Witness to Neptune’s Inferno: The Pacific War Diary of Lieutenant Commander Lloyd M. Mustin, USS Atlanta (CL 51)

Edited by David F. Winkler

• Before the heavily battle-damaged USS Atlanta was scuttled, Lieutenant Commander Lloyd Mustin returned to his room to recover his diary which chronicled the eleven months leading up to the Battle of Guadalcanal. For decades the diary was in the private hands of the Mustin family before being published by David F. Winkler. This book is more than Lloyd Mustin’s war diary. The diary serves as a framework on which Winkler has built a narrative of Lloyd Mustin’s service aboard USS Atlanta.

  Before presenting the diary, Winkler undertakes an exploration of the Mustin family history and its multi-generational connection to the United States Navy as well as Lloyd Mustin’s early life. Particularly noteworthy, is the career of Henry C. Mustin, Lloyd Mustin’s father, and his contributions as a pioneer in naval aviation. By contrast, Lloyd Mustin pursued naval gunnery where he made his own contributions to anti-aircraft weapons systems while studying at MIT.

  The diary itself does not begin until Chapter 3 with an entry on December 23, 1941, the day before USS Atlanta’s commissioning. It is here that the book takes shape. From this point on, each chapter is arranged by first presenting a group of diary entries followed by a narrative, provided by Winkler, that brings depth and context to the diary.

  The book gains momentum as USS Atlanta is deployed into the Pacific beyond Hawaii. The diary provides an intimate look into the mind of an officer desperate to test himself in combat but often finding himself on the sidelines. Mustin’s frustration with a lack of aggression on the part of his superiors is a theme that runs throughout his diary. At the same time, Admiral Nimitz held similar frustrations and urged his commanders to take more risks in combat.

  Naturally, Mustin’s observations regarding naval gunnery, especially anti-aircraft gunnery, feature prominently. Mustin frequently discusses how anti-aircraft capabilities could be utilized to their fullest extent. This often takes the form of after-action critiques.

  The realities of day-to-day life aboard a light cruiser is captured by the diary. Much of the time is occupied with training, maintenance, logistics, etcetera. Amongst the more mundane aspects of life at sea are interesting details, such as the confusion and frustration produced by the adoption of British convoy zigzag plans and the British Merchant Signal Book for American naval operations.

  The diary ends on October 28, 1942, with Mustin complying with an order not to maintain a diary. The remainder of the book relies on oral history to fill in the remainder of the story up to the loss of USS Atlanta in November, which would be Mustin’s introduction to intense combat.

  This book is a valuable addition to the Pacific War corpus while providing insights into some of the formative experiences of Lloyd Mustin who would eventually rise to the flag rank of vice admiral. Winkler’s supporting narrative is well written, and he draws upon a wide array of sources to bring Lloyd Mustin’s world to life.

  
  

• Havertown: Casemate Publishers, 2024
• 6-1/4” x 9=1/4”, hardcover, viii + 294 pages
• Photos, maps, notes, bibliography, index. $34.95
• ISBN: 9781636244075

Reviewed by: David M. Bennett, North Carolina Maritime Museum

The Watch’s Wild Cry: A Voyage Aboard the Whaling Vessel Clara Bell

by Robert F. Weir
Edited by Andrew W. German

• Commercial whaling in America started as early as the 1650s and lasted until whaling in the United States was officially outlawed in 1971. In America the commercial hunting of whales peaked between the years of 1846 and 1852. Though many whales were hunted, there was a special emphasis given to the hunting of the sperm whale whose oil was especially prized.

  The journal of Robert R. Weir documents his voyages on the whaling ship Clara Bell between the years of 1855 and 1858, just after the peak of the whaling industry. These entries include details and illustrations of both daily life on a ship at the time, and about hunting and processing the whales.

  The editor, Andrew W. German, described this book best in his introduction, “What follows is a transcription of a journal, which due to its illustrations and its breezy manner, is a favorite among the many logs and journals preserved in the G.W. Blunt White Library at Mystic Seaport.” In addition to Wier’s journal and illustrations, German has added a thorough introduction, postscript, and contextual notes. German’s notes make this publication appropriate for readers both new to the study of the whaling industry and returning researchers.

