Defenses of Narragansett Bay in WWII

by Walter K. Schroder

Book by Schroder, Walter

128 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1980

Reviews

[Zach · Rating 2 out of 5]

Informative, but rather dry.

Reading scavenger hunt: non-fiction book

[Roger Burk · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is pretty disappointing--just a disconnected set of stories about the bay during the war. No coherent description of the defenses, not even a general map of the area. Much of the book is not even about the defenses at all, but rather other military installations around Narragansett Bay. Partially redeeming tidbits: Four 16" guns were installed shortly after the war started, perhaps in case the Tirpitz crossed the Atlantic. The US Army had a quiet program to educate willing German POWs in the principles of democracy, in the hope that they would help rebuild their country after the war. And Narragansett Bay is the location of Quonset, which gave its name to innumerable huts.

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the pictures (even though I know a lot of places where there are WW II fortifications here in Rhode Island, the extent to which our coast was defended and put to use for training purposes is still stunning. And I found the final section, on the POW camps in Rhode Island, where there was an intensive a program for political reeducation, very interesting indeed.

[Katherine Hebert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just wish I had known about this book when it was first published and the remains and artifacts it describes were still there to explore.