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In 1983 to continue the pursuit of command at sea, Jim Jewell, a Navy commander reluctantly accepted his assignment to be executive officer of the USS Yosemite, a destroyer tender. His previous assignments had been on combatants and his experience with tenders happened when the tenders were tied to a pier in their homeports.
Instead, the USS Yosemite would leave for almost seven months at sea on a deployment to the Indian Ocean. Ten days prior to his reporting aboard he was married. His wife was in San Diego, across the country from Yosemite’s home port of Mayport (Jacksonville), Florida. However, this deployment was different from his previous time at sea as women were in the initial stages of being integrated into ship complements. Jim had only one tour on shore duty five years earlier where he served with a female officer.
Yosemite was the first Navy ship with women in the ship’s complement to spend extended periods at sea. Yosemite would provide maintenance and repair services to the carrier battle group off the coast of Masirah, Oman. Her deployment is a significant success story and provides an example of how to adjust to change successfully.
Jim Jewell’s memoir brings to the reader his understanding of the sea and the Navy. The story explores what it was like at sea, his role as an officer in carrying out his duty to the Navy, the crew, and the ship with the integration of women on board.
Book Review
“I have just completed a most marvelous journey and I wish to thank you for taking me with you! What a well-crafted narrative. I now truly believe you when you say, “I’d rather be driving ships”. This book was much more than a chronological narrative. Who knew that an “old salt” SWO could gain satisfaction and much more from a tour on a tender. You deserve a “Literature ‘E’. BZ.”
— Marty Linville, Maj., USA (retired), Awarded Silver Star for his service in Vietnam.
Title: Steel Decks and Glass Ceilings
Series Name and Number: NA
Author: Jim Jewell
Imprint: JRJ Publisher
BISAC #1 Code: BIC000000-Biography/Autobiography-General
BISAC #2 Code: BIC008000-Biography/Autobiography-Military
Pages: 306
Size: 6 by 9
Illustrations: No
Format: Trade paperback
ISBN: 979-8-9860897-0-6
Ebook ISBN: 9798986089713
Price: $22.95, E-book: $9.99
Publication Date: 7.4.2022
Author Hometown: Southern California
Keywords: Military Memoir, Women in the Military, Sea Story,
Navy stories
I would love to purchase one of your books! I checked on board the USS Yosemite (AD-19) in August 1985! My first weekend aboard was the Labor Day holiday. We got underway as Hurricane Elena approached Florida. Yes, I got my sea legs that first weekend aboard ship! Anyway, how do I go about getting a personalize, signed book from you? Thank you, SK2 Samaniego (although I was just SN Samaniego when I checked onboard!)
Hope you like it.