  German’s introduction to Weir’s journal is thorough and well researched. Through this introduction reader’s learn to truly appreciate where Weir came from and put his journal into context, specifically his drawings. The illustrations that are supplied by Weir of life on the ship Clara Bell and the whaling industry are what truly set this publication apart from other published journals of whalers. Faithfully reproduced and shown near their associated entries, these illustrations help bring to life the experiences that Weir describes. 

  The contextual notes supplied by German make the text appealing to readers with varying familiarity with the whaling industry at the time. Even those that are experts in the field will find these illustrations illuminating, and may even pick up on some new details regarding daily life on a whaling vessel. 

  An example of German’s contextual notes includes an explaination for when Weir refers to “black fish” in his journal entry from Monday, September 24. German succintly explains, “Blackfish was the whaleman’s name for the pilot whale, a small-toothed whale that swims in pods.” This eliminates any confusion for the reader regarding what the crew was hunting, that it was infact a whale and not a fish, which the crew will later hunt as well. Interestingly, later in his journal Weir will refer to the “dolphin” that the crew caught, which German clarifies in his notes, “Here Weir means the fish. Noted for the color its scales it gave off as the fish died, the dolphin fish was valued as food on board ship…”

  In conclusion, it is no surprise that Weir’s journal is considered a favorite at the G.W. Blunt White Library at Mystic Seaport. German’s additions to the journal through his notes and explanations have made this publication a much more enjoyable read and a great resource.

  
  

• Lanham: Lyons Press, 2024
• 6-1/4” x 9-1/4”, hardcover, xxiii + 229 pages
• Illustrations, glossary, notes, bibliography. $28.95
• ISBN: 9781493081042

Reviewed by: Christine N. Brin, North Carolina Maritime Museum

Arms for Russia & the Naval War in the Arctic 1941-1945

by Andrew Boyd

• I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is organized, detailed, and provides background and scope beyond the main topic.

  The book covers the evolution of merchant convoys to Russia, past the North Cape to the ports of Murmansk and Archangel. It traces the genesis of the Arctic convoys from Mediterranean operations. The author describes how the Allies tailored their protection schemes using intelligence, lessons learned, and, eventually, quantitative and qualitative materiel superiority.

  The subject matter covered is far broader than the title suggests, which is not a bad thing. Mr. Boyd devotes nearly the first quarter of the text laying the background for Arctic supply operations. The author recounts discussions between Prime Minister Churchill and President Roosevelt, discussions between their diplomatic and military staffs, and debates among British governmental committees. He weaves in early British encounters with Axis naval forces and their continuing code breaking efforts.

  On the eve of the German invasion of Russia, the Allies were aware of German deployments in the East, as well as the need to provide support to Russia. However, the Allies were unsure of Russia’s ability to withstand a German attack, Germany’s intentions after (presumably) defeating Russia, and what form of aid to provide.

  However, American and British leadership had different levels of enthusiasm for Russia. Roosevelt felt aid was vital to the Russian army, whereas the British, involved themselves in a wider war, were less eager. Mr. Boyd describes extensively the causes and results of these attitudes and includes copious statistics of how they affected Russian military potential.

  German leaders formulated plans based on their own experience. Mr. Boyd describes how they devised an operational scheme, which combined input from numerous commands, as well as instructions from Hitler himself. Concurrently, the British made counterplans, based on superior signals intelligence and Mediterranean operations.

  Although the Germans achieved results early on, by 1943, Allied convoy success became ever greater once the Royal Navy was better able to protect the merchant ships. Additional surface forces neutralized major German surface ships. ULTRA decrypts and close escort reduced the effectiveness of U-boats. Finally, the Germans were hampered by a lack of fuel and Hitler’s reluctance to risk capital ships. Ultimately, the advantages to the Allies became overwhelming, and convoy success rates exceeded 98 percent.

  Two qualities of the text are worth comment. The first is the use of statistics comparing materiel supplied by the Allies to Russia’s overall fighting strength, war industry output, and gross domestic product. They provide a quantitative measure of the impact of the convoys and show how the supplied equipment made the difference between Russian resistance and collapse. The second is the refreshingly organized way Mr. Boyd presents his points. He states, for example, that there were five distinct benefits to a particular course of action and then proceeds to discuss each of the five. It gave this reader excellent literary signposts.

  In all, this is a very interesting book. Although centered on the Arctic theater, Mr. Boyd’s expansive treatment of the external factors bearing on the Arctic and the general war effort, which influenced both sides, provides a big picture view of the tasks facing the combatants..
  

  
  

• Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing, 2024
• Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2024
• 6-1/2” x 9-1/2”, hardcover, viii + 575 pages
• Photos, maps, appendices, notes, bibliography, index . $71.00
• ISBN: 97813990388667

Reviewed by: Robert Andreotti, Santa Fe, New Mexico

The Rescue Ships and the Convoys: Saving Lives During the Second World War

by Vice Admiral B.B. Schofield

• Almost all written narratives of the war at sea from 1939 through 1945 are told from the naval perspective, the merchant services upon which Britain depended for her survival, and that sustained the Allied armies on to eventual victory are rarely mentioned except in passing or as an adjunct to the naval narrative.

  This book does much to correct that, telling the story of the rescue ships that accompanied the convoys during the Battle of the Atlantic. They were all small ships averaging 1500 tons, mostly elderly coal-burning coastal freighters or ferries converted to the job, although later in the war five Castle class corvettes also became rescue ships. Rescue ships were not naval vessels, and they flew the Blue Ensign with a gold anchor in the fly.

  Besides facilities to care for at least 150 survivors they were outfitted with a hospital and surgical team, but they were not hospital ships under the Geneva Convention and carried no distinguishing marks. They took their place at the rear of their convoys and were subjected to the same aerial and torpedo attacks suffered by the other merchantmen. The first rescue ship, Beachy, came into service in December 1940, but was sunk during its third voyage in January 1941.

  There were only thirty Rescue Ships during the war, so one could not be sailed with every convoy. Twenty survived, seven being lost to enemy action with 216 of their complement killed. The rescue ships saved almost 4,200 sailors at great risk to themselves, and their medical services were frequently called upon to deal with all forms of illness or injury to sailors in the ships in convoy, undoubtedly saving many more lives. Their presence in the convoys was essential to keeping up the morale of the men in the merchant service, who lost 8,800 sailors killed through 1941.

  The first edition of this book was published in 1968 using original source materials and interviews with survivors, sailors, and staff of the Rescue Ship Service, so it is very much a first-person account. Vice Admiral Schofield’s daughter Victoria, herself a published author, updated and edited the text into this modern edition, correcting errors in the original and expanding the book using new materials not available to her father.

  I recommend The Rescue Ships and the Convoys to any person desiring an account of the Battle of the Atlantic told from a little known and unique perspective. The book sets the Rescue Ship Service into the historical context of the overall war, and the ten chapters tell the story in logical and easy to read fashion, including one dedicated to the ill-fated convoy PQ-17. The appendices include a precis of the history of each of the thirty rescue ships.

  
  

• Barnsley: Pen & Sword Maritime, 2024
• Edited & expanded by Victoria Schofield
• 6-1/4” x 9-1/4”, hardcover, xx + 201 pages
• Photos, maps, appendices, notes, index. $42.95
• ISBN: 9781036102661

Reviewed by: Bruce LeCren, Beaumont, Alberta

Tailships: The Hunt for Soviet Submarines in the Mediterranean 1970 - 1973

by John Rodgaard

• By the late 1960s the Soviet submarine fleet was increasingly dangerous. Cruise missile-equipped Soviet submarines were posing an increasing threat to US Navy aircraft carrier battle groups. They could hit carriers from distances previously impossible for submarines. Techniques for detecting submarines at longer ranges were required.

  Tailships: The Hunt for Soviet Submarines in the Mediterranean, 1970-1973, by John Rodgaard explores one United States Navy initiative to counter Soviet submarines. It used passive towed array detection systems, a promising but untested technology. Four destroyer escorts were equipped with experimental systems as testbeds.

  Rodgaard opens the book by framing the US-Soviet Cold War at sea with an introductory chapter. He then examines the promise shown by passive towed-array sonars. Studied as early as World War I, by the 1950s technology advances led to tests with experimental passive-array sonars. By the late 1960s the Navy had one system ready to deploy and test.

  As Rodgaard shows, the system was unusual. It could detect submarines at great distances, but depended on a long, submerged towed-array system. Unlike traditional anti-submarine warfare warships, the sensor-equipped vessels were observers. They were too distant from their quarry to attack. Moreover, their observation had to be processed at a shore-based facility.

  The Navy outfitted four Dealey-class destroyer escorts, built in the 1950s, but already obsolete, to tow the new Interim Towed-Array Sonar System (ITASS), and sent them to the Mediterranean to test them. From 1970 through 1973 they tested the ITASS against the latest generation of Soviet diesel- and nuclear-powered submarines.

