. In the volume, the author has chosen the German ‘pocket battleships’ of WW2, the best known of which was the Admiral Graf Spee, scuttles after the battle of the River Plate in 1939. This innovative and infamous class of surface raiders has long been a popular subject for ship modellers, many manufactures producing kits of the Graf Spee and Admiral Scheer and the rather different Deustschland. This book shows model shipwrights how to turn their kits into something really special, while its unparalleled level of visual information is a superb source for the general warship enthusiast.

Antonio Bonomi is working on a volume of Kriegsmarine Naval Histories for Nimble Books that will complement this perfectly.

The subject of this volume is the Yorktown class, the near-legendary American aircraft carriers that kept the Japanese at bay in the dark days between Pearl Harbor and the decisive battle of Midway, where Yorktown hereself was lost. Hornet launched the famous Doolittle Raid on Japan before being sunk at Santa Cruz in October 1942, but Enterprise surived the fierce fighting of the early war years to become the US Navy’s most decorated ship. With its unparalleled level of visual information-paint schemes, models, line drawings and photographs-it is simply the best references for any modelmaker setting out to build one of these famous carriers.

I am thinking about doing a “Why She Matters Today” book on a WW2 aircraft carrier, either Yorktown or Enterprise.

Please check back later as new posts are added regularly. To discover more authors, visit our Author Blog Directory

More to come …

Figure 1.  France's overseas territories and departments

Table 1. Status and population

Table 2.  Uninhabited islands

Figure 2. Martinique 1632 (Library of Congress)

Figure 3.  Martinique (Central Intelligence Agency 2006)

Figure 4. Fort-de-France 1984  (U.S. State Department)

Figure 5.  French Guiana shaded relief 1992 (Central Intelligence Agency)

Figure 6.  French Guiana political 1992 (Central Intelligence Agency)

Figure 7.  French Guiana vegetation 1972 (Central Intelligence Agency)  The territory is mostly rainforest.

Figure 8.  French Guiana economic activity 1972 (Central Intelligence Agency)

Figure 9. French Polynesia 1989 (Central Intelligence Agency)

Figure 10. Guadeloupe (Central Intelligence Agency)

Figure 11.  Île Saint-Barthélemy (Central Intelligence Agency)

Figure 12. Île Saint-Martin (Central Intelligence Agency)

Figure 13. Mayotte  (Central Intelligence Agency). The Comoros Islands are to the west.

Figure 14. Location of Mayotte (WikiMedia Commons, 2008)

Figure 15.  New Caledonia (Central Intelligence Agency)

Figure 16.  Réunion (Central Intelligence Agency)

Figure 17. Réunion – the day after the volcano erupted, January 16, 2002 (NASA).  Red, indicating patches of active lava, is just barely visible at the volcanic cone on the southwestern  island.

Figure 18.  Île Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (Central Intelligence Agency)

Figure 19. Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (NASA)

Figure 20. Îles Wallis and Iles de Horne (Central Intelligence Agency)

Figure 23.  Île Alofi, to the southeast of Futuna (NASA).

Figure 22.  Futuna Island (NASA)

Figure 21.  Uvea, one of the Wallis Islands (NASA).

Figure 24. Île Amsterdam (WikiMedia Commons)

Figure 25. Île St. Paul (WikiMedia Commons)

Figure 26.  Bassas da India  (Central Intelligence Agency)

Figure 27. Bassas da India from space (NASA)

Figure 28.  Clipperton Island (Central Intelligence Agency)

Figure 29. Clipperton Island from space (NASA)

Figure 30.  Crozet Islands (Central Intelligence Agency)

Figure 31. Crozet Islands eastern group (NASA)

Figure 32. Ile Europa (Central Intelligence Agency)

Figure 33. Île Europa land use (WikiMedia Commons)

Figure 34. Île Europa (NASA)

Figure 35. French Antarctic and Southern Lands (Central Intelligence Agency)

Figure 36.  Îles Glorieuses (Central Intelligence Agency)

Figure 37.  Îles Glorieuses (NASA)

Figure 38.  Île Juan de Nova (Central Intelligence Agency)

Figure 39.  Île Juan de Nova (NASA).

Figure 40. Île Kerguelen (Central Intelligence Agency)

Figure 41. Île Kerguelen (NASA)

Figure 42. Landsat infrared image of Kerguelen (NASA)

Figure 43.  Baie du Morbihan, Kerguelen Islands (NASA)

Figure 44. Map of Kerguelen drawn during the expedition of Captain James Cook (WikiMedia Commons)

Figure 45. Île Tromelin (Central Intelligence Agency)

Figure 46. Île Tromelin (NASA)

• Cool Maps for Curious Kids #2: Afghanistan, an Unauthorized Tour of the Land of A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS and THE KITE RUNNER (Cool Maps for Curious Kids) 
• Cool Maps of Baghdad: the Emerald City and other cities of Iraq 
• Cool Maps of Cuba: An Atlas of History, Population, Resources Before and After Fidel Castro 
• Cool Maps of Indonesia: An Unauthorized View of the Land of EAT, PRAY, LOVE 
• Cool Maps of Iran: Persian History, Oil Wealth, Politics, Population, Religion, Satellite, WMD and More 
• Cool Maps of Iraq: History, Oil Wealth, Politics, Population, Religion, Satellite, and More

Introduction

Buy This Book If:

Acknowledgements

Key Facts

Specifications

Ships in the Seawolf Class

Remarks at the Naming Ceremony in 1998

Figure 1.  SSN-23 incorporates new design features for an “expeditionary” future.

