During the Vietnam War, 142 "gators" (amphibious ships) served in the combat zone. As deeper-draft ships landed Marines on assault beaches by boat or helicopter, World War II-era tank landing ships operated on shallow, winding rivers. Scores of minimal-draft vessels were required to support inland combat action beyond the reach of the cruisers and destroyers serving on the gunline offshore. Therefore, dozens of "mothballed" landing ships were returned to service. These "Ts" served as mobile support bases for river patrol boats and assault helicopters, and ran the rivers to deliver vital cargos to Allied troops, and other units of the "Brown Water Navy." Each day brought the possibility of ambush by the enemy concealed in dense jungle along the banks. Most insidious were swimmer-sappers who used the chocolate-colored waters to hide their movements while placing explosives on vessels lying at anchor or alongside a pier. One such attack against the Westchester County killed or injured many sailors and embarked soldiers. This activity spurred Royal Australian Navy clearance divers being called into service. Their inspections of thousands of ship hulls, rudders, and anchor chains, and heroic removal and rendering harmless of deadly ordnance they found, saved many ships and lives. For those interested in learning about Sailors who fought "in country," this companion to On the Gunline is the book you're looking for. One hundred and ninety photographs, maps, and diagrams; appendices; and an index to full-names, places, and subjects add value to this work.
At the commencement of World War II, the Navy and the Army-woefully lacking small ships able to ply shallow, reef-infested South and Southwest Pacific waters, which were necessary to support island ground combat-initially acquired whatever was available in ports, harbors, and backwaters to meet their needs. These vessels included schooners, ancient ferry boats, luggers, fishing trawlers, tuna boats, tugs, launches, lighters, surf boats, ketches, yachts, and yawls. The services took whatever craft they could get-some barely seaworthy-as the urgency of need did not permit discrimination in what was purchased or chartered. Gen. Douglas MacArthur, needing his own Navy to support leapfrog operations up the New Guinea coast, found his vessels in Australia and New Zealand, and the Navy its small ships and craft in America. These "Pacific island hoppers" were later supplemented with other small vessels newly constructed in American boat and shipyards. Among them were sixty Navy wooden-hulled 103-foot small coastal transports, hundreds of Army freight-supply ships and large tugs, and lesser numbers of coastal tankers and harbor tugs. The Army ships-most of steel construction, a few of wood-were manned by Coast Guard, Merchant Marine, or Army crews. The islands hoppers worked mostly with amphibious forces, but also supported PT boat squadrons, and as "maids of all duties" engaged in a variety of operations. Periodic combat with Japanese planes off the New Guinea coast and in the Solomon Islands transitioned to frequent battles with conventional and kamikaze aircraft and suicide Q-boats during the Philippine Islands Campaign. Significant numbers of the island hoppers earned battle stars, and crewmen awards for valor including the Navy Cross, the Silver Star and the Bronze Star medals. Following the war, the Navy acquired some of the Army ships; many served in the Korean War and a few in Vietnam. Three of the former freight-supply ships were employed for intelligence gathering; the most famous, USS Pueblo, was captured by North Korea. Others led interesting careers under civilian ownership; one was run aground while engaged in drug smuggling in the Caribbean, and another served as a "radio pirate" off England, broadcasting BBC-banned rock and roll music over the airwaves in 1966. Numerous photographs, maps, data-rich appendices, and an index to full-names, places and subjects add to the value of this work.
