Featured books:

LCDR Don Sheppard was the Isbell's XO from 1970-71 and later went on to command his own destroyer. The first half of Destroyer Skipper concerns his time as XO of a ficticious destroyer but is clearly patterned after his service aboard Isbell and the 1971-72 WestPac cruise..

Destroyer Skipper: A Memoir of Command at Sea ~ Don Sheppard

Bluewater Sailor: The Memoirs of a Destroyer Officer ~ Don Sheppard

Riverine: A Brown-Water Sailor in the Delta, 1967 ~ Don Sheppard

Jarhead ~ Anthony Swofford

A witty, profane, down-in-the-sand account of the war many only know from CNN, this former sniper's debut is a worthy addition to the battlefield memoir genre. There isn't a bit of heroic posturing as Swofford describes the sheer terror of being fired upon by Iraqi troops; the elite special forces warrior freely admits wetting himself once rockets start exploding around his unit's encampment. But the adrenaline of battle is fleeting, and Swofford shows how it's in the waiting that soldiers are really made. With blunt language and bittersweet humor, he vividly recounts the worrying, drinking, joking, lusting and just plain sitting around that his troop endured while wondering if they would ever put their deadly skills to use.

On Seas of Glory: Heroic Men, Great Ships, and Epic Battles of the American Navy ~ John F. Lehman

A former secretary of the navy, Lehman (Command of the Seas and Making War) presents the epic story of the American navy from its origins during the American Revolution to the present.

Modern U.S. Navy Destroyers ~ Stephen F. Tomajczyk

Readers are given up-close views of each of the U.S. Navy's two destroyer classes-Spruance and Arleigh Burke-and the 21st Century class destroyers currently under development. Each type's origins, armaments, and battle histories are accompanied by spec tables and exclusive color photography depicting the sheer power and capabilities of the vessels as they partake in exercises around the globe. In addition, there are views of bridges, control rooms, berthing areas, ammunition magazines, and control rooms. An appendix lists hull names, numbers, and commissioning dates for each of the 31 Spruance and 28 Arleigh Burke destroyers.

The Navy ~ W.J.Holland (Editor)

President George Bush: For all of us who love the United States Naval Service, 'The Navy' is a compelling and fascinating read.

Admiral James L. Holloway III, 20th Chief of Naval Operations: This book is terrific! 'The Navy' represents a substantial effort to showcase our naval heritage over 225 years.

The Yard: Building a Destroyer at the Bath Iron Works ~ Michael S. Sanders / Hardcover / 253 Pages / November 1999 / Harpercollins

Michael S. Sanders describes the birth of a ship with the love of a parent, relating how the naval destroyer USS Donald Cook was "assembled over four years piece by piece, steel plate by steel plate, from the first half-moon slices of keel to topmost radar mast, almost by hand." The Yard is a land-based tale focusing on the thousands of men and women in Bath, Maine, who practice the old craft of shipbuilding. Their business has adapted itself to modern ways, but Sanders intriguingly shows how ancient Phoenicians would nevertheless recognize important parts of today's construction process. Sanders spends plenty of time explaining what goes into making a ship: the engineering, the materials, and the labor. He also tells of an industry in peril, as American shipyards compete against foreign builders whose governments subsidize their work. Yet The Yard is ultimately about ordinary people who build: "electricians, pipefitters, welders, braziers, tinknockers, riggers, anglesmiths, straighteners, blasters, and shipfitters" plus "legions of naval architects, draftsmen, and marine engineers." The Yard may lack the dazzle of Blind Man's Bluff and its stories of submarine espionage, but it will hold a similarly strong attraction for readers drawn to human endeavor on the open sea and what makes it possible. --John J. Miller, Amazon.com

South Pacific Destroyer : The Battle for the Solomons from Savo Island to Vella Gulf ~ Russell Sydnor Crenshay / Hardcover / 336 Pages / September 1998

The naval actions around the Solomon Islands were a series of hard-fought actions between two well-matched opponents. The Japanese ability to fight aggressively at night challenged the U.S. Navy. Eventually, increased tactical ability joined with an advantage in radar allowed the Americans to defeat the Japanese, but as Crenshaw shows, it was not easy. The pleasant surprise in this book is the emphasis the author (a former gunnery officer on the USS MAURY) puts on the effectiveness and use of weapons and fire control systems. His narrative flows, and shows the reader the many tasks destroyers were called upon to do. I don't get a real personal feel for Mr. Crenshaw, to me the biggest drawback of an otherwise-admirable work. Good set of maps! Recommended to those appreciating naval history, the Pacific Campaigns in WW2, and destroyers.

