Customer Reviews

Ship of Ghosts: The Story of the USS Houston, FDR's Legendary Lost Cruiser, and the Epic Saga of Her Survivors

5 star:		(47)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Hornfischer's new history of the last days of USS Houston (CA30) covers the story of USS Houston from her launch through her sinking at the Battle of Sunda Strait, Java, February 1942. Most of the volume covers her wartime service with the United States Asiatic fleet, and the subsequent ordeals of her surviving crewmembers as prisoners of war in Java, Burma, Thailand and Japan. The tales of valor, resistence, and survival in the face of the impossible circumstances of Asiatic Fleet, and of her crew's survival in prisoner of war camps, have long awaited telling. Hornfischer deserves great credit for obtaining and presenting the tale, and for honoring the last great men of a generation of WW2 veterans who are rapidly dwindling in number.

The story of USS Houston's service as Asiatic Fleet's flagship when America entered the war has only been told once before with any competence (E.P. Hoyt's "The Lonely Ships") -- but not with the detail provided by Hornfischer. More importantly, the story of USS Houston's survivors, as they worked on the Burma-Thai death railway, and in at least one instance, as slave labor in a Japanese shipyard, and the endurance, resistence to Imperial Japanese Army sadistic brutality, and the prisoners' acts of defiance has never been told before.

This is Hornfischer's second widely available entry exploring the courage and valor of men of the US Navy in WW2 who, in some circumstances, faced very long odds and survived. Those who have read Hornfischer's "Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors" will be pleased with this new entry. "Ship of Ghosts" is sure to be another candidate for the Samuel E. Morison award for naval history.

When I first read the sample pgs on Amazon, it reminded me of those Civil War books w/ the flowery language in place of facts/1st hand experiences - but I was going to get this book cause there are rarely new WWII stories. The only thing I had know about the Houston was that it had been lost early in the war & had only seen that 1 Japanese photo of it engulfed in shell splashes (not incl here unfort - prob too sensitive!)
Well, I was wrong! This IS an epic story, more involved than the bks I have on the Indianapolis, Juneau or Bismark, written in an easy-reading style,(different than most of my WWII books) full of human interest stories & personal experiences - I read it in 10hrs in 2 sittings. 100pgs of the 530 are notes, but it incls the crew list, so it's a good value for your $18 - not like that new Midway book 'Shattered Sword' which is half technical info. I'm going to get this authors other 'Last Stand' bk.
And hey - if you're going to review these books, don't go on & on w/ all the details/contents like some of these guys - why bother reading it. You'd think these guys are writting their own book!

Author James Hornfischer has followed up his best-selling "Last Stand of the Tin Can Soldiers" with another sea epic that's sure to become as popular as his first book.

Hornfischer's second effort deals with the heavy cruiser USS Houston, the flagship of the rag-tag Asiatic Fleet. Given orders to intercept the advancing Imperial Japanese Navy in the early days of the Pacific war, the small Asiatic fleet had little chance of survival. The Japanese held a massive superiority over the Allies in all types of ships. It was only a matter of time before the Japanese succeeded in destroying the plucky little Allied fleet.

Despite these overwhelming odds, the Asiatic Fleet fought bravely, though in the end, the Japanese prevailed. The Houston and the Australian cruiser HMAS Perth were sunk in the Java Sea while attempting to sneak by the Japanese fleet and reach safety in Australia.

Several hundred crewmen of the Houston and Perth were captured by the Japanese and dispresed to various POW camps in Southeast Asia. This began a three-year ordeal for the survivors, who were forced to deal with the constant brutality of their captors. Beatings were a common occurance, and the Japanese informed the POWs that escape was futile. Some men were sent to Japan to work in mines or shipyards, and some were sent to Burma and Thailand to construct a railway for the Japanese. Glamorized in the movie "The Bridge on the River Kwai", these men labored without the aid of machines to build a railway consisting of tracks, bridges, tressels, and tunnels. It was an engineering miracle that these starved and decimated men were able to accomplish such a feat.

As the POWs' time in Burma and Thailand wore on, the Allies had begun to re-capture much of the territory seized by the Japanese in the early days of the war. Soon, the POWs on the railway had to contend with Allied bombers as well as the Japanese, but they knew that the end must be near as the raids increased in intensity and frequency.