  Rodgaard presents the situation in the Mediterranean, then one potential Cold War ignition point. He examines the capabilities of both the Soviet submarines and American carrier battle groups operating there at that time. He also looks at the patrols conducted by the four tailship DEs during their deployment.

  The result is a fascinating look at the United States Navy and life in the Navy during the height of the Cold War. The successes and failures of the tailships are explored, as are the experiences of the sailors aboard them and their dependents living in Italy. Rodgaard closes Tailships with a look at subsequent developments, including follow-on towed array surveillance systems and ships, some still in service.

  Tailships contains numerous maps and diagrams (some full color) which allow readers to follow the action and clarify what is happening. Numerous photographs of the aircraft, ships, facilities and people involved illustrate the text. There are also six pages of full-color profile plates of the vessels of primary interest.

  Tailships is a book mainly of interest to those with an interest in Cold War naval history and the history of technology. There are no stirring naval battles, but for those interested in naval technology, especially that of the 1960s and 1970s, this is a must-read book. The details of how passive sonar systems work and are deployed will fascinate those interested in such things. It also explores the evolution of anti-submarine warfare systems and submarines between World War II and the present. 

  
  

• Warwick, UK: Helion & Company, 2023
• 8-1/4” x 11-3/4”, softcover, 80 pages
• Photos, maps, tables, diagrams, notes, bibliography. $29.95
• ISBN: 9781914377099

Reviewed by: Mark Lardas, League City, Texas

Sailing the Sweetwater Seas: Wooden Boats and Ships on the Great Lakes, 1817–1940

by George D. Jepson

• Readers of WoodenBoat Magazine may be familiar with George Jepson. A native of Marquette, Michigan, he has contributed several articles to the magazine dealing with Great Lakes history. Using these articles as a foundation, his book Sailing the Sweetwater Seas traces the history of wooden ships on these Inland Seas. This is an informal history. There are no footnotes, and a selected bibliography limits readers’ avenues for additional research. The book is beautifully produced. Photographs are presented in large formats that in many cases reveal interesting details. The book’s visual effect is enhanced by six of Robert McGreevy’s magnificent paintings and pencil sketches of Great Lakes vessels. In addition to accurately depicting the ships, McGreevy has a remarkable ability to capture the unique appearance of the lakes that they sailed on. Unfortunately, however, this visually stunning book is flawed by several annoying historical and editorial errors.

  The book begins with a preface describing the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825. Connecting the Great Lakes with New York City and its harbor, the canal revolutionized the economy of the struggling Great Lakes region.  Although Jepson states that the canal “initially connected four Great Lakes (Erie, Huron, Michigan, and Superior) to the Hudson River” in fact, the entrance to Lake Superior was blocked by the rapids at Sault Saint Marie. These were only bypassed by the Soo locks in the 1850s. He goes on to describe the wave of immigrants traveling over the canal to settle “the future states of Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin.” Ohio and Illinois were already states; Ohio in 1803 and Illinois in 1816.

  The first of the book’s two major parts describes the lakes’ wooden working vessels; schooners, passenger steamers, steam barges, and bulk freighters.  Chapter 1 deals with the thousands of schooners that sailed on the lakes during the nineteenth century or were towed behind steamships well into the twentieth. These included some unusual types; scow schooners, canal schooners, and the very small Mosquito Fleet that served the small communities around the lakes.

  A sidebar introduces the reader to William Bates, the Manitowoc, Wisconsin designer and shipbuilder who produced some very fast shoal draft centerboard schooners in the 1850s. These beautifully modeled vessels did not “borrow elements from the Baltimore Clippers” as claimed by the author. Instead, Bates was well aware of the thinking of the east coast clipper ship designers through his partnership with John W. Griffiths in the U.S. Nautical Magazine. The Wisconsin Maritime Museum has produced drawings for several of Bates’s schooners using his original mould loft offsets and scantling tables. They would make interesting models.

