process of navigating a ship on a transoceanic voyage. Hicks provides detailed descriptions of the tools and methods that Hame would have used, the texts Hame would use as references, and the education available to navigators of that time.
To help modern readers, the book is copiously illustrated with period material and modern photographs. This includes photos of real and replica seventeenth century navigation tools, including many showing Hame (who bears a striking resemblance to Hicks) using these tools.
Voyage to Jamestown is a book that will fascinate a variety of audiences: those interested in history, readers with and interest in astronomy, or just those interested in vicariously sailing the seventeenth century Atlantic.
Mark Lardas, an engineer, freelance writer, amateur historian and model-maker, and former Shuttle navigators, lives in League City. His website is marklardas.com.
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Refighting the Pacific War - An Alternative History of World War II
Reviewed by Rear Admiral Ed Keats, USN (Ret)
Counter factional histories have been popular with chimerical writers over many years. I can recall from high school days being fascinated with a book based on the author's imagination of an early ending to the Civil War right after the Battle of Bull Run in 1861. According to him, a peace agreement was signed removing the objection of the Union to the Confederated States declaring their independence from the United States. The author described how the resurgent South later took over the northern portion of Mexico and soon annexed Cuba. He also described the abolition of slavery before the end of the Nineteenth Century followed by the forced repatriation of all southern Negroes to Africa.
Other authors have described a long rule of Alexander in Asia, the conquering of Rome by Hannibal, and a British victory in our Revolution - among many fanciful themes.
Now, Jim Bresnahan has added to the collection, but with a different approach. He reduces his scope from the great to the minor, focusing on the tactical engagements of World War II in the Pacific. He does not conceive of a Japanese victory, perhaps it is too far fetched for him; rather he examines a number of battles while proposing that different ways of fighting might have achieved US success with reduced loss of American lives or, at least, shortening the time required to win the war.
Overall, the utility of the book appears to be as a guide for the minutia of war making, something for studies at a military college or in a specialized course at a university. One cannot believe that it would have an appeal to a general audience. Leaving aside those qualifications, the question remains as to how well Bresnahan carries out his limited purpose.
Bresnahan calls himself the editor of this volume, not the author. He has selected a group of people interested in the Pacific War to provide their thoughts in short essays on various military actions. He does not present opposing views; thus, they do not debate on his pages, rather they present just their own opinions. Since they, at this late date, have had an opportunity to review the detailed reports of US participants and those of Japanese survivors, they can look down from above, as it were, on what went on. They have had ample time to consider the actions taken in the heat of fighting by commanders who did not know of the plans of the enemy, nor even in most cases, of the location and disposition of the opposing forces. More importantly, the contributors to Bresnahan's book were not worn out from months at sea on ships buffeted by wind and waves while suffering from lack of sleep.
The book brings to mind the discussions that take place at many local taverns on Monday nights following Sunday's football games. What play should the coach of the local team have called on fourth down with a yard to go when time was running short and his team was down by four points? Now, a day later, we are aware that he called for a quarterback plunge. We also know that it was stopped short. With cognizance of the result, some can state with confidence that he really should have called for a pass or, alternatively, a trick play around the end, or a punt.
Are those reviews worthwhile? Yes, if they make an evening pass more pleasantly. No, if they have as their purpose the education of coaches. Would anyone benefit if the arguments had been recorded and published? I doubt it.
I feel in similar fashion regarding "Pacific War." Jim Bresnahan may have enjoyed compiling the book, but it serves a very limited useful purpose.
RADM Keats is a veteran of several campaigns in the Pacific during World War II.
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American Women Artists in Wartime, 1776-2010
By Paula E. Calvin and Deborah A. Deacon, McFarland & Company, Inc., Jefferson, NC & London (2011)Reviewed by Diana L. Ahmad, Ph.D.
Art historians Paula Calvin and Deborah Deacon take readers on a journey through two and a half centuries of American military art as depicted by female artists. They demonstrated that war impacted not only men, but women and their families as well.
Defining art works as paintings, sculpture, textiles, quilts, knitting, needlepoint, and photography, the authors clearly showed the impact of war on American women's art. The book provided a chronological history of women's art contributions from the Revolutionary Era through the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan showing how women contributed art works at many levels. They also briefly explained the early history of women referencing "republican motherhood" and the Cult of Domesticity, as well as women crossing the North American continent on the overland trails. Each chapter followed the same format and provided information on the genre of art and the women who provided military art of a particular design. Female artists largely incorporated military art into their repertoire of work, but did not devote their lives to the genre.
