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by David Doyle.
Hardback (Horizontal: 9.3×9.3 inches). 144 pages. 2025.
Subtitle: Formerly Known as USCGC Taney
The US built seven cutters for the US Coast Guard (USCG) from 1935 to 1936. As the USCG was under the Treasury Department at the time, these seven ships were named after former Treasury Dept. secretaries. Number 37 was named for Sec. Roger B. Taney. The ships were transferred to the US Navy on Nov. 3, 1941.
The Taney was in Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 and fired AA. The next day, she was patrolling outside Pearl Harbor and dropped depth charges. She saw service in the Pacific Theater until 1943, when she was sent back to the US for refit.
The ship ran a number of convoys across the Atlantic Ocean and into the Mediterranean Sea. In 1944, she was converted to an Amphibious Command Ship and sent back to the Pacific, this time for the invasion of Okinawa.
Post war, she was converted back to a cutter and performed routine patrol work. She was converted to a weather monitoring ship for a while. She was mobilized again for the Vietnam War and intercepted 1,000 vessels in patrols off the Vietnamese coast. In 1989, she was turned over to Baltimore, MD, as a historic harbor museum ship. Her last commander was named Winston G. Churchill.
The book contains 89 color photos and 158 black and white photos. Specs are in the appendices, including a chart showing weaponry changes and the year performed.
Another fine volume in the Legends of Warfare series.
Enjoyed it.
— Reviewed by Russ Lockwood
