Reviews
“The eyewitness accounts of great and trivial events are fascinating. Olson illuminates shipboard details readers need to know. His book is an impressive accomplishment." - Publishers Weekly Starred Review
“The eyewitness accounts of great and trivial events are fascinating. Olson illuminates shipboard details readers need to know. His book is an impressive accomplishment." - Publishers Weekly Starred Review
November 1941: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Pearl Harbor is an extensive, shallow embayment near Honolulu on the island of Oahu. Called Wai Momi (“Water of Pearl”) by native Hawaiians, the harbor teemed with pearl-producing oysters until the late 1880’s. In the years following Captain Cook’s explorations, Pearl Harbor was not considered suitable as a seaport because...
“I was down below, brushing my teeth. . . . There was a huge commotion, so I ran outside to see what was going on. The first thing I saw was a Japanese bomber dropping its torpedo, which then ran right up into the old Utah and exploded.” — Alvis Harris
“Some of the guys were chumming the water off the fantail with galley scraps. You could see huge sharks swimming around, so I threw a couple of wooden crates over the side and the sharks went into a frenzy over them. The captain came on the squawk box and said, “You guys better not fall over the side because I don’t want to pick up what’s left!” — Earl Hicks
“When the Salt Lake City went dead in the water we figured we were all goners for sure. . . . That water temperature was right at thirty-three degrees, which would give us about ten or twelve minutes before we froze to death. Just when things got to be about as bleak as you could imagine, one of our cans got a 5-incher right smack on the bridge of the lead Japanese cruiser. You could see it as plain as day. Then they simply turned tail and ran. It was a miracle!” — John Cruce
“The young ensign refused to take the ice cream away from the men, so the captain ordered him to the brig. The ensign stood at attention and said, “Sir, I’ll be happy to go to the brig, but first you must sign for all my accounts and for all the ship’s money in my safe.” The Captain got out his book of Navy regulations and fussed over it for a half hour or so, while the ice cream container just sat there on the deck. By then the entire crew was watching to see what was going to happen.” — Lowell Barker
“When word came through that the war had ended, everyone went wild. We made noise with whatever we could get our hands on. Sirens shrieked, bells rang, andhorns bellowed. . . . I whooped and hollered and banged on metal. . . . And I celebrated a bunch for all those guys that couldn’t, too!” — Robert “Pat” Olson