From 1953 to 1976, twenty-four U.S. Navy coastal minesweepers (MSCs) swept mines, searched the seafloor for downed aircraft, sunken ships and lost munitions, "showed the flag" in the Caribbean and throughout the Far East, and played a key role in the Vietnam War. Atlantic Fleet coastal minesweepers searched for a nuclear bomb buried in the sea bed off Savannah, Georgia, as a result of a midair collision between two U.S. Air Force aircraft and provided support for the unsuccessful Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba. MSCs based at Sasebo, Japan, conducted patrols off Vietnam to interdict smuggling of supplies by sea to the Viet Cong in the South. One, USS Vireo, participated in the destruction of an enemy gun runner. Much smaller minesweeping boats (MSBs) kept the Long Tau River, which passed through the dangerous "Forest of Assassins" and connected the South China Sea to Saigon, open to merchant vessels delivering military cargos to allied forces. Facing daily the possibility of death by Viet Cong mine or riverbank ambush, the thirteen boats of Mine Squadron Eleven Detachment Alfa comprised the first Navy unit to be awarded a Presidential Unit Citation for heroism by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Possessing too few minecraft to support its riverine combat operations, the U.S. Navy also pressed existing landing craft and newly built assault support patrol boats and minesweeping drones into these duties. The unheralded MSBs and steel-hulled minecraft collectively garnered four Presidential Unit Citations, three Meritorious Unit Commendations, and three Navy Unit Commendations. Significant numbers of the small enlisted crews that took the craft in harm's way received the Navy Cross, Silver Star and Bronze Star Medals for acts of heroism performed under fire.Photographs, maps, diagrams and tables, appendices and an index to full-names, places and subjects add to the value of this work.
As the Korean Conflict wore on, frigates, destroyer escorts, cruisers, and battleships of the U.S. Navy, and combatant ships from eight other navies of the United Nations, plus the Republic of Korea Navy, fought a bitter war along the coastlines. Off the west coast of the peninsula, warships operated in treacherous waters of the Yellow Sea, navigating channels between tightly clustered islands close to the mainland. Fluctuating thirty-foot tides, sequentially hid and revealed mud banks, shoals, uncharted rocks, and mines laid in these dangerous coastal waters, covered by enemy shore batteries. The ships toiled to protect both the vital left flank of Allied combat forces ashore, and anti-Communist guerillas operating from nearshore islands to carry out raids behind enemy lines. During bitter armistice talks, these islands became bargaining chips and it was necessary to defend them from enemy shore bombardment and invasion by Chinese and North Korean forces. Through three years of ceaseless warfare, in bone-chilling winters that coated ships with tons of ice, and the sweltering heat of summer that made below-deck areas stifling, Allied sailors stayed the course. One hundred sixty photographs, maps, and diagrams; appendices; a bibliography; and an index to full names, places, and subjects add value to this work. 2021, 6x9, paper, index, 350 pp
In WWI under a crippling naval blockade of its North Sea ports which ultimately resulted in the starvation of thousands of its citizens and as land warfare in Europe drags on, Germany endeavours to counter-blockade Britain via U-boat attacks on shipping and by mining waters round the British Isles. Hundreds of fishing vessels from every port and harbour in Britain are pressed into minesweeping duties and minelayers sow fields to restrict and destroy German vessels. Their efforts allow the powerful Royal Navy to hold the German Navy in port -- except for occasional skirmishes, including the Battle of Jutland. American destroyers hunt U-boats in British waters, while minelayers create a barrier between the Orkney Islands and Norway, to try to deny the enemy entry into the Atlantic. Desperate, Germany mounts a U-boat offensive off North America in the summer 1918, to induce the U.S. to bring her destroyers home. Although nearly one hundred vessels are sunk, this action fails. Germany surrenders in late autumn 1918 and allied vessels are left with the deadly task of removing thousands of mines laid in the war. One hundred and fifty photographs, maps, and diagrams; appendices; and an index to full-names, places and subjects add value to this work.
Beginning in the mid-1940s, the bleak, brooding mood of film noir began seeping into that most optimistic of film genres, the western. Story lines took on a darker tone and western films adopted classic noir elements of moral ambiguity, complex anti-heroes and explicit violence. The noir western helped set the standard for the darker science fiction, action and superhero films of today, as well as for acclaimed TV series such as HBO's Deadwood and AMC's Breaking Bad. This book covers the stylistic shift in westerns in mid-20th century Hollywood, offering close readings of the first noir westerns, along with revealing portraits of the eccentric and talented directors who brought the films to life.
