REVIEWS interested in submarines, especially the details of the wo rkings of a sub, anti cs of the crew, and naval language used. The description of the sinking of the Japanese carri er Shinano, alth ough it was the highlight of Archerfish's career, is slightly drawn out. C rewed by o nly bachelors, A rcherfish became known as "the Playboy of the Pacific." In this capacity, her reputation and the camaraderie am ongst the crew proves an essential part of the story. Perhaps a little too mu ch attentio n is focused o n the crew's shenanigans when Archerfish rraveled ro all parts of the globe to undertake a scientific expediti o n. No netheless, the autho rs, one of who m served on board, tell it like it was. Readers with an interest in li fe at sea will find Gallant Lady enjoyable to read . (Incidentally, I was in G uantanamo in consulting days . We were go ing out on destroyers in ASW (anti-subm arine warfa re) exercises. Perhaps Archerfish was one of our targets. According to the book, she was down there at the tim e, 1952, and o ne of her fun ctio ns was to serve as a target submarin e for ASW exercises 1952). ARTH U R KELL ER
Roseland , New Jersey
Naval Ceremonies, Customs, and Traditions, by Royal W. Connell , Cdr. , USN(Ret) and W illiam P. Mack, Vice Adm., USN (Ret), 6th ed., (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD , 2004, 403 pp, appen, biblio, photos, index, ISBN 1-5 5750330-3; $29 .95hc) In current times where ceremony, custom, and tradition are tho ught to be both old-fashion ed and unnecessary, C ommander Co nnell and V ice-Admiral Mack (deceased) provide a timely reminder of the value of such actio ns. Stating that "in order to understand and appreciate who you are and where yo u are, you must first understand where yo u came fro m and from where yo u d raw yo ur legacy," they oudine the use of ceremo ny, custom, and tradition in the United States sea services (Navy, Marine Corps, Coast G uard) in a guide design ed for junior officers. First published in 1934, this book serves as an auth oritati ve guide to conduct and an historical reference o n naval history and traditions going back to the early
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days of sail. The authors explain this development from an historical perspecti ve that clearly shows the debt owed by th e US Navy to Britain's Royal N avy. Ou r navy developed its own legacy and traditions thro ugh successful operations and the actio ns of early naval offi cers. The o rigin and development of naval law are o udined, SIXTH EDITION
Naval Ceremonies, Customs, and Traditions BY ROYAi. W. CONNELL AND WILLIAM
r.
MACK
'
de mo nstrating how the Articles for the Government of the Navy, pro mulgated in 1798, served the Navy until 195 1! C hapters detail ho no rs, salutes, social customs, dining-in and dining-out, and accepted social usages in the sea services . The US fl ag, naval uni fo rms and their insignia are covered in satisfying detail. This new edition features indi vidual chapters on the M arine Corps and Coas t Guard. Readers interested in naval history and the tradi tio ns of the sea will nnd this book indispensable. Fo r junio r officers of the sea services, it should be required reading, alo ng with the Naval Officers' Guide and the Watch Officers' Guide. HAROLD N. B OYER Folsom, Pennsylvania
The Liberty Ships From A (A.B. Hammond) to Z (Zona Gale), by Walter W. Jaffee (Glencanno n Press, Palo Alto, CA, 2004, illus, photos, appen, bibl io, index, ISBN 1-889901 -25-3; $ 125hc) Captain Wal ter W Jaffee's lhe Liberty Ships From A ( A. B. Hammond) to Z (Zona Gale) is an encyclopedi a of Liberty ships, the mainstay of the wo rld's merchant fleet fo r over twen ty yea rs. W ithin the pages of this oversized book, Jaffee in-
troduces briefl y these important ships and then discusses in some detail th e different types and their co nstruction with drawings th at ill us crate this material. The au th or has provided entri es for each ship with specific in fo rm a ti on o n the builder, type, date they laid the keel, and its launching and delivery da tes . Entries also include the o rigin of each ship's nam e and informati o n o n the ships' careers. Jaffee incl uded a section o n Wo rld Wa r II losses and a short narrati ve of the acti o n that occurred. His chapters o n co mm ercial ships and foreign-owned vessels are particularly valuable because they list th e companies the ships sailed for as well as when they we re sold and scrapped. H e devo tes a chapter to discuss th e ships that b eca me artificial reefs, and two chapters address John W Brown and Jeremiah O'Brien, whi ch each serve as full y-fun ctio nal museum ships. Jaffee's book is a useful and handsome work replete with num erous photographs of the ships. The ind ex is s uperb and makes the book more useful as a reference. Ir is disco ncerting, howe,er, that rh e author's bibli ography did not list the m any primary sources and so me if the seco ndary sources that he used to conpile much of the inform ati o n in his entric:1. Since som e of Jaffee's fac ts co ntradict a h er reference works, the lack of attributon may leave readers unclear abo ut his ac uracy. While this will not con cern most, i t mars what otherwi se would have been m even more useful and impo rtant work. RO BERT B ROWN ING
Dumfries, Virginia
Sea Power in the Medieval Mediterranean: The Catalan-Aragonese Fleet in the "\%r of Sicilian Vespers, by Lawrence V Mott (Unive rsity Press of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 2003, 337pp, illus, maps, appen , biblio, notes, index, ISBN 08 130 2 6628; $59.95 hc) In 128 5 the Catalan fl eet defeated a French n aval force, which paved the way fo r a Catalan-Aragonese naval domination of the M edi terranean until 1302. Tho ugh this fleet was never manned by mo re than 7, 000 men , it regularl y defeated stronger forces. Mott argues that Roger of Lauria, the admiral of the Catalan-Aragonese, was
SEA HISTORY 109, WINTER 2004-2005