During the nineteenth century, female artists often came from elite families that allowed the women to study and travel, most commonly in Italy and Paris with renowned artists, many of them male. The military art done by these women focused on paintings and sculptures and were most often commissioned by states or societies to commemorate historic encounters such as Civil War battles or important generals or admirals, such as Admiral David Farragut. Often the commissions came many years after the event or the death of the person causing the women to seek out photographs or other illustrations to show them what had occurred at the incident in question.
Although generally not permitted on the fields of battle until the conflicts of the Cold War era, women commemorated their feelings for or against a war in needlepoint, quilts, and the like. Many times, these items remained in the family and only recently have found their way into museums. In addition to Anglo-Americans artists, the authors noted the artwork of Japanese-Americans, African Americans, and Native Americans, but only briefly.
The book clearly shows how the role of women grew from housewives who knitted socks for soldiers to women who became part of official military art programs, such as the Navy Art program during World War II, the Air Force Art Program starting in 1950, and military artists in today's armed forces. They successfully explained that as women's roles grew, their art became more and more accepted by society as the women were no longer stationed on the home front, but were, instead, stationed in combat areas, such as in Vietnam or Iraq.
Much of the book's research came from secondary sources and it is unclear whether or not the artists in question left any diaries or papers at historical societies or archives. Generally, the book provides a good overview of the development of female artists throughout American history and provided some excellent choices of illustrations. Many of the sculptures and paintings done by the women were of men. Although not a specific part of this volume, it would be wonderful to see if modern women changed their focus from male warriors to female ones. The book provides a long list of female artists who successfully brought their work into the public world demonstrating that war is not an activity that influences or affects only men.
Dr. Diana L. Ahmad and is on the faculty of the Missouri University of Science and Technology
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Black Hell - The Story of the 133rd Navy Seabees at Iwo Jima
By Kenneth E. Bingham., Seabee Book (2011).
Reviewed by Charles H. Bogart
This book is, in reality, three books in one, with the book divided into thirds. The first third of the book gives background information on Iwo Jima, the formation of the Seabees and, in particular, the activation and training of the 133rd Naval Construction Battalion (NCB). The next third of the book is a historical account of the 133rd NCB on Iwo Jima, while the final third of the book covers the history of the other Seabee units that served on Iwo Jima.
The book was written to justify why a Presidential Unit Citation (PUC) should have been awarded to the 133rd NCB. The basis of the claim by the survivors of the 133rd NCB is that they came ashore in the first assault wave at Iwo Jima. Not only did they offload supplies reaching the beachhead but provided armed, BAR and .30 caliber machine gun, beach security teams that engaged the Japanese. The survivors of the 133rd NCB thus contend that since all other first wave units received a PUC, they should also have received that award. The 133rd NCB survivors association has submitted their claim three times over the past decade for a PUC to the Department of Defense (DoD). Each time they were denied. DoD's position is that too much time has passed, and they will not second-guess why the 133rd NCB was not nominated for the award in 1945.
The author starts his book by giving an excellent summary of the assault upon and the capture of Iwo Jima using both Japanese and American sources. He follows this with an account of how and why the Navy formed Construction Battalions, Seabees. The reader is then treated to a section from the 133rd NCB cruise book covering the unit's formation to movement to the Pacific and its landing on Iwo Jima. The 133rd NCB came ashore at Iwo Jima over three beaches, Yellow 1, Yellow 2, and Blue 1. Troop strength was 23 officers and 767 men. Overall, the 133rd NCB suffered 25 percent casualties at Iwo: 40 killed in action, 156 wounded, 2 missing, and 48 evacuated for sickness.
The heart of the book is a recounting by various members of the 133rd NCB concerning what they saw on Iwo Jima. As might be expected, some of these accounts contain more information than others; however, in total, they present a chilling and descriptive picture of the horror of Iwo Jima. One constant theme in these tales is about the randomness of death. There are numerous accounts of "I survived but these men who were alongside of me were killed." This section is supported by a great number of photos of the 133rd NCB.
The book closes with brief histories of other Seabee units that served on Iwo Jima: 8th, 31st, 62nd, 70th, 90th, 95th, 106th, and 301st NCB, 8th Construction Regiment, and 23rd Special Battalion. The coverage of these units is uneven due to lack of detailed reports on some of the units. Unit cruise books were used by the author to develop the story for all of these units except the 106th NCB and the 23rd Special Battalion.
This book is an excellent read for anyone interested in the Seabees, the Iwo Jima campaign, or developing the beachhead during an amphibious operation. The photo reproduction in the book is very good considering that most were copied from printed publications. It is obvious from this book that there is a need for an official history of the Seabees on Iwo Jima that covers the story of the Seabees from the planning of the assault until they were withdrawn from the island.
Charles H. Bogart is a frequent contributor to Naval History Book Reviews.
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The U.S. Navy Seabee Alaskan Oil Expedition 1944 - With Additional WWII Alaskan History
By Kenneth E. Bingham., Seabee Books, Binghamus Press, (2011).
