Now available in paperback, this book traces the complete story of the Missouri from her keel-laying in 1941, her participation in the Japanese surrender in 1945, and her contribution to the Persian Gulf War. Through extensive interviews and research with records from the Naval Heritage and History Command, National Archives, Harry S. Truman Library, and other repositories, author Paul Stillwell has produced an engrossing portrait of the ship and her crew. With a detailed chronology of the ship's legendary career, dozens of human interest stories, and hundreds of photographs and drawings, Battleship Missouri serves as a fine tribute to one of the great ships of the modern era.

Battleship Missouri: An Illustrated History

History

Stillwell USNR (Ret.), Paul L

Americas

Naval_Institute_Press

A Navy pioneer, Vice Adm. Samuel Gravely was the first African American to be commissioned an officer in the U.S. Navy, the first to command a Navy ship, the first to command a fleet, and the first to become an admiral. In this memoir, co-written by the noted naval historian Paul Stillwell, he describes his life from boyhood in Richmond, Virginia, through his enlisted service on a World War II submarine chaser, to later tours of duty at sea and ashore. Denied housing and even jailed for impersonating an officer, he recounts efforts to overcome both cultural and institutional obstacles of racism. In 2009, the Navy named a guided missile destroyer in his honor.

Trailblazer: The U.S. Navy's First Black Admiral

Biographies & Memoirs

Gravely, Estate of Samuel L.

Community & Culture

The tragic sight of the USS Arizona burning after the attack on Pearl Harbor is etched in the collective memory of the United States citizens that lived through that infamous day. The ship sustained more losses in one day than any other ship in the U.S. Navy's history--1,177 men. Now available in paperback, Battleship Arizona describes in detail the battleship's twenty-five-year career, including the attack at Pearl Harbor, via the riveting stories of her survivors. Paul Stillwell draws on nearly one hundred interviews of former crewmen and countless official documents to present a full history of the famous warship.

Battleship Arizona: An Illustrated History

Product Description 
This is the first-ever biography of Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee Jr., who served a key role during World War II in the Pacific. Recognizing the achievements and legacy of one of the war's top combat admirals has been long overdue until now.\nBattleship Commander explores Lee's life from boyhood in Kentucky through his eventual service as commander of the fast battleships from 1942 to 1945. Paul Stillwell draws on more than 150 first-person accounts from those who knew and served with Lee from boyhood until the time of his death. Said to be down to earth, modest, forgiving, friendly, and with a wry sense of humor, Lee eschewed the media and, to the extent possible, left administrative details to others. Stillwell relates the sequential building of a successful career, illustrating Admiral Lee's focus on operational, tactical, and strategic concerns. During his service in the Navy Department from 1939 to 1942, Lee prepared the U.S. Navy for war at sea, and was involved in inspecting designs for battleships, cruisers, aircraft carriers, and destroyers. He sent observers to Britain to report on Royal Navy operations during the war against Germany and made plans to send an action team to mainland China to observe conditions for possible later Allied landings there. Putting his focus on the need to equip U.S. warships with radar and antiaircraft guns, Lee was one of the few flag officers of his generation who understood the tactical advantage of radar, especially during night battles.\nIn 1942 Willis Lee became commander of the first division of fast battleships to operate in the Pacific. During that service, he commanded Task Force 64, which achieved a tide-turning victory in a night battle near Guadalcanal in November 1942. Lee missed two major opportunities for surface actions against the Japanese. In June 1944, in the Marianas campaign, he declined to engage because his ships were not trained adequately to operate together in surface battles. In October 1944, Admiral William Halsey's bungled decisions denied Lee's ships an opportunity for combat.\nContinuing his career of service near the end of the war, Lee, in the summer of 1945, directed anti-kamikaze research efforts in Casco Bay, Maine. While Lee's wartime successes and failures make for compelling reading, what is here in this biography is a balanced look at the man and officer. 
 Review 
"Compelling reading ... [and] a balanced look at the man and officer." 
--Virtual Mirage\n"Paul Stillwell writings on any World War II naval subject produced is an absolute must read for anyone interested in the field. His life of Willis Lee is one of the most anticipated books of the season and will deserve the close attention of anybody who cares about the U.S. Navy in the Pacific during World War II and its flowering as a war-winner. His work lives and breathes as a testament to the professionalism and rigors of naval operational arts and the spectacular ends which they can be put." 
-James D. Hornfischer, author of​ Neptune's Inferno​ and The Fleet at Flood Tide\n"A fascinating description of a true naval hero of the Second World War, whose combat experiences in fast battleships and early understanding of radar became part of the DNA of the surface Navy. Paul Stillwell brings a lifetime of experience as a naval historian to bear in this well written and timely biography." 
--Adm. James Stavridis, 16th Supreme Allied Commander of NATO and author of The Sailor's Bookshelf: Fifty Books to Know the Sea\n"In 
Battleship Commander, Paul Stillwell brings to life one of the U.S. Navy's most unusual admirals of WWII. Shunning the spotlight, Willis A. Lee Jr. fashioned a quiet leadership style that produced momentous results. Stillwell has sketched a rich portrait of a unique admiral who doesn't fit the stereotype of an admiral." 
--Elliot Carlson, author of Joe Rochefort's War: The Odyssey of the Codebreaker Who Outwitted Yamamoto at Midway\n"Finally, a biography o

Battleship Commander: The Life of Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee Jr.

Leaders & Notable People

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Stillwell USNR (Ret.), Paul L. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Stillwell USNR (Ret.), Paul L

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Stillwell USNR (Ret.), Paul L. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Battleship Missouri: An Illustrated History

Trailblazer: The U.S. Navy's First Black Admiral

Battleship Arizona: An Illustrated History

Battleship Commander: The Life of Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee Jr.