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The Quiet Warrior:
A Biography of Admiral Raymond A. Spruance
Commander Thomas B. Buell, U. S. Navy. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.
of
1974. 512 pp. Illus. $15.00.
Reviewed by Vice Admiral George C. Dyer, U. S. Navy (Retired)
{Tice Admiral Dyer is the author of several looks on naval subjects. His most recent, published earlier this year, is On the Treadmill to Pearl Harbor. The book contains the memoirs of Admiral J. 0. Richardson, as told to Dyer. During the latter stages of World War II, Dyer commanded the light cruiser USS Astoria (CL-90) as part of Admiral Spruance’s Fifth Fleet. Prior to reaching flag rank, he held six other commands and was chief of staff to Admiral Richard L. Conolly. During the Korean war, Admiral Dyer commanded Task Force 95.)
Commander Buell’s biography of the most widely respected and admired four-star admiral to come out of the United States Navy in World War II, Raymond A. Spruance, will be something of a blockbuster for those tuned to this naval commander by Vice Admiral E. P. Forrestel’s Admiral Raymond A. Spruance: A Study in Command, published in 1966.
"Savvy” Forrestel’s command study had certain definite advantages. He had been the operations officer on Spruance’s staff from before the Gilberts operation to the Okinawa operation. Admiral Spruance was available to read the draft text and comment, which he did freely. The language is quiet and restrained, hut authoritative, reflecting Spruance as he was known to a generation of naval officers.
Buell’s book has the advantage of
being a more human document—a "hated” or a "despised” being dropped in here and there to add spirit to a statement. A further advantage is that Admiral Spruance is now dead and hence no longer a damper on franker statements in regard to him. And finally, the Oral History programs, sponsored by Columbia University and the U. S. Naval Institute, have been running full blast for more than a decade. Thus the opinions of many seasoned naval officers in regard to events and naval personalities of World War II are now available.
The title The Quiet Warrior strikes this reviewer as a perfect one, since most of the naval officers privileged to serve under Admiral Spruance during his nearly 42 years of naval service inevitably include the word "quietness” in any verbal description of this brainy and most effective naval leader.
As in Peter Karsten’s The Naval Aristocracy, many of the presumed warts on the face of the Navy and that of Spruance during the pre-World War I period and the period between the two World Wars are only briefly mentioned as Ad
miral Spruance’s life is broadly traced from birth to his promotion to rear admiral.
Commencing with Rear Admiral Spruance as Commander Cruiser Division Five on 7 December 1941, the tempo and details pick up in the biography and its well-told tale of the naval action in the Central Pacific Ocean.
Those who think that the Battle of Midway was a wonderful victory but a "hell of a poorly fought battle by the United States Navy” will find much to support that point of view. The failure of Admiral Spruance to launch cruiser search planes on several different days is labeled "curious” and "inexplicable,” and the failure of Admiral Spruance to provide his highly capable and wellperforming carrier pilots with a proper "Point Option” is mentioned but not explored in detail.
The story of Spruance’s role in the Tarawa and Marshall Islands operations is well told, and the chapter on the Battle of the Philippine Sea is an excellent, broad-ranged review of this less- than-decisive and quite defensive United States victory.
The accounts of the Iwo Jima and Okinawa campaigns and Admiral Spru- ance’s close calls in successful kamikaze attacks at Okinawa on his flagships, Indianapolis and New Mexico, are interestingly related.
The chapter on the Admiral as President of the Naval War College is a highly important one and hopefully will prompt further study by students of naval warfare, since it includes a rich sampling of quotations from Admiral Spruance’s speeches and writings on past and future naval warfare.
Confirming the book’s remarks, this reviewer, as a cruiser division commander, was in Newport Harbor and present, as a mark of respect, on 1 July 1948, when Admiral and Mrs. Spruance drove out of the Naval War College on the day of his retirement. It was felt and said at that time that the Navy had let down one of the brightest stars in its firmament by not providing a more adequate departure ceremony.
