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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... gun. At 1740airalarm sounded.Saw 15 or16 planes flying low in port area...Got underway andstood out. The real highlight of ... Guns” Picking, the chief gunner's mate. He clearly was disappointed that by nightfall the enemy hadn'tobliged ...
... gun. At 1740airalarm sounded.Saw 15 or16 planes flying low in port area...Got underway andstood out. The real highlight of ... Guns” Picking, the chief gunner's mate. He clearly was disappointed that by nightfall the enemy hadn'tobliged ...
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... gun” which President Roosevelt felt would add to Lanikai's legitimacy as a manofwar. Chief Engineer Wilcoxen, inside doorway, makes coffee in the galley. Before the first Filipino fighting cock had sounded off next morning, Lanikai was ...
... gun” which President Roosevelt felt would add to Lanikai's legitimacy as a manofwar. Chief Engineer Wilcoxen, inside doorway, makes coffee in the galley. Before the first Filipino fighting cock had sounded off next morning, Lanikai was ...
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... gun'l, lifted allthat equipment onboardbythetime thatengine wasstarted andthelinescastoff. Idon't know why we didn't come up with doublehernias. A great pillarof flameandsmoke arose froma French freighter anchored in Mariveles Bay, hit ...
... gun'l, lifted allthat equipment onboardbythetime thatengine wasstarted andthelinescastoff. Idon't know why we didn't come up with doublehernias. A great pillarof flameandsmoke arose froma French freighter anchored in Mariveles Bay, hit ...
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... gun shot astern. I had been assigned tothegunboatWake, in the Yangtze Patrol, and as U.S. forces pulled out of China ... guns trained ominouslyin their direction. Japaneseplanes zoomed overhead at almost masthead levelwhen the weather ...
... gun shot astern. I had been assigned tothegunboatWake, in the Yangtze Patrol, and as U.S. forces pulled out of China ... guns trained ominouslyin their direction. Japaneseplanes zoomed overhead at almost masthead levelwhen the weather ...
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... gun—an ancient threepounder of SpanishAmerican War vintage with a bright brass pedestal—already was being bolted to the ... guns, leftover from World War I,although the Presidenthad directed only one. Halfa dozen Insular Force* Filipino ...
... gun—an ancient threepounder of SpanishAmerican War vintage with a bright brass pedestal—already was being bolted to the ... guns, leftover from World War I,although the Presidenthad directed only one. Halfa dozen Insular Force* Filipino ...
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