by Gone Asiatic » Fri Jun 22, 2007 8:28 pm
I have four very excellent books written by enlisted men during the pre-dreadnought era - I highly recommend each:
Tisdale, Lieu
Three Years Behind the Guns: The True Chronicles of a "Diddy Box"New York: Grosset and Dunlap, 1908.
Written by a gunners mate serving aboard USS OLYMPIA (or USFS - United States Flag-Ship), the book chronicles his experiences from departing San Francisco in 1895 to OLYMPIA taking on duties of Flagship Asiatic Squadron including the Battle of Manila Bay.
Swift, John W.
An Iowa Boy Around the World in the Navy: A True Story of Our Navy 1898-1902 Des Moines: Kenyon, 1902.
The author enlisted in New York and returns three years latter having served the time in the Asiatic Squadron on the CinC staff as a writter. Served aboard BENNINGTON and BROOKYN primarily in the Philippines during the insurrection. Traveled extensively around the Asiatic Station.
Fowler, Charles
A Rocky Mountain Sailor in TeddyRoosevelt`s Navy: The Letters of Petty Officer Charles Fowler from the Asiatic Station 1905-1910. ed Rodney Tomlinson, Boulder: Westview Pres, 1998.
The author served aboard a variety of ships in the Asiatic Fleet including OREGON and MONADNOCK. The book is a compilation of the numerous letters he wrote to his older sister and vividly describes life aboard ship and the region.
Wilson, Frederick, T,
A Sailors Log: Water-Tender Frederick T. Wilson, USN, on Asiatic Station, 1899-1901 ed. James Reckner, Kent: Kent State University, 2004.
This book is the most entertaining of them all. He had a much tougher life as an engineer (when ships burned coal) and had the misfortune of working aboard an unhappy ship. He has very frank things to say about Navy leadership of the era, as well as quality of recruits. He served aboard USS NEW ORLEANS and was aboard USS OREGON on the way to China during the legation seige when it went aground in the Gulf of Pechili.
One of my favorite passages: "If they, being bigger men and stronger, try to slug me, I simply use a twelve or fourteen inch monkey or Stillson wrench and lay them out." Disciplining subordinates was quite different back then!
Wilson was of the "work hard, play hard" variety of sailor whereas Fowler and Swift, though accounts are quite excellent, didn`t imbibe and thus their accounts are a little less entertaining.
I particularly find these books outstanding reading as I served in the same region aboard numerous ships and can thus, compare and contrast. Some things never change; most things have changed dramatically for the better of course. Each book is reasonably well illustrated.
I have four very excellent books written by enlisted men during the pre-dreadnought era - I highly recommend each:
Tisdale, Lieu [i]Three Years Behind the Guns: The True Chronicles of a "Diddy Box"[/i]New York: Grosset and Dunlap, 1908.
Written by a gunners mate serving aboard USS OLYMPIA (or USFS - United States Flag-Ship), the book chronicles his experiences from departing San Francisco in 1895 to OLYMPIA taking on duties of Flagship Asiatic Squadron including the Battle of Manila Bay.
Swift, John W. [i]An Iowa Boy Around the World in the Navy: A True Story of Our Navy 1898-1902[/i] Des Moines: Kenyon, 1902.
The author enlisted in New York and returns three years latter having served the time in the Asiatic Squadron on the CinC staff as a writter. Served aboard BENNINGTON and BROOKYN primarily in the Philippines during the insurrection. Traveled extensively around the Asiatic Station.
Fowler, Charles [i]A Rocky Mountain Sailor in TeddyRoosevelt`s Navy: The Letters of Petty Officer Charles Fowler from the Asiatic Station 1905-1910.[/i] ed Rodney Tomlinson, Boulder: Westview Pres, 1998.
The author served aboard a variety of ships in the Asiatic Fleet including OREGON and MONADNOCK. The book is a compilation of the numerous letters he wrote to his older sister and vividly describes life aboard ship and the region.
Wilson, Frederick, T, [i]A Sailors Log: Water-Tender Frederick T. Wilson, USN, on Asiatic Station, 1899-1901[/i] ed. James Reckner, Kent: Kent State University, 2004.
This book is the most entertaining of them all. He had a much tougher life as an engineer (when ships burned coal) and had the misfortune of working aboard an unhappy ship. He has very frank things to say about Navy leadership of the era, as well as quality of recruits. He served aboard USS NEW ORLEANS and was aboard USS OREGON on the way to China during the legation seige when it went aground in the Gulf of Pechili.
One of my favorite passages: "If they, being bigger men and stronger, try to slug me, I simply use a twelve or fourteen inch monkey or Stillson wrench and lay them out." Disciplining subordinates was quite different back then! :rolf_3:
Wilson was of the "work hard, play hard" variety of sailor whereas Fowler and Swift, though accounts are quite excellent, didn`t imbibe and thus their accounts are a little less entertaining.
I particularly find these books outstanding reading as I served in the same region aboard numerous ships and can thus, compare and contrast. Some things never change; most things have changed dramatically for the better of course. Each book is reasonably well illustrated.
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