Fightin' Navy #79

Lt. Bill Gantling takes command of a battered PT boat called Old Maggie—a vessel considered expendable from the moment it sets sail—and quickly discovers that his crew's resourcefulness and willingness to take on impossible odds might just prove the naysayers wrong. When a routine patrol turns into combat against superior Japanese forces, Gantling and his men fight to protect a vital convoy, and the little boat's survival becomes a matter of pride and determination. Now reassigned and facing new orders, Gantling faces a choice about what expendable really means.

A converted destroyer-minesweeper crew grows restless running dangerous but faceless mine-sweeping patrols—until Captain Larsen assigns them a critical mission: escort underwater demolition experts to blow a gap in a coral reef at Saipan so the invasion fleet can land. When a drifting mine jams the rudder during their desperate escape, the captain must dive into enemy waters to cut them free while Japanese shore guns open fire, and the crew finally gets the chance to fight back against something they can actually see.

Lt. Comdr. Welden leads an armed reconnaissance party ashore on a remote atoll with orders to determine whether the native inhabitants are friend or foe—a tense mission made all the more uncertain when his men approach what they fear might be a trap. What they discover in that jungle dugout turns the whole operation on its head in the best possible way.

Lieutenant Dobrek takes command of an LCI—a small, ungainly landing craft that seems barely seaworthy—and must whip a green crew into shape for Pacific combat operations. Over a series of harrowing invasions and a grueling storm, the ragtag vessel and her captain prove their mettle, earning the grudging respect of Army troops aboard, until the little ship finally meets her end in service to the war effort.

When a U.S. destroyer runs aground in shallow enemy waters, the crew faces an impossible choice: abandon ship and let hostile forces capture classified materials, or find a way to destroy the vessel before they can seize it. A rescue team led by a determined commander devises a bold plan to lure the enemy aboard while explosives are set throughout the ship. With time running out and enemy troops swarming toward the grounded destroyer, the crew must execute their gamble perfectly to ensure both the ship's destruction and their own escape.

Bell Bottom Bill spots a cat with an unusual talent and hatches a scheme to make his fortune by recruiting some fellow sailors to witness the remarkable discovery. The joke hinges on the cat's supposed brilliance—and the punchline lands in the reveal of just what makes this feline so special.