Naval History Buffs

[MULTIZ321]

I have two book recommendations for naval history buffs -

"The Line Upon a Wind: The Great War at Sea, 1793-1815" by Noel Mostert
In 1793 France declared war on Britain and for the next 22 years the revolutionary & Napoleonic Wars raged. The book depicts Britain's death struggle with revolutionary France wherein Napoleon is check-mated by Nelson's brilliant naval exploits. Mostert draws magnificent portraits of Britain's major naval leaders of the era, notably Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson. Mostert's narrative ranges from the Mediterranean to the West Indies, Egypt to Scandanavia showing how land versus sea was the key to the outcomes of these wars. The book may be an overkill of information for some but the reader is given a good picture of how events unfolded and why with some brilliant insights into the politics of the time.

The other book recommendation - "The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors" by James Hornfischer. The extraordinary World War II Story of what many consider the U.S. Navy's finest hour - the Battle off Samar/Leyte Gulf. This book was recommended to me by another Tugger and it certainly packs an emotional wallop.

Richard

 

[Mosca]

Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors is one of the best war stories I've read EVER. It's perhaps my most recommended book in the genre, every bit as good as Band of Brothers and We Were Soldiers Once, and Young.

 

[MULTIZ321]

Mosca,

Another book I think you'd enjoy if you haven't already read it is -

"Halsey's Typhoon:The True Story of a Fighting Admiral, An Epic Storm, and an Untold Rescue." by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin. Excellent writing and you feel like you're there in the middle of the storm.

Richard

 

[Mosca]

I've had my eye on that one. I also liked Ghost Ship; you've probably read that one as well.

 

[Blues]

Let me put in a plug for a book written by a close family friend:

Calculated Risk - The extraordinary life of Jimmy Doolittle, aviation pioneer and World War II hero. Written by Jonna Doolittle Hoppes.

Disclaimer - her brother Patrick, another Doolittle grandson, is my best friend, and married my wife and me. But I've read the book, and it's a wonderful biography of a great man and a great woman ("Joe", Jimmy's wife, who Jonna clearly reveres equally, and was a great humanitarian).

 

[Dave M]

I'll plug another book, although it's hardly a literary masterpiece. Cruisers for Breakfast is the story of my Dad (I'm Dave M, Jr.), who as skipper of the submarine Darter, found the heart of the Japanese Navy fleet in October 1944. With sister sub Dace, they alerted superiors as to the location of the fleet, then engaged the fleet, fired the first shots of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval battle in history, and inflicted significant damage and sinkings.

Most U.S. Navy history books include some reference to the encounter.

A much shorter (5 minutes) version of the story is here.

 

[Wonka]

I'll plug another book, although it's hardly a literary masterpiece. Cruisers for Breakfast is the story of my Dad (I'm Dave M, Jr.), who as skipper of the submarine Darter, found the heart of the Japanese Navy fleet in October 1944. With sister sub Dace, they alerted superiors as to the location of the fleet, then engaged the fleet, fired the first shots of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval battle in history, and inflicted significant damage and sinkings.

Most U.S. Navy history books include some reference to the encounter.

A much shorter (5 minutes) version of the story is here.

I was thinking about you when I read the post. I'm going to try to find the book about your Dad. I'm not a Naval history buff, but it makes things so much more interesting when you know someone (even if it's just online) so close to history. Is your Dad still alive? Dave, were you in the Navy?

 

[wfillion]

try here

http://www.submarinebooks.com/Darter.htm

 

[Dave M]

Dad passed away in 2002. I was a Marine. Dad could pronounce my branch of the service only as "Morons".

 

[Mosca]

A good read for a marine is On The Canal: The Marines of L-3-5 on Guadalcanal, 1942. This is the history of the soldiers on the ground; there is some accounting of my dad's friend Richard "Yogi" Milana, who was in the first wave to land on Guadalcanal. I've often found that books for the more specialized military history market excel at detail but fail as books; this one DEFINITELY does not. And not because Yogi is a friend of my dad's; this book crackles.

 

[MULTIZ321]

I've had my eye on that one. I also liked Ghost Ship; you've probably read that one as well.

I'm not sure if I read Ghost Ship - do you remember the author?
Are you referring to "Ship of Ghosts:The Story of the USS Houston, FDR's Legendary Lost Cruiser, and the Epic Saga of Her Survivors" by James Hornfisher (author of The Last Stand of theTin Can Sailors) ?

Thanks for the Guadacanal book recommendation - I haven't read that one.
My wife's brother-in-law is a WWII USMC Purple Heart vet wounded on Guadacanal. He's the type who doesn't talk much about his war experiences.

You probably know that Harold Moore and Joseph Galloway came out recently with a sequel to "We Were Soldieres Once, And Young". It's titled
""We Are Soldiers Still: A Journey back to the Battlefields of Viet Nam". Definitely not as good as their first book but an interesting read that provides some closure for what happened afterwards.


Best regards,

Richard

 

[Mosca]

Yeah, Ship of Ghosts. I'm recovering from surgery and the meds are messing with my concision.

There were a lot of Marines there, but next you see him, ask him if he knew Dick Milana. I also have some letters that Milana wrote to my father about his service; they are fascinating. If you'll allow me, I'll email you my transcriptions.

 

[JoeMid]

I second the Last Stand recommendation, my stock broker sent me a copy, my still living Dad was a DE skipper there/then. Also a quick/easy read for mariners - Longitude:The True Story of a Lone Genius who solved the Greatest Scientific problem of His Time. Dava Sobel. I visited Greenwich last year and it brought everything into perspective.

