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Bottom-Line: A great book for naval veterans and civilians alike.
The United States Navy is today the undisputed master of the world's oceans; the Seven Seas as they were referred to in the days of wood and cloth sail. There is not another naval force in the world that can match the U.S. Navy's combination of power projection personified by aircraft carries, amphibious platforms--with U.S. Marines embarked, submarines and support ships. No other navy can match the U.S. Navy's domination of the three--make that four--spheres in which it operates; above, on, and below the sea, and on land in concert with the U.S. Marines.
Factoid: There is no Department of the Marines; the U.S. Marines fall under the Navy for administrative command and control. The few, the (justifiably) proud, the Maries are the land arm of the U.S. Navy and a Marine detachment serves onboard every capitol U.S. warship.
Rarely has the diversity that is the U.S. Navy been captured in words and images so completely as in the pages of "Keepers of the Sea" (1988), published by the Naval Institute Press. So many think it odd to own such a book, one that lauds machines of warfare, but warships and aircraft, despite their intended purpose are beautiful objects to behold. There is a certain majesty in an image of an aircraft carrier on the high seas in formation with her escort ships; or the image of an F-14 in flight, its wings swept back ready for battle; or a fast attack submarine making a high speed run on the surface, blue water cascading down her slick sides. All of these images and a whole lot more are captured in the 256 pages of "Keepers of the Sea", a book which chronicles every aspect of life in the U.S. Navy of the late 1980's, "from boot camp to the beachhead, from bilge to bridge."
But "Keepers of the Sea" is more than just dazzling images, it also contains text that details the rapid and sometime wrenching changes the U.S. Navy went through in the late eighties as the fleet shrank even as its mission changed and responsibilities expanded. With images by well respected and celebrated photographer Fred J. Maroon and text by retired (and much decorated combat veteran) U.S. Navy Captain and author Edward L. Beach, "Keepers of the Sea" tells its story in six chapters, each of which explorers a different area of naval warfare in images and accompanying text.
Chapter one is all about Naval Aviation, Air Power: Sea Power's Upper Reaches. The chapter begins thusly: The seventh of December 1941 witnessed a revolution in the balance of forces that comprised the U.S. Navy. When the Pearl Harbor attack wiped out the Pacific Fleet's traditional battle line, America was compelled to concentrate on developing naval air power to match that of the instrument of destruction, Japan. Thus did the U.S. aircraft carrier come into her own...the main battery of this capitol ship, in contrast to that of the old battleship, was and is her aircraft, or as naval aviators say her air wing.
Factoid: Many are not aware that the U.S. Navy's complement of aircraft, both ship-borne and land based constitute the world's fourth largest air force.
Rich engaging text and vivid, often candid photographs, are the hallmarks of "Keepers of the Sea", a book that is for the seasoned naval veteran--like myself--as well as average citizen who might want to know more about the Navy. The text is written in a style that lends itself the easy understanding by those not versed in the lexicon of the naval service. And while the pictures mostly speak for themselves, they are all captioned.
Chapter two, Surface Combatants: Traditional Guardians of the Sea, begins thusly: It is 0800 on an overcast morning at sea. A rapid bonging sounds over the internal communications speakers throughout a solitary haze-gray warship. An urgent announcement follows: `General quarters! All hands man your battle stations for live firing exercise!' on board the Spruance-class destroyer, steaming beyond sight of the capitol ship she is screening some 30 miles distant, seamen and officers alike scramble to their assigned fighting stations.
Leafing through the pages of "Keepers of the Sea" brings backs a flood of memories of my time at sea in the defense of our nation. The book despite its condition--my copy is falling apart at the seams--is a prized possession that occupies an honored space in my library. The U.S. Navy has changed dramatically since "Keepers of the Sea" went to press; indeed almost of all of the ships detailed and photographed with its pages have been decommissioned, and a fair number of the aircraft replaced. Gone is the old war U.S. Navy build to counter its nemesis the Soviet Navy, which rarely if ever puts to sea. The new threat is, believe it or not, pirates and the ever expanding Chinese Navy.
But the cornerstone of the force is still the aircraft carrier, and a new breed of surface combatants have taken to the high seas. And much of the what Beach had to say in the pages of "Keepers of the Sea" is still germane to today's Navy. A large and somewhat heavy volume, "Keepers of the Sea" will remain in my library for quite some time to come.
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