Cruise of the Lanikai: Incitement to WarIn early December 1941 in the Philippines, a young Navy ensign named Kemp Tolley was given his first ship command, an old 76-foot schooner that had once served as a movie prop in John Ford's "The Hurricane." Crewed mostly by Filipinos who did not speak English and armed with a cannon that had last seen service in the Spanish-American War, the Lanikai was under top-secret presidential orders to sail south into waters where the Japanese fleet was thought to be. Ostensibly the crew was to spy on Japanese naval movements, but to Tolley it was clear that their mission was to create an incident that would provoke war. Events overtook the plan, however, when Pearl Harbor was bombed before the Lanikaicould get underway. When Bataan and Corregidor fell, she was ordered to set sail for Australia and became one of the few U.S. naval vessels to escape the Philippines. In this book Tolley tells the saga of her great adventure during these grim, early days of the war and makes history come alive as he regales the reader with details of the operation and an explanation of President Roosevelt's order. Tolley's description of their escape in Japanese warship-infested waters ranks with the best of sea tales, and few will be able to forget the Lanikai's 4,000-mile, three-month odyssey. |
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... Corregidor and Mariveles.USS Tanager presenteduswitha 50caliber machine gun. At 1740airalarm sounded.Saw 15 or16 planes flying low in port area...Got underway andstood out. The real highlight of the day hadbeen the magnificent ...
... Corregidor and Mariveles.USS Tanager presenteduswitha 50caliber machine gun. At 1740airalarm sounded.Saw 15 or16 planes flying low in port area...Got underway andstood out. The real highlight of the day hadbeen the magnificent ...
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... Corregidor, where Admiral Rockwell was waiting. Keith wouldridein Lanikai, in case Tanager took a bomb on the way out. At 9:10 A.M., crates of officegear and 25odd “refugees” aboard, Lanikai stoodout for Mariveles. Captain KennethE ...
... Corregidor, where Admiral Rockwell was waiting. Keith wouldridein Lanikai, in case Tanager took a bomb on the way out. At 9:10 A.M., crates of officegear and 25odd “refugees” aboard, Lanikai stoodout for Mariveles. Captain KennethE ...
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... Corregidor were taken aboard. At 5:30 P.M., we tied up at “the Rock,” where Keith immediately took off to join Adair in assailing Admiral Rockwell for permission tosail south. Forty minutes later, outof breath, they were back at the ...
... Corregidor were taken aboard. At 5:30 P.M., we tied up at “the Rock,” where Keith immediately took off to join Adair in assailing Admiral Rockwell for permission tosail south. Forty minutes later, outof breath, they were back at the ...
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... Corregidor, Lanikai lay to off the Inshore Patrol station shipwhile goodbyes andthereason therefor wereshouted across in the deepening twilight. Next stopwasthe Mariveles quarantine pier. Thousandsof tonsof assorted military supplies ...
... Corregidor, Lanikai lay to off the Inshore Patrol station shipwhile goodbyes andthereason therefor wereshouted across in the deepening twilight. Next stopwasthe Mariveles quarantine pier. Thousandsof tonsof assorted military supplies ...
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... Corregidor. Wepicked up oneofthe drums of gasoline shehad jettisoned. Tied up closeunder the Mariveles cliffs, the old submarine tender Canopus, too slow to run for it,had lumbered out from Manila on Christmas Day, in conformity with ...
... Corregidor. Wepicked up oneofthe drums of gasoline shehad jettisoned. Tied up closeunder the Mariveles cliffs, the old submarine tender Canopus, too slow to run for it,had lumbered out from Manila on Christmas Day, in conformity with ...
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