By E.J. Jernigan
From Baird Maritime:
Another "lower deck" history of naval activity in World War II.
Born in 1923, the author escaped a poor but happy childhood by joining the US Navy soon after he turned seventeen. A few months later he was assigned to the new battleship USS 'Washington' as a very junior fireman or stoker.
War was coming, the Navy was expanding fast and crews were been developed quickly. The author loved it. He also loved shore leave (liberty), booze and girls. That led him to the brig in New York City. In turn, that led to his transfer to the newly commissioned destroyer USS Saufley' in September 1942. He stayed with that very successful ship for the remainder of the war.
This is the story of the ship and a rapidly maturing boy. In turn, he grew to love the ship. He decided he was born to be a destroyer man.
This impressively well-written memoir details the three year wartime career of the 'Saufley' and the author. It was a busy time and the ship was a very effective contributor to the Allied cause. She was a well handled "lucky" ship that survived many of the important Pacific battles to become one of the US Navy's most highly decorated destroyers.
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