U.S. Navy cargo ships, among the most unglamorous military vessels, kept the supply lines running through the incredible expanses of the Pacific battle zones in World War II. This involved shuttling cargos of gasoline, explosives, and supplies between forward bases on an erratic, unpredictable war-time schedule. The tedious days of slow cruising were broken by an occasional enemy air raid in some atoll harbor, and the rugged work of loading and unloading cargo. Although some cargo ships exhibited the informality of tramp steamers, they got results. Cargo ships able to carry amphibious landing craft routinely steamed with other assault forces into enemy-held beachheads, and disembarked supplies and personnel under fire. A dozen or so Royal Australian Navy stores-issuing ships lived a perilous existence plying dangerous Japanese-patrolled northern Australian waters, and the coast off Papua New Guinea. In 1945, when the British Pacific Fleet joined Allied combat operations against Japan, they brought their own "fleet train." This Logistics Service Force was the most extraordinary, motley collection of shipping ever assembled in British maritime history-one that included, presumably for fleet morale, a floating brewery. One hundred sixty-eight photographs, maps and diagrams; appendices; a bibliography; and an index to full names, places, and subjects add value to this work. 2021, 6x9, paper, index, 394 pp
Karpstein Was Hiding is a great, dark, mythical journey. The pain of a people is written across the soul of one man. It is a haunting fusion of modern Magic Realism and the detailed story telling of ancient Jewish Mysticism.
During the Vietnam War, 136 U.S. Navy and three Royal Australian Navy Service Force ships served in Vietnam. It was not glamorous duty, and the men who toiled aboard the ships received little recognition. ...These ships delivered food, fuel, ammunition, and critical supplies to the destroyers on the gunline, riverine craft patrolling island waterways and aircraft carriers, as well as ferrying troops in and out of the war wone, and those needing medical attention to the care of Navy Nurses on hospital shifts. ...This book, a companion to 'On the Gunline' and 'Gators Offshore and Upriver' highlights the herculean efforts of the Service Force, whose vital contributions "on the line" have been largely overlooked by historians."--Back cover.
Imagine being a fighter or bomber pilot. You and your crew have been in the heat of battle when, suddenly, your place catches fire or your engine conks out. You have to bail out or ditch in the water below. Who will save you? In World War II, survivors of Allied aircraft who found themselves in such straits, looked skyward in desperate hope, particularly those within range of Japanese shore guns, or adrift in enemy waters. ...In this companion book to 'Eyes of the Fleet' and 'Ingram's Fourth Fleet,' readers take flight with the heroic aircrews of rescue aircraft scouring ocean waters for their fellow Allied servicemen."--Back cover.
Admiral Ingram was the commander of a small seagoing force that grew into a fleet, charged at first with reconnaissance, later with the protection of shipping, and finally with the waging of relentless warfare against the enemy.
During the Vietnam War, 270 U.S. Navy and four Royal Australian Navy warships served at various times on the gunline. Within this armada were the battleship New Jersey, ten cruisers, 212 destroyers, fifty destroyer escorts, and the inshore fire support ship Carronade. When necessary, naval guns poured out round after round, until their barrels overheated and turned red, exterior paint blistered, and rifled-barrel liners were worn smooth. Allied troops locked in battle with North Vietnamese Army or Viet Cong troops in South Vietnam were grateful for artillery support from the sea. When North Vietnam launched the Easter Offensive across the DMZ in 1972, eight to ten ships in line, abreast, often firing simultaneously and around the clock, delivered desperately needed fire support. At one point, over forty cruisers and destroyers were serving together on the gunline. Warships conducting SEA DRAGON and LINEBACKER operations--naval bombardment of military targets along the coast of North Vietnam--came under fire on a number of occasions. Runs in to within five miles of a hostile shore, to strike Vinh, Haiphong, and other targets, often preceded duels with shore batteries. Most such action occurred at mission completion as ships zigzagged, while racing seaward at high speed to clear the coast, to throw off the aim of enemy gunners. This book highlights the grit, determination, and heroism of young men--many who would likely have preferred the laid-back lifestyle of the 1960s, were it not for their country's call to arms. Photographs; maps and diagrams; appendices; a bibliography; and an index to full-names, places and subjects add value to this work.
