Try out the Alexander Kent series, on Richard Bilitho. In my opinion they equal Hornblower. But the best is, "Master Mariner" by Nickolas Monserant
There are two sides to that story based on what I have read. The Russians claimed the Merchant Marine crews were a bit uncouth even by Russian standards. Can you imagine sailors acting like that.
On This Day In History
Birthdates which occurred on June 29:
1801 Frederic Bastiat (d.1850), French free-market economist, born in Bayonne.
“The state is the great fictitious entity in which everyone seeks to live at the expense of everyone else.”
1805 Hiram Powers US sculptor (Greek Slave)
1831 William Thomas Clark, Bvt Mjr General (Union volunteers), died in 1905
1858 George Washington Goethals engineer (built Panama Canal)
1861 William James Mayo surgeon/co-founder Mayo clinic in Minnesota
1863 James Harvey Robinson Ill, historian (Ordeal of Civilization)
1865 Shigechiyo Izumi achieved oldest authenticated age (120 y 237 d)
1876 Nellie Taylor Ross, 1st woman to serve as a gov (Wyoming, 1925-27)
1901 Nelson Eddy actor/baritone (Great Duets with Jeanette MacDonald)
1911 Prince Bernhard Germany, (Constort to Queen Juliana of Netherlands)
1912 John Toland, US, political writer (Rising Sun, Pulitzer 1971)
1919 Slim Pickens Kingsburg Calif, actor (Dr Strangelove, Blazing Saddles)
1929 Peter George US, light middleweight (Olympic-gold-1952)
1936 Harmon Killebrew baseball player (Minnesota Twins)
1944 Gary Busey Goose Creek Tx, actor (Buddy Holly Story, Star in Born)
1948 Fred Grandy Sioux City Iowa, actor (Gopher-Love Boat)/(Rep-R-Iowa)
1949 Dan Dierdorf NFL(dirtiest player in football), sportscaster (Monday Night Football)
1959 Larry Parham 4th victim of NYC's Zodiac killer (1st to die)
1972 Samantha Smith Houlton Mo, actress (Elizabeth-Lime Street)
1977 Tania Joy Gibson, Lake Barrington Ill, Miss America-Illinois (1997)
1993 Angela and Amy Lakeberg, US Siamese twin (separated on Aug 20th)
2002 Rosemary Clooney (74), Girl Singer "Come on-a My House"
2003 Buddy Hackett (78), comedian / film actor (It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963)
2003 Katharine Hepburn (b.1907), actress, dies ("Morning Glory" (1933); Pat and Mike (1952) "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" (1967); "The Lion in Winter" (1968); Rooster Cogburn (1975))
Deaths which occurred on June 29:
1784 Caesar Rodney, US judge/singer (Declar of Independence), dies at 55
1852 Henry Clay the great compromiser, dies at 75
1923 General JC Gomez Venezuala's 1st VP, assassinated
1941 Ignace Paderewski Polish statesman pianist, dies in NY at 80
1959 A Cecil Snyder Chief Justice of Puerto Rico, dies at 51
1967 Jayne Mansfield actress, dies in a car crash at 34
1978 Bob Crane actor (Hogan's Heroes), murdered at 59
1979 Lowell George rocker (Mothers of Invention. Little Feat), dies at 34
1981 Mohammed Hussein Beheshti, Iran ayatollah/politician, murdered
1992 Mohammed Boudiaf, president of Algeria, assassinated at 73
1995 Lana Turner, actress (Madame X), dies of cancer at 75
GWOT Casualties
Iraq
29-Jun-2004 3 | US: 3 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US Sergeant Alan David Sherman Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Corporal John H. Todd III Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Lance Corporal Patrick R. Adle Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
Afghanistan
A Good Day
http://icasualties.org/oif/ Data research by Pat Kneisler
Designed and maintained by Michael White
On this day...
1377 French invasion fleet lands at Rye England
1534 Jacques Cartier discovers Prince Edward Islands Canada
1540 English ex chancellor Thomas Cromwell sentenced as heretic
1613 Shakespeare's Globe Theater burns down
1746 Bonnie Prince Charlie fled in disguise to Isle of Skye
1767 British passes Townshend Revenue Act levying taxes on America (Strike 1)
1776 Mission Dolores founded by SF Bay
1776 Va state constitution adopted & Patrick Henry made governor
1854 Gadsden Purchase (parts of Az, NM) from Mexico for $10 million
1857 Battle at Chinhat (Indian rebel under Barkat Ahmed defeat British)
1858 Treaty of Algun, China cedes north bank of Amur River to Russia
1862 Day 5 of the 7 Days battle-Battle of Savage's Station
1863 George A. Custer (23) was appointed Union Brevet Brig-general
1863 Lee orders his forces to concentrate near Gettysburg, PN
1863 Very 1st First National Bank opens in Davenport, Iowa
1864 Grand Trunk Railway accident; 100 killed
1891 100ø F (San Fransisco, CA)
1897 Chicago beats Louisville 36-7 (baseball)
1899 Brazo River in Texas floods 12 miles wide causing $10 mil damage
1913 Beginning of the 2nd Balkan War (Bulgaria overthrows Greek/Serbian troops)
1916 Boeing aircraft flies for 1st time
1916 Sir Roger David Casement, Irish-born diplomat knighted by King George V in 1911, convicted of treason for his role in Ireland's Easter Rebellion, and sentenced to death
1929 1st high-speed jet wind tunnel completed Langley Field Ca
1931 109ø F (43ø C), Monticello, Florida (state record)
1936 Empire State Building emanates high definition TV-343 lines
1936 Pope Pius XI encyclical to US bishops "On motion pictures"
1937 Joseph-Armand Bombardier receives patent for snowmobile
1939 Dixie Clipper completes 1st commercial plane flight to Europe
1940 In the Batman Comics, mobsters rubbed out a circus highwire team known as the Flying Graysons, leaving their son Dick (Robin) an orphan.
