I picked up this book because my grandfather was a WWII destroyer sailor (DD-727 USS DeHaven II, not the Sterret), and I wanted to get a sense of what the war must have been like for him. I think this book does an excellent job of this and "Cal" Calhoun has to be commended for pulling together the story of this destroyer.



Of course the book follows one particular destroyer but it focuses on the daily life of the sailors and officers, giving you a good concept of what their working lives and their missions were. The Sterret also had a particularly distinguished career, especially during the Third Battle of Savo in which the author took part. The Sterret engaged a Japanese cruiser, battleship, and sunk a destroyer at point blank range at night while receiving 14-inch shells, and makes for some of the best combat writing I've ever read.



The book takes you from the Sterret's comissioning, training in the pacific before the war (including adventurous attempts to try to capture turtles by steering the ship), early duty with the British home fleet in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, and then on to its amazing career in the Pacific from Guadalcanal to Okinawa, and, last, its return to New York for decomissioning and scrapping.



The author had to leave the ship shortly after the action in around Savo and so about two-thirds through the book the style of storytelling necessarily changes. Despite this the book is still an excellent read throughout. At only 160 pages or so of text it's also an easy read yet still does justice to the ship, her crew, and all who served on destroyers in WWII. Definitely recommended.

I picked up this book because my grandfather was a WWII destroyer sailor (DD-727 USS DeHaven II, not the Sterret), and I wanted to get a sense of what the war must have been like for him. I think this book does an excellent job of this and "Cal" Calhoun has to be commended for pulling together the story of this destroyer.

Of course the book follows one particular destroyer but it focuses on the daily life of the sailors and officers, giving you a good concept of what their working lives and their missions were. The Sterret also had a particularly distinguished career, especially during the Third Battle of Savo in which the author took part. The Sterret engaged a Japanese cruiser, battleship, and sunk a destroyer at point blank range at night while receiving 14-inch shells, and makes for some of the best combat writing I've ever read.

The book takes you from the Sterret's comissioning, training in the pacific before the war (including adventurous attempts to try to capture turtles by steering the ship), early duty with the British home fleet in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, and then on to its amazing career in the Pacific from Guadalcanal to Okinawa, and, last, its return to New York for decomissioning and scrapping.

The author had to leave the ship shortly after the action in around Savo and so about two-thirds through the book the style of storytelling necessarily changes. Despite this the book is still an excellent read throughout. At only 160 pages or so of text it's also an easy read yet still does justice to the ship, her crew, and all who served on destroyers in WWII. Definitely recommended.