Naval Operations Including Diplomatic Background from April to September 6, 1804; Naval Documents Related to the United States Wars with the Barbary Powers, Volume IV
Washington, D.C. U. S. Government Printing Office, 1942. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. x, [2], 587, [1] pages. Cover has slight wear and soiling. Includes Preface, Illustrations, Four folding maps. Index to Sources, Naval Operations, Wars with Barbary Powers, several black and white illustrations. Also contains index. Published under Direction of The Honorable Frank Knox, Secretary of the Navy. This is volume IV of a six volume set. This fourth volume of documentary source material related to the wars with the Barbary States early in the nineteenth century covers naval operations from April 1804 to September 6, 1804. Sufficient diplomatic correspondence is also included to indicate the political background and its close connection with the naval operations. Outstanding among the events dealt with herein are the series of vigorous attacks on Tripoli made by the squadron under the redoubtable Commodore Edward Preble. Preble had to depend largely upon the good will of the Neopolitan and British governments for the use of bases at Syracuse, Malta, and Gibraltar, and for other essential aid in the matter of supplies and equipment. The benefits of these experiences were largely responsible for the subsequent naval efficiency and success in the War of 1812, and became traditional. Commodore Dudley Wright Knox (21 June 1877 – 11 June 1960) was an officer in the United States Navy during the Spanish–American War and World War I. He was also a prominent naval historian, who for many years oversaw the Navy Department's historical office, now named the Naval History and Heritage Command. During the Spanish–American War he served aboard the screw steamer Maple, a tender, in Cuban waters. He commanded the gunboats Albay and Iris during the Philippine–American War of 1899-1902 and the latter during the Chinese Boxer Rebellion of 1899-1901. He then commanded three of the Navy's first destroyers: Shubrick, Wilkes and Decatur, before commanding the First Torpedo Flotilla. During the 1907-1909 cruise of the "Great White Fleet", sent around the world by President Theodore Roosevelt, he served as ordnance officer of the battleship Nebraska (BB-14). He attended the Naval War College's two-year course in 1912–13, and after graduation became the aide to Captain William Sims, commanding the Atlantic Torpedo Flotilla. In 1915 Knox became a leading figure in developing naval operational doctrine by publishing an influential article in the U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings. He served as Fleet Ordnance Officer in both Atlantic and Pacific, served in the Office of Naval Intelligence, and commanded the Guantanamo Bay Naval Station. In November 1917 he joined the staff of Admiral William Sims, Commander of U.S. Naval Forces in European Waters, and earned the Navy Cross for "distinguished service" serving as Aide in the Planning Section, and later in the Historical Section. He was promoted to Captain on 1 February 1918. After returning to the United States in March 1919, he served for a year on the faculty of the Naval War College, when he became a key figure on the Knox-King-Pye Board that examined professional military education. In 1920 Knox first began his work as a naval publicist, serving as naval editor of the Army and Navy Journal until 1923. He became the naval correspondent of the Baltimore Sun from 1924 to 1946, and naval correspondent of the New York Herald Tribune in 1929. Transferred to the Retired List of the Navy on 20 October 1921, he continued on active duty, simultaneously serving as Officer in Charge, Office of Naval Records and Library, and as Curator for the Navy Department. Knox played a key role in setting up the Naval Historical Foundation. Early in World War II he was assigned additional duty as Deputy Director of Naval History. For a quarter of a century his leadership inspired diligence, efficiency, and initiative while he guided, improved, and expanded the Navy's archival and historical operations. His personal connections to President Roosevelt, Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King, and other senior leaders in the Navy Department allowed him to play an instrumental role behind the scenes in the years leading up to and during World War II. Advanced to Commodore on 2 November 1945, he was awarded the Legion of Merit for "exceptionally meritorious conduct" while directing the correlation and preservation of accurate records of the U.S. naval operations in World War II, thus protecting this vital information for posterity. Condition: Very good.
Keywords: Naval Operations, Barbary Powers, Edward Preble, Tripoli, Isaac Hull, William Bainbridge, Samuel Barron, U.S. Constitution, Stephen Decatur, Gunboats, Tobias Lear, John Rodgers, Richard Somers
[Book #81631]
Price: $175.00