Feeding Nelson’s Navy: The true Story of `Food at Sea in the Georgian Era

Janet Macdonald

It is good to see that this fine book has been reissued and is again available. The subject is far more interesting than its bare title suggests, and the author Janet Macdonald writes in an engaging and very readable style.

As she points out, the ‘horror story’ of ships’ crews subsisting usually and continually on just rotten meat and weevilly biscuits cannot have been the accepted norm in the navies of old; a ship’s equipment and its armament were worked exclusively by muscle-power, for which regular intakes of calories for energy were needed as well as physical health. In the navy, food was at least plentiful, nourishing and served regularly, more so than could be said for that available to many categories of workers ashore. The whole story of what the foods were, how they were supplied, how the men and the officers ate, diet in health and sickness and how other navies than the British Royal Navy ate are covered in lively fashion. For any still intrigued to investigate further, an appendix of sea recipes for food and drink closes the book, from ship’s biscuit and salt beef through sea pie and lobscouse to rum punch.

An immense amount of research has gone into this work and the result is an account that is both entertaining and very informative to all who have an interest in the ships and seafaring of past eras.

Reviewed by Roger Marsh, Killaloe, Co. Clare, Ireland

Undersea Warriors: The Untold History of the Royal Navy’s Secret Service

Iain Ballantyne

Most of the Cold War was not fought on terrestrial battlefields between traditional military units. Instead, the decades long conflict was predominantly conducted covertly via highly specialized and technologically advanced forces designed to track, spy, and, if necessary, destroy enemy targets. Arguably, the most advanced and secretive technology deployed during this period was the submarine. In Undersea Warriors: The Untold Story of the Royal Navy’s Secret Service, author Iain Ballantyne unveils a comprehensive narrative that details the development and utilization of the submarine and submarine forces by Britain over the course of the twentieth century and into the present. The work is particularly focused on the Cold War period that witnessed the most intense submarine developments and actions as both East and West consistently attempted to maintain an edge on the other in the struggle for global supremacy.

Although not a traditional historian, Ballantyne has spent decades as a journalist and author writing about military affairs, particularly those of the Royal Navy. He has personally spent time embedded as a journalist on most types of naval vessels, providing intimate firsthand knowledge that highly informs his work. Ballantyne does his due diligence with the primary and secondary literature, especially in technical matters, but his writing shines the brightest when he describes the drama of high intensity underwater operations. Through personal interviews and access to the journals and diaries of several key figures, Ballantyne ably places the reader directly in the control room during some of the most perilous missions and events, many only recently declassified, experienced by British naval submariners. Most of the narrative focuses directly on these figures; men such as Tim Hale, Rob Forsyth, Doug Littlejohns, and Dan Conley, whose stories traverse the history of British submarine forces from the early days of clunky diesel-powered vessels to the height of advanced nuclear submarine technology. Ballantyne interweaves their personal biographies into a tapestry that highlights not just the larger history of British submarine forces, but the intimate experiences of the commanders and crews of the vessels that daily braved life and limb to fulfill their duties.

Undersea Warriors does suffer, however, from a writing style that strikes an uncomfortable balance between history and journalism. Ballantyne’s writing often feels disjointed as he jumps clumsily between traditional historical narrative, which is not his strength, and his more vibrant accounts of the personal experiences of his chosen protagonists. Furthermore, while his firsthand knowledge of naval operations provides excellent detail, Ballantyne often seems to assume the reader knows as much as he and utilizes naval jargon and technical language without always providing full context and explanation.

Despite such issues, Undersea Warriors succeeds in documenting the importance and drama of submarine warfare during the Cold War era. It maintains a comprehensive scope while simultaneously reveling in intimate detail. It should stand as an important reference point for naval scholars and amateur enthusiasts alike for years to come.

Reviewed by Eric Walls, East Carolina University

America’s Anchor: A Naval History of the Delaware River and Bay, Cradle of the United States Navy

Kennard R. Wiggins, Jr.