The book has far, far too much of what Spruance’s Chief of Staff, Charles J. (Carl) Moore thought, did, and how he reacted to the various operations and to the admiral. Much of this is set forth in Moore’s Oral History, which was one of Buell’s principal sources. The fact that Carl Moore was not promoted to rear admiral until retired is chewed over and over again, with Admiral King being the villain in this most regrettable selection board action. Several balancing factors are not mentioned:
► Captain Moore was not selected by the regular selection board of 1941, which selected six officers from Moore’s class of 1910, 31 years after graduation.
► This occurred in the days before hop, skip, and jump selection to flag rank became a naval custom. In 1941, once a selection board had "gone through” a class, being "picked up” by a later selection board was difficult to accomplish.
► This occurred before Admiral King came to Washington for duty, as cinCUS and then as Comlnch.
The book, as a whole, will keep Admiral Spruance’s star shining high in the heaven of naval leaders of World War II, a bit bigger and brighter than before. Commander Buell deserves credit for this. The book is recommended to all readers of the Proceedings.
Battleships and Battle Cruisers:
1905-1970
Siegfried Breyer, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1973. 480 pp.
Illus. $25.00
Reviewed by Lieutenant Commander Robert O. Dulin, Jr., U. S. Naval Reserve, and William H. Garzke, Jr.
(Lieutenant Commander Dulin, a 1961 graduate of the Naval Academy, served in gunnery and engineering billets on board the destroyer Mullinix. He received a master’s degree in naval architecture and marine engineering, as well as the professional degree—naval engineer—from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1967. He then served in engineering billets at duty stations both in the United States and overseas. He resigned his regular Navy commission in September 1973 and is now in the Naval Reserve. He is employed by John J. McMullen Associates in New York. Mr. Garzke received his bachelor’s degree in naval architecture and marine engineering in 1960 at the University of Michigan. In 1970, he earned his master’s degree in applied mathematics from Adelphi University. At present he is employed as a senior staff engineer at Gibbs and Cox, Inc. in New York. Air. Garzke and Lieutenant Commander Dulin are co-authors of a forthcoming Naval Institute Press book on battleships.)
This remarkably ambitious study deserves to be in the libraries of all serious students of modern warship development and naval history.
Included in Mr. Breyer’s compendium are data regarding the physical and performance characteristics, as well as capsule histories, for all battleships and battle cruisers built or seriously projected since the dawn of the dreadnought era in 1905.
As is almost inevitable in a book of such encyclopedic scope, there are numerous nagging errors of fact which detract somewhat from the many obvious merits of the book. For example, Mr. Breyer errs in his description of the midship section arrangements of the U. S. battleships of the South Dakota and Iowa classes, thereby arriving at an erroneous conclusion regarding the arrangement of the side armor of the ships. Such errors appear in numerous places— and even as small an error rate as one per cent results in a large number of
mistakes in a book with such voluminous data as Battleships and Battle Cruisers.
Because, Mr. Breyer is an extremely knowledgeable layman, and not a naval architect or marine engineer, he omits a few technical aspects from his introductory narrative that these professionals may wish he had discussed. An important example: he fails to emphasize the very great technical advantages, from the standpoint of overall warship effectiveness, of the adoption of high pressure and temperature steam turbine installations by the U. S. and German Navies during the World War II era. As a result of this technological superiority, the U. S. Navy battleship Iowa was provided almost half again as much propulsive power as the Japanese Yamato, yet the American ship’s machinery plant was lighter, more compact, and more efficient than the Yamato's.
Among the book’s nearly 1,000 illustrations, the numerous appearance plans are a most attractive feature, although there are instances of inaccuracies and contradictions. For example, the Alaska plan omits the discontinuity in the main deck well aft that was characteristic of the class.
As is all too often characteristic of translated versions of technical works, there are instances of awkward phraseology and incorrect usage resulting from the direct translation from German. For example, the word "grenade” appears repeatedly in place of the correct "projectile” or "shell,” the result of the direct translation of "granaten.”
