The U.S. Navy in World War I; Combat at Sea and in the Air

Westport, CT: Praeger, 1999. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. Very good. xxiii, [1], 197, [3] pages. Maps. Photographs. Foreword by Dwight R. Messimer. Foreword by Daniel P. Davison. Acknowledgments. Introductions. Twenty-four chapters. Epilogue. Selected Bibliography. Index. A. B. Feuer was a military historian and journalist. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1943 to 1946 and was a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the Society of Professional Journalists, and the Society for Military History. He was a widely published military historian. Among the topics covered are: Shipbuilding, North Sea Barrage, Destroyers, Converted Yachts, Sound Detectors, Y-guns, Subchasers, USS Con Steuben, Frederick Lemly, Roland Baker, USS Ticonderoga, Convoy, Howard Winn, Otranto Barrage, Yangtze Patrol, Navy Air Service, Homing Pigeon, Cleland Davis, Aerial Photo Reconnaissance, Artemus Gates, Sopwith Camel, and the Northern Bombing Group. When the United States entered World War I in April 1917, the clamoring in the press for a strong army largely overshadowed the need for considerable naval contributions to the war effort. Although it was small at the time, the U.S. Navy transported thousands of doughboys to France, all the while battling the predatory German U-Boats. Henry Ford tried to put his mass-production techniques to work to produce hundreds of submarine chasers to patrol American coastlines. The fledgling Naval Air Service was assigned the daunting task of dealing with enemy aircraft over France and in the Adriatic Sea. This is the personal account of men who served on the sea and in the air, as well as the captains of industry who made victory possible. Industrial innovations contributed greatly to the Allied cause. George Eastman's Kodak Company developed ship and aircraft camouflage, and the General Electric Company perfected the hydrophone, a precursor to modern sonar. While many are aware of the exploits of Eddie Rickenbacker, the U.S. Army's ace, few know that the Navy also had an ace. After more than 80 years, these forgotten naval heroes receive the recognition that they well deserve in an account that attempts to give the war a human face through personal diaries, letters, and photographs.