Ship of Ghosts: The Story of the USS Houston, FDR's Legendary Lost Cruiser, and the Epic Saga of her Survivors | 
| Author: James Hornfischer
Publisher: Bantam
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  37 reviews
Sales Rank: 30761
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 544
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.2
ISBN: 0553384503
Dewey Decimal Number: 359
EAN: 9780553384505
ASIN: 0553384503
Publication Date: August 28, 2007
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Product Description
"Son, we’re going to Hell."
The navigator of the USS Houston confided these prophetic words to a young officer as he and his captain charted a course into U.S. naval legend. Renowned as FDR’s favorite warship, the cruiser USS Houston was a prize target trapped in the far Pacific after Pearl Harbor. Without hope of reinforcement, her crew faced a superior Japanese force ruthlessly committed to total conquest. It wasn’t a fair fight, but the men of the Houston would wage it to the death.
Hornfischer brings to life the awesome terror of nighttime naval battles that turned decks into strobe-lit slaughterhouses, the deadly rain of fire from Japanese bombers, and the almost superhuman effort of the crew as they miraculously escaped disaster again and again–until their luck ran out during a daring action in Sunda Strait. There, hopelessly outnumbered, the Houston was finally sunk and its survivors taken prisoner. For more than three years their fate would be a mystery to families waiting at home.
In the brutal privation of jungle POW camps dubiously immortalized in such films as The Bridge on the River Kwai, the war continued for the men of the Houston—a life-and-death struggle to survive forced labor, starvation, disease, and psychological torture. Here is the gritty, unvarnished story of the infamous Burma–Thailand Death Railway glamorized by Hollywood, but which in reality mercilessly reduced men to little more than animals, who fought back against their dehumanization with dignity, ingenuity, sabotage, will–power—and the undying faith that their country would prevail.
Using journals and letters, rare historical documents, including testimony from postwar Japanese war crimes tribunals, and the eyewitness accounts of Houston’s survivors, James Hornfischer has crafted an account of human valor so riveting and awe-inspiring, it’s easy to forget that every single word is true.
From the Hardcover edition.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 32 more reviews...
Great Book October 1, 2008
I dont like to write long reviews. This book is a great story about men surviving thru a time of horror and a the fellowship they had with each other. A good read with a good story. Pick it up if you like war stories.
Ship of Ghosts August 29, 2008
An amazing and thorough story of a sometimes forgotten part of WWII. Carefully researched with written and spoken words from victims and survivors. I hope he is preparing another book to accompany this and Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors.
 Not All its Made Out to Be July 23, 2008
As a lover of military history, and WWII in particular, I was eager to read another great sea story, so highly rated. The title, Ship of Ghosts, was most intriguing, suggesting the story of a warship that kept up a fight while out of all communications. Unfortunately, the title turned out to be misleading. The USS Houston was sunk rather quickly, in its second battle of the war, so the bulk of the book describes how the American POWs survived a brutal Japanese imprisonment. An interesting read in itself, but not what it represents to be. I note that out of 420 pages, only 80 are about the sea battles. Hornfischer is a fabulous writer (maybe too good - once in a while the prose seems to get in the way of the storyline)and the story moves along, so "Ship of Ghosts" is worth reading, but readers should expect a story of survival, less so of battle and tactics.
historic book May 31, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
very realistic book about what really happened. my uncle was on this ship and was captured by the japanese and spent the rest of the war in prison camps. he had told me quite a lot about what happened and the book backed up what he said.
Possibly, the most complete story ever told. May 30, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The story of the loss of the heavy cruiser USS Houston off the coast of Indonesia on 1 March 1942 is a story which strikes right to the heart of naval traditions which go back beyond the creation of the United State of America itself. It is a story of danger and brave deeds, of gallant actions and bloody combat. Most of all it is a story of ship that went down fighting against insurmountable odds - a ship which never struck her colours and was still fighting when the sea finally claimed her.
Famous for being President F. D. Roosevelt's favourite ship, the Houston was trapped in the Far East immediately after the events of Pearl Harbour and the loss of the British Force Z (Battleships HMS Prince of Wales and Repulse) just a few days later. In company with HMAS Perth, the ships fought off, avoided and evaded overwhelming enemy forces until, low on ammunition, they colluded in the most courageous action now known as the Battle of Sunda Strait where both ships were finally lost.
This, however, is where Mr Hornfischer starts his story about this legendary "Ship of Ghosts."
It is because the Japanese were so very ruthless in their bid to conquer all before them, that prisoners were treated with utter contempt. Consequently, those who survived the sinking of the Houston began a journey that became the stuff of legend and it would be a full 3 years before anyone beyond those Japanese forces would learn what had happened to the ship and that some survivors were still alive - though, by now, far fewer in number.
There is no happy ending to such a story as this because there never can be. War is brutal and warships on both sides get sunk. What actually happened to the survivors of the USS Houston has taken this author right through and beyond the ordinary realms of research into an area of personal accounