Wednesday, September 2, 2009

RESURRECTION Salvaging the Battle Fleet at Pearl Harbor

By Daniel Madsen
ISBN 1557504881
Naval Institute Press
Daniel Madsen is also the author of the reviled Forgotten Fleet: The Mothball Navy. However, he appears now to be on the right track toward writing on topic.
The attack on Pearl Harbor is a topic of perennial interest to the American public, and a long line of popular books and movies have focused on the attack or events leading up to it. This work takes an entirely new perspective. Aimed at the general reader with an interest in World War II and the U.S. Navy, the book looks at the massive salvage effort that followed the attack, beginning with the damage control efforts aboard the sinking and damaged ships in the harbor on 7 December 1941 and ending in March 1944 when salvage efforts on the USS Utah were finally abandoned.
The author tells the story in a narrative style, moving from activity to activity as the days and months wore on, in what proved to be an incredibly difficult and complex endeavor. But rather than writing a dry operational report, Dan Madsen describes the Navy’s dramatic race to clear the harbor and repair as many ships as possible so they could return to the fleet ready for war. Numerous photographs, many never before published in books for the general public, give readers a real appreciation for the momentous task involved, from the raising of the USS Oglala in 1942 and the USS Oklahoma in 1943 to the eventual dismantling of the above-water portions of the USS Arizona. Madsen explains how a salvage organization was first set up, how priorities were scheduled, what specific plans were made and how they worked or, in many cases, did not work. His book is based almost entirely on primary sources, including the records of the fleet salvage unit and the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard.Madsen makes no claim to be a professional historian nor of any expertise on nautical matters. Three small errors in nautical terminology were evident:
use of the term clinometer instead of inclinometer;
spoke a ship moving "aft" instead of "astern";
displayed a lack of comprehension if the term deadweight by misspelling it as dead weight. The term deadweight is never used in conjunction with warships -- being a measurement applicable only merchant ships.
One small quibble with this work was the lack of after the fact pictures. It would've been nice to, for example, see pictures of the two 14-inch turrets from USS Arizona after they were installed as coastal defense guns on Oahu. In addition, photos of battleships California and West Virginia, which were both sunk December 7, 1941, after their reconstruction at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard would have been a nice touch.
Madsen's previous work, Forgotten Fleet: The Mothball Navy, was widely looked forward to as an examination of the US Navy warship preservation program. Instead, it was largely an amateurish rehash of previously published events from the Second World War. With his latest book, Madsen is staying much closer to his objective.
Resurrection is a recommended read if one ignores the flaws. It can be hoped that any future work of Mr Madsen will display better research and command of the subject. (DS)

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