Navires & Histoire #12 issued in June 2002 continued to provide a rich mix of photographs, art work and text in French on a wide variety of naval topics. Letters to the editor discussed the battleship Yamato, the corvette Alysse, the packetboat Chanzy, Operation Enduring Freedom, U-Boats that served in the Marine Nationale after World War Two and the heavy cruiser Suffren. The briefing section (En Bref) had a memorial to noted Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl who died at the age of 87 on April 18, 2002. Also covered was Operation Heracles of the Marine Nationale in the Indian Ocean and various updates of current events in the world’s navies.

Liberty Ships and Operation Neptune – The 7^th installment in the Saga of the Liberty Ships dealt exclusively with their use in supporting the allied invasion of Normandy and of the losses that they sustained in that operation. Written by Jean-Yves Brouard, this section of ten pages contains 21 photographs of the famous transports during the operation.

Liberty Ships at Normandy

The Battlecruiser Gneisenau – The first part of a series, Philippe Caresse examines the design, construction and early service of the lesser known of the German twins of World War Two. The history of the ship up to February 17, 1940 is included with significant coverage of the encounter with the AMC Rawalpindi. (8 pages, 10 photographs, 1 poster, and 4 color profiles.)

Gneisenau

Dossier Enduring Freedom – This section, written by Frederic Stahl, covers the events in the Indian Ocean in March and April 2002. The naval activities in the Middle East of each week of these two months are examined in detail. (11 pages, 20 photographs, and 4 maps)

Dossier Enduring Freedom

Operation "Heracles" Charles De Gaulle – Written by Henri-Pierre Grolleau, the article chronicles the operations of the nuclear aircraft carrier, Charles De Gaulle. As the centerpiece of TF 473, the French nuclear carrier operated in conjunction with the Royal Navy, USN, Italian Navy and Royal Dutch Navy in her deployment in the Indian Ocean. The operation of every ship’s system as well as the each aviation squadron is covered in this, the primary article of this issue. (27 pages, 54 photographs)

Operation "Heracles" & Charles De Gaulle

The Three "Super-Pointes" (1972-1987) of the Transat – Cdt Alain Demerliac examines the history of modern cargo ships in cargo and banana transport operations in Central America and the Antilles. Coverage includes the three "Super-Points" Pointe Sans-Souci, Pointe La Rose and Pointe Madame as well as the older Pointe Allegre, Pointe Marin and Pointe des Colibris. (5 pages, 6 photographs, 2 drawings)

Super-Pointes Cargo Ships

The Return from Egypt – When Nelson destroyed the French Fleet at Aboukir Bay, Napoleon was stranded with his Army in Egypt. Gerard Piouffre tells of his return to France, past the British blockade. (5 pages, one photograph and five black and white paintings)

Return from Egypt

Losses of the United States Navy and Coast Guard in the Course of the Second World War (Part 11) – Vernon J. Miller continues his long standing series with an itemization of USN losses. This segment is the second part of auxiliary losses. Covered are losses from the following types of auxiliaries: AE, AF, AG, AK, AKS, AN, AO, AP, APA, APC, APD, ARS, AS, ASR, AT, ATF, ATO, ATR, AV, AVP, IX, YFB, YFD and YT. (4 pages, 9 photographs)

USN Auxiliary Losses

The Navy of the NEP – This is another interesting installment by Frederic Stahl of the history of the Soviet Navy. At the conclusion of the Russian Civil War, the Soviet Navy as well as the Soviet Union itself was in terrible shape after years of warfare. With the 10^th Party Congress, Lenin instituted the New Economic Plan (NEP) designed to revive certain facets of the free market economy and create a rebirth of a level of private enterprise in Soviet Russia. The NEP ended with the death of Lenin and the ascension to power of Stalin, who went to the strict top-down command control economy. The years 1922 to 1926 are examined to show the recovery of the Soviet Navy from its nadir at the conclusion of the civil war. (11 pages, 18 photographs, 3 color plates/profiles, one drawing and two tables)

Navy of the NEP

A Visit to the Museum Cruiser Colbert – At Bordeaux the Missile Cruiser Colbert has been transformed into a naval museum. Philippe & Francois Notre report on the cruiser, which was in service from 1959 to 1991. (8 pages, 21 photographs, one color plate)

Colbert

Other Sections – The concluding standard features of this issue of Navires & Histoire are the book review section reviewing 7 books of interest to the naval historian and models section which has short reviews of six kits or other hobby products. The bonus color plate on the back cover features two profiles in color of the Schnellboats S-38 and S-100.

Navires & Histoire #12 is available along with other back issues of the magazine, as well as the current issue, directly from Lela Presse. (E-Mail: lela.presse@wanadoo.fr)(Web Site: www.avionsbateaux.com)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________