Post by 2nd Bat on Apr 16, 2017 15:06:04 GMT -5
This book while a story of the US Merchant Marine with focus on the incredible proponderence of sailors from Mathews County Virginia really tells the story of the USs involvement in the war. Without supplies battles don't happen and without shipping supplies can't get where they are needed. The book chronicals heroism, sacrifice, technology, strategy, poor choices and good and provides insight about a critical element of the war few (myself included) knew much about. America really didn't realize how close they were to loosing the Atlanta sea battles. The Merchant Marines (though technically civilians) had a higher death rate than USNavy sailors by a huge margin. Numerous Merchant Marine sailors were torpedoed and survived several sinkings. Many ships were lost with all hands their U Boat enemy the only ones to know their rate. Early in the war the East Coast failed to use convoy shipping and left coastal lights on giving a very small forces of U Boats carte blanche to sink ships unimpeded until they ran out of torpedoes. Little attention was paid to reduce the hazard. Arrogance and ignorance cost many sailors their lives. Ultimately tactics, technology and America's incredible production capacity won out and ironically it was the u boat sailors who ended up with the highest casualty rate of any service group. Nearly 80% of all u boat crewman were lost at sea.
This book is well written, easy to read and extremely well researched. Mathews county in Virginia was a prolific producer of seafarers since the revolution and so many Merchant ships captains came from that region that they became known as Mathews Men. The tragic losses from a population of 7700 people was amazing. The horrors of drifting at sea for weeks is incomprehensible to me and the fact that such men got back onboard ships is incredible.
Without them the war could not have been won.
This book is well written, easy to read and extremely well researched. Mathews county in Virginia was a prolific producer of seafarers since the revolution and so many Merchant ships captains came from that region that they became known as Mathews Men. The tragic losses from a population of 7700 people was amazing. The horrors of drifting at sea for weeks is incomprehensible to me and the fact that such men got back onboard ships is incredible.
Without them the war could not have been won.