A Naval Journey, 1938-1945
Latham B. Jenson
312 pages • 9 x 8 inches • more than 170 illustrations • index • 2000 • 978-1‑896941-14-1 • paperback $24.95
L.B. “Yogi” Jenson, who died in 2004, was the author of Vanishing Halifax, Nova Scotia Sketchbook, Saga of the Great Fishing Schooners and other beloved titles. As vice-president of the Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia, he took part in a campaign to stop the demolition of historic waterfront buildings in Halifax. He served on the boards of the Nova Scotia Museum and the first Schooner Bluenose Foundation. As chairman of the advisory council of the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, he instigated the acquisition of HMCS Sackville, the last corvette from the Second World War, and its restoration to its wartime configuration as a memorial to those who fought and won the Battle of the Atlantic.
Tin Hats, Oilskins & Seaboots:
A Naval Journey, 1938-1945
Latham B. Jenson
The wartime career of the popular Alberta-born author/artist. With humour, he recalls his training days as a sea cadet in Calgary and life as a young midshipman. His wartime service began with HMS Renown in the South Atlantic, searching for the Graf Spee, and off Norway engaging the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. He served on HMS Matabele and HMS Hood, leaving that ship weeks before she was sunk with all hands in battle with the Bismarck. In 1941, he joined HMCS Ottawa, sunk a year later with great loss of life. Surviving this, he joined the destroyer Niagara on convoy duty before going to Algonquin, one of the first ships to open fire in the Normandy invasion.
The book is illustrated with Jenson’s line drawings, as well as sketches and diagrams of uniforms, insignia and so on. It is a valuable record not only of how ships fought the battles of the Atlantic, but of life on board, where men had to live under difficult conditions for weeks on end – all seen through the eyes of an energetic and engaging young officer.
A Naval Journey, 1938-1945
Latham B. Jenson