Fightin' Navy #90

When a U-boat's torpedo and German bombers cripple an American destroyer, Captain Oliver McQueen must hold his wounded crew together as they limp toward a friendly port—but the Nazis aren't finished with them yet. With half his ship damaged, his guns barely operational, and enemy aircraft circling overhead, the captain devises a desperate gamble: convince the attackers the vessel is abandoned so they'll come close enough for a counterattack. It's a tense battle of wits and firepower as McQueen and his crew fight to survive long enough for rescue to arrive.

In the years before America's entry into World War II, military planners developed a revolutionary new helmet design that would become standard issue for combat troops. This one-page account traces how the helmet proved its worth time and again in the field, protecting countless soldiers from the relentless dangers of warfare.

Lt. J.G. "Froggie" Webb and his underwater demolition squad execute a daring raid on a fortified Japanese naval base, infiltrating a submarine to strike at the heart of enemy operations. After seizing control of the captured vessel, Webb's men use it to shell the base's ammunition and fuel depots before making their desperate escape. With enemy forces closing in and the harbor exit blocked, the frogmen must sink their prize and swim for their lives.

A straightforward look at the four essential pieces of gear every soldier carries into the field—from the helmet that shields his head to the weapon he relies on in combat. This 1960 non-fiction piece breaks down the practical tools of a G.I.'s survival, rounding out the portrait with the mess kit and canteen that sustain him when the fighting stops.

Lt. Comdr. Neil Andrews captains the USS Snowjack in a daring World War II gambit: using his ship as bait, he broadcasts false Nazi U-boat signals to lure an enemy wolf-pack into range, all while American destroyers close in for the kill. It's a nerve-wracking game of cat-and-mouse beneath the waves, where Andrews must hold his nerve and stay the course even as torpedoes streak past his hull.

Lieutenant Harry Bent races a P.T. boat through a fog-shrouded Dutch canal in 1944 to deliver critical plans of the Siegfried Line to airborne troops behind enemy lines—but the return journey becomes a desperate gauntlet when German forces pin down his position and await his escape. As Bent pushes his vessel to nearly eighty miles per hour down the narrow waterway with wounded soldiers aboard, his crew must fight off overwhelming Nazi resistance to break through to safety.