Ship Shape

Sailing has its own language, its own culture and its own traditions.  The combination makes for an entertaining collection of reference books.


1.   Naval Customs Tradition and Usage, Lt. Commander Leland Lovette (1939).  A perennial book updated every few years that includes Sea Manners, Shore Manners loaded with historical examples and illustrated with black and white photos and etchings.  Purchased at the State Department Bookstore.

2.  Bluejackets Manual (1946, 17th ed.).  The guidebook for the US Navy.  A practical guide written for new recruits to old salts.  Bought used somewhere.

3.  Naval Terms, Commander C. C Soule, USN (1926).  If you want to know how to define everything from Keep Her Full to Pinch Her, Naval Terms is your source.   Precise illustrations for all rigs, knots, fittings, compasses and boats.  Bought for a $1.50 somewhere.  There's a history through inscriptions inside this book:


Issued to D.A. Weaver 977


To My Good Friend Allie--CA Maass


Hamburg, July 13, 1953


Dear Charlie, If I were [indecipherable] and I had your mind.  I would want some one to give me this book.  Have fun Charlie.  Cordially yours, Capt Alfred T. Olivet, Commanding T.S. Empire State

4.  To Hell with Sailing, Doris Sawyer with Illustrations by Cliff Crawford (1958).  A little book with short, whimsical guidance for weekend sailors with illustrations.  Bought used with no idea where.

PART II: Life During Wartime

How would any of us act during the chaos of war?  Here's a small collection of books on the subject. 

1.  War, Sebastian Junger (2010),  Junger, author of The Perfect Storm, lived among soldiers in a remote fire base in eastern Afghanistan for 15 months.  Junger observes the experiences of the soldiers in Afghanistan in an effort to understand experiences of soldiers throughout history.  Bought new. 

2.  The Face of Battle: A Study of Agincourt, Waterloo & The Somme, John Keegan (1976).  Keegan is one of the foremost scholars on warfare made a study of battles fought 500 years apart.   Keegan profiles the histories from standpoint of the foot soldier.  Bought used from State Department bookstore.

3.  War and Intelligence, John Keegan (2004).  Keegan's scholarship on how intelligence has been used by Nelson seeking Napoleon's fleet, Stonewall Jackson during the Civil War, and the British cracking the Nazi's Ultra code during WWII.  Bought used at BJ's Books in Warrenton, VA.