1940 US passes Alien Registration Act requiring Aliens to register
1941 Nazi divisions in a surprise assault made sweeping advances toward Leningrad, Moscow, and Kiev.
1941 DiMaggio extends hitting streak to 42 breaking Sisler's record
1943 Germany begins withdrawing U-boats from North Atlantic in anticipation of the Allied invasion of Europe
1945 Ruthenia, formerly in Czechoslovakia, becomes part of Ukrainian SSR
1946 British arrest 2,700 Jews in Palestine as alleged terrorists...err I mean insurgents
1949 South Africa begins implementing apartheid; no mixed marriages
1952 1st aircraft carrier to sail around Cape Horn-Oriskany
1954 Atomic Energy Comm voted against reinstating Dr J Robert Oppenheimer
1955 The Soviet Union sends tanks to Pozan, Poland, to put down anti-Communist demonstrations
1955 Bill Haley and the Comets reached the top of the charts with "Rock Around the Clock"
1956 Charles Dumas, makes 1st high jump over 7' (2.13 m)-LA, Calif
1956 Federal interstate highway system act signed (42,500 mile network linking major urban centers.)
1959 Pope John XXIII encyclical "On truth, unity, & peace, in charity"
1961 Launch of Transit 4a, with 1st nuclear power supply (SNAP-3)
1962 1st flight Vickers (British Aerospace) VC-10 long-range airliner
1964 1st draft of Star Trek's pilot "The Cage" released
1964 Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed after 83-day filibuster by southern DEMOCRATS in Senate
1965 USAF Capt Joseph Henry Engle reaches 85,530 m in X-15
1966 US bombs fuel storage facilities near N Vietnamese cities
1967 Israel removes barricades, re-unifying Jerusalem
1967 Keith Richards is sentenced to 1 year in jail on drugs charge (Get outta here, I don't believe, Keith Richards, drugs...riiight)
1968 "Tip-Toe Thru' The Tulips With Me" by Tiny Tim (1932-1996), aka Herbert Khaury, peaked at #17.
1969 1st Jewish worship service at White House
1970 US ends 2 month military offensive into Cambodia
1971 Soyuz 11 docks with Salyut 1 for 22 days
1972 Supreme Court-death penalty usually was "cruel & unusual punishment"
1975 20.57 cm (8.10") of rainfall, Litchville, N. Dakota (state 24-hr rec)
1976 Seychelles gains independence from Britain
1977 Supreme Court ruled out death penalty for rapists of adults
1978 VP Walter F Mondale begins trip to Mid-East
1982 Voting Rights Act of 1965 extended
1984 USSR offers to start talking about banning SDI
1986 Sparky Anderson is 1st to win 600 games as manager in both leagues
1989 Susan Lucci loses the daytime emmy for 10th straight year
1991 President Bush, speaking to reporters in Kennebunkport, Maine, refused to rule out the possibility of renewed military action against Iraq, calling its interference with U-N inspectors “very disturbing.”
1992 The remains of Polish statesman Ignace Jan Paderewski, interred for five decades in the United States, were returned to his homeland in keeping with his wish to be buried only in a free Poland
1997 Odai Hussein imprisons and tortures Iraqi soccer team for losing world cup match
1999 A Turkish court convicted Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan of treason and sentenced him to death.
1999 Thousands of Serbs protest against Pres. Milosevic in Cacak, Serbia
Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"
Iowa : Independence Sunday (1776)(Sunday)
Amateur Radio Week (Day 3)
Honor America Days (thru 7-4)
US : Interstate Highway System Day (1956)
National Columnist's Day
National Tennis Month
Religious Observances
RC, Ang, Luth : Solemnity of SS Peter & Paul, apostles
Religious History
1757 Anglican clergyman and hymnwriter John Newton wrote ina letter: 'Whatever we may undertake with a sincere desire to promote His glory, we may comfortably pursue. Nothing is trivial that is done for Him.'
1810 In Bradford, Massachusetts, the first U.S. missionary society was organized: the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.
1875 The first 'holiness' conference opened at Keswick, England. Keswick conferences stress a non- charismatic, 'crisis' form of sanctification, in contrast to the older traditional view of Christian sanctification as being a lifelong 'process.'
1908 Birth of Cyrus H. Gordon, American Jewish archaeological scholar. Having taught Assyriology and Egyptology at Dropsie College in Philadelphia, his his technical writings include the 'Ugaritic Handbook' (1947).
1931 The Unevangelized Fields Mission was founded, in England. UFM missionaries today work primarily in Latin America, Europe and Africa, as well as in Haiti and Indonesia.
Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.
Man jailed in restraining order wedding
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SPOKANE, Wash. -- When Rachel Dunham took out a restraining order against her boyfriend, she didn't expect to be marrying him a short time later. So instead of honeymooning in Mexico, Rodney Tomsha sits in the Spokane County Jail, accused of violating the order by getting within two blocks of Dunham.
He tried to persuade a Spokane judge last week to lift the restraining order, but the judge refused.
The couple were married last Thursday in nearby Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, Spokane police Detective Stephanie Barkley said.
Police received a tip about a Saturday wedding reception at a Spokane mansion, waited until the reception was over and then arrested Tomsha, 49, police spokesman Dick Cottam said.
Dunham, 25, had obtained the order after two reports of domestic violence were investigated by Barkley last year. In addition, Dunham was arrested on June 17 for investigation of domestic violence against Tomsha, police said.
Another court hearing seeking removal of the protection order was scheduled for Wednesday.
(There's a lesson in here somewhere....I think)
Thought for the day :
"Conform and be dull."