The Delaware River and Bay hold a special place in the formative history of the United States Navy, an important story that has become increasingly eclipsed as we approach the nation’s 250th anniversary. Philadelphia, as the nation’s first political capital, remains firmly fixed in popular and scholarly imagination, thanks to the twin touchstones of the Declaration and Constitution, and it is widely appreciated that Philadelphia was once America’s most populous and prosperous city. But Philadelphia as young America’s leading seaport and commercial center has largely been forgotten, all but divorcing this maritime city from its location along the Delaware River and vital linkage to the Delaware Bay and the open sea. We forget that Philadelphia was once the largest seaport in North America and probably the largest freshwater port in the world, that more than a quarter of the nation’s total exports during the Federal period passed through the city’s wharves. We forget that Philadelphia led the nation in shipbuilding, with more than twice the tonnage of any other shipbuilding center in the United States. And rarely, if ever, do we associate either Philadelphia or the Delaware River with the birthplace of the United States Navy – which holds true even for those of us who live in the area and regularly cross the Commodore Barry Bridge or drive past the looming presence of the once and mighty Philadelphia Navy Yard.

Restoring Philadelphia’s role as early America’s leading maritime, commercial, and political center gives new meaning to the Delaware River and Bay as “the cradle of the United States Navy.” Kennard Wiggins’ naval history of the Delaware estuary—a basin that flows south from the falls at Trenton and encompasses Cape May on the New Jersey side of the bay and Cape Henlopen on the Delaware side—does that and more. Wiggins brings to life over three hundred years of a surprisingly active history, detailing the important men and ships as well as the shipbuilders and infrastructure that made the Delaware vital to the history of the United States Navy from its beginnings through the end of World War II.

Wiggins, a retired military officer and author of five regional books on military history, lives in the Delaware Valley and knows his region well. His clear and concise writing style makes for an enjoyable read, and the book includes a vast array of interesting and insightful information about the colorful ships, men, and deeds that contributed to the progress of the United States Navy in both war and peace. The subject matter produces a sprawling story that suffers a bit from lack of seamless continuity, but the author recognizes this weakness at the outside and works to place the individual stories into larger chronological and topical patterns.

The narrative is generously supported by fascinating and rarely seen maps, charts, drawings, and photographs, all excellently selected by the author. Four appendices provide lists and brief sketches of Delaware Valley Sailor and Marine Medal of Honor Recipients as well as vast numbers of naval vessels built in the city of Wilmington and other Delaware shipyards. The contributions made by these Wilmington shipbuilders, especially the firms of Harlan & Hollingsworth and Pusey & Jones, who led the nation in iron-hulled ship construction through much of the nineteenth century, is a welcomed inclusion and often overlooked feature of the maritime heritage of the Delaware River and Bay.

Reviewed by Samuel Heed, Kalmar Nyckel Foundation

1545: Who Sank the Mary Rose?

Peter Marsden

Arctic Mirage: The 1913-1920 Expedition in Search of Crocker Land

Winton U. Solberg

On explorer Robert Peary’s 1906 expedition, he looked out over the Arctic icescape and thought he discerned a large landmass to his northwest, one which he called Crocker Land after a major donor to his expedition. On his return and the publicization of his findings, the question of Crocker Land’s existence became an urgent one in Arctic-minded circles. 

Winton Solberg’s Arctic Mirage covers the entire arc of the expedition sent to discover the reality or unreality of Crocker Land. This covers not just the difficulties and dangers of the expedition itself, but the work it took to get it together, the journeys out and home, and the aftermath. The attention paid to the institutional politics behind the voyage is one of the book’s valuable resources, showing not just the small-scale intergroup dynamics that shape the character and content of such an effort, but the larger-scale flows of money and prestige that bring it into existence in this particular form and shape how and by who it will be remembered afterward. One of the last chapters of the book, for instance, goes into detail about the troubled publication history of expedition leader Donald MacMillan’s geographical report—it was not published by the American Museum of Natural History until 1930, long after other expedition members (including MacMillan) had published narratives of their experience. Readers interested in the ecology of the polar regions will also be drawn in by extensive descriptions of polar flora and fauna, and how they were charted and described by members of the expedition.

