deeply educated about the daily operations of the Royal Navy when England ruled the seas, with Nelson at the helm. John Galluzzo Hanover, Massachusetts Nimitz at War: Command Leadership from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay by Craig L. Symonds (Oxford University Press, New York, 2022, 474pp, illus, notes, biblio, index, isbn 978-0-190-06236-1; $29.95hc) Almost any list of United States military officers credited for Allied victory in World War II begins with Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower, George C. Marshall, Omar N. Bradley, and George S. Patton for the European or army theater of operations and Admirals Chester W. Nimitz, Ernest J. King, Raymond A. Spruance, and William F. Halsey Jr. for the Pacific Ocean or naval theater of operations. Nimitz’s role in the Pacific was the equivalent of what Eisenhower’s was in Europe; likewise, King was to Nimitz what Marshall was to Eisenhower. Marshall and King called the shots, and Eisenhower and Nimitz did the shooting. These men have been studied in detail
and will continue to be a subject studied by historians indefinitely. Naval historian Craig L. Symonds, whose books get better with each new endeavor, has undertaken a study of Nimitz that may be his best work. Symonds’s book on Nimitz is not a biography, but a study of the admiral’s leadership during the war years—not an analysis of what ought to have been, but of what and how it was done. Symonds takes his readers on a tour of the American war in the Pacific by walking (Symonds tells us that long-distance walking was one of the ways Nimitz dealt with stress) with Admiral Nimitz as he progressed from the new guy taking over after the Pearl Harbor disaster to the victor in a long- and hard-fought naval war. Nimitz was more often called on for diplomacy than for strategy. While Eisenhower had the supportive Marshall to please and irascible Winston Churchill to appease, Nimitz faced a prickly Admiral King and
Database with nearly 150,000 vessels Online @ internationalmaritimelibrary.org information for many of the vessels already listed. This list is primarily compiled from the “List of Merchant Vessels of the United States.” Other annuals (American Lloyds, Lloyds, Record and others), Custom House records and newspapers used for additional information. Not only American vessels, but foreign ones too, whether commercial, pleasure, sail, power, warships, unrigged and some undocumented.
Now Shipwreck Index and Chronological list.
Tugboats and Shipyards: Tugboats and Shipyards: The Russells of New York Harbor, 1844–1962 Hilary Russell, Jr.
The Russells of New York Harbor, 1844–1962 by Hilary Russell Jr. “… a rare and intimate glimpse into a bygone New York maritime history” —Greg Rossel, WoodenBoat
Paperback: $27 Order your copy through AbeBooks, PayPal, or mail your check to: Berkshire Boat Building School, POB 578, Sheffield, MA, 01257 Questions? call 413 229-2549 or email at hemlockgrange@earthlink.net
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even more prickly General MacArthur. Eisenhower and Nimitz had to make strategic decisions directed at winning the war with the fewest casualties, while at once placating diverse pressures from powerful personalities. The heart of Nimitz at War is an examination of how Nimitz navigated that challenge. His “greatness lay less in his ability to do great things than in his facility to convince others that they could do great things.” Readers familiar with the history of World War II in the Pacific and versed in the history of the Pearl Harbor attack, the Doolittle Raid, Battle of the Coral Sea, invasion and conquest of Guadalcanal, etc., will find Symonds’s view of these events over the shoulder of Admiral Nimitz an interesting addition to their understanding of the Pacific war. Those hearing of the details of the United States v. Japan in the Pacific 1941–45 for the first time will find in Nimitz at War an effective primer on a complex topic. The book is recommended for all readers, newcomers to the Pacific War and veteran students alike. David Whitten Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina Small Boats and Daring Men: Maritime Raiding, Irregular Warfare, and the Early American Navy by Benjamin Armstrong (University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 2019, 264pp, illus, maps, notes, index, isbn 978-0-8061-6282-9; $34.95hc) The US Navy in the Age of Sail remains a perennial favorite of naval historians. This time period offers a veritable buffet of epic events, from frigate duels to squadron engagements on the Great Lakes. While these oft-retold yarns continue to dominate narratives of the period and capture readers’ interest, more recent work by naval historians has expanded our understanding of less-romantic but critical facets of the US Navy during its early years, including administration, policy-making, strategy, ship construction, the social history of the navy, and logistics. On the surface, the period appears all but tapped out, with little potential for current or future historians. In SEA HISTORY 180, AUTUMN 2022