The Yard
Building a Destroyer at the Bath Iron Works
For a century, the Bath Iron Works has been building some of the finest, deadliest ships in the U.S. Navy.
But
now the Maine shipyard is facing mounting competition and a pressing
need to modernize, especially in the way it launches ships.
No
more will the great gray leviathans roar down the "ways" -- the
traditional inclined ramp -- into the Kennebec River; this ancient
technology will give way to the modern dry dock.
The Yard
captures this moment of change and the end of an era, as old ways give
way to new, through the eyes of the workers as they build and launch a
U.S. Navy destroyer.
From the first cutting of steel to
the destroyer's triumphant commisioning, Michael Sanders chronicles the
complex evolution of a ship coming into being -- and the incredible
world in which it happens.
It is a world rich in danger,
humor, and lore, one filled with uncertainty, hope, and not a little
fear of change as this venerable company fights against steep odds to
find its place in a new world.
CONDITION: Soft Cover, Used lightly, some wear to cover.
