WORLD WAR II - NONFICTION
"Tin Can Sailor: Life Aboard the USS
Sterett, 1939-1945" by C. Raymond Calhoun 
This is a fine account of the actions during World War II of the great little Destroyer USS Sterett and her outstanding crew. The action is recounted by Lt. Cmdr. Calhoun, a plank owner of the ship (with her at her commissioning). The book follows the ship through commissioning and training to convoy duty and serving with the British in the Mediterranean when the US first entered the war. The Sterett was later transferred to the Pacific where she fought gallantly in the third battle of Savo Island on 13 November 1942. In this action she sunk a Japanese destroyer, put two fish into the Battleship Heie, and several salvos through the superstructure of a Japanese cruiser. During the action she lost 28 men KIA and 4 MIA. She took numerous hits including 3 14 inch shells aft. She was the last US ship to leave the action. After repairs, she was involved in numerous actions throughout the rest of the war, bombarding shores supporting Marine and Army landings, escorting transports and supply ships, picking up downed airmen, Japanese seamen, and American survivors of sunken ships. She shot down numerous Japanese aircraft in engagements running from the Solomon islands to Leyte and Okinawa. Her last action was as picket number one north of Okinawa where she was attacked by 4 Kamikazes. She shot down 3 but the 4th, though badly damaged, slammed into her side.
The style of this book reads like good fiction and will appeal to any fan of military history. The passages concerning action are riveting. Many of the crew are introduced and you get a good sense of who these brave men were that ran this ship in and out of combat. There is also some good humor mixed in with the horrors of war.
Bluejacket Books
Naval Institute Press
291 Wood Road
Annapolis, MD 21402
