World War II
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The
Liberty ships were the backbone of the Allied supply lines in World War II. Millions of tons
of war materiel were needed on battlefronts around the world. The full might of U.S. industrial
power was brought to bear and, “built by the mile and chopped off by the yard,” 2,710 Libertys
sailed out of American shipyards to deliver the goods. From Murmansk to the great D-Day invasion;
in the Atlantic and Pacific theaters of war; from Iwo Jima and the Leyte landings to the invasion
of Okinawa, Libertys were the “bridge of ships” that helped the Allies win the war.
The Liberty Ships from A (A.B. hammond) to Z (Zona Gale) is the result of over five years of exhaustive research and contains everything known about Liberty ships, every single one: who named for; where built, launched, delivered; type engine, operator, wartime history, postwar service; what ultimately happened to each ship. Cross-referenced and indexed under every name each ship was known under, with over 400 photos, this is truly “the last word” on Liberty ships with special chapters on the two Liberty ship museums.
This is a large-size, reader-friendly book, with clean type on high-quality paper, and avoids codes and abbreviations.
THE LIBERTY SHIPS from A (A.B. Hammond) to Z (Zona Gale)
by Capt. Walter W. Jaffee
- Hard cover, 8 1/2 x 11, 736 pp., 400+ photos & illus., biblio., index
- ISBN 1-889901-25-3
- Price: $145
The
Victory ships were a major part of the Allied thrust in the Pacific during the last eighteen
months of World War II. They supported the great battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, then brought
thousands of servicemen home again in “Operation Magic Carpet.” But the fast, versatile
Victory ships were also built for the future, and for decades were a mainstay of the merchant
fleets of the United States and her wartime allies. Victorys supported the atomic bomb tests,
scientific expeditions to the Antarctic, supply missions to the Arctic, the space missile program.
They stood by during the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Arab-Israeli war and supplied the U.S.
military during the Korean and Vietnam wars.
This comprehensive work is the result of five years’ research by Capt. Jaffee into government records, published works, oral histories and other sources. It is everything known about all 534 Victory ships: how the Victory ship program developed; design and specifications; when and where built; engine, operator, wartime and postwar history; every name and owner the ship sailed under; what finally happened to each ship. Special chapters on the three Victory ship museums. All the ships (and all names they became known under) are cross-referenced and indexed.
This is a large-size, reader-friendly book, with clean type on high-quality paper, and avoids codes and abbreviations.
THE VICTORY SHIPS from A (Aberdeen Victory) to Z (Zanesville Victory)
by Capt. Walter W. Jaffee
- Hard cover, 8 ½ x 11, 416 pp., 300+ photos & illus., biblio., index.
- ISBN 978-1-889901-37-4
- Price: $120
From
World War II to Korea to Vietnam to Desert Storm and Iraq, the machinery of war has depended
on the steady delivery of oil, in all its forms, to ships, trains, tanks, planes, trucks, weapons,
and the supply lines. And that oil is delivered by tankers. America’s tanker industry began
shortly after the discovery of oil in Pennsylvania in 1859, grew through the early 20th century,
and became standardized during World War II with the development of the T-type tanker — the
T1s, T2s and T3s.
Inside this volume is everything that is known about the “T” tankers. It begins with the history of the U.S. emergency shipbuilding program which started in the 1930s and the evolution of transporting oil by sea. But the main focus is on the ships. Every T-type ship is accounted for — from A (A.W. Peake) to Z (Zephyrhills) — including who or what she was named for, and all the other names she became known under, cross-referenced and comprehensively listed in the indexes. There are diagrams, specifications and almost 300 photos and illustrations. The Tankers is truly “the last word” on the T-type tankers, and the most complete. It is also a reader-friendly book, with clean type on high-quality paper, avoiding codes and abbreviations, and setting forth the information in clear language.
This is the third volume in Capt. Jaffee’s monumental series on the Maritime Commission’s wartime ship-building program and that of its successor, the Maritime Administration. The other volumes are The Liberty Ships From A to Z and The Victory Ships From A to Z.
THE TANKERS from A (A.W. Peake) to Z (Zephyrhills) is a large-format book, 528 pages on high-quality stock. It is a comprehensive reference for everything known about all 721 T-type tankers including a separate index of every name a ship sailed under. You can find your ship — or your father’s or grandfather’s — as you discover the indispensable role of Tankers in American history.
THE TANKERS from A (A.W. Peake) to Z (Zephyrhills)
by Capt. Walter W. Jaffee
- Hard cover, 8 1/2 x 11, 528 pp., 300 photos & illus., biblio., index
- ISBN 978-1-889901-43-5
- Price: $140
The
Battle of Leyte Gulf — four major naval actions — was the greatest sea battle in
history, and the U.S. Navy’s revenge for Pearl Harbor. The Surigao Strait action has
been called the Navy’s greatest single triumph, a model of timing, coordination and execution.
Among the ships were five survivors of Pearl Harbor including USS Maryland.