Figure 2. Positive thinking about Carter's role.  Interestingly, none of these missions look much like the cable tapping missions that made Carter’s predecessor Parche the most decorated sub in U.S. naval history.

Figure 3.  President Carter being given a model of the future Jimmy Carter at the naming ceremony.  Personally, I'd have held out for the bigger one.

Figure 4.  A full-length view of the model, courtesy Motionmodels.com.  Note the conceptual representation of the additional maneuvering units fore and aft.  These below-waterline fixtures  will most likely never be seen in public while Jimmy Carter is in active service.

Figure 5.  Ship's crest.

Figure 6.  A detailed view of the propeller, rudder, and aft maneuvering units (courtesy Motion Models).  The actual appearance of the maneuvering units may be somewhat different.

Figure 5.  Moving her outdoors for the first time, June 24, 2004.

Figure 6. Sneaking out a little early.

Figure 7.  The Multi-Mission Platform that makes Jimmy Carter unique.

Figure 8. Inserting the forward upper module in the MMP.

Figure 9.  Leaving Electric Boat to begin Alpha Sea Trials, November 2004.

Figure 10.  During sea trials, February 2005.

Figure 11.  The commissioning ceremony, February 19, 2005.

Figure 12.  The crew manning the ship during the commissioning ceremony.

Figure 13.  Carter being "depermed", or demagnetized, to reduce her vulnerability to weapons that detect magnetic signatures.

Figure 14. Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn about to set off on an overnight trip, August 12, 2005.

Figure 15.  Departing Kings Bay, Georgia with the Carters on board.

Figure 16.  Carter on Carter.  This is the boat’s mess room.

Figure 17.  Returning to Kings Bay after taking Jimmy Carter on an overnight.

An Appropriate Name

Why SSN-23 Jimmy Carter Matters Today

References

Colophon

Figure 1. The historical context of the Spanish and Portugese Age of Discovery. The Cambridge Modern History Atlas edited by Sir Adolphus William Ward, G.W. Prothero, Sir Stanley Mordaunt Leathes, and E.A. Benians. Cambridge University Press; London. 1912.

Figure 2. Cuba. Joan Vickeboons, 1639 (Library of Congress).

Figure 3. A new chart of the seas surrounding the island of Cuba with the soundings, currents, ships, courses &c. and a map of the island itself lately made by an officer in the Navy. From The London magazine, or, Gentleman's monthly intelligencer. Oct. 1762, v. 21.

Figure 4. Cuba during the Spanish-American War, 1898.

Figure 5. The location of the Bay of Pigs (1961).

Figure 6. The Bay of Pigs in Atlas Nacional de Cuba (Moscow 1970) via Cryptome.org.

Figure 7. CIA briefing board for JFK showing range of Soviet MRBMs stationed in Cuba (CIA 1962, via the National Security Archive, George Washington University).

Figure 8. Sugar in Cuba (US 1977).

Figure 9. Land Utilization in Cuba (US 1977).

Figure 10. Economic Activity in Cuba (US 1977).

Figure 11. Population Density (US 1977).

Figure 12. Political map of Cuba (CIA 1994).

Figure 13. Havana (CIA).

Figure 14. Detailed topographic map of Guantanamo Bay (NIMA, 1996).

Figure 15. Camp Delta at Guantanamo (Department of Defense, 2003). Our bad.

Figure 16. A beautiful MODIS image of Florida, the Bahamas, and Cuba (NASA 2001).

Figure 17. Another spectacular MODIS image (NASA 2004).

Figure 18. Coral reefs of Cuba (NOAA).

Figure 19. Coral reefs off western Cuba (Landsat 2001).

Figure 20. Land cover (MODIS IGBP, NASA, 2007). Red is urban, dark green is forest, pale green is grassy.

Figure 21. Vegetation map of Cuba (USGS & the Nature Conservancy).

Figure 22. Elevation and depth of Cuba and its surrounding waters (SRTM, NASA, 2007).

Figure 23. Coastal and Marine Geology (USGS).

Figure 24. Capitalists will find this USGS map of Cuba’s mineral resources handy. Not dated, but note the nuclear power plant near Cienfuegos on the west side of the island. Elements are identified via their scientific abbreviation (e.g. Cu for copper).

Figure 25. Population density (SEDAC, 2004). After Fidel and his brother depart, the people of Cuba will remain.

Figure 26. Almost every area of Cuba has been touched by human activity. Reds are substantial impact, green is low impact. (SEDAC Human Footprint V2, 2007).

Figure 27. Night lights over Florida and Cuba (DMSP, 2007). Observe the difference between the vibrant lights of Florida and the scattered lights of Cuba.

I wish I had been able to find a Godfather III map of organized crime activity in Cuba before 1960, and I would have liked to find a map that showed something of the restrictions on freedom under the Castro regime.  If you have any ideas for more Cool Maps of Cuba, by all means send them to me!

In the meantime, let's be glad that Castro is finally on the way out, and hope that this authoritarian regime will soon loosen its grip on the people of Cuba.  Surely, at the very least, they deserve to live less like North Korea and more like China.

Sincerely yours,

Fred Zimmerman

Publisher, Nimble Books LLC

• pictures and information about the various design concepts that were explored
• the specifications of the final Montana design
• color pictures of a beautiful 1:700 scale model of Montana by Imre Somogyi
• a beautiful color painting of Montana by author and artist Wayne Scarpaci
• a picture of her never-built 1920's predecessor, BB-51 Montana
• an essay on "Why She Matters Today"; and
• a discussion of Senator Jon Tester's efforts to get the U.S. Navy to name a capital ship after his home state of Montana.