A very concise, compact form of data presentation is mandatory in a book of this scope. The reader is forced to learn the meanings of various symbols and structured data arrangements, a small inconvenience well worth the effort in preference to making an expensive book perhaps prohibitively costly.
The "definitive” book on battleships and battlecruisers has not yet been written, although Mr. Breyer’s comes close. Given a systematic revision to reduce the diversity of detailed errors of fact, Battleships and Battle Cruisers may well become the definitive work on this important subject.
Professional Heading
Compiled by Robert A. Lambert, Associate Editor
Abdiel-Class Fast Minelayers
Tom Burton. Culver City, California: Profile, '973. 24 pp. Illus. $2.00 (paper).
These British warships combined high speed with cargo capacity—making them as useful for carrying supplies to besieged Malta as they were for their original purpose. Warship Profile 38.
Airship
Patrick Abbott. New York: Scribners, 1973. 163 Pp. Illus. $10.00.
The British dirigible R.34’s first attempt to % the Atlantic from east to west in 1919-
Bombers of the West
Bill Gunston. New York: Scribners, 1973. 283 PP- Illus. $8.95.
The author goes beyond the technical data and presents the tactical or strategic reasons, along with the technology and politics, for developing a particular bomber. The biographies are limited to post-World War II jet aircraft beginning with the British Canberra and ending with the American B-l.
British Artillery on Land and Sea 1790-1820
Robert Wilkinson-Latham. North Pomfret, Vermont: David & Charles, 1973. 112 pp. Illus. *11.50.
With his usual attention to detail, the author has overlooked little in presenting a picture of the state of British artillery, its equipment, organization, and uniform regulations during the period when it faced the armies of Napoleon.
The British at the Gates
Robin Reilly. New York: Putnam, 1974. 379 Pp. Illus. $10.00.
A British-born historian presents the New Orleans campaign in the War of 1812 in the perspective not only of events in North America but also against the wider scope of Napoleonic Europe.
Closing the Open Door
James H. Herzog. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1973. 295 pp. $12.50. ($10.00).
A scholarly investigation of the increasingly precarious American-Japanese relations in the half-decade prior to Pearl Harbor with emphasis on the Navy’s role in the diplomatic arena.
H Dictionary of Weapons and Military Terms
John Quick. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1973.
515 pp. Illus. $25.00. ($18.75).
This comprehensive reference brings together several thousand historical terms— plus acronyms, slang, code words, ships’ classes and names, and operations terminology-backed by some 1,200 illustrations of weapons and parts of weapons.
Double Strike
Edward Jablonski. New York: Doubleday, 1974. 271 pp. Illus. $7.95.
A sometimes redundant, but never dull account of the giant American bomber raids against Regensburg and Schweinfurt deep within the heavily protected borders of the Third Reich.
Encyclopedia of Espionage
Ronald Seth. New York: Doubleday, 1972. 718 pp. $10.00.
This is an alphabetic, cross-referenced and indexed listing and explanation of almost every known individual spy, intelligence organization and cloak-and-dagger operation from the Trojan Horse to the present.
Fighter
Bryan Cooper and John Batchelor. New York: Scribners, 1973. 155 pp. Illus. $9.95.
The fighter plane as it has developed over the past 60 years is superbly presented in a graphic manner that combines the technical, tactical, and strategical factors which contributed to its development.
From Frigate to Dreadnought
Caroline Brownson Hart and Louise Powers Benesch. Sharon, Connecticut: King House,
1973. 294 pp. Illus. No price given.
A combination autobiography-biography of Admiral Willard Herbert Brownson who began his Navy career as a Naval Academy cadet in 1861, quartered on board the USS Constitution, and ended as Chief of the Bureau of Navigation in 1907.
Great Battle Fleets
Oliver Warner. London, Hamlyn, 1973. 240 pp. Illus. £2.95.
The Spanish, Elizabethan, Dutch, and Swedish Fleets, the Fleet of France and Nelson’s Fleet, the Imperial Japanese Fleet, the British Grand Fleet, the German High Seas Fleet, and the United States Fleet are described.
