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Jane's Naval Review: 5th Year of Issue
176 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1986
About the author
John Moore
644 books16 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name.
Other authors publishing under this name are:
John Moore, US SF & fantasy writer
John Moore, languages
John Moore, British author and pioneer conservationist
John Moore
John Moore, Scottish physician and writer
John Moore, English clergyman of Puritan views
Other authors publishing under this name are:
John Moore, US SF & fantasy writer
John Moore, languages
John Moore, British author and pioneer conservationist
John Moore
John Moore, Scottish physician and writer
John Moore, English clergyman of Puritan views
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 9, 2026
'Jane's Naval Review,' Fifth Year of Issue, would be boring and horribly dated to most readers. It was a nice Tiger Cruise for this old sailor, reminding me of the good old days of the Cold War, when we war hawks thought we knew who the bad guys were. Ah, memories.
Well, I'm kind of kidding. This edition was published in 1986, just a year or so after my older brother got out of the Navy and a few years before I joined. As such, the vessels, world issues and potential enemies seem familiar to me. I knew the American ships discussed, or knew of them. I read of Reagan's push for a 600-ship Navy, and was a little sad that that plan didn't quite work out. The cover of the book shows an Iowa-class battleship firing a broadside, itself a sign of the times as four such battleships were upgraded with close-in weapon systems (CIWS), Harpoon and Tomahawk missile launchers and returned to the expanding fleet to counter Soviet battle cruisers.
The book is a series of essays, some about rather technical matters like emerging torpedo systems, others about the dangers of the decline of Western navies, notably that of Great Britain, Canada and Australia, as the Soviets, Chinese and other navies continued to improve and grow. It is strange that those problems remain even after the death of the Soviet Union. Some of that nostalgia is probably due to the greater dangers of our unstable age.
The articles on clashes over the Artic and disagreements between supposed allies over fishing rights and icebreaker passages are interesting, and added variety to the book. One of the authors took Canada to task for letting their Navy fall to utter helplessness even as it bickered with the US over our icebreakers setting new exploration and speed records in the ice-encumbered north. Merchant marine stocks are also falling fast, apparently, and that never gets fixed. This book also followed the Falklands War, which gave several writers aspects to study and critique.
Despite how much danger our US Navy and world faced at the time, I remember the optimism and pride I felt during my enlistment. We knew we were ready to face our well known enemy.
The immediate aftermath of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the USSR gave me hope. I could not then forsee how our own state department would make a hash of things. Alas.
Well, I'm kind of kidding. This edition was published in 1986, just a year or so after my older brother got out of the Navy and a few years before I joined. As such, the vessels, world issues and potential enemies seem familiar to me. I knew the American ships discussed, or knew of them. I read of Reagan's push for a 600-ship Navy, and was a little sad that that plan didn't quite work out. The cover of the book shows an Iowa-class battleship firing a broadside, itself a sign of the times as four such battleships were upgraded with close-in weapon systems (CIWS), Harpoon and Tomahawk missile launchers and returned to the expanding fleet to counter Soviet battle cruisers.
The book is a series of essays, some about rather technical matters like emerging torpedo systems, others about the dangers of the decline of Western navies, notably that of Great Britain, Canada and Australia, as the Soviets, Chinese and other navies continued to improve and grow. It is strange that those problems remain even after the death of the Soviet Union. Some of that nostalgia is probably due to the greater dangers of our unstable age.
The articles on clashes over the Artic and disagreements between supposed allies over fishing rights and icebreaker passages are interesting, and added variety to the book. One of the authors took Canada to task for letting their Navy fall to utter helplessness even as it bickered with the US over our icebreakers setting new exploration and speed records in the ice-encumbered north. Merchant marine stocks are also falling fast, apparently, and that never gets fixed. This book also followed the Falklands War, which gave several writers aspects to study and critique.
Despite how much danger our US Navy and world faced at the time, I remember the optimism and pride I felt during my enlistment. We knew we were ready to face our well known enemy.
The immediate aftermath of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the USSR gave me hope. I could not then forsee how our own state department would make a hash of things. Alas.
Displaying 1 of 1 review