Segaki is the story of two men, a woman, a dog, and a handful of snails. It is a very simple story. But like most simple stories, it is also a parable... It is the third volume of three novels concerned with various aspects of the religious experience... Segaki deals with [the] getting of wisdom, or insight, and deals with it, moreover, entirely in terms of Zen... Zen cannot be explained. It can only be embodied, and in that form, shown to people who will not see it unless they were accustomed to seeing it there anyway.' David Stacton, 1957 'I am enormously impressed by this... I haven't read such an electrifying work in ages. [Stacton] sounds not only like a magnificent poet but an initiate as well. And he seems to know Japan (the everlasting one) better than most Japanese...' Henry Miller (in a letter of October 1959)
This rhetorical study of the persuasive practice of English Puritan preachers and writers demonstrates how they appeal to both reason and imagination in order to persuade their hearers and readers towards conversion, assurance of salvation and godly living. Examining works from a diverse range of preacher-writers such as William Perkins, Richard Sibbes, Richard Baxter and John Bunyan, this book maps out continuities and contrasts in the theory and practice of persuasion. Tracing the emergence of Puritan allegory as an alternative, imaginative mode of rhetoric, it sheds new light on the paradoxical question of how allegories such as John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress came to be among the most significant contributions of Puritanism to the English literary canon, despite the suspicions of allegory and imagination that were endemic in Puritan culture. Concluding with reflections on how Milton deploys similar strategies to persuade his readers towards his idiosyncratic brand of godly faith, this book makes an original contribution to current scholarly conversations around the textual culture of Puritanism, the history of rhetoric, and the rhetorical character of theology.
This volume proposes emendations in Euripides'"Heraclidae, Hippolytus, Andromache, Hecuba, Supplices, Electra, Heracles," and "Troades," the plays of the author's Loeb Euripides, Volumes Two and Three, and also discusses passages where translation is in doubt.
On A Balcony is devoted to the 14th century [B.C.] and the Pharaoh Ikhnaton, his sister-wife Nefertiti, the sculptor Tutmose, and the rivalry his religion of Aton brought to Egypt and its then current cult of Amon... presenting Ikhnaton's imposition of a new religion upon those who look on him as a god.' Kirkus Review'A fascinating study in royal neuroticism.' John Davenport, Observer 'A weird, subtle and compelling novel.' Time & Tide'What is important about Mr Stacton is his originality. We cannot guess how his book is going to develop. We cannot trace influences on his writing or fit him into any preconceived literary scheme...There is a self-confidence about his writing that has no trace of vanity.' Times Literary Supplement.
As the complicated relationship between music and theatre has evolved and changed in the modern and postmodern periods, music has continued to be immensely influential in key developments of theatrical practices. In this study of musicality in the theatre, David Roesner offers a revised view of the nature of the relationship. The new perspective results from two shifts in focus: on the one hand, Roesner concentrates in particular on theatre-making - that is the creation processes of theatre - and on the other, he traces a notion of ‘musicality’ in the historical and contemporary discourses as driver of theatrical innovation and aesthetic dispositif, focusing on musical qualities, metaphors and principles derived from a wide range of genres. Roesner looks in particular at the ways in which those who attempted to experiment with, advance or even revolutionize theatre often sought to use and integrate a sense of musicality in training and directing processes and in performances. His study reveals both the continuous changes in the understanding of music as model, method and metaphor for the theatre and how different notions of music had a vital impact on theatrical innovation in the past 150 years. Musicality thus becomes a complementary concept to theatricality, helping to highlight what is germane to an art form as well as to explain its traction in other art forms and areas of life. The theoretical scope of the book is developed from a wide range of case studies, some of which are re-readings of the classics of theatre history (Appia, Meyerhold, Artaud, Beckett), while others introduce or rediscover less-discussed practitioners such as Joe Chaikin, Thomas Bernhard, Elfriede Jelinek, Michael Thalheimer and Karin Beier.
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