Great Battles and Their Great Generals
Harry Roskolenko (cd.). New York: Playboy Press, 1974. 329 pp. Illus. $10.00.
Starting with the battle of Cannae during the Punic Wars and ending with the Inchon landing in Korea, the author examines 13 historically significant battles, including one sea combat naval action and three naval amphibious operations.
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Members may order books of other publishers through the Naval Institute at list price. The postage and handling fee for each such special order book of a United States publisher will be 50C; the fee for a book from a foreign publisher will be $1.00. When air mail or other special handling is requested, actual postage and handling cost will be billed to the member. Books marked H iUC Naval Institute Book Selections. All prices enclosed by parentheses are member prices. Please use the order blank in this section.
H.M.A.S. Canberra
Alan Payne. Garden Island, N.S.W.: The Naval Historical Society of Australia, 1973. Ill pp. Illus. No price given (paper).
A detailed operational account of the Australian heavy cruiser that spent much of her World War II career on convoy escort duty and hunting enemy raiders before her sinking at the Battle of Savo Island.
K'dnig-Class Battleships
Tobias R. Philbin. Culver City, California: Profile, 1973. 24 pp. Illus. $2.00 (paper).
These were the last dreadnought battleships to join the German High Seas Fleet before the outbreak of war in 1914 and represent the culmination of eight years of intense rivalry with the Royal Navy. Warship Profile 37.
Landmarks of the American Revolution
Mark M. Boatner, III. Harrisburg, Pa.:
Stackpole, 1973. 608 pp. Illus. $10.00.
A cross-referenced and indexed guide that locates and describes geographic locations in 27 states and Canada that have associations with the Revolutionary War. The guide is at its best when covering what is now the New York City metropolitan area where many locations have been obliterated.
Magellan and the First Circumnavigation of the World
Ian Cameron. New York: Saturday Review Press, 1973. 224 pp. Illus. $12.50.
A pictorial biography with a narrative considerably better than might be expected in this type of book.
Mirror of a People
William Pierce Randel. Maplewood, New Jersey: Hammond, 1973. 255 pp. Illus. $14.95.
A handsome joining of high-quality illustrative material and clear prose present the daily life of the American people at the time of the Revolution.
Modern China, 1840-1972
Andrew J. Nathan. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan, 1973. 95 pp. $3.00 (paper).
For the serious student of Chinese history just getting started in the field, this introduction to sources and research aids should prove useful.
The New Yacht Racing Rules
Robert N. Bavier, Jr. New York: Norton, 1973. 188 pp. Illus. $7.95.
This revised edition analyzes and explains the new IYRU rules in force for the four-
year period from 1973 to 1976; the complete rules are included.
Pacific Liners 1927-72
Frederick Emmons. New York: Arco, 1974. 135 pp. Illus. $8.95.
This book contains brief biographies, illustrated with line drawings, of all the ships engaged in passenger service in the Pacific during the past 40 years.
Pearl Harbor as History
Dorothy Borg and Shumpei Okamota (eds.) New York: Columbia University Press, 1973.
801 pp. $25.00.
Twenty-six papers presented at a conference of American and Japanese scholars examine the foreign policy decision-making in the United States and Japan during the decade preceding the attack on Pearl Harbor: in particular the roles of the War and Navy departments in each of the governments ate studied.
The Poltava Affair
Glenn B. Infield. New York: Macmillan, 1973. 265 pp. Illus. $7.95
Welcome Aboard
An Informal Guide for the
Naval Officer’s Wife by fean Ebbert
The all new WELCOME ABOARD is a wise and witty guide to the special way of life which a Naval Officer’s wife proudly calls her own. Writing with exuberance and cool common sense, author Jean Ebbert mixes hard-to-find information with amusing personal anecdotes to create a lively “smooth sailing” manual for the woman who has recently become, or who is about to become, the wife of a naval officer.