  With three chapters on steamships, the author’s narrative continues. The first primitive side paddlewheel steamers began to sail on the lakes shortly after the War of 1812. They grew in size and lavish decoration until their era ended with the onset of a depression in the late 1850s. Propellers (propeller-driven passenger steamers) were a later and parallel development. The first was launched in 1841. Unfortunately, the author devotes very little space to these economically important vessels as compared to the more romantic paddle-wheel “palace steamers.”  Steam barges appeared shortly after the Civil War and were intended to both carry cargo and tow a string of barges. The early “rabbits” with both engines and pilot houses aft evolved into the “lumber hookers” with the classic Great Lakes profile of pilot house forward and engine aft.  The chapter closes with a description of wooden bulk freighters; larger versions of the lumber hookers. Ultimately reaching a length of almost three hundred feet, they challenged designers’ ability to reinforce their huge wooden structures. They are the direct ancestors of the steel hulled vessels that dominated Great Lakes shipping until construction of the thousand-foot ships built in the 1970s and 1980s.  Unfortunately, someone has switched the illustration captions for the photograph of the R. J. Hackett and the drawing of the Tampa.

  Part 2 of the book includes chapters on a pleasure boat company, a Great Lakes character accused od Piracy, a noted Great Lakes historian and the author’s Great Lakes shipping ancestors. While of less interest to model builders, they add a human touch to the story. Better suiting the author’s journalism background, they are the best written chapters in the book.

  Great Lakes ships are built for one purpose; to economically haul cargo from one point to another. They usually do this quietly without drama. Great Lakes maritime history that appeals to the general reader can, therefore, be hard to write, resulting in an overabundance of sensational shipwreck stories. With this book, the author has threaded the needle by writing a book to appeal to the general reader while introducing ship model builders willing to stray from the beaten path to some interesting ship modeling subjects. Criticisms notwithstanding, I recommend this book. 

  
  

• Dobbs Ferry: Sheridan House, 2023
• 11-1/2” x 9”, hardcover, 200 pages
• Illustrations, bibliography. $45.00
• ISBN: 9781493072279

Reviewed by: C. Roger Pellett, Duluth, Minnesota 

From Whaler to Clipper Ship: Henry Gillespie, Down East Captain

By Michael Jay Mjelde

• Henry Gillespie was a Maine native. His parents owned and ran boarding houses, hotels and saloons. Henry chose another path. In 1874 he became a sailor, signing aboard a whaler at age eighteen.
  

  From Whaler to Clipper Ship: Henry Gillespie, Down East Captain, by Michael Jay Mjelde, tells what happened next. The book, a biography of Gillespie’s life, also follows the history of the United States merchant marine over half a century, from 1874 through 1921, when Gillespie finally retired.

  A period of great change at sea, Gillespie took part in that change. In 1874, when Gillespie signed as an able-bodied seaman aboard whaler Wave, most of the American merchant fleet was made up of sailing ships. In 1921, when he retired as captain of the 12,000-deadweight-ton tanker SS Swiftsure, most of the windjammers had retired and steamships ruled.

  Mjelde follows Gillespie’s transition from a raw beginner to a respected merchant ship’s captain. Gillespie lied about his experience to be rated able-bodied on Wave. He was derated, ridiculed and humiliated in front of his shipmates, and deserted at Barbados. Despite this bad start, he stuck with the sea. Shipping on other sailing vessels (although never another whaler) he gained experience, eventually becoming a ship’s officer.

  He became a “bully” officer and later captain, one who ran his ship through brutality. Because of his competence, the ships’ owners who hired him overlooked this. His brutality led to a court action which could have beached him. Following marriage he reformed. His wife, who frequently sailed with him, smoothed off his rough edges, and he became an exemplary officer, mostly sailing out of San Francisco.

  While he eventually made the transition from sail to steam, the pinnacle of his career was in sailing ships. He gained command of medium clipper Glory of the Seas in 1906. This was a legendary vessel. Launched in 1869, it was the last ship designed by famed marine architect Donald McKay. About to become a barge, it was restored following the San Francisco earthquake to bring lumber to rebuild the city.

  From Whaler to Clipper Ship is a wonderful window on the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and not just at sea. It captures America during its Gilded Age and transformation into a world power. It shows San Francisco at its raucous peak and tells a fascinating story of an iron man commanding wooden ships.

  
  

• College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2023
• 7” x 10”, hardcover, 456 pages
• Images, glossary, notes, bibliography, index. $80.00
• ISBN: 9781648431128

Reviewed by: Mark Lardas, League City, Texas

U.S. Battleships 1939-45

By Ingo Bauernfeind

• Despite my having over a dozen books on battleships I was pleased to add this one to my library. Although the author’s first language is German, the text is entirely in English and is generally well-written. The author served in various departments at the USS Arizona Memorial and the USS Missouri at Pearl Harbor, so he has first-hand knowledge of what he writes about here. As a naval historian he has written a number of books, both in English and German. The foreword was written by Daniel A. Martinez, a historian at the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum, which speaks to the author’s credentials.
  

