THE U.S. NAVY FIGHTS

This is virtually a history of the navy through individual accounts of certain of its fighting ships during successive wars, from the Constitution to the Lexington, including the obvious ones and many less familiar. Chronologically, by wars, each chapter deals with an individual ship. The American naval tradition of offensive, in carrying the war to the enemy, the progressive changes in shipbuilding, in strategy; the lessons of failure in the present war; the failure to recognize fully the importance of air power. This does not give the dramatic personalized account of individual deeds, men and battles found in such books as None More Courageous (Page 524), but it is an easy, pleasant way to absorb naval history.