What the book lacks at times is a certain degree of critical or analytical distance from its source material, so that at times the reader is jerked back and forth between different attitudes toward the people involved with little authorial guidance. On page 138, for instance, American Museum of Natural History curator of geology Edmund Hovey is “a tactless, impolite person” and on page 139 he is a “poor old man,” with no clear distance or distinction between whose points of view these are. This juxtaposition of perspective could be quite interesting, but it is not fully made explicit or analyzed and thus is often confusing.

Where this tendency becomes especially unfortunate is in the description of the Inuit. Solberg seems to take the Americans’ characterizations of them as fact, so in his prose they retain the “childlike” qualities attributed to them by the explorers. In Solberg’s own prose they are hysterical, sulky, superstitious; the Americans have to learn their “tricks” (p. 43). No attempt is made to move far beyond this framing, and later in the book expedition member Elmer Ekblaw’s screed on the racial characteristics of the “Polar Inuit” is paraphrased in long stretches as if it were pure fact. To his credit, though, Solberg treats expedition member Fitzhugh Green’s murder of accomplished Arctic guide Peeahwahto (Piugaattoq) with full seriousness, devoting an entire chapter to it, though it might perhaps be wished for this incident to be connected back to the meat of the expedition and the knowledge it attempted to produce.

On the whole, this is an in-depth and interesting narrative of the expedition in search of an unreal place, one which should however be read with a skeptical eye.

Reviewed by Brooke Grasberger, Brown University

Preserving Maritime America: A Cultural History of the Nation’s Great Maritime Museums

James M. Lindgren

The origins of both United States ship preservation and maritime museums stem from the need to understand America’s symbiotic role within maritime history. Since its founding, the United States has heavily relied on the high seas, but Americans are often unaware of their impact on maritime history. Many notable global powers, such as Britain, Netherlands and other countries, have long-established national maritime museums to preserve and cultivate their seafaring traditions, while America’s maritime past has been defined by local and regional private institutions. In this unprecedented cultural history, Preserving Maritime America: A Cultural History of the Nation’s Great Maritime Museums, James M. Lindgren examines America’s rise in the nineteenth-century as a commercial power, the decline of its flagged fleet during the twentieth-century, and how museums have played a vital role in telling the story of America’s interaction with the sea. He does this by exploring six maritime museums that pioneered the way Americans experience and engage with their maritime past, which include Salem’s East India Marine Society, New Bedford Whaling Museum, Mystic’s Marine Historical Society, San Francisco Maritime Museum, New York’s South Street Seaport Museum, and the Mariner’s Museum of Newport News.

There is much to admire in this book. If Lindgren makes one thing clear, it is that there is a need to preserve America’s maritime culture and broaden global awareness, and there has been no shortage of efforts from these six iconic institutions. With varying founding agendas, from cultural preservation, local economic redevelopment, or assertion of overseas power, these six case studies displayed the complexities, promises, and pitfalls of preserving maritime America. The future of these museums came into question when faced with conflicting policymaking, chronic financial shortfalls, and the general public’s underappreciation of the nation’s formative interrelationship with the sea. They had to reevaluate and assess the missions of their institutions. Should they revolve around people, artifacts, research, the environment, social issues, economic development, community building, or a blend of these choices? Each chapter provides an in-depth view of how its respective institution handled the wavering seas and shifted their course to remain relevant. Not holding back on the unvarnished stories, Lindgren created six forceful dramas peppered with behind-the-scenes accounts coupled with descriptions of bureaucratic maneuverings. The level of research is comprehensive and impressive, providing impeccable insight for further maritime preservation efforts. By portraying the debates, conflicts, and intentions that shaped these museums, Lindgren leaves the reader with a sense of how precious these preservation efforts are for understanding America’s maritime past. These museums are fortunate to profit from Lindgren’s scholarly endeavors, in that this book will have a profound impact on the communities that these museums serve.

For many reasons, Preserving Maritime America serves as the important link between an interested, but often unknowledgeable, public and professionally trained historians and curators about what it means to be a maritime nation, the importance of preservation, and the role museums play in bridging this divide.

