REVIEWS Lord's The Miracle of Dunkirk (Viking, 1982-see Sea History 27 , p41). But to this classic Norman Gelb has now added a fast-paced, balanced, eminently readable and worthwhile account of how the miracle came about, and what it meant to the winning of World War II. PS Unsung Sailors, The Naval Armed Guard in World War II, by Justin F. Gleichauf (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis MD, 1990, 432pp, illus; $29.95hb) Unsung Sailors is appropriately titled . More than 144,000 Americans served in the Naval Armed Guard in World War II, and nearly 2,000 of them lost their lives along with 6,000 merchant marine shipmates. Yet in hi s 1986 comprehensive history, The United States Navy ... 200 Years, Captain Edward L. Beach, USN (Ret), runs 564 pages in length without a single reference to the Armed Guard of either World War. Unsung indeed. Although author Gleichauf did not begin writing professionally until his 70th birthday , he has done a remarkably thorough job of researching hi s subject over a period of five years. He attended a number of national and regional reunions of Armed Guard veterans, interviewing and corresponding with over I 00 men and obtaining first-person accounts of experiences in all theaters of war. The depth and breadth of the book 's historical coverage is revealed in the titles of various chapters: The Great War (1914-1918), The Road to War (19391941), Naval Armed Guard Organization and Training, The Ships They Sailed, Gallant Ships, Gallant Men (nine vessels were officially cited as "Gallant Ships"), The Convoys, The Sea Raiders, Other Hazards (such as collisions in convoys, fires aboard ships at sea, ill nesses and injuries with no doctors or medics aboard ), Relation s with the Merchant Marine, The Murmansk Run to Northern Russia, the PQ-17 Di saster (the worst convoy catastrophe of the War) , The Battle of the Atlantic, The Mediterranean , The Pacific, Japanese Submarine Warfare and Atrocities (this may make "Remember Pearl Harbor" a patriotic American slogan again), and, finally , an epilogue on poss ible future maritime wars . Many Armed Guard officers and men were awarded medals and citations for heroic deeds. There were 5 Navy Crosses, 2 Legions of Merit, 75 Silver Stars, 54 40
Bronze Stars, 24 Navy and Marine Corps Medals, over 8,000 individual citations, and over 56,000 combat and engagement stars. Seven AG officers were awarded the honor of having US Navy ships named after them, all posthumously. Yet one of the most heroic feats was not performed by an Armed Guardsman but by a member of the US merchant marine. Cadet Edwin O ' Hara was serving on a training cruise aboard Liberty ship Stephen Hopkins, which in September 1942, while sai ling independentl y in the South Atlantic, had the grim fate of being intercepted by two German sea raiders--Stierand Tannen/els. Both were armed with batteries, modern 5.9-inch guns , whileStephenHopkinscarriedone 4-inch World War I vintage plus smaller armament. Nevertheless, when Stephen Hopkins was ordered to halt, Captain Paul Buck turned his ship to bring its stern gun to bear on the enemy. Ensign Kenneth Willett, AG Commander, and hi s small gun crew opened fire , with volunteer Cadet O ' Hara assisting in ammunition loading. It was a hopeless engagement from the start, and the Navy crew was soon wiped out by a bursting German shell . Cadet 0 ' Hara took over the gun by himself, firing five remaining rounds and scoring several hits on Stier at the waterline. The battle ended with the s inking of both Stier a nd Stephen Hopkins. LCDR HAROLD J. McCORMICK USNR(Ret) Mr. McCormick, a World War II Armed Guard officer, recounted the sinking of the Liberty Ship he was aboard in Sea Hi story 35. Splendor Sailed the Sound; The New Haven Railroad & the Fall Ri ver Line, George H. Foster and Peter C. Weiglin (Potential s Group, Inc., San Mateo CA, and Mid-States Associates, Tucson AZ, 1989, 384p, illus; $55.00hb) For anyone interested in the hi story of American coastal steamships, this book is an absolute essential. Although the title suggests that the book presents only the hi story of the steamers of the New England Steamship Company, the marine subsidiary of the New Haven Railroad , it in fact covers a great deal more than that. It does indeed cover the various lines controlled by the New Haven Railroad, but in includes hi stories of most of the other important Long
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SEA HIISTORY 55, AUTUMN 1990