Boys to Men is a fascinating account of life in America from before the great depression through World War II and beyond. A common thread is present, due to the fact that all these stories are vividly depicted by some of the crew, as well as a former Lieutenant on the USS Perkins during the war. Each author brings a different background and flavor to the book. From life aboard the ship during normal operations, to the horrors of battle and her ultimate sinking in 1943, these pages are a tribute to the brave men that served aboard the USS Perkins. Stories include everything from slices of life in America during hard, but simpler times, to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Inside is a moving first hand account by a Lieutenant of the Perkins, who also served aboard the USS Oklahoma during the Pearl Harbor attack and narrowly escaped with his life. Detailed descriptions of combat at sea, to life after the Navy, paint a complete picture of a generation filled with great difficulties and even greater successes. The Perkins was a vessel instrumental in transporting her crew on vast journeys to and from exotic and not so exotic destinations. Like the ship, these stories cover a great deal of time and territory. Although she slipped into the darkness to rest forever in depths of a silent watery grave, the Perkins first took these men on perhaps the greatest journey of all the journey from boys to men.
From thunderous broadsides traded between wooden sailing ships on Lake Erie, to the carrier battles of World War II, to the devastating high-tech action in the Persian Gulf, here is a gripping history of five key battles that defined the evolution of naval warfare--and the course of the American nation. Acclaimed military historian Craig Symonds offers spellbinding narratives of crucial engagements, showing how each battle reveals the transformation of technology and weaponry from one war to the next; how these in turn transformed naval combat; and how each event marked a milestone in American history. - Oliver Hazard Perry's heroic victory at Lake Erie, one of the last great battles of the Age of Sail, which secured the Northwestern frontier for the United States - The brutal Civil War duel between the ironclads Monitor and Virginia, which sounded the death knell for wooden-hulled warships and doomed the Confederacy's hope of besting the Union navy - Commodore Dewey's stunning triumph at Manila Bay in 1898, where the U.S. displayed its "new navy" of steel-hulled ships firing explosive shells and wrested an empire from a fading European power - The hairsbreadth American victory at Midway, where aircraft carriers launched planes against enemies 200 miles away--and where the tide of World War II turned in the space of a few furious minutes - Operation Praying Mantis in the Persian Gulf, where computers, ship-fired missiles, and "smart bombs" not only changed the nature of warfare at sea, but also marked a new era, and a new responsibility, for the United States. Symonds records these encounters in detail so vivid that readers can hear the wind in the rigging and feel the pounding of the guns. Yet he places every battle in a wide perspective, revealing their significance to America's development as it grew from a new Republic on the edge of a threatening frontier to a global superpower. Decision at Sea is a powerful and illuminating look at pivotal moments in the history of the Navy and of the United States. It is also a compelling study of the unchanging demands of leadership at sea, where commanders must make rapid decisions in the heat of battle with lives--and the fate of nations--hanging in the balance.
Boys to Men is a fascinating account of life in America from before the great depression through World War II and beyond. A common thread is present, due to the fact that all these stories are vividly depicted by some of the crew, as well as a former Lieutenant on the USS Perkins during the war. Each author brings a different background and flavor to the book. From life aboard the ship during normal operations, to the horrors of battle and her ultimate sinking in 1943, these pages are a tribute to the brave men that served aboard the USS Perkins. Stories include everything from slices of life in America during hard, but simpler times, to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Inside is a moving first hand account by a Lieutenant of the Perkins, who also served aboard the USS Oklahoma during the Pearl Harbor attack and narrowly escaped with his life. Detailed descriptions of combat at sea, to life after the Navy, paint a complete picture of a generation filled with great difficulties and even greater successes. The Perkins was a vessel instrumental in transporting her crew on vast journeys to and from exotic and not so exotic destinations. Like the ship, these stories cover a great deal of time and territory. Although she slipped into the darkness to rest forever in depths of a silent watery grave, the Perkins first took these men on perhaps the greatest journey of all the journey from boys to men.
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