After the Japanese finally surrendered in August, 1945, the POWs were finally liberated and returned to the United States. But many died at the hands of the Japanese as well. During the war, the U.S. Navy built a new USS Houston to replace the one lost in the Java Sea.

James Hornfischer has done a magnificent job of telling the story of the Houston and her brave crew. Known as President Roosevelt's favorite fishing boat, the Houston and the rest of the Asiatic Fleet put up a valiant fight against overwhelming odds in the dark early days of the Pacific war. The story of her survivors and the atrocities they faced at the hands of the Japanese is a true testament to their will to live and return home. This fine book contains a wealth of information gained from interviews with the survivors as well as fine historical prose by the author.

I highly recommend this fine piece of military history. Hornfischer has followed up is excellent first book with one that is even better. If you're a fan of naval history, then be sure to read this great book. These brave men were part of our greatest generation, and Hornfischer's book is a fitting tribute to their service and sacrifice. They will not be forgotten.

A book I had trouble putting down once I started. Just an amazing gut wrenching story. The first part of the book is not all that different from many other books about a ship that sails into battle against an overwhelming enemy and is lost. Very interesting, very enlightening, particularly since little has been written about the Houston, and I'm sure any Navy guy will love it, but still similar to that of other doomed ships. The real story in this book, the second 2/3's, is of the absolutely sub-human existance of the survivors of the Houston and many others, for well over 3 years, at the hands of the ungodly barbaric Japanese while being forced to build the Burma-Thailand Death Railway. There are stories within stories here, some of which can bring you close to tears for these young men. This should be required reading, along with a few other books I can think of, for every Jananese high school student.
A great book, very thorough, will definitely add to your understanding of the Pacific war and the men who fought it. I hope America is still producing men like this.

Disclosure: I know the author tangentially.

That out of the way, this book does a great job of illustrating the valiant 3 month combat career of the USS Houston, CA-30. Hornfisher's greatest strength is in bringing a life to what he's writing about. It's really enjoyable to have the "fly on the wall" sensation you get when reading this or "Last Stand", his 1st book.

Hornfisher really did a great job of researching this book, and he really illuminates the narratives he made use of. I know almost all the survivors of this ship, and he tells their story, really, better than the men themselves!

I have long thought that this ship and her crew needed a boook such as this: large form factor, grandly illustrated, damned well-written. This should be read by all WW2 buffs, as well as USN personnel. This is a story of gallantry, endurance, and triumph. These men, this ship, they're examples to to be followed, and this book is the vessel by which this epic shall be preserved for posterity.

With America's WW II veterans dying at the rate of 1,500 a day, we are clearly into "the last lap". Therefore, Jim Hornfischer's excellent treatment of the cruiser Houston comes none too soon. His taut narrative actually involves two stories between the covers of one book: the ship's early combat in the Pacific and the surviving crew members' 3 1/2 year struggle for survival ashore.

There's a lesson for other researchers and authors: "the greatest generation" is fading fast, and its memories are fading even faster. Now is the time to grab the tape recorder or notepad and get the remaining veterans' stories while they are still accessible.

Hornfischer did a great job with "Last stand of the tin can sailors," a well-deserved history of the heroic efforts of three destroyers ("tin cans") in the 1944 battle of the Leyte Gulf. Just as with "Tin Can," Hornfischer surfaces a forgotten or under-reported story of heroism and survival, this time focusing on the early days of the Pacific war.

The USS Houston was initially more of a celebrity cruiser, used by Franklin Roosevelt in the late 1930s as a vacation home for long fishing trips. The ship had an air of glamour and earned the president's favor at a time when most people discounted or ignored the prospect of war.

The gild came off the lily in the first three months of the war. By March 1, the Houston was a casualty, having stumbled across a Japanese invasion fleet in the narrow strait off of Indonesia, near the site of Krakatoa. Vastly outnumbered and outgunned, the Houston put up a struggle before sinking, a story worthy of its own book.

But the heroism was soon replaced by terror. Marched off into slave labor prisoner of war camps in the area where the fictional "Bridge on the River Kwai" became a Hollywood legend, survivors of the sinking found three years of miserable labor, men dying by the score of a variety of tropical diseases, malnutrition, and Japanese cruelty. Worse, few Americans knew of the fate of the survivors, leaving the men alone and frustrated, not just physically threatened.

