Ken W. Sayers, US Navy Patrol Vessels, a History and Directory from World War I to Today by Ian Dew

The purpose of the work is to tell the story of patrol craft in American service: to bring proper recognition to them and their crews and to dispel the perception of patrol craft as "homogeneous, colorless and unimpressive ships."Patrol vessels are diverse: "At one end of the spectrum, some of these vessels were no bigger than 31 feet in length and eight tons in displacement, while at the other end some were over 300 feet long and 2,400 tons displacement" (11).The focus is to be on the individual vessel and the provenance of every hull is to be accounted for in each stage of its existence.The bulk of the book is a directory arranged by category or official designation in US Navy service with historical notes on major classes and important vessels.Jane's Fighting Ships 1944/5, describes the system for classification succinctly: "Every vessel on the Navy List is given a distinctive serial number, prefaced by initials denoting the category to which she belongs" (439).Categories are arranged alphabetically from PACV (Patrol Air Cushion Vehicle) and PBR (Patrol Boat River) through to SC (Submarine Chaser).Each chapter presents information on the development and service of the major classes within the category.Under the heading "Roster," each vessel is listed with its variety of names and notes on provenance throughout its lifetime.Coverage also includes vessels in civilian and foreign naval service before and after service in the USN and final disposition."Specifications" includes basic information on dimensions, propulsion, and armament of important vessels.Detailed accounts of notable vessels are presented in a section of frequently personal histories headed "Selected Summary Histories."It is through the stories of vessels like USS Panay and USS Intensity that the major events and currents of history are viewed.In most cases, important categories or vessel types have a chapter devoted to them, within which succeeding classes are arranged chronologically.Gunboats and submarine-chasers merit more than a single chapter.The gunboats category, PG, is subdivided into separate chapters: "Prewar," "World War II," "Temptress-Class," which includes Canadian-built modified Flower class corvettes.In many places the relationship between the US Coast Guard and the US Navy is touched upon but never described.As an example, the exploits of vessels like the cutter Campbell deserve mention at least.In addition, there are chapters on "River Gunboats" and, curiously, "Nineteenth Century Gunboats," some of which began as sailing vessels, predating use of USN-assigned categories.The Submarine Chaser category

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