by Michael S. Sanders, Harper Collins, 1999, 253 pp, $26.00 I've never seen any books about shipyards, so Mr. Sanders has a clear field and a great topic. To anyone interested in ships, their birthplace has real allure. Ships are incredibly complex, and the principles of their design and construction arcane. Mr. Sanders focuses on the Bath Iron Works (BIW) in Bath, Maine, in existence since 1891. At present, they are building Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, and will soon start construction of the LPD-17 class of amphibious assault ships. A reporter and ghostwriter by profession, this is Mr. Sander's first book. His journalistic background drives him toward the "human interest" angle, and the book is somewhat short on factual material. It is easy to read, though, and he treats his topic, and the men who work there, with respect. He follows USS Donald Cook (DDG-76) as it is constructed, launched, and goes through builder's trials. The first few chapters discuss the DDG-51 class, BIW's history, and its relations with the local community. The middle of the book is a series of vignettes of different yard occupations: welder, shipfitter, crane operator, and so on. You find out a lot about their job, how it's shaped the men and women who do it, and how that job helps change a ship from steel plate to finished vessel. The last part of the book covers the launch and trials of Donald Cook, and is the best part. He describes the mechanism, procedures, and risks of launching a ship in detail. Launching a ship is the Big Payoff, both for the people who built her and the people who will sail in her. It is the climax of years of hard, dangerous work, and after reading The Yard, I have a much better idea of what it means to see a ship go down the ways. Could the book have been better? Yes. I still enjoyed it. Mr. Sanders has a wonderfully descriptive style, and conveys the scale and difficulty of the work. I wish he could have provided more information about the business of building ships, maybe more about how it was done in the old days. Still, what he did cover is well done. BT Back to The Naval Sitrep #18 Table of Contents Back to Naval Sitrep List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 by Larry Bond and Clash of Arms. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com