Mrs. Ebbert banishes the panic attached to orders and moving, dispels the transplantation shock of a new duty station, and offers down-to-earth advice on coping with careers, children, entertaining, the Navy home, and the traumas often associated with cruises and deployment. Thoroughly researched and compiled with an abundance of pride and good humor, WELCOME ABOARD is must reading for the Navy wife.
1974. 288 Pages. Appendix. Index.
List Price: $10.00 Member’s Price: $8.00
Add 500 to each order for postage and handling.
(Please use book order form in Professional Reading section)
The only major attempt at operational cooperation between the United States and
Professional Reading 109
Russia in World War II—the use of Russian air bases by U. S. bombers to shuttle-bomb German targets—came to a tragic end as the Russian air defense obligingly permitted the Luftwaffe to destroy the American bomber group at Poltava.
The Postwar Rearmament of Japanese Maritime Forces 1945-71
James E. Auer. New York: Praeger, 1973. 345 pp. Ulus. $21.50.
A study of the history and problems of a naval force that never really ceased to exist following World War II—despite defeat and specific constitutional bans on military forces.
Secret Agents, Spies and Saboteurs
Janusz Piekalkiewicz, New York: Morrow, 1973. 528 pp. Illus. $12.50.
A photographic history, in large-format style, of some of the undercover missions of World War II.
Sensible Cruising Designs
L Francis Herreshoff, Camden, Me.:
International Marine, 1973. 393 pp. Illus. $20.00.
The primary designs in this book are based °n a series of articles in Rudder magazine of the 1940s and 1950s. To these, plans for 46 additional small craft and cruising yachts have been added.
The Sophisticated Lady
%ronJ. Smith, Jr. Fort Wayne, Indiana: Fort Wayne Public Library, 1973. 51 pp. Illus. $1.00 (Paper).
A brief history of the battleship Indiana's
career in the Pacific Theater during World War II.
Tank
Kenneth Macksey and John H. Batchelor. New York: Scribners, 1970. 160 pp. Illus. $9.95.
Poor coordination between the written word and the illustrations reduces the value of this history of the armored fighting vehicle.
Tuning a Racing Yacht
Mike Fletcher and Bob Ross. New York: Norton, 1974. 128 pp. Illus. $8.50.
Photographs and diagrams illustrate the important points on adjustments that may be needed to bring a yacht to peak efficiency.
Tyler-Browns of Brattleboro
Dorothy Sutherland Melville, New York: Exposition Press, 1973. 306 pp. $10.00.
The history of a prominent Vermont family and its part in the Civil War.
United States Air Force History
Lawrence J. Paszek. Washington, D.C.: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1973. 245 pp.
Illus. $1.80 (paper).
For scholars and researchers, a guide for locating primary and secondary documents on the Air Force that are preserved in public and private collections around the country.
United States Navy Monitors of the Civil War
William H. Cracknell. Culver City, Calif.:
Profile, 1973. 24 pp. Illus. $2.00 (paper).
An interesting history of a ship-type that
influenced warship design in all navies; featured is a large-scale centerfold showing the interior layout and plan view of the Tippecanoe-class monitor. Warship Profile 36.
War
Albert R. Leventhal. New York: Playboy Press, 1973. 252 pp. Illus. $16.95.
The camera’s view of the battlefield from the Crimean War to the most recent visual records of the Vietnam War.
War and Politics
Bernard Brodie. New York: Macmillan, 1973.
514 pp. $8.95.
An amazingly clear historical analysis of the relationship—or, perhaps more correctly, the lack of a logical relationship—between military affairs and statecraft.
Wellington Bomber
Edward Bishop. New York: Ballantine, 1974.
160 pp. Illus. $1.50 (paper).
So thoroughly padded is this paperback, that treatment of the fine World War II British bomber gets lost.
0 World Travel Guide
Connie Gibson Wehrman. Falls Church, Va.: Military Travel & Treasures, 1974. 212 pp. Illus. $2.45 (paper). ($1.95).
The latest listing of military facilities commercial discounts, and space available plans for the active or retired service family.
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