Ship of Ghosts - James D. Hornfischer [1]
—Stephen Harrigan, author of Challenger Park and The Gates of the Alamo
“On sea and on land, these intrepid sailors endured enough for a thousand lifetimes. In this riveting account, Hornfischer carefully reconstructs a story none of us should be allowed to forget.”
—Hampton Sides, author of Blood and Thunder and Ghost Soldiers
“Hornfischer has produced another meticulously researched naval history page-turner in Ship of Ghosts. He manages to fuse powerful human stories into the great flow of historical events with a singular storytelling talent.”
—John F. Lehman, former Secretary of the Navy, author of On Seas of Glory
“Hornfischer has done it again. His narrative is fine-tuned and always compelling but where he truly excels is in his evocative, often lyrical descriptions of combat at sea. Those who enjoyed his previous bestseller will love Ship of Ghosts—military history at its finest.”
—Alex Kershaw, author of The Few
“Masterly … [the] descriptions of the huge and terrifying naval engagements are as overwhelming a stretch of historical writing as I have ever come across… Beautifully written and heart-gripping.”
—Adam Nicolson, author of God’s Secretaries
“Recounts perhaps the most devastating untold saga of World War II in piercing detail.”
—Donovan Webster, author of The Burma Road
“Hornfischer has hit another home run.”
—Paul Stillwell, former director, History Division, U.S. Naval Institute; author of Battleship Arizona
“Excellent … Hornfischer details amazing stories of survival and horrifying stories of death. He tells of the trials that brought punishment to the perpetrators and of the difficulties survivors had in adapting to freedom.”
—San Antonio Express-News
“Finally … a new book about the Houston, her crew, and their ‘lost years’ has reached stores. James D. Hornfischer’s Ship of Ghosts accomplishes what its predecessors never quite did.”
—America in WWII
“Hornfischer rivets the reader’s attention… The crew relate, through Hornfischer’s superb narrative style, their individual accounts in a seamless tale of bravery and uncommon personal fortitude… Jim Hornfischer has crafted a terrific read and every U.S. Navy sailor and every WWII history buff will want to read Ship of Ghosts.”
—Tin Can Sailor
“James D. Hornfischer is … a first-rate World War II naval historian… [His] book is ultimately an evocative testament to the human spirit.”
—Austin Monthly
“The author … brings to life another little-known chapter of World War II in the Pacific … I highly recommend Ship of Ghosts. While it is historical, its fast and exciting pace reminds me of The Sand Pebbles, one of my favorite novels.”
—Col. Gordon W. Keiser, USMC (ret.), U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings
“Certain to appeal to many types of readers—scholars, navy buffs, armchair sailors and military historians among them.”
—Associated Press
ALSO BY JAMES D. HORNFISCHER
The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors:
The Extraordinary World War II Story of
the U.S. Navy’s Finest Hour
for Sharon
The day will come when even this ordeal
will be a sweet thing to remember.
—Virgil, the aeneid
CONTENTS
One. On Asia Station
Two. A Bloodstained Sea
Three. The Emperor’s Guests
Four. In the Jungle of the Kwai
Five. Rendezvous with Freedom
Acknowledgments
Bibliography
Notes
Men of the USS Houston (CA-30) and the Lost Battalion Killed in Action or Died in Captivity, 1942–1945
Photo Credits
Excerpt from Neptune’s Inferno
This is the ancient history of a forgotten ship, forgotten because history is story, because memory is fragile, and because the human mind—and thus the storytellers who write the history—generally accepts only so much sorrow before the impulse prevails to put the story on a brighter path. The Pacific war’s desperate days were dark enough to obscure one of the