Not Yet Obsolete

I enjoyed Professor Elting E. Morison’s article “Inventing a Modern Navy” (June/July issue), but a training manual on repelling boarders should not be used as an example of an idea that was outmoded by the late nineteenth century. During World War II the destroyer escort USS Buckley was boarded by the crewmen of a U-boat she had just rammed. Most of the Germans were driven back by small-arms fire, improvised missiles, and even bare fists before their sub sank. Likewise, the crew of the USS Pueblo might have benefited from the study of the art of repelling boarders.