Within the secretive confines of the Navy Department in Washington, a small war went on last year. Shy but stubborn Acting Secretary of the Navy Charles Edison, who inherited the experimental instinct from his great father, Thomas Alva Edison, wanted the Navy to try out small, speedy, motor torpedo boats and submarine chasers. Motored "mosquito boats"* and subchasers did perilous and effective duty along European coasts during War I, afterward were further developed by the British and Italians. Grey, stubborn Admiral William Daniel Leahy, who until last June was Chief of Naval...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In