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bloopernova · 2024-10-06 · Original thread
Non-fiction: The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors by James Hornfischer. US Navy destroyers, escort carriers and destroyer escorts face off against Japanese cruisers and battleships. The Japanese had many times the firepower of the US, yet incredibly brave US sailors and airmen attacked anyway. Incredible story of courage under terrible conditions and odds. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Stand_of_the_Tin_Can_... and https://www.amazon.com/Last-Stand-Tin-Sailors-Extraordinary/...

Fiction:

Project Hail Mary is very enjoyable, don't read spoilers and you'll enjoy it even more. https://www.amazon.com/Project-Hail-Mary-Andy-Weir/dp/059313...

The Discworld City Watch series of books, starting with "Guards! Guards!" The characters are hilarious, there's so much humour yet still enough space for meaningful prose. Terry Pratchett was taken from us too soon. https://www.amazon.com/Guards-Discworld-Terry-Pratchett/dp/0...

Edited to add: non-fiction "Most Secret War" by Dr R V Jones. Funny, easily digestible short chapters, wonderful account of the author's work in WW2. "(the author's) appointment to the Intelligence Section of Britain's Air Ministry in 1939 led to some of the most astonishing scientific and technological breakthroughs of the Second World War." https://www.amazon.com/Most-Secret-Penguin-World-Collection/...

bloopernova · 2024-06-17 · Original thread
These 2, in this order:

Incredible Victory by Walter Lord[1]. The story of Midway, fairly balanced.

Shattered Sword by Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully[2]. also about Midway, but more research on Japanese sources. Has updated information about some things that are taken as "truth" about Midway. Amazing book.

EDITED to add:

James Hornfischer has some great books about the Pacific Naval war:

The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour[3]. 6 small escort carriers, and a handful of destroyers and destroyer-escorts vs the heavyweights of the Japanese fleet: Battleships and cruisers. Jaw-dropping descriptions of courage under fire. Fantastic book.

Neptune's Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal[4]. Covers several naval battles, but not much on the ground conflict. Really good book too.

The Fleet at Flood Tide: America at Total War in the Pacific[5]. The late Pacific war, with the invasion of Saipan, and the naval aircraft battle of the Philippines, leading up to Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the end of the war.

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[1] https://www.amazon.com/Incredible-Victory-Battle-Midway-Clas...

[2] https://www.amazon.com/Shattered-Sword-Untold-Battle-Midway/...

[3] https://www.amazon.com/dp/0553381482

[4] https://www.amazon.com/Neptunes-Inferno-U-S-Navy-Guadalcanal...

[5] https://www.amazon.com/Fleet-Flood-Tide-America-1944-1945/dp...

smitty1e · 2021-04-03 · Original thread
> The 115m-long US Navy destroyer sank during the Battle off Samar in 1944 after a fierce battle with a large fleet of Japanese warships.

I tear up to think of this, as a retired sailor. "The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors"[1] is really about standing and delivering. Historians may not agree, but the Battle Off Samar[3] was a modern analog of Thermopylae[3].

One especially poignant moment was when the 5"/38 (of one of the ships, I don't remember if it was precisely this one) gun crew had lost ship's power and continued to train, elevate and fire manually. Until the breech was so hot that the next round cooked off and relieved them all of duty. It isn't often that the foe renders honors while they steam through your wreckage.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Last-Stand-Tin-Sailors-Extraordinary/...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_off_Samar

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Thermopylae

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