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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... Manila, then Surabaya, and again at Tjilatjap, unquestionably saved from certain capture, and probable death, all who sailed in her and to those stalwart crewmen, Filipino and American, whose determination, loyalty, and knowhow brought ...
... Manila, then Surabaya, and again at Tjilatjap, unquestionably saved from certain capture, and probable death, all who sailed in her and to those stalwart crewmen, Filipino and American, whose determination, loyalty, and knowhow brought ...
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... Manila daysandher ultimate end. Alsovery helpfulhave been Honolulu'sBishop Museum, Mrs. MatildaDring of the San Francisco Maritime Museum, the British Ministry ofDefense's Naval Historical Branch, the Australian War Memorial, Captain ...
... Manila daysandher ultimate end. Alsovery helpfulhave been Honolulu'sBishop Museum, Mrs. MatildaDring of the San Francisco Maritime Museum, the British Ministry ofDefense's Naval Historical Branch, the Australian War Memorial, Captain ...
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... Manila across the bay to the distant horizon where the Cavite Navy Yard still smoldered after the devastating Japanese air raid of 10 December 1941. In what recently hadbeenoneofthebusiest harbors in the Far East not a ship rode at ...
... Manila across the bay to the distant horizon where the Cavite Navy Yard still smoldered after the devastating Japanese air raid of 10 December 1941. In what recently hadbeenoneofthebusiest harbors in the Far East not a ship rode at ...
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... Manila would be an open city, withno shooting back permissible. Twilight comes early in the tropics. During thelong night there was plenty of time to think. This Christmas Eve wasvery unlike one I hadspent just a decade ago as a young ...
... Manila would be an open city, withno shooting back permissible. Twilight comes early in the tropics. During thelong night there was plenty of time to think. This Christmas Eve wasvery unlike one I hadspent just a decade ago as a young ...
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... Manila was there, too. Those happy days of tencentavosadance girls and the cabarets—huge Santa Ana, racy Paranaque, andall the others—were only a memory. There would be no more liberty houndsto roundup after ginebra,thecheap, local ...
... Manila was there, too. Those happy days of tencentavosadance girls and the cabarets—huge Santa Ana, racy Paranaque, andall the others—were only a memory. There would be no more liberty houndsto roundup after ginebra,thecheap, local ...
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