Reviewed by Kristin Jøsvoll, Texas A&M University at Galveston

Sailing Under John Paul Jones: The Memoir of Continental Navy Midshipman Nathaniel Fanning, 1778-1783

Edited by Louis Arthur Norton

The Capture of the USS Pueblo: The Incident, the Aftermath and the Motives of North Korea

 James Duermeyer

For me, as a 33-year intelligence officer. this book was fascinating in its detail and documentation, Commander Duermeyer did a great job of clearing the mist of intelligence and the military argot in the introduction and first chapter. He did an outstanding lay out of the interaction between the Navy and the National Security Agency (NSA). which greatly helped in understanding how and why the capture was carried off without support from our military.

Fallowing the groundwork explanation of the Intelligence issues, Duermeyer goes into a detailed discussion of leadership and risk assessment. He is very critical of both the Navy and NSA analysis of risk plus the failure of leadership. He is spot on with his comments and assessment from the President on down the chain of command. Despite numerous incursions and continued low intensity conflict perpetrated by North Korea (NOKO). the Navy and NSA continued to rely on the “12-mile” credo and assessed Pueblo’s risk at low. This was true throughout both chains of command. A true failure to face the reality of risk in order to maintain the Republic of Korea (ROK) forces then fighting with the United States in Viet Nam and not open a second front with Korea. Weltpolitik dominated the decision makers thinking.

Duermeyer does an excellent job of analyzing the reactions of Pueblo’s crew and its captain, Commander Bucher. Also examined are the intelligence community, South Korea, and the Washington arena (White House situation room); all put into the historic context of the Johnson era and Viet Nam, then the reactions of Congress; all well documented. Congressional reaction was predictably hawkish on one side and cautious to the point of inaction on the other side; the result was no real leadership. In summary, President Johnson is rightfully marked as the top decision maker who failed Pueblo and its crew. Of course, Viet Nam was the ten-ton gorilla in the room throughout the eleven-month period of captivity.

The most interesting and relevant chapter was on why NOKO captured Pueblo. It provides an insight into the issues involved with today’s negotiations with Kim Il-Un. His father, Kim Il-sung, instituted the harsh imposition of juche, a doctrine meaning North Korea must be regarded by the world powers as being equal or superior to them and that North and South Korea had to be reunited under the North’s dictatorship. This doctrine was and is imposed on the mind and souls of all NOKO citizens and those that did not or do not bent to the Greater Good of the country are tortured into submission or executed. Torture was used on the entire crew in the belief that they could be turned to the communist way. The more torture the more the crew turned to God and country; in the end Kim’s propaganda and mistreatment failed. Though NOKO thought they had humbled the United States and the Central Intelligence Agency, they failed. The doctrine of juche is still very much in the mind and actions of Kim Il-un and, therefore, all of the current negotiations need to take this into account. This book is one that I highly recommend to all scholars and political historians.

Reviewed by Edward E. Quan, Greenwood Village, Colorado

The Man Who Discovered Antarctica: Edward Bransfield Explained

Sheila Bransfield

A young Irish sailor pressed into the Royal Navy at the outset of the Napoleonic Wars might not be an expected candidate for achieving exploratory milestones in the service. This is, however, exactly the story that Sheila Bransfield seeks to bring to life in The Man Who Discovered Antarctica, a work which tracks this young man—Edward Bransfield—from the turn of the century Ireland across the seas of the globe, from ship to ship, and into their furthest southern reaches.

This book belongs to a genre which seeks to restore to the collective memory someone who has dropped out of it, and Bransfield the author is uniquely qualified to do so—she has not just written about him but has also aided in other efforts to restore knowledge of his life, as in her efforts at preserving his grave. The book is bursting with information about the world through which Bransfield the subject moved, making it not just the narrative of an individual but of a life in and through time. This also makes it an interesting read for people with all levels of understanding around nineteenth-century maritime history, as the narrative is not confined just to him and does not assume vast knowledge on the part of the reader.

The abovementioned strengths of the book—following the trail of an important but also ordinary man through the upheavals of the first half of the nineteenth century—can at times also be its weakness. This is especially apparent in the first few chapters, which write on Bransfield’s early years in the Navy. Bransfield himself disappears from the text at times, subsumed under the actions of captains and commanders. A reading of this period his life as it might have been experienced by Bransfield himself, from the lower deck, might tie the context and the individual more closely. Sometimes contextual information may feel disjointed, as when a single paragraph about the abolition of the slave trade appears in the midst of describing HMS Royal Sovereign’s patrol of Cadiz, and might have been better suited for a note.