Howard Sauer served aboard Maryland. This is a unique, behind-the-guns view — the drills, the Pacific campaigns, the torpedo and kamikaze attacks; and a fascinating eyewitness account riding the battle line at Surigao in the last “Crossing of the T”.
THE LAST BIG-GUN NAVAL BATTLE
The Battle of Surigao Strait, An Eyewitness Account
by Howard Sauer
- 224 pp, 70+ photos, maps, illustrations, Appendices, indexed
- ISBN 1-889901-08-3
- Price: $26.95
- Now in its third printing!
This
is a new history of the Liberty ship Jeremiah O'Brien. Built in 56 days, launched
in the midst of World War II, she was expected to serve for five years at most — if she
was lucky. This new edition spans the O'Brien's historic voyages from the battlegrounds
of Europe and the North Atlantic, the awesome preparations for D-Day and 11 landings on the
beaches of Normandy. Then across a half century to her second life as a national landmark and
her return to Normandy in 1994. As the last survivor of the great D-Day armada, she was the “centerpiece” of
the 50th Anniversary events in England and France.
SS JEREMIAH O’BRIEN,
The History of a Liberty Ship from the Battle of the Atlantic to the 21st Century
by Capt. Walter W. Jaffee
- Hard cover, 416 pp., 200+ photos & illus., biblio., index
- ISBN 1-889901-33-4.
- Price: $35
This
is the story of one of the most remarkable sea battles of World War II: a lone American Liberty
freighter with one World War I-era cannon and a few machine guns, taken by surprise by two
heavily-armed German warships. In a fierce twenty-two minute battle, under heavy attack, aflame
and sinking, the Stephen Hopkins guns kept firing, destroying the raider and damaging
the blockade runner. It is a story of extraordinary valor under the direst of circumstances.
ACTION IN THE SOUTH ATLANTIC; the Sinking of the German Raider Stier by the Liberty ship Stephen Hopkins.
by Gerald Reminick
- Hard cover, 6 x 9, 320 pp., 100+ photos, charts & illus., biblio, index
- ISBN 978-1-889901-38-1
- Price: $29.95
The
United States Navy fleet submarine was the ultimate undersea fighting machine in the Pacific
during World War II. One survivor of this unique class of boats, USS Pampanito SS-383,
is a living museum at San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf. Pampanito is
famous for recovering more Allied prisoners-of-war from a sunken enemy ship than any submarine
before or since. This book chronicles the history of the boat from her launching, through the
war, to lay-up and restoration.
STEEL SHARK IN THE PACIFIC
USS PAMPANITO SS-383
by Capt. Walter W. Jaffee
- Soft cover, 224 pp, over 100 photos and illustrations
- ISBN 1-889901-16-4
- Price: $24.95
SS LANE
VICTORY served in three wars — World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. You are aboard
on her wartime runs and share the sorrow, fear, excitement, boredom and terror that are the
life of a ship and its crews in wartime. Then come aboard the Lane, in her second
life as an active musuem ship and “movie star” as she serves as a stage for TV and Hollywood
films, and makes cruises that bring her history alive.
THE LANE VICTORY
A Victory Ship in War and in Peace
by Capt. Walter W. Jaffee
- Hard cover, 448 pp, 119 photos
- ISBN 0-9637586-9-4
- Price: $30
Volume
1 of Patriots and Heroes touched such a chord with readers that it is in its third
printing. There were so many requests for more stories that we brought out Volume 2: all new
and all true stories of the Merchant Marine in World War II.
As with the first volume, Mr. Reminick gathered the stories to honor the men of the merchant marine. Each story bears witness to the courage, loyalty and fortitude displayed by the thousands of mariners who served their country.
PATRIOTS AND HEROES, VOL. 2
True Stories of the U.S. Merchant Marine in World War II
by Gerald Reminick
- Soft cover, 356 pp., 80+ illus.
- ISBN 1-889901-31-8
- Price: $22.95
On
December 2, 1943 about fifty ships lay waiting to unload in Bari, Italy. Suddenly the German
Luftwaffe thundered out of the sky. In twenty minutes, the raid became the worst bombing of
Allied troops since Pearl Harbor. Seventeen Allied ships were destroyed and thousands were
killed. A Liberty ship carrying mustard gas exploded, raining death into the air and waters
of Bari. Yet, to this day, few know of the disaster. This is the complete story.
NIGHTMARE IN BARI
The World War II Liberty Ship Poison Gas Disaster and Cover-up
by Gerald Reminick
- Soft cover, 288 pp.
- ISBN 1-889901-21-0
- Price: $21.95
No
Surrender is a remarkable collection of war stories told by the U.S. Navy Armed Guard,
who protected the critical supply lines across the world's oceans during World War II. They
lived and died to make the world safe for democracy.
NO SURRENDER
True stories of the U.S. Navy Armed Guard in World War II
by Gerald Reminick
- Soft cover, 416 pp, 80 photographs
- ISBN 1-889901-34-2
- Price: $24.95
