Customer Reviews

The Last Big-Gun Naval Battle: The Battle of Surigao Strait

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This is a great look inside the workings of a "big gun" battleship during World War II. While only one chapter is dedicated to the Battle of Surigao Strait, Howard Sauer speaks from his experience as an officer in the gunnery department. He includes a map of the action, with postitions of combatants noted, in addition to firing tracks. His detailed look at life aboard the USS Maryland is helped with pictures, diagrams, and maps. The book is a valuable resource for anyone wanting to know about life aboard a battleship during war. Another feature of this book is the directory of all United States battleships.

written by a non-literary type, the book is in a straight-foward manner with no diversions, not even for the dead. It is the history of the WW11 battleship "Maryland". One of the ancient ships raised from the mud of Pearl. For a flavor of WW11 sea battles it serves a purpose. It is as advertised, "An eyewitness account".

A great WWII eyewitness book. The author served onboard the USS Maryland, one of the battleships sunk at Pearl Harbor, then raised and repaired to rejoin the war with her crew burning for revenge. Sauer tells what it was like to serve during the height of the war and the amazing single-minded training it took to prepare for the moment when it was do-or-die: What it took to load and shoot the Big Guns, firing trajectories, how you "turn" an enormous convoy of huge ships... The absolutely best chapter takes you front row center at the battle of Surigao Strait in October of '44 -- U.S. battleships, destroyers, cruisers, and torpedo boats against the biggest guns of the Japanese navy. A catastrophic defeat for Japan, which retaliated with ferocious kamikaze attacks. Truly riveting stuff. Lots of pictures and other visuals including a diagram of the battle and the last crossing of the "T". I only wish there were more books like this! Obviously highly recommended.

The title is misleading, there is a chapter that very briefly narrates what went on onboard the Maryland during the battle, but there is little else. While the discussion of the life on board the Maryland is interesting, there is little in the way of substance.

This book, a memoir of a young naval officer's experiences aboard the U.S. Battleship Maryland during WWII, is an absolutely terrific read. I could not put this book down until I finished it. If you are interested in what it was like to fight aboard an American battleship during WWII, then this book is for you. Although only one chapter of the book focuses on the Battle of Surigao Strait, the other thirteen chapters are fascinating. This book is especially informative when it comes to issues of naval gunfire against land targets and what it felt like to be on the receiving end of a kamikaze attack. "The Last Big-Gun Naval Battle" is very well written and well worth the price.

I've read this book from front to back numerous times and each time I pick more and more visual out of its pages. Howard spent a great deal of time gathering and putting all of this together. Thank you Howard for your effort!

Wonderful book. God I love our Veterans and our Military. Must reading for WW2 buff