  The book is printed on high quality glossy stock, is hard cover with no dust jacket. It contains no fewer than 222 black-and-white photographs, 140 color photographs, 20 profile and plan views of these ships, and has 17 sketches. Most of the photographs are small, sometimes four on one page, but the overall quality is excellent.

  The book recounts the general history of battleships, from pre-dreadnoughts to dreadnoughts to superdreadnoughts to World War II vessels and then continues to the modernized Iowa-class ships. Each ship in each class has a brief history, a profile view, and a table of specifications. For each U.S. Navy battleship the following sections are listed: propulsion, armament, electronics, and protection.

  One very interesting chapter was written by the lead diver of a team who explored the sunken battleship Arizona in Pearl Harbor and who took the many color photographs included in the book. 

  No book is without flaws, however, and several small niggling errors and incomplete captions provided minor distractions. The word ‘cancellation’ is spelled with only one “l”, which, although somewhat correct, is generally to be avoided in both American and British writings. The word skeg is spelled “skew” at one point. The caption of a photograph of New Jersey says it is at anchor, but the slight bow wave and the two naval bow anchors securely stowed in their hawse pipes says different. Perhaps the author mistook the paravane chain hanging from the bow as an anchor chain. Certain captions could have been more complete to add interest. For example, one photograph of New Jersey shows the aft superstructure, but no mention is given of what is actually happening there: an inclining experiment is taking place as evidenced by the transverse deck tracks and weights used to determine the center of gravity of the ship. Another photograph is of the “Truman Line”, a cafeteria-style counter in the crew’s galley. No mention is made of the two personalities seen in the line with their trays: Mrs. Bess Truman and President Harry Truman himself. Last, an aerial photograph of New Jerseymoored at Camden, New Jersey, could have mentioned that across the Delaware River may be seen the Independence Seaport with the Spanish-American War protected cruiser Olympia, the submarine Becuna, and the sailing ship Moshulu. 

  Despite these minor irritants, this book is a “keeper” and comes highly recommended.

  
  

• Havertown, Pennsylvania & Barnsley: Casemate Publishers, 2024
• 8” x 10-1/4”, hardcover, 240 pages
• Photographs, drawings, tables, bibliography, index. $49.95
• ISBN: 9781636242569

Reviewed by: Robert N. Steinbrunn, Phelps, Wisconsin

Fighting in the Dark: Naval Combat at Night: 1904-1944

Edited by Vincent P. O’Hara and Trent Hone

• Nighttime is the right time for a naval battle; at least during the twentieth century. Eighty percent of the surface actions were fought at night then. Before that, during the age of fighting sail, only ten percent of battles occurred at night.
  

  Fighting in the Dark: Naval Combat at Night: 1904-1944, edited by Vincent P. O’Hara and Trent Hone explores the reason for that change. It looks at nighttime naval actions fought over a forty-year period. It contains seven essays by eight noted naval historians. Each examines the naval night-fighting doctrine of different navies in different conflicts: the Russo-Japanese War, World War I, and World War II. These examine the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Russo-Japanese War and between 1922 and 1942, the German Kaiserliche Marine during World War I, the Royal Navy between 1916 and 1939 and in 1943-44, and the United States Navy from 1942 through 1944.

  The Japanese were the first to focus on night actions, using night attacks in the Russo-Japanese War. They were less effective than they believed. Readers leave that chapter thinking the successes Japan had were largely due to Russian errors. Similarly, Imperial Germany trained hard for night torpedo attacks, but used flawed doctrine, rendering them ineffective.

  These essays show Japan, the United States, and especially Britain, developed effective night-fighting doctrine. Japan and Britain learned from night-battle miscarriages in prior wars―the Russo-Japanese for Japan and World War I for Britain―which were applied in the early phases of World War II. Italy, by contrast, entered World War II unprepared for nighttime actions, and paid heavily.

  The United States Navy mastered nighttime combat during World War II. Along with the Royal Navy, it relied on technology to leap ahead of its foes. Radar and especially the Combat Information Center (developed independently and concurrently by both) stripped away the  cover of darkness and made both navies deadly at night. Japan, which previously owned the nighttime seas, was eclipsed and never realized why.

