Midwatch in Verse - New Year's Deck Log Poetry of the United States Navy, 1941-1946

Naval deck logs require young officers to record mundane details of a ship's condition every few hours. According to a U.S. Navy tradition, the New Year's midwatch log--covering midnight to early morning of January 1--can be entered as poetry. Each chapter of this first book-length examination of midwatch poems presents verses written 1941-1946 aboard a ship engaged in combat during World War II, including celebrated warships like the USS Enterprise and nameless vessels like PC 1264. Historical overviews of the ships' operations, along with biographical sketches of the author(s), relate each poem to its moment in history.

List of contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface

Introduction

USS Detroit: The Dashing "D"

USS Finch: The Ultimate Indignity

USS Dewey: The ­Whale-Struck

USS Gilmer: Chasing Subs in Puget Sound

USS New Orleans: The Coconut Log Bow

USS Marblehead: The Long Journey Home

USS Russell: A Highly Decorated Lady

USS North Carolina: "Showboat"

USS Aylwin: Surviving the Hurricane

USS Casco: God Keep Our Ship

USS Allen: The Old Girl

USS Colorado: A Tale of Endurance

USS Murphy: The Luck of the Irish

USS Washington: Not Just Any Man Overboard

USS Buchanan: The Scrapperoos

USS Texas: Engage Until Neutralized

USS Lansdowne: The Lucky L

USS Dent: "There's Nothing Like a Dame"

USS Bush: A Brief and Tragic Glory

USS Ringgold: A New Slant on Bunghole

USS Mason: The Grand Experiment

USS PC 1264: An Inglorious Fate

USS Pennsylvania: "Old Falling Apart"

USS South Dakota: Battleship X

USS Ticonderoga: The Indestructible Captain Dixie

USS Idaho: Perdition to Our Axis Foes

USS Alabama: Very Well Done

USS Enterprise: The Big E

USS Huse: The Hunter Killer

Conclusion

Appendix A: Material Conditions in Navy Ships

Appendix B: How Ships Get Their Names

Appendix C: U.S. Navy Hull Designations in This Book

Appendix D: Candid Comments by Poets in the Poems

Appendix E: Non-World War II Poems

References

Index

About the author

David E. Johnson is an emeritus professor of psychology and a former president of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology. He has published articles, chapters, and books on the pedagogy of psychology. He lives in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, where he continues his research and writing on U.S. Naval history.Gary Guinn, emeritus professor of English, is the author of two novels, short fiction, and poetry. He served as a medical corpsman in the Naval Reserve from 1968 to 1974 and now lives in Siloam Springs, Arkansas.

Summary

Naval deck logs require young officers to record mundane details of a ship’s condition every few hours. According to a US Navy tradition, the New Year’s midwatch can be entered as poetry. Each chapter of this book-length examination of midwatch poems presents verses written 1941-1946 aboard a ship engaged in combat during World War II.

Product details

• Authors: Gary Guinn, David E. Johnson, Johnson David E.
• Publisher: Ingram Publishers Services
• Languages: English
• Age Recommendation: from age 18
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 05.03.2023
• EAN: 9781476689265
• ISBN: 978-1-4766-8926-5
• No. of pages: 249
• Dimensions: 178 mm x 254 mm x 13 mm
• Weight: 435 g
• Illustrations: Raster,schwarz-weiss
• Subjects: Fiction > Poetry, drama; Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative literary studies; USA, HISTORY / Military / Naval, POETRY / American / General, Naval forces & warfare, Second World War, Poetry by individual poets, United States of America, USA, c 1938 to c 1946 (World War Two period), c 1939 to c 1945 (including WW2), Naval forces and warfare, HISTORY / Wars & Conflicts / World War II / General, Poetry / poems by individual poets