Why did I love this book?
The Battle of Samar Island, which is the subject of this book, is one of the most extraordinary naval battles in all human history. In October 1944 a massive Japanese battle fleet encountered a small US Navy task force just east of the Philippines. Woefully outnumbered and outgunned, the diminutive American escort vessels protecting a handful of light carriers charged headlong at their foes – 1,500-ton destroyers taking on 60,000-ton battleships – and forced the Japanese into a disorganized retreat. The courage, determination, and self-sacrifice of the crews of the destroyers and destroyer escorts – the “Tin Can Sailors” of the title – would be unbelievable if they weren’t so well-documented.
6 authors picked The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
“This will be a fight against overwhelming odds from which survival cannot be expected. We will do what damage we can.”
With these words, Lieutenant Commander Robert W. Copeland addressed the crew of the destroyer escort USS Samuel B. Roberts on the morning of October 25, 1944, off the Philippine Island of Samar. On the horizon loomed the mightiest ships of the Japanese navy, a massive fleet that represented the last hope of a staggering empire. All that stood between it and Douglas MacArthur’ s vulnerable invasion force were the Roberts and the other small ships of a tiny American…