  Each chapter offers different lessons and insights. Some universal lessons appear in all chapters. Battle at night is hard. Control is difficult. Results are universally overestimated. Situational awareness is the key to success. The side that maintains it best is the side that usually wins.

  For those interested in naval history, Fighting in the Dark is a gem. It is readable, giving readers insight and understanding of the issues involved in night actions.

  
  

• Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2023
• 6” x 9”, hardcover, 320 pages
• Illustrations, maps, tables, appendices, notes, bibliography, index. $39.95
• ISBN: 9781682477809

Reviewed by: Mark Lardas, League City, Texas

Kaffenkähne, eine vergangene Binnenschiffsform: was moderne Methoden und alte Quellen ermöglichen

and 

Pommersche Segelkähne: dreimastig auf Haff und Bodden

By Michael Sohn

• The article by Tim Morrison in NRJ 66: 3-4 about the sailing canaller reminded me of the fact that the watercraft of the rivers, lakes and canals of this world are hopelessly underrepresented in magazines such as the NRJ, while their diversity is infinitely greater than that of seagoing ships. But perhaps that is precisely the problem.

  I would therefore like to draw the reader's attention to these two books as a successful example of the analysis of a small section of the wide world of inland vessels. It concerns a group of vessels, many of which were towed on the canals in a similar way to the sailing canaller (though on a smaller scale) but were sailed on the Oder Lagoon and even on the Baltic Sea.

  It must be said in advance that the territorial situation of this area has changed fundamentally compared to that before World War II. A large part of it now belongs to Poland, and it must be credited to the Poles that they maintain the German traditions as much as their own.

  The author’s profession is design manager at Alstom, the second largest railway technology company in the world. He sells his books through his own publishing house Sohn-Art (www.sohn-art.de). And although the first book is a little older, both are still available. The fact that the texts are in German should not put anyone off, because the many detailed illustrations alone are very informative. And nowadays, if necessary, you can even make the passages that seem particularly interesting speak with the help of a cell phone photo and Google Translate.

   

  In the first book, the author has staked out his field a little more and also discusses the many types of craft on the upper reaches of the Vistula, Oder, Elbe and Danube rivers. Not least, however, he presents his working method, which consists of processing a large number of very different contemporary sources into the beautiful computer-generated illustrations and plans that make up the main part of the two books. But conventional illustrations and, above all, photos are not neglected either.

   

  The second book, on the other hand, discusses the few types of craft that were native to the lower reaches of the Oder river and the Oder Lagoon. Today it is hard to imagine how and why inland boatmen ventured out onto the lagoon and across the Baltic Sea to the island of Rügen with a flat-bottomed vessel originally from a river basin.

   

  As an example of the many types of vessel, I will try to describe a type called Mollenkahn of about 1910 in a few words. The hull is 130 feet. long, 15 feet wide (L/B = 8.6) and about 9 feet deep. It is flat-bottomed with an angular chine, box-shaped over almost its entire length and covered by a single, long hatch. Only the ends are rounded and the stern has a balance rudder. The ship has four (!) leeboards and three masts, all of which carry spritsails and are not only of different heights but also have irregular spacing. For someone who is used to the regularity of the American fore-and-after, all of this seems almost as exotic as the Nile felucca.

   

  Finally, I would like to say that I find the style of presentation and the mix of text and illustrations a little awkward. But that is my personal opinion, which is perhaps old-fashioned, and it does not detract from the general high quality of the work. I do however have one real criticism: the lack of an index in both books, which would certainly have been very useful given the amount of information. This is a shortcoming that is usually found in French publications, while I have to praise most American publications in this respect.

  
  

• Kaffenkähne (Book 1)
  
• Henningsdorf: Sohn Art, 2013
• 8-1/2” x 11-3/4”, hardcover, 141 pages
• Illustrations, plans, maps, notes, bibliography. 17.75€ + shipping
• ISBN: 9783000416590

• Pommersche (Book 2)
  
• Henningsdorf: Sohn Art, 2022
• 8-1/2” x 11-3/4”, hardcover, 303 pages
• Illustrations, plans, maps, notes, bibliography. 34.40€ + shipping
• ISBN: 9783000711695

Reviewed by: Ulrich Gerritzen, Röllbach, Germany