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The RAF Air Sea Rescue Service, 1918-1986 / Jonanthan Sutherland and Diane Canwell. "Between 1918 and 1986 the marine branch of the Royal Air Force provided rescue facilities, support and other services to this armed service. In its pre-1941 guise as the Air Sea Rescue service, the RAF had an inventory of over 200 motorboats, supported by float aircraft engaged in rescue, towing, refueling and servicing RAF aircraft. Amongst the many characters of this early period was none other than Lawrence of Arabia. The Marine Craft Section itself came into existence in February 1941 as a direct result of the compelling need to retrieve downed pilots from the sea. Initially the craft were lightly armed, but as the chivalry between the British and the German rescue services deteriorated, the launches became heavily armed craft, not only capable of defence but also attack. They were supported by a wide variety of aircraft, including Lysanders and Walruses. The ASR was involved in Dieppe and D-Day and operated in the Mediterranean and the Far East. During the war years alone over 13,000 aircraft crew were saved by the ASR service, in addition to the many hundreds of other servicemen whose vessels had been hit by mines or had fallen prey to submarines. Jon Sutherland has written extensively on military history and warfare. Much of his previous work has concerned the American involvement in the European in World War I and the European theatre of World War II. Diane Canwell has written works on Crete and the Viking era and is much involved in the research for this book. Using an extensive network of former members of the service, the authors propose to intersperse the descriptive chapters with short first-person accounts of particular episodes throughout the service's history."--Provided by the publisher. 2010. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.354(42)"1918/1986"
Promotion or the bottom of the river : the blue and gray naval careers of Alexander F. Warley, South Carolinian /John M. Stickney. "South Carolinian Alexander F. Warley (1823-1895) was an exceptional naval officer who enjoyed a robust life of far-flung adventures at sea during several dramatic periods in American maritime history. Warley's career began in the 1840s, when he served as a midshipman on Old Ironsides and later took part in the Mexican War. His military exploits reached their zenith when he commanded the CSS Manassas - the first ironclad ship to engage in combat - at New Orleans in October 1861. John M. Stickney's richly detailed biography of Warley as an officer first in the United States Navy and later in the Confederate navy offers a representative example of America's professional military class during the nineteenth century. An ambitious youth of little means, Warley secured an appointment as a midshipman at the age of seventeen through the influence of John C. Calhoun. Over the next two decades of maritime adventures, Warley faced four courts-martial, combat and capture in the Mexican War, and the challenges of rising in the ranks. After South Carolina seceded in December 1860, Warley joined the newly formed Confederate navy and gained recognition for his service at New Orleans, commanding the Manassas until the Confederate defeat there in 1862. Warley's career in the Confederate navy ended with his command of the CSS Albemarle and its destruction at Plymouth, North Carolina. With vivid details and rich narration, Stickney portrays one young man's struggle for glory and success in a divided nation. Using ships logs and naval records, Stickney unravels Warley's naval career and explores the Civil War naval actions that unfolded in New Orleans, Charleston, Galveston, Savannah, and Plymouth during this critical time in American history, revealing the pluck and fortitude of a previously unknown combatant."--Provided by the publisher. 2012. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92WARLEY
Thames shipping in the 1960s and 1970s / Campbell McCutcheon. "At one point London had one of the largest dock systems in the world, and certainly one of the busiest. From Gravesend and Tilbury, all the way to the Pool of London, the sides of the river were crowded with ships, with large dock systems from St Katherine's to the King George V and Tilbury Docks, full of ships loading and unloading their cargoes. Passenger ships called too, as well as numerous coasters feeding the power stations that served London. Campbell McCutcheon uses a unique collection of images, all taken by the one person, to show the docks, wharves and the river as it was, teaming with ships from Blue Funnel, Clan Line, Ben Line, British India Steam Navigation Company, P&O, Union Castle Line and navy vessels as well as numerous foreign ships, ferries, ocean liners, cruise ships, tugs and barges. For those old enough to remember the glory days of Thames shipping, the book will evoke memories of the days before container boats and when the dock system was a sea of masts and funnels, rather than housing, offices and even an airport. With nostalgic views of the Pool of London, ships being repaired in the numerous dry docks, all of the docks, some of the creeks, the book sets out to show the docks at the peak of their importance before the long decline of the 1970s and 1980s and wholesale redevelopment of the London Docklands and the banks of the Thames."--Provided by the publisher. 2011. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 656.61(282.242.1)"196/197"