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January 2013 www.sname.org/sname/mt Uncommon Warriors: 200 Years of the Most Unusual American Naval Vessels By Ken W. Sayers PUBLISHED BY THE NAVAL INSTITUTE PRESS REVIEWED BY DAVID A. BRESLIN Thoughts of the United States Navy most often conjure up the reso- lute and iconic images of aircraft carriers, submarines, destroyers, and, for those of a certain age, battleships. But the historical texture of the navy is so much more complex, which is why books such as Uncommon Warriors: 200 Year of the Most Unusual American Naval Vessels are so very welcome. Uncommon Warriors is a book of short ship biographies, dedicated to presenting to the general public the rich histories of what, for the most part, are unsung heroes of the navy. In all, 46 vessels are presented within this volume, each classified as either a Miscellaneous Auxiliary (AG) or Unclassied Miscellaneous (IX) vessel. A few of the vessels are readily recognized by adults and schoolchildren alike, such as USS Constellation (IX 20) and USS Constitution (IX 21), both of which served the nation valiantly as ghting ships. But most of the ves- sels, revealed chapter after carefully researched chapter, are remarkable, eye-opening surprises, which makes the book dicult to put down for the night. Consider, for example, USS Reina Mercedes (IX 25). Originally built in 1887 by Spain as the cruiser Reina Mercedes and sunk by the U.S. Navy in 1898 during the Spanish American War, she ultimately returned to service on behalf of the U.S. Navy as USS Reina Mercedes after being reoated and overhauled. She spent 45 years of her 70-year life at the United States Naval Academy as a receiving ship, oating barracks, and quasi brig. Or consider the highly improbable aircraft carriers USS Wolverine (IX 64) and USS Sable (IX 81). Originally built as coal-fired, side-wheel excursion steamers, SS Seeandbee and SS Greater Bualo were given 500-foot ight decks dur- ing World War II and repurposed into the training carriers USS Wolverine and USS Sable , respectively. Home-ported in Chicago and operating on the Great Lakes, these ships were