The Compact History Of The United States Navy

This book tells the story of the United States Navy itself--how it began; what it has been; and what it is today. The author tells too, the story of the American sailor--who he has been and who he is today; where he came from at first and where he comes from now; what he has done to the Navy; and what the Navy has done to him. The ships are here too, with their stories, as fascinating as those of the men who manned them. This book, then is an all-time naval review, in which almost two hundred years of American history pass by in their relationship to American ships and sailors. From the privateers and their men without uniforms to the atomic powered ships now being built and their crews of skilled technicians, this is the story of the United States Navy--afloat, ashore, underwater and in the air.

"All the drama and excitement of a wide-ranging military adventure are packed into this famous one-volume history of the United States Navy. It is an all-time naval review, from the struggling young Navy of the American Revolution to the highly trained sailors of the war in Vietnam. Set against the backdrop of an emerging America, this story explores in depth the high-spirited young men who joined the Navy and saw the world; their officers and leaders, often brilliant, sometimes eccentric; and of course the ships, from the graceful schooner to the high-powered atomic sub. Originally written by military expert and historian Fletcher Pratt and adopted as a textbook by the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, this new edition has been revised and updated by Commander Hartley E. Howe to include an entirely new section on the U.S. naval activities in the Korean conflict, the Navy's major technological advances -- in weapons and ships, in research in the air and on the bottom of the sea -- and naval participation in the Vietnamese war. Twenty-nine maps have been especially selected by Commander Howe: these charts enable the reader to follow various details of campaigns and strategies as he reads the accounts of them. As the presentation of an important institution in our American democracy and of the men and events that formed it, 'The Compact History of the United States Navy' is a fascinating and informative book for both the military and the civilian reader."--

This brisk narrative charts the history of the United States Navy from its birth during the American Revolution through its emergence as a global power amid the world wars of the twentieth century and finally to its current role as a superpower in the twenty-first century.

This reprinted edition contains an introduction by Captain Christopher R. Davis, US Navy (Ret.).