Book Reviews

A MURDER AT SEA

• Proceedings / March 2002; Reviewed by Lieutenant Colonel Richard Seamon, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve (Retired)    "You may not believe it, but I was young once," says a veteran FBI agent in this seagoing murder mystery. Readers will believe the author can say the same; he still can see ships and ports and women with a young man’s eyes. Retired Navy Vice Admiral William Mack is a veteran surface warfare officer who knows destroyers intimately—from signal bridge to paint locker, from engineering department to commissary storeroom. He knows how junior officers live on board and how the best of them take advice from more experienced noncoms. He can explain with clarity his preference for gas turbines over steam turbine. And he is not above a dig at Admiral Hyman Rickover’s nuclear obsession. Admiral Mack also is a veteran novelist with a half dozen other books to his credit. He has learned his new trade well. His latest effort tells the fast-moving tale of Carl Carlson, a new ensign on his first sea duty. When his roommate is murdered, Carlson is determined to find the killer, especially since the killer seems determined to knock him off as well. The dangerous search on board ship does little to dampen a young ensign’s libido, and when the USS Lassiter gets to an Italian liberty port, Carlson hunts willing women with considerable success. Back at sea, he tries to turn himself into something of a cross between Sherlock Holmes and Mike Hammer. When the Lassiter gets back to Portsmouth, the FBI, the Office of Naval Intelligence, a team of SEALs, and some drug-hunting dogs get into the act and Carlson becomes concerned him roommate’s murder is being shunted aside by a search for drug smugglers. Only after Carlson demonstrates unexpected skill as a sea lawyer is he let in on all the details of the operation. In a surprise—a sort of deus ex machina—Carlson is satisfied that justice has been served.

THE USS CONSTITUTION'S FINEST FIGHT

• Almanac of Sea Power          The USS Constitution's finest fight--according to the book by that name--was the capture of the British ships Cyane and Levant off the Madeira islands. This journal of acting chaplain Assheton Humphreys, edited by former Constitution skipper and historian Tyrone G. Martin, is an exciting find, and some of the details are fascinating--e.g., the appendix with the ship's muster roll, including names, rates, pay.

• The Post  and Courier          Account of 'Old Ironsides' Battle Embodies The Spirit of Young Nation
  
  Every schoolboy or girl knows the story of how "Old Ironsides" got its nickname when a cannon ball bounced off its thick oak side during its battle with the British man-of-war Guerriere in the War of 1812.
  But the USS Constitution's capture of the British frigate Cyane and corvette Levant in a clash off the Madeira Islands in February if 1815 has been called its finest battle. Capt. Charles Stewart's tactics and the skill of the American crew made the day a smashing victory for the United States with only a fraction of the casualties and damage visited upon the two British men-of-war. 
  The account of battle comes from the journal of Constitution's chaplain, Assheton Humphreys. He describes the Constitution's escape from the British blockade of Boston, its journey across the Atlantic, preying on enemy shipping as it went, and the subsequent battle with the Cyane and Levent -- all described in the oh-so-formal prose of the period.
  Explanations and details interjected by editor Tyrone Martin adds greatly to Humphreys' narrative, helping to make sense of obscure references and terms of the day. A modern description of the battle and the subsequent British pursuit follows Humphreys' journal and ties it all together nicely.
  For readers with passion for high seas adventure by the likes of C.S. Forrester, Patrick O'Brian and Dewey Lambdin, "Constitution's Finest Fight" will breathe flesh and blood into a ship which came to embody the spirit of our young nation.
  

SKYRAIDER

• The Midwest Book Review          Skyraider: The Douglas A-1 "Flying Dump Truck" is the story of an basic American military aircraft from its conception in June 1944 by Douglas Aircraft designer Ed Heinemann, to its initial launch nine months later.  It was continuously employed by the U.S. Navy and Air Force during Korea and Vietnam.  This sturdy, stubby, pop-driven attack plane was a true aeronautical workhorse called a "flying dump truck" because of its enormous capacity for ordnance to be delivered to the assigned target.  Not only did the American armed forces rely on the A-1 but so did allied forces including the British, French, and Swedish.  Navy Captain Rosario Rausa brings a special expertise to his aviation history of this remarkanle plane from its beginnings down to its last mission (shooting down MiG jets over Vietnam).  These stories of the a-1 and the men who piloted it into aviation history is very highly recommended reading for all students of aviation history and military buffs.

• Proceedings          They used to tell the story in ready rooms and O clubs--how Ed Heinemann and a couple of other Douglas Aircraft engineers sat up throughout the night in a Washington, D.C., hotel room and designed a dive-bomber that flew for the Navy and Marine Corps for nearly 30 years.  Like most scuttlebutt, the story was not completely accurate.  Heinemann had, in fact, been quietly at work on the design of the AD-1 for weeks.  No matter.  That all-nighter earned the Navy's permission for Douglas to go ahead with the new plane.  The first test flight was in March 1945, and although World War II ended before the AD-1 made it into the fleet, the hefty prop-driven bomber flew through a long and remarkable career.  Improved versions kept coming off the production line.  ADs 1 through 4 fought in both Korea and Vietnam carrying an astonishing amount of firepower.  Pictures of the plane show a machine that should not have been able to leave the ground.  It carried its payload over heavily defended targets and survived antiaircraft damage that would have grounded almost any other plane.  Anecdotes reported by the author do more than add color to the AD's story.  They make clear why pilots loved it.  They relied on it, and in return it rarely failed to bring them home.  Even when they crashed or bailed out, aviators never lost their respect for the AD.  This was a plane, says Zip Rausa, that loved Combat.

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