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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... 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 additionto our lowlevel ...
... 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 additionto our lowlevel ...
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... Mariveles. Captain KennethE. Lowman,fleet medical officer, wason board,his projected hospital intheJai Alai Palace adead dream.The Navy ShorePatrol officer for Manila was there, too. Those happy days of tencentavosadance girls and the ...
... Mariveles. Captain KennethE. Lowman,fleet medical officer, wason board,his projected hospital intheJai Alai Palace adead dream.The Navy ShorePatrol officer for Manila was there, too. Those happy days of tencentavosadance girls and the ...
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... Mariveles quarantine pier. Thousandsof tonsof assorted military supplies hastily brought out from Manila the past week lay dumped helterskelter along amile of open beach. Take what you wanted!No requisitions. No accounting.In fact,no ...
... Mariveles quarantine pier. Thousandsof tonsof assorted military supplies hastily brought out from Manila the past week lay dumped helterskelter along amile of open beach. Take what you wanted!No requisitions. No accounting.In fact,no ...
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... Mariveles Bay, hit by Japanese bombersen routeto 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 ...
... Mariveles Bay, hit by Japanese bombersen routeto 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 ...
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