Tin Can Sailor : Life Aboard the USS Sterett, 1939-1945 ~ C. Raymond Calhoun / Hardcover / Published 1993

A narrative account of the Sterett and her 800 sailors. Calhoun was a junior officer serving on the World War II destroyer from 1939 to April 1943, when he was wounded off Guadalcanal. The author supplements his own experiences with interviews of officers and enlisted men, action reports, ship logs, and diaries. He vividly describes the Sterett's surface actions, such as the Third Battle of Savo Island and the Vella Gulf action. A roster of the ship's personnel from August 1939-November 1945 is included. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Slow Dance to Pearl Harbor : A Tin Can Ensign in Prewar America ~ William J. Ruhe / Hardcover / Published 1995

Evoking Mister Roberts, The Winds of War, and The Caine Muntiny--except for the fact that it is a true story--Slow Dance to Pearl Harbor offers a fascinating, colorful description of life as it really was in an innocent and naive America before the first bombs fell. Ruhe is the author of War in the Boats.

United States Destroyer Operations in World War Two ~ Theodore Roscoe / Hardcover / Published 1953

Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II Francis E. McMurtrie (Editor), Francis E. McCurtie / Hardcover / Published 1994

Encompassing more than six thousand warships from all the countries involved in World War II, this extensively illustrated reference provides complete statistics, descriptions, and specifications for battleships,aircraft carriers, destroyers, and more.

DD 522 : Diary of a Destroyer : The Action Saga of the USS Luce from the Aleutian and Philippine Campaigns to Her Sinking off Okinawa ~ Ron Surels / Unknown Binding (Special Order)

Destroyer Squadron 23 : Combat Exploits of Arleigh Burke's Gallant Force (Bluejacket Books Series) ~ Ken Jones / Paperback / Published 1997

Dangerous Sea : Memoirs of a Sailor Aboard a Destroyer During WWII ~ David L. Williams / Paperback / Published 1998 (Special Order)

Relive the landing of the young marines on the hot sands of Iwo Jima as they face almost certain death. Above the thunder and smoke of the big guns in this immense struggle, witness with pride as the American flag is raised triumphantly over Mt. Suribachi. Then become part of the last big battle of the war at Okinawa as the full fury of Japanese suicide planes, the fearsome kamikaze, crash into the American warships and explode in flaming infernos.

Blood on the Sea : American Destroyers Lost in World War II ~ Robert Sinclair Parkin / Hardcover / Published 1997

Seventy-one U. S. Destroyers were lost in the Second World War. Blood On The Sea describes each event, taking the reader on a breathtaking tour of American military action, on a multitude of fronts and on both sides of the globe.

On Board the USS Mason : The World War II Diary of James A. Dunn ~ James A. Dunn(Editor), Mansel G. Blackford (Editor) / Hardcover / Published 1996

Pacific Odyssey : History of the USS Steele During WWII ~ Frank W. Bates, Walbrook D. Swank / Textbook Binding / Published 1998

South Pacific Destroyer : The Battle for the Solomons from Savo Island to Vella Gulf ~ Russell Sydnor Crenshaw / Hardcover / Published 1998

Joining The War At Sea 1939-1945 ~ Captain USNR , Franklyn E. Dailey Jr. / Paperback / Published 1998

Told from the perspective of a gunnery officer on a WW II 1630 ton destroyer, the USS Edison DD 439, covers action events in North Atlantic convoys and in five assault landings, Casablanca, Sicily, Salerno, Anzio, and Southern France. This is not a ship's history but the story about destroyermen, merchantmen, transport sailors, assault force soldiers and their adversary, wolfpacks, the Wehrmacht and the Luftwaffe.

Inchon to Wonsan : From the Deck of a Destroyer in the Korean War ~ James Edwin Alexander / Hardcover / Published 1996

Corvettes of the Royal Canadian Navy : 1939-1945 ~ Mark Milner, et al / Hardcover / Published 1993

Special Order Books

Destroyer Escorts in Action (Warships, No 11) Al Adcock, Don Greer (Illustrator) / Paperback / Published 1997 (Special Order)

Destroyer Escort Sailors Vol 1 Destroyer Escort Sailors Assn. / Hardcover / Published 1997 (Special Order)

Destroyer Escort Sailors Vol 2 Hardcover / Published 1997 (Special Order)

Destroyer Escort Sailors Vol 3 Hardcover / Published 1997 (Special Order)

Destroyers, Frigates and Corvettes - The World Market (Jane's Special Reports) Hardcover / Published 1996 (Special Order)

The Buckley-Class Destroyer Escorts Bruce Hampton Franklin / Hardcover / Published 1999 (Not Yet Published-Available May, 1999)