Playships of the World: The Naval Diaries of Admiral Dan Gallery, 1920-1924 (Studies in Maritime History)
"In the Roaring Twenties the U.S. Navy roared too, sending its ships and men abroad to show the flag. Outgoing, witty, and observant, Dan Gallery plunges us into an ebullient swirl of socializing and sightseeing. With a girl on his arm and a lifted glass, he shows us the exotic populace of Constantinople and the religious complications of old Jerusalem. At the same time, Gallery was a serious young naval officer who would later become an admiral, famous for his capture of U-505 in 1944. Here we meet him as a midshipman competing in the Olympics and then as an ensign when he deploys to Europe and the Near East. Robert Shenk's expert editing and commentary, along with maps and photos, enliven this fresh account of naval life between the world wars. There is nothing else like it."--C. Herbert Gilliland, author of Voyage to a Thousand Cares: Master's Mate Lawrence with the African Squadron, 1844-1846, and A Navy Flight Surgeon in the Sands of Sheba"Shenk has done a masterful job editing Dan Gallery's diaries from his extended goodwill tours in European waters and competition in the 1920 Olympics. Through Gallery's accessible and winsome prose, readers gain valuable insight into the lives of naval officers in the interwar years, notably concerning the importance of athletics, the impact of Prohibition on the navy in international waters, the nature of racial and gender stereotypes of the era, and the effects of austerity measures on the careers of junior officers. Gallery emerges as a complex, often conflicted character as he confronts temptations of flesh and drink as well as the beauty and awe of foreign ports. Playships of the World is an important contribution to early-twentieth-century naval historiography."--Donald A. Yerxa, author of Admirals and Empire: The United States Navy and the Caribbean, 1898-1945, and editor of Historically Speaking