The final portion of the book shows the recovery of the men, some of them assimilating back into a world of plentiful food, comfortable beds, hot showers, and clean clothes, things most Americans took for granted, even during the war. One of the more rebellious crew members actually returned to Japan, married a Japanese woman, and died in Tokyo in 2001. The survivors displayed a wide variety of post-war strategies for making up for lost time and calories.

"Ghosts" has plentiful research, camp drawings by some of the survivors, a list of those Houston crew men killed in action or in the camps, and details on the fate of some of the cruelest Japanese leaders and soldiers. Some of the maps lack detail; a more detailed map of the strait where the Houston sank might put more of the battle action in context. The primary story covers almost ten years, thousands of miles and hundreds of men, making some of the details of the story hard to follow at time. The story starts off on a rousing upbeat note, then sinks, sinks some more, and then recovers after almost four years of trauma and tribulation. But the scope of the survivors' success, not just the story itself, make this book a powerful, sad yet also triumphant tale.

Lets cut to the chase: if you are a history buff, or if you enjoy the history of WW II, buy this book. It is worth your time and money.

That said, let me warn you, the book is written in a rather odd manner. The author has apparently interviewed survivors and taken those notes and written this book. Somehow, the end result comes across at times like a compilation of notes, disjointed, jumping from subject to subject ... offering the reader bits of information. It also seems that some of the subject matter is too detailed, whereas other subjects are only lightly touched on.

In my opinion, the author should have broken the book into two books ... one about the Houston and one about the challeging experiences of her crew, after the Houston's sinking.

I am glad I read this work, as I did learn quite a bit ... hope you enjoy.

Ship of Ghosts is Mr. Hornfischer telling of the USS Houston and her crew during WWII. The USS Houston, known as the Galloping Ghost of the Java Coast (because of how many times the Japanese reported her sunk) was the flagship of the US Asiatic Fleet. In WWII she was responsible for holding and delaying the Japanese in taking Indonesia. Any ways, Mr. Hornfischer opens by telling us the early pre-war history of the USS Houston, how she was used by FDR as his yacht, and the history of the gentlemen whom Mr. Hornfischer interviewed.

After telling us about the pre-war years, Mr. Hornfisher jumps into the action of the Battle of the Java Sea and Sunda Strait. This is then followed by telling us about the crews time as POW's and working on the "Death Railway". Most of this book deals with their experience as POW's (btw, the crew of the HMAS Perth has coverage in this book, not as much as the USS Houston, but it is recognized. Also, Mr. Hornfischer cover the men of the 2nd battalion, 131st Field Artillery). In the chapters dealing with the men being prisoners of war we learn about the poor conditions they kept in and how terrible it was working in Burma on the railway (interestingly, the conditions in Thailand were worse). An interesting fact the Mr. Hornfischer points out several times is how the movie The Bridge on the River Kwai poorly represented the conditions the men served under.

Rating wise this book was very easy for me. A solid 4.5 stars. While Mr. Hornfischer did a commendable job telling us about the crew, I had two problems. First, was his book Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors was more solidly written than this one. There I felt as if I was there, this time I had someone telling me of the tale. My primary reason though for only 4.5 stars is that I'd read The Ghost That Died at Sunda Strait(by W.G. Winslow, a true 5 star book). Since I can't leave this as a half star I need to round the number. If I hadn't read Mr. Winslow's book prior, I might round up, however since I've read his book, this one gets rounded down. Sorry Mr. Hornfischer. A very good book though! It complements Mr. Winslow's nicely and picks up where Mr. Winslow chose to leave off. A very good job!

My cousin, Walter Schneck, is on the lower left of the picture of survivors in Calcutta. He cooked in the camps. While stories he told me confirmed much of what the book describes, he also told of poisoning two Jap guards for stealing POW rice, using maggots, in the absence of medicines, to eliminate decaying flesh on two fingers he lost, and possibly unique to him, facing a big financial problem after liberation because in '45 the navy gave him several months leave and $[...] back pay only for him to discover when he reported back for duty that his wife, who had recently divorced him, had received his pay during the war. He had to repay the $[...], on navy pay!! My only disappointment in an otherwise fine book was the lack of a list of the survivors.