Following all the hoopla over the recent 50th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, we need to remind ourselves that there are still many other aspects of naval and maritime history to be discussed, even if they don’t involve World War II. In April of this year, for instance, will be the 80th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. The loss of the great liner on her maiden voyage still evokes interest and controversy. Two of our authors, Craig McLean and David Eno, attempt to clear the name of Captain Stanley Lord, the much-maligned master of the Californian. They argue that first impressions are lasting ones, even though such impressions in this case resulted from what was almost a kangaroo court. Our Museum Report feature in this issue discusses another legacy of the Titanic, the artifacts that still survive all these years afterward.
We are not, of course, slighting the anniversary events from World War II. In this issue we have an article by Alan Payne about the Battle of Sunda Strait, nearly the last gasp for the Allied forces in the Far East as the Japanese onslaught rolled on virtually unimpeded during the opening months of the war. One bright spot in the gloom was the performance of such fighter pilots as Butch O’Hare and Jimmy Thach. An excerpt from the late Admiral Thach’s oral history gives the reader his impressions of the tactical innovations needed to counter the superior Japanese Zero.
Two features in the issue involve an officer whose name remains controversial, the late Admiral Hyman Rickover. Captain Richard Laning, first skipper of the submarine Seawolf (SSN-575) tells of the difficulties with the sodium-cooled reactor in the ship, and Captain John Crawford explains the rationale for the notorious Rickover interviews.
The attendance at the Naval Institute-Nimitz Museum-Arizona Memorial symposium in December was gratifying. The enthusiastic turnout demonstrated the great appeal of a thorough discussion of the events connected with the landmark attack on Pearl Harbor. The Naval Institute will be involved in two more symposia in coming months. On 26-27 March in San Antonio the topic will be “1942 ... issue in Doubt.” On 7-8 May at Pensacola will be “A Coral Sea Retrospective” and “Desert Storm Lessons.” In addition, as part of the annual meeting for 1992, the Naval Institute will hold a seminar in Annapolis on 24 April concerning the site of Christopher Columbus’s landing in the New World 500 years ago.
We thank all of you who called or wrote to express appreciation for the special Pearl Harbor commemorative issue. All told, we printed more than 40,000 copies of the issue, including those for subscribers and the ones destined for single-copy sales in museum gift shops and on newsstands. This is a new high-water mark for Naval History. With your continuing support, we hope for an even greater upward trend.