 

[MULTIZ321]

I second the Last Stand recommendation, my stock broker sent me a copy, my still living Dad was a DE skipper there/then. Also a quick/easy read for mariners - Longitude:The True Story of a Lone Genius who solved the Greatest Scientific problem of His Time. Dava Sobel. I visited Greenwich last year and it brought everything into perspective.

I second the Longitude recommendation - great read.


Richard

 

[Don]

Here's three true stories that I recommend. They are older publications and you may not be able to find them. If you do you would enjoy them also.

"70,000 To One" - The story of a B-17 crewman who, after his plane was shot down, washed up, wounded, on an island inhabited by only by natives and Japanese soldiers.

"The Raft" - Three men survive in an inflatable raft for 43(?) days before being found.

"Kamikaze" - A Japanese boy is drafted and goes through boot camp and pilot training for the sole purpose of being made into a Kamikaze pilot.

 

[Elvono]

Thanks for this thread Richard. As a sixteen year old sailor I participated in the Battlle Off Samar/Leyte Gulf aboard the USS Kalinin Bay ( one of the six escort carriers that made up Task Force "Taffy 3"). Another good read is "The Men of the Gambier Bay" by Edwin P. Hoyt. I have just ordered "The Last of the Tin Can Sailors".

Paul

 

[MULTIZ321]

Paul,

Another WWII navy book that I think you'd enjoy is "Sea of Thunder: Four Commanders and the Last Great Naval Campaign 1941-1945." by Evan Thomas.

The book examines the war-time careers of 2 American Commanders - Admiral William "Bull" Halsey and Captain Ernest Evans (Commander of the USS Johnston), and 2 Japanese Commanders - Admiral Takeo Kurita (Commnader-in-Chief of the Japanese 2nd Fleet) and Admiral Matome Ugaki (Commander of the Imperial Japanese Navy First Battleship Division which consisted of 3 ships). The author also provides an analysis of the Battle of Leyte Gulf with his account providing viewpoints from of the battle of these 4 different commanders.


Richard

 

[MULTIZ321]

I have another recommendation.

I just finished reading "Mutiny" by David Hagberg and Boris Gindin. It's the inside story of the true events that inspired "The Hunt for the Red October". Gindin was a Senior Lieutenant aboard the Soviet antisubmarine warship FFG Storozhevoy. After decades of silence and fear, Gindin has come forward to tell the entire story of the mutiny aboard the FFG Storozhevoy, the real-life Red October.

In the fall of 1975, most of the crewmen of the Storohevoy mutinied. They seized the ship's captain and confined the officers who refused to participate, including Gindin, below deck. Their goal was to send a message to the Soviet people that the communist government was corrupt and major changes were needed. Within hours, the order was given to destroy the Storozhevoy. Ship and crew would have perished if not for the heroic acts of Gindin and a few others.

The story is much more than the Storozhevoy mutiny - Gindin tells the reader about Russia, life in the Soviet system, and life aboard a naval ship.
It's a good read.

Gindin is now an American citizen and lives in Stamford, Connecticut.

Richard

 

[MULTIZ321]

My wife and I had dinner tonight with her niece and boyfriend who are visiting from NYC.

Her niece's late father was a Marine during WWII who fought on Guadacanal. I mentioned the book that Mosca recommended "On the Canal: The Marines of L-3-5 on Guadacanal" by Thomas Cuddihy and suggested she read it to give her a better perspective of what he dad experienced as a young Marine.

However, I could not remember that name of the book or the author, but remembered we mentioned it in an previous Tug thread.

Luckily for me, I was able to find the thread with a Tug search and decided to bring it back to life since many good military books were mentioned in the thread and I thought some Tuggers who had not seen the recommendations might be interested.


Richard

 

[MULTIZ321]

One of the Books on my daily email list from Bookbub.com is "The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors" by James D. Hornfischer on sale for $1.99 (originally $11.99)
Get Deal at Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. Deal Ends November 1st.


Not only is this a great deal but it's a fantastic book. See comments in earlier parts of this thread for additional recommendations for this book.


Richard

 

[theo]

The other book recommendation - "The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors" by James Hornfischer. The extraordinary World War II Story of what many consider the U.S. Navy's finest hour - the Battle off Samar/Leyte Gulf. This book was recommended to me by another Tugger and it certainly packs an emotional wallop.

This great bit of history is a BookBub offering right now, available for download for just $1.99 for the next few days (only until 11/1, to be specific).

 

[MULTIZ321]

This great bit of history is a BookBub offering right now, available for download for just $1.99 for the next few days (only until 11/1, to be specific).

Thanks Theo for posting the additional info.

I couldn't get the Multi-quote function to work tonight, so here is a copy and paste of Mosca's comment from Post #2 in this thread: "Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors is one of the best war stories I've read EVER. It's perhaps my most recommended book in the genre, every bit as good as Band of Brothers and We Were Soldiers Once, and Young."


Richard

 

[MULTIZ321]

Halsey's Typhoon

Another excellent read was on the Bookbub.com list today: "Halsey's Typhoon" by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin. $1.99 (Originally, $15.00) Get the Deal on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Deal ends November 20. For more info see the following link:

https://www.evernote.com/shard/s96/...eb9d8495a27d/ad751dc4515e4684aee23c6e61f13358


Richard