The Shining Sea: David Porter and the Epic Voyage of the U.S.S. Essex during the War of 1812

摘要

This is George Daughan's third book dealing with the early Navy and its development. The first two, If by Sea: The Forging of the American Navy from the Revolution to the War of 1812 (2008) and 1812: The Navy's War (2011), emphasize the big picture. The Shining Sea focuses on one vessel and her captain. This is not a hagiographic study; rather it is a highly critical one. This David Porter "had outsized ambitions that could cloud his judgment." In a rather speculative psychological analysis, Daughan argues that Porter's service as the executive officer of the Philadelphia when she ran aground off the Tripoli coast and his subsequent 19-month imprisonment proved a searing experience that "deeply affected [him] in a way that would influence his decisions, particularly in battle, from then on." David Porter would not give up his ship no matter how overmatched she was.