Chief Engineer James Hamilton Tomb (1839-1929) devoted almost 12 years to naval service--first in the Confederate States' Navy during the American Civil War and then in the Marinha do Brasil during the War of the Triple Alliances. A steam engineer by profession and a torpedo expert by circumstance, Tomb was in the forefront of naval weapons technology. He also had the courage and capacity to assume positions of command. His first assignment was on the CSS Jackson at New Orleans. Here, amid a tightening blockade and a growing fear of Federal attack from the Gulf, Tomb's memoirs begin…

Tomb's first-person narration is interspersed with explanations from the editor, who also fills in Tomb's life at the memoir's beginning and end. Three appendices include documents by Tomb: "Submarines and Torpedo Boats, C.S.N." (1914), a detailed description of his experiences with the torpedo boat David and the submarine H.L. Hunley, and "Reminiscences of Torpedo Service in Charleston Harbor" (1877). A bibliography and a wealth of rare photographs complete the work.