Where The Man who Discovered Antarctica truly picks up strength is around chapter 9 or 10, as Edward Bransfield begins to rise through the ranks of the navy and his life and the contextual information become more securely intertwined. Chapter 19, which covers Bransfield’s journey to the Antarctic aboard the two-masted brig Williams, is particularly rich. On the whole the book is a fast-paced and far-ranging narrative, expansive as the environment and person who together create the narrative. Bransfield the author’s absorption in her source material is apparent in more than just the information presented; at times the text takes on the cadence of a logbook, making the rhythm of seafaring life felt and not just learned through the course of the book.

Beginning with impressment and closing with his return to England following his Antarctic expedition, Edward Bransfield’s naval career is a fascinating story, and Sheila Bransfield’s book is the definitive treatment of his life.

Reviewed by Brooke Grasberger, Brown University

Minding the Helm: An Unlikely Career in the U.S. Coast Guard

Kevin P. Gilheany

The perils of traveling the world’s waters demands only brave souls serve aboard a seagoing vessel, and requires the most valiant souls to save them when they are distressed. The United States Coast Guard, formed from a merger of the United States Life-Saving Service and the Revenue Cutter Service in 1915, has a rich tradition in endangering their own lives in order to save those in need throughout American waters. Many have sought to join the ranks of these brave individuals including Kevin P. Gilheany, who dreamt of enlisting in the Coast Guard as a young boy in Manhattan. In Minding the Helm: An Unlikely Career in the U.S. Coast Guard, Retired Chief Warrant Officer Gilheany candidly describes his time and adventures in the United States Coast Guard. Through his service, Officer Gilheany accomplished his youthful aspiration of going to sea, along with experiences only obtained through military service.

After progressing through boot camp, he received his first orders to report aboard the cutter Bear, after a brief spell aboard Gallatin in New York. From there, Quartermaster Gilheany served onboard the Coast Guard’s sail training vessel Eagle, in New Orleans as quartermaster of the buoy tender Wedge, and as an operation controller at Long Island’s Moriches Station before finally returning to New Orleans. He provides tremendous insight into the day-to-day activities enlisted men in the Coast Guard experience, as well as the characters and friendships encountered along the way. Additionally, the author includes snippets of Coast Guard history to supplement his narrative. All reveal the honor Gilheany attaches to his service in the Coast Guard.

While he recounts his professional and personal development, Officer Gilheany offers his own perception into the many major events that occurred during his service. Serving from the 1980s to the early 2000s, he witnessed the Challenger explosion, as well as the 9/11 attacks either firsthand or through exercises in their aftermath. For instance, the reader experiences the surreal sensation of watching the World Trade Center, a building he had viewed on the New York skyline since his childhood, fall. Instances like these deepen the audience’s understanding of his dedication towards his country through his Coast Guard service. In his eyes, he had been blessed with the ability to serve and strode to make a difference in the wake of each of these tragedies.

Perhaps the most entertaining part of Gilheany’s memoir are his recollections of his fellow crewmembers. Often, he fondly remembers the friendships he cultivated throughout his service; he also recalls the individuals and characters who irritated him beyond comprehension. The New York native frequently had to suppress his natural urge to speak against the sloth and unprofessional behavior displayed by his colleagues throughout his assignments, but he never let it prevent him from performing his duties. That attitude helped the young misfit from New York enjoy such a lengthy and successful military career.

Kevin P. Gilheany’s, Minding the Helm: An Unlikely Career in the U.S. Coast Guard, showcases his exemplary two and a half decade military career. Joining the Coast Guard helped him develop personally and allowed him to accomplish his childhood dreams. His book brilliantly captures his perspective on his service and his character, molded through constant adversity. Historians and enthusiastic readers alike will appreciate Retired Chief Warrant Officer Gilheany’s rendition of his career serving in the United States Coast Guard.

Reviewed by Will Nasiff, East Carolina University