REVIEWS unchecked. Bricish analyses concluded char capturing one or more Enigma machines, or code books, or ocher codegenerared material was the only way to accelerate the reading and decoding of the Enigma messages. An amazing series of boardings of German U-Boars and surface craft resulted in some successful seizures of Enigma marerial carried out by incredibly gallant and brave junior officers and enlisced men under rhe mosr difficulr cond irions. The aurhor recounts detail down to rhe level of conversarions between chief engineers and caprains of sinking German submarines over whether th e secret material has been adequarely protected , backed up with copious notes and references. And so the story reaches rhe end of the war as the British successfu lly decode more and more Enigma messages and che Germans become quire concerned abour communication security-but not quite enough to adm it the real truth-that their coded communicarions were being rourinely read. TOWNSEND HORNER Osrerville, Massachuserrs
The Forgotten Heroes: The Heroic Story of the United States Merchant Marine, by Brian Herbert (Forge Books, New York, 2004, 320pp, illus, appen, biblio, index, ISBN 0-765-30706-5; $24.95hc). There is no question that the US Mercham Marine gor the shore end of the stick when it came to recognition for its viral role in rhe war efforr in World War II. Compared to the benefits extended to the uniformed military, merchant mariners received shamefully lirrl e compensation for their service to the nation. This book illuminates that national embarrassmenr, but despite its tide and its frequenrly-foornored formar, ir should not be mistaken for a serious work of history. Written by a journalist, it is replete wich emotio nal, unsubsranriared, and undocumented allegations. When sources are cited, they are predominantly secondary and tertiary works, rhe vast majority of which were written twenty or more years after the events they address. The author's ignorance of nautical terminology (e.g., "knots per hour" and confusing "list" and "heel") is compounded 44
by weak editorial oversight (punctuation, capiralizarion). He seriously undersrares the financial inequali ty between military and merchant marine compensation in the 1940s, but most of all this acco unt suffers from repeated lamentations about the inequity of treatment received by merchant mariners during and after the war. The author keeps returning to the same old complainrs, bur that is nor surprising since the book's real purpose seems less rhe recording of history than rhe solicirarion of support for redress of rhe wrongs. At heart, this book serves as an impassioned pl ea for a package the author describes as "Just Compensation"-a plan that confers benefits upo n surviving merchant marine veterans and also their families. Finally, a warning to bookstore browsers-rhe intriguing photo on the dustcover (crew of brigantine Carnegie, ca. 1920) bears no relationship to the subject of the book. CAPTAIN HAROLD J. SUTPHEN Kilmarnock, Virginia
Charles Benson: Mariner of Color in the Age of Sail, by Michael Sokolow (University of Massachusetts Press, Amherst, MA, 2003, 234pp, map, illus, appen, notes, biblio, !SB 1-55849-409-X, $34.95hc) "When Charles Benson rook his last step off the gangplank of rhe Glide on a chilly December day in 1864, he had little intention of ascending it ever again," states Michael Sokolow. In poor health, missing his wife and family and very uneasy about his place and role in his own household, he was determined to drop the anchor for good. Benson was then 34 years old. His feelings and estrangements co uld probably be ascribed as universal amongs t mariners in any period. Of course, a significanr difference from rhe typical life-at-sea experience was the fact that Benson was a black man. Today, we are ben efi ciaries of another difference-unlike most seamen, regardless of ethnicity, Benson kept a journal. In many respecrs, ir was W. Jeffrey Bolster's Black jacks in 1997 thac drew wider public and scholarly actention to rhe African-American experience and conrributions to maricime history. Bolsrer's work predictably inspired further research for a further "drill down" of rhe subject to the
specific individuals involved. Sokolow's
Charles Benson: Mariner of Color in the Age of Sail fills the bill admirably. (It is noceworrhy rhac research for both books was made possible-a c leas t in pan-by Munson Instituce Paul C uffe Memorial Fellowships for che Study of Minorities in American Maritime Hiswry. Ir is refreshing to witness financial support to scholarship result in visible public benefirs.) Wirh few job opporruniries ashore, Benson spent almost 25 years at sea serving aboard commercial vessels as a steward, a position of responsibility and handsome compensation . Nonetheless, it was a pose traditionally relegared to ethnic minorities. Stewards found rhemselves isolared physically and socially from both the worlds of rhe fo'c's'le and the aft cabin and, as all career mariners were, from society ashore altogether. Ir is through his journal wrirings rhar Benson becomes real to the reader as he candidly wrore about his life afloat. An important element in this book is his portrayal of rhe 18rh- and 19th-century Framingham and Salem communiries and the position of African-Americans wirhin those milieus. Faced wirh unemployment ashore, Benson shipped our again in 1875 afrer eleven years asho re. "Oh dear! This going to sea, ic will kill me," he wrote, and ir did. In July of 1881 Charles Benson died of rheumatism on board ship and was buried at sea. We live in a time during which the field of American maritime history is ever w idening. Sokolow and ocher scholars are succeeding in putting human faces on individuals formerly mere srarisrical numbers. PETER SORENSEN O ld Mystic, Connecticut
Gallant Lady: The Biography ofthe USS Archerfish, by Don Keirh and Ken Henry (Forge Books, New York, 2004, 352pp, photos, nores, index, ISB 0-765-305682; $25.95hc) Archerfish had an illustrious history, stretching from her construcrion in 1943 to when she was deliberately sunk as a target submarine in 1968. This book is wellwri tten and guaranteed to absorb anyone
SEA HISTORY l 09, WINTER 2004-2005