Rating: 
Summary: Flavor of Maine
Review: If you are an MIE (Mainer in Exile)as I am this book is guaranteed to make you homesick. Sanders does a marvelous job of capturing the flavor and nuances of Maine life and the other world that is BIW. Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Learn about the nuances in building a ship
Review: The author does well in describing the construction of a modern destroyer which would seem to be fairly mundane. However, he makes the construction, and particularly the launch fairly exciting with good descriptions of the workers manners and feelings about the ship and their work. In the last chapter he relates, after the launch, how the speakers, guests, company executives, leave the ceremonies for further celebration, while the men who built the ship put away their tools and head for home. It reminded me of all of the highway and building ribbon cuttings where the people who do the work are left out of the celebrating while those of minor roles soak up the adulation.
Rating:
Summary: Arleigh Burke Class
Review: The disaster of the USS Cole should give new meaning to this book and the men who build these ships. The complexity of shipbuilding risks becoming a lost art. Part of why we won WWII was that the Japanese could not believe we could rebuild "lost" ships so fast. In this book, their experts scoff at our techniques. The surviving crew and the ship itself are testament to the design and building of modern surface ships.I served on a ship with an saluminum superstructure, and thank God every day it never got hit.
Rating:
Summary: The compelling story behind a warship
Review: This book details the building and fitting out of an Arleigh Burke class destroyer, the Donald Cook, at Bath Iron Works, Maine. From the initial design, cutting and bending plate, assembling the modules, installation, launch, crew training and trials, the whole process is described through the stories of the men and woman who build and work on the Destroyers. A number of photographs and illustrations help the reader to understand the various processes involved, although the book is mostly text. Sanders has an easy writing style that lets him relate complex details in an easily understandable way. When you put this book down, you will have a greater understanding of not only warship construction, but why people do difficult, dangerous work for less than they might make elsewhere. You will also learn a bit about piloting, how to launch a large ship, and the lore of commissioning ceremonies, and even the training of a ship's crew. I really enjoyed this book a lot, and recommend it to those interested in modern warships and their construction.
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