Admiral Thunderbolt; The Spectacular Career of Peter Wessel, Norway's Greatest Sea Hero, Who in Eight Years of Naval Warfare Sailed, Shot, and Stormed His Way from Sea Cadet to Vice Admiral

Philadelphia: Chilton Company, 1959. First Edition. Cloth. Near fine/very good. First edition of Admiral Thunderbolt by Hans Christian Adamson, from the library of U.S. Navy Admiral Alan Goodrich Kirk.. Octavo, xii, 336pp. Green cloth, title printed on spine. Stated "first edition" on copyright page. Solid text block, minimal stains on bottom edge, a touch of sunning to spine, a near fine example. In publisher's dust jacket, price-clipped, sunning on spine, a small amount of chipping and wear on edges, a few small closed tears, a very good example. Signed by U.S. Navy Admiral Alan Goodrich Kirk on front free endpaper, with a note: "from Edith / New York / Xmas 1960." Adamson served in the U.S Air Force as an army captain and later a colonel. He spent twenty-four days adrift in the Pacific Ocean after flying off course in a heavy bomber and running out of fuel. Adamson was rescued along with the surviving crew on November 13, 1942.

Alan Goodrich Kirk served in the U.S. Navy during both World War I and World War II. He was a commander in 1942 and 1943 during the Allied invasions of Sicily and Italy, and the senior U.S. naval commander on D-Day, June 1944. In retirement, Kirk became a U.S. diplomat, serving in Belgium, the Soviet Union, and Taiwan.