Military Review English Edition July-August 2016 | Page 135

BOOK REVIEWS

programs to those of smaller (and much less successful),
covert programs like the South African and Iraqi biological weapons programs, as well as that of the Japanese
terrorist organization Aum Shinrikyo. Her analysis seeks
to demonstrate that barriers of education and practical
weaponization experience, along with organizational,
managerial, and political issues, combined with economics, contribute to making the pursuit of biological weapons generally untenable, at least in the sense of a WMD
meant to cause large numbers of fatalities vice mass fear
and panic. In the last chapter of Barriers, and based on
her research, the author provides several useful options
for effective biological counterproliferation strategies
and an updated paradigm for assessment of risk from
these programs and technologies. Most compelling is
her assertion that focus on acquisition and availability of
biological weapons-related technology, restricting scientific publication, and concern with the emergence of new
biotechnologies do not merit the interest so far afforded
them in the U.S. national security approach.
In late November 2015, the Los Angeles Times
reported that the Government Accountability Office
was about to release a report indicating “the nation’s
main defense against biological terrorism—a $1
billion network of air samplers in cities across the
country—cannot be counted on to detect an attack.”
Whether biological weapons pose a threat worthy
of this level of investment is an important question.
Barriers to Bioweapons should be in the library of those
attempting to answer it.

John G. Breen, PhD, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

THE SEARCH FOR THE
JAPANESE FLEET

USS Nautilus and the Battle of Midway
David W. Jourdan, Potomac Books,
Lincoln, Nebraska, 2015, 424 pages

I

n The Search for the Japanese Fleet: USS Nautilus
and the Battle of Midway, David W. Jourdan
writes on the pivotal Battle of Midway through
a lens not previously used to view the battle by historians. The USS Nautilus (SS-168), commanded by
Lt. Cmdr. William Brockman Jr. and manned by a
ninety-three-person crew, was on her maiden voyage
MILITARY REVIEW  July-August 2016

and tasked with locating the Japanese 1st Air Fleet, or
Kido Butai, and then subsequently inflicting as much
damage as possible on the enemy. Jourdan argues convincingly that Nautilus’s actions during the battle, and
the initiative of her commander, assisted greatly in the
destruction of Kido Butai and the overall thwarting of
the planned Japanese invasion of Midway.
The intent of the book is to use the exploits and
records of the USS Nautilus to create an untold story
of the Battle of Midway. He then illustrates how these
accounts were instrumental in assisting the author
and his team with locating the sunken Japanese fleet.
Nautilus’s mission log,
Brockman’s after action
report, and interviews
from crew members are
used to assist the search
efforts, and ultimately
the team discovers the
Japanese carrier Kaga.
Jourdan uses abundant sources throughout
the book with a heavy
emphasis on interviews
and correspondence
from historical subject-matter experts,
participants of the battle, and U.S. Navy records and
personal accounts. Referenced frequently by the author
are Shattered Sword by Jon Parshall and Tony Tully, and
The Battle of Midway by Richard Bates, and he states they
were both invaluable in assisting him to write his book.
The book has many strengths, but one in particular
is the author’s ability to pack so much detailed information about the Nautilus’s maiden voyage and the
Battle of Midway into such a small book. Other highlights include the description of how submarines were
employed during World War II, the Japanese grand
strategy for the campaign, and the counter actions of
TF-16 (Task Force-16) and TF-17 during the battle.
The mix of history and the underwater detective work
required to find the Japanese fleet keeps the reader
engaged from start to finish.
For readers already well versed in the Battle of
Midway, the true value of this book is the author’s
account of modern-day underwater exploration and
the sophisticated technology used to find the Japanese
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