Thomas F. McCaffery
A Life at Sea and About the Sea
Every new writer is advised to write what they know about. Thomas F. McCaffery knows about the sea, and seafaring. He is a life long sailor, licensed merchant marine officer, retired naval officer and researcher into naval an maritime records. His life is literally both the backdrop and source of his writing. His seagoing life began over fifty years ago aboard a small sailboat in San Diego. A few years later he began going to sea professionally when he entered the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. In the four year program there he spent one year going to sea aboard tugboats, freighters and passenger ships. Some of the ports he visited in the Far East and South America are well know. Others you have not and probably won't ever hear of. Tom was in the Far East so often that he jokes he was more familiar with the bus system in Yokohama than he was with the one in his hometown, Denver, Colorado.
Graduating with Honors in 1976, he spent the next several years aboard drill rigs, tankers, freighters and dry bulk carriers. In those and his earlier voyages he sailed from the tropics to the far north and south, becoming one of relatively few modern seamen to sail around Cape Horn.
As a merchant marine officer he sailed aboard nearly every type of ship that flew an American flag. In 1981 he, along with other crew members of the T/T Williamsburg, was awarded the Maritime Administration’s Gallant Ship Unit Citation for their participation in the rescue of the passengers and crew of the M/S Prinsendam, the largest such rescue in history.
Commissioned as an Ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve when he graduated from the Merchant Marine Academy, Tom actively participated in the Naval Reserve with assignments to cruisers and destroyers of the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets. He was assigned to duty ashore on the Navy Staff at the Pentagon, including the Gulf War in 1990/91. On this assignment he was part of the team which assembled the daily logistics briefing for the Secretary of the Navy and Chief of Naval Operations. For his Navy service he was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal (twice) and Navy Achievement Medal (twice).
After sailing as Chief Mate, or second in command, of several dry bulk carriers Tom came ashore where he eventually found himself, after a couple of twists and turns, in the Washington, DC area employed by a consulting firm. Although he had written an article for the U.S. Naval Institute's Proceedings magazine in 1981 this is where he really began his writing career. However, after writing reports, manuals and studies for over thirty years, Tom's family encouraged him to write about the life he lived. His first book, The Midshipmen's Story, is a blend of fact and fiction based on Tom's research, background and education.
Life Ashore
Tom is a lifelong sailor who writes aboard his forty-foot catamaran, Irish Eyes. He is a licensed merchant marine officer (Chief Mate, Unlimited Tonnage, Master 1600 Tons), and retired Naval Officer (Commander). His education includes a Bachelor of Science (Honors) from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Master of Business Administration from Georgetown University and graduation from the College of Command and Staff of the U.S. Naval War College. Tom is a member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, the U.S. Naval Institute and Military Writers Society of America. For over twenty years Tom's business has been researching the history of the U.S. Navy and Merchant Marine from the 1930's to the 1970's.
He is one of very few graduates of the U. S. Merchant Marine Academy to have been awarded the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy’s Alumni Distinguished Service Award twice. In April 2014 He was honored by being selected to be the speaker and Guest of Honor at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy's annual Battle Standard Dinner, an honor usually bestowed upon Generals and Admirals.
Tom's previous major work was as the primary researcher, and contributing author, for Braving the Wartime Seas. The book is a tribute to the students and alumni of the U.S. Merchant Marine Cadet Corps who died during World War II. He has also published several magazine articles in the U.S. Naval Institute’s Proceedings and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Alumni Association’s Kings Pointer.
Tom lives on the Ortega River in Jacksonville, Florida along with his three cats, Curly, Sugar and Spice. He has two children, James and Grace. James attended the Virginia Military Institute and is employed in the firearms industry. Grace is a 2022 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy who is training to become a Naval Flight Officer.