Table of Contents
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Preface
Introduction
USS Detroit: The Dashing “D”
USS Finch: The Ultimate Indignity
USS Dewey: The Whale-Struck
USS Gilmer: Chasing Subs in Peugeot 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: Navy Ships’ Condition
Appendix B: How Ships Get Their Names
Appendix C: US Navy Hull Designations
Appendix D: Poets’ Comments on the Tradition
Appendix E: Non-WWII Poems
References
Index
