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AMERICA'S FIRST FROGMAN :
THE DRAPER KAUFFMAN STORY
Elizabeth K Bush
Publisher:Annapolis, Md. : Naval Institute Press, 2004. |
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DECENT
INTO DARKNESS.
Pearl Harbour, 1941: A Navy
Diver's Memoir. Commander Edward C. Raymer.
Published 1996, by Presidio
Press, California, USA. Hardcover, dustjacket, 214 pages, mono prints.
Not a classic in terms of
age but certainly in content. The author has had plenty of time to think
about it. I havn't read the book yet but it looks fascinating. On December
7, 1941, as the great battleships Arizona, Oklahoma, Utah, and several
others lie paralyzed and burning in the aftermath of the Japanese attack
of Pearl Harbor, a crack team of Navy slavage divers is hurriedly flown
to the island of Oahu. The divers have been given a Hurculean task: rescue
the ailors and marines trapped below, and resurrect the pride of the Pacific
fleet. In the book, the author tells the whole story of the desparate attempts
to save crewmembers caught inside their sinking ships. The book is the
only one available that describes the raising and salvage operations of
sunken battleships following the December 7th attack. Though many of these
divers were killed or seriously wounded during the slavage operations,
on the whole they had great success performing what seemed to be impossible
jobs. Among their credits, the author's crew raised the sunken battleships
Wst Virginia, Nevada, and california. After Pearl Harbor they moved on
to other crucial salvage work off Guadalcanal and the sites of other greats
sea battles. From a booksellers decription: For the first time, the chief
diver of Pearl Harbor's salvage operations, Cmdr. Edward C. Raymer, USN
(ret.), tells the whole story of the desperate attempts to save the ships
and those caught inside after that fateful day in 1941. In spite of what
seemed like an impossible mission, Raymer and his crew managed to raise
the sunken battleships West Virginia, Nevada, California, and many others.
25 illustrations. 10 maps.
Note: It appears that the
publishers do not indicate if a book is a later printing. The first edition
is 225 x 150 mm whilst later reprints are very slightly smaller, 215 x
143 mm. The later reprints have a slightly lighter red background colour
- the first edition is a 'richer' red. The paper quality of the first edition
is slightly better than later reprints thus giving the phoitograohs a higher
sharpness. [ps] |
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FROGMEN
Training, Equipment and
Operations of Our Navy's Undersea Fighters. C.B. Colby
Publisher: Coward-McCann,
Inc, 1954. (US publication). Hardcover, 48 pages, size 7.5 x 10.75
inches, forty-seven b/w photographic illustrations. Each page has approximately
1/4 to 1/3 page of text, and a mono photograph above, the text describing
the photograph, and places it's significance within the arena of
the Navy ‘frogmen'.
Photographic volume about
the navy frogmen of the WW2 era. The UDT frogmen are the forerunners of
the (US) Navy Seals.
From the Foreword: Our first
use in modern times of these underseas demolition teams was during the
early amphibious operations of WWII. It was suddenly obvious that some
sort of missions would have to be undertaken to clear proposed invasion
beach areas, and their offshore waters, of both natural and man-made obstructions,
mines, and entanglements. The first underwater demolition team was composed
of Seabees from the NCB Training Center at Camp Peary, Virginia. These
men were chosen mainly because of their knowledge of blasting with high
explosives. The first volunteers answered the call on May 6, 1943, to form
the original UDT. Since then, the Frogmen, as they were promptly
nicknamed because of their tight rubber suits and long froglike rubber
flippers, have learned a bagful of tricks to confound our enemies in waters
around the world. And they are stuffing these bags with new ones every
year. |
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FROGMAN
Training, Equipment &
Operations of Our Navy's Underseas Fighters.
(The Navy being that of
the USA).
Published in 1954 by Coward-McCann
Inc., New York.
48 pp (?), hard/soft cover
? "One of the first pictorial of the US Navy's Underwater Demolition Team
frogmen forerunner to the famous US Navy SEALs."
See also Frogman by C.B.Colby,
above. No doubt same book. |
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JUST
A SAILOR
A Navy Diver's Story of
Photography, Salvage and Combat.
Steven L. Waterman.
Ballantine Publishing Group,
(a division of Random House), New York etc, 2000.
Edition here is softcover
paperback, 280 pages, mono prints. No idea if a hardcover edition was printed.
