Full Description
Naval deck logs require young officers to record mundane details of a ship's condition every few hours. According to a U.S. Navy tradition, the New Year's midwatch log--covering midnight to early morning of January 1--can be entered as poetry. Each chapter of this first book-length examination of midwatch poems presents verses written 1941-1946 aboard a ship engaged in combat during World War II, including celebrated warships like the USS Enterprise and nameless vessels like PC 1264. Historical overviews of the ships' operations, along with biographical sketches of the author(s), relate each poem to its moment in history.
Contents
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction
USS Detroit: The Dashing "D"
USS Finch: The Ultimate Indignity
USS Dewey: The Whale-Struck
USS Gilmer: Chasing Subs in Puget Sound
USS New Orleans: The Coconut Log Bow
USS Marblehead: The Long Journey Home
USS Russell: A Highly Decorated Lady
USS North Carolina: "Showboat"
USS Aylwin: Surviving the Hurricane
USS Casco: God Keep Our Ship
USS Allen: The Old Girl
USS Colorado: A Tale of Endurance
USS Murphy: The Luck of the Irish
USS Washington: Not Just Any Man Overboard
USS Buchanan: The Scrapperoos
USS Texas: Engage Until Neutralized
USS Lansdowne: The Lucky L
USS Dent: "There's Nothing Like a Dame"
USS Bush: A Brief and Tragic Glory
USS Ringgold: A New Slant on Bunghole
USS Mason: The Grand Experiment
USS PC 1264: An Inglorious Fate
USS Pennsylvania: "Old Falling Apart"
USS South Dakota: Battleship X
USS Ticonderoga: The Indestructible Captain Dixie
USS Idaho: Perdition to Our Axis Foes
USS Alabama: Very Well Done
USS Enterprise: The Big E
USS Huse: The Hunter Killer
Conclusion
Appendix A: Material Conditions in Navy Ships
Appendix B: How Ships Get Their Names
Appendix C: U.S. Navy Hull Designations in This Book
Appendix D: Candid Comments by Poets in the Poems
Appendix E: Non-World War II Poems
References
Index