Reviewed by Charles H. Bogart
The author has divided this book into six sections. Over half of the book is a reprint of Construction Battalion Detachment 1058's cruise book covering its tour of duty at Barrow, Alaska, during 1944-1945. The author provides a 5-page introduction into the Navy's decision in 1944 to explore Naval Petroleum Reserve Number Four. This reserve covered 35,000 square miles at Barrow, the most northern tip of Alaska. The 183 pages following the book's introduction is a direct reprint of the 1945 cruise book.
The reprinted 1945 cruise book is a fascinating read and contains a wealth of photos. However, as a cruise book written 65 years ago, it presents a number of problems for today's reader. The book is written by some of those involved in the work of Detachment 1058 for the enjoyment of the fellow members of the Detachment. Thus, the authors use of the cruise book presume that the reader understands various events that are mentioned or photos published thereof.
The 1945 cruise book is divided into sections that discuss components of the Detachment: camp building and maintenance, heavy equipment, shop, sled train operations, commissary, disbursing, laundry, engineering, personnel, medical, chaplain, recreation, and others. Each of these sections contains a written introduction short on hard facts but heavy on listing members of that component. The story of the exploratory oil well they drill takes up but two sentences within the cruise book. Each of these sections is supported by a great selection of photos but all too often lacking captions.
Typical of the frustration a reader encounters in the cruise book reprint is that the book contains a photo of Joseph W. Wallen with the heading "In Memoriam." This is followed by a paragraph saying that Joe was a good worker and would be missed. There is also a photo of a grave with a cross on it. I assume the grave is Wallen's but nowhere in the book is there any mention of how he died. I assume this is because the book's intended readers knew Wallen's story.
The next section of the book covers Seabee activity elsewhere in Alaska. This section is a summarization of information found in the book Building Naval Bases in World War II. Naval bases covered in this section are Sitka, Kodiak, Dutch Harbor, Adak, Attu, and Kiska. The text is concise, and the accompanying photos show some of the projects covered in the text. The final section of the book is a photo and textual summary of Alaska in World War II, the construction of the ALCAN Highway, and the formation of the Alaskan Scouts.
Overall, the book is well laid out, and the photo reproduction is quite good. The book is a nice introduction to Seabee operations in Alaska during WWII. I hope that someone will someday flesh out the story of Detachment 1058 beyond that found in this cruise book.
Charles H. Bogart from Frankfort Kentucky is a frequent contributor.
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Books 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 dwinkler@navyhistory.org . Able Seamen: The Lower Deck of the Royal Navy, 1850-1939. Brian Lavery, Conway, 2011, 352 pages. A Bridge of Ships: Canadian Shipbuilding during the Second World War. James Pritchard, McGill-Queen's University Press, 2011, 438 pages. Canada's Road to the Pacific War: Intelligence, Strategy, and the Far East Crisis. Timothy Wilford, UBC Press, 2011, 286 pages. Descent into Darkness: Pearl Harbor, 1941, A Navy Diver's Memoirs. CDR Edward C. Raymer, USN (Ret.), Naval Institute Press, 2012, 214 pages. Destined for Glory: Dive Bombing, Midway, and the Evolution of Carrier Airpower. Thomas Wildenburg, Naval Institute Press, 2012, 258 pages. Great Lakes Warships 1812-1815. Mark Lardas, Illustrated by Paul Wright, Osprey Publishing, 2012, 48 pages. HMS Warrior 1860: Victoria's Ironclad Deterrent. Andrew Lambert, Conway, 2011, 224 pages. Lost Colony: The Untold Story of China's First Great Victory over the West. Tonio Andrade, Princeton University Press, 2011, 431 pages. Pacific Gibraltar: U.S.-Japanese Rivalry Over the Annexation of Hawai'i, 1885-1898. William Michael Morgan, Naval Institute Press, 2011, 330 pages. Seizing the Enigma: The Race to Break the German U-Boat Codes, 1939-1943. David Kahn, Naval Institute Press, 2012, 387 pages. Surveyors of Empire: Samuel Holland, J.F.W. Des Barres, and the Making of The Atlantic Neptune. Stephen J. Hornsby, McGill-Queen's University Press, 2011, 269 pages. The Untold Experiences of a Navy Corpsman: A US Navy Hospital Corpsman with a US Marine Corps Reconnaissance Patrol Team in the 1950's on Covert Korean Missions. C. Gilbert Lowery, Authorhouse, 2011, 167 pages. USS Monitor: A Historic Ship Completes Its Final Voyage. John D. Broadwater, Texas A&M University Press, 2012, 338 pages. Warship 2011. Edited by John Jordan, Conway, 2011, 208 pages.
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