From the blurb: "When Steve
Waterman left home in 1964, he was looking for the most exciting job the
U.S. Navy had to offer. So Waterman became an underwater photographer,
joining an elite group that numbered only fifteen men in the entire navy
- men always on call for unusual and interesting assignments. Yet it was
the time Waterman spent inVietnam with Underwater Demolition Team-13 that
deserves special respect. Existing in a state of adrenaline driven alertness,
UDT-13 men carried out their harrowing missions. Stealthily, silently,
they crept through Vietnam's waterways, never knowing if the next bend
in the river concealed VC patiently waiting to spring a fiery, murderous
ambush. Employing the wit and unvarnished honesty that got him into trouble
more than once during his thirteen years in the navy, Waterman unfolds
a compelling tale of an ordinary sailor who chose to serve his country
during one of the most controversial, challenging times in its history."
The author, in his Preface,
writes: "This is my first book. There may be more". I'm not too sure of
that. He may have achived a lot and had a few 'harrowing missions', but
his style is pretty matter-of-fact. After a dozen 'and then we...." starts
to a sentence, there is a tendency to give up, but again, what he writes
about is of interest. If I can't get into a book within the first two pages
I give up - and as I don't want to read about a seventeen-year old get
thowing up on the pavement, I nearly did give up. In fact, I could not
read the whole book, and just skimmed through reading sections that appeared
to be interesting. Well, as writer, he is a bloody good diver. I cannot
help wonder if he is related to Stan Waterman, the famed underwater photographer
and film maker. It's interesting that the author mentions his father but
not by name - not that I could see anyway - and after all, I just skipped
through it. [ps] |
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NAVY
DIVER
by Joseph Sidney Karneke
with Victor Boesen.
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Copyright 1959,
1962. First published in Great Britain 1962, Robert Hale Limited, London.
Hardcover, dust jacket
, 190 pages, a few mono plates throughout.
Far left image is Robert
Hale Ltd, London, edition. [ps]
Right image is probably
US edition.
Karneke was one of the US
Navy's greatest divers during World War 2, with salvage operations in the
Pacific and Australia. A great read and a valuable contribution to naval
diving history and the Pacific war.
(Image is of Karneke).
[ps-farleft]
Immediate left below:
NAVY DIVER
The Incredible Undersea
Adventures of a Master Diver.
Victor Boesen.
Reprint - it is still about
the diver, Karneke, but he does not get a look-in as far as authorship
is concerned. |
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ONE
MAN'S WAR
Robert C Sheats (U S Navy
Master Diver).
Subtitle: Diving as a Guest
of the Emperor 1942
Published by: Best Publishing,
USA in 1998.
Illustrated card covers
with 94 printed pages. Dimensions: 23 cms tall by 15 cms wide.
This is the author’s story
of his wartime experiences in the US Navy from 1941 until the end of the
war. He was a “Guest of the Emperor” when he was captured by the
Japanese in the Philippines in 1942 and spent 3 years and 4 months as a
prisoner. The contents of the book is based on his diary done at
the time and the experiences of the diving group he was involved with.
Written in 7 chapters, it starts on USS Canponus AS-9 (the Old Lady) and
concludes in chapter 7 in August 1945. [pt]
Further comment: Sheats
is a US Navy Master Diver captured in the Philippinesin 1942 in the early
years of World War 2. He was forced by the Japaneseto dive for silver worth
$8 million, dumped by the US forces off Corregidorwhen Japanese capture
was inevitable. His experience as a diver attemptingto survive and yet
to sabotage the Japanese war effort shows the desperationthat man has in
clinging to life. The author also provides a valuable insight into the
Vietnam war. A great read. [ps] |
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STARKEY'S
BOYS - The U.S. Salvage Navy and Navy Deep Sea Diving in the Hawaiian Islands.
Christopher P. LaVoie
Published by Authorhouse,
Bloomington, Illinois, USA. 2006
Softcover, 154 pages, no
index, mono photographs.
From the blurb: Deep diving
operations, rescues at sea and tearing up every port pulled into -
this was the life of the young and ready navy divers stationed on the USS
Reclaimer in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii during the early 1990's. The Reclaimer
was the navy's go anywhere and do anything vessel in the Pacific. In charge
of directing and supervising the roughshod deep sea divers on board was
master diver Ed Starkey. Starkey was a leather-skinned and gruff voiced
hard hat diver from the Vietnam era who pushed his men to get the job done
regardless of danger and uncertainty. Master diver Starkey led the Reclaimer
into salvage operations and open ocean rescues for many years. Starkey's
Boys is a sailor's true story of the navy's toughest training, deep sea
dive school, and most arduous duty, two years on the salvage/rescue ship
USS Reclaimer. From the dangerous streets of Panama to the bomb covered
landscape of Kahoolawe, the divers of the Reclaimer followed master diver
Ed Starkey across the oceans and back. Starkey's Boys is the true story
of navy diving in the Hawaiian Islands.
Okay - having read the book
I can only say the following:
There is no doubt that the
young men trained for navy diving and salvage work for the US Navy were
a tough lot, and you have to admire how they survived the initial training;
I wonder if any of the astronauts of the day could have lasted that first
day on ‘the ginder'. There is also no doubt that this is a pretty ordinary
book. The first half describes in somewhat interesting detail the disciplined
training of navy divers at Great Lakes near Chicago, and later at the navy
diving school in Hawaii; and the extraordinary undiciplined shenanigans
that the trainee divers got up to off duty. It would appear that if you
did not have a penchant for beer and a fast fist you just would not fit
in. It is subtlely argued that this macho attitude through a demonstration
that one had balls was a right of passage into the tough world of navy
diving. Not having experienced the Navy myself, I have no idea if this
is what is expected within the Australian Navy, but many aspiring divers
reading Starkey's Boys would surely be put of from following such
a career if they had at least half a brain in their head. We don't get
to meet Master Diver Starkey until half way through the book when the qualified
second-class diver/author is posted to the dive and salvage vessel Reclaimer
based in Hawaii. I was hoping from this point on that I would learn
a bit more about salvage diving, but I was disappointed. I did learn that
the Mark V hard hat was used only in training, and that the Mark 12 helmet,
or the Superlight 17 scuba rig, was used, predominantly for shallow water
operations. And I have a fairly good idea that the Reclaimer was an ancient
rust bucket and a hell-hole to bunk in. But there is nothing in the latter
part of the book to excite the reader, with much of the text describing
the on-shore boozing of the boys, which, frankly, I have no interest in
. Add to this the naieve writing, lack of editing, and poor photo reproductions
and you have a pretty ordinary book that only someone ‘who was there at
the time' would appreciate - a mind-jogger for a personal trip down memory
lane. [ps] |
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THE
NAKED WARRIORS
Commander Douglas Fane,
U.S.N.R., and Don Moore.
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Foreword by Ian
Fraser, VC.
Published by Allan Wingate
(Publishers) Ltd, 1957.
Hardcover, dustjacket, 223
pages, several pages of mono photographs.
Covers US Naval operations
in the Pacific War by the underwater demolision team and commandoes known
as the Naked Warriors.
[ps-farleft] |
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THE
U.S.FROGMEN OF WORLD WAR 2.
Wyatt Blassingame.
Published by Random House,
New York, in 1964.
Hardcover, dustjacket, 178
pages, maps and photographs.
Describes the daring WWII
exploits of the Underwater Demolition Teams- The U.S. Navy Frogmen. Most
of the photographs in the book are from the U.S. Navy.
(Cannot conform if it did
have a dust jacket, but the front board is is printed as shown.)
[ps] |
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THE
WEBFOOT WARRIORS; THE STORY OF UDT, THE U.S. NAVY's UNDERWATER DEMOLITION
TEAM. .
Herbert Best.
John Day Co. New York,
1962. |
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UNITED
STATES NAVY DIVER
Performance Under Pressure
Mark V.Lonsdale.
Full colour throughout,
large A4 format, hard laminted cover, 344 pages. .
This is diving at its most
extreme, conducted by men (as they all are) who are throughly trained,
disciplined and skilled in all aspects of underwater work. The lrge format
hardcover book does justice to their training and achivements - it is quite
an eye-opener. Contents includes the evolution of nvy diving, salvage and
diving, equipment, the exprimental diving unit, mobile diving, underwater
construction, special clearance teams, naval warfare - underater demolition
and SEAL teams. |
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US
NAVY SEALS IN ACTION.
Hans
Halberstadt.
Softcover,
144 pages.
SEALs
are tough and if you survive the training, youjoin an elite group of fighting
men, familiar with underwater, sea andland assault tactics. This large
format book shows the training, weaponsand equipment, techniques and specialist
skills such as explosives. Manycolour photographs showing the SEALS in
training.
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WEBFOOTED
WARRIORS;: A STORY OF A "FROGMAN" IN THE NAVY DURING WORLD WAR II
Edward T Higgins.
Exposition Press; 1st edition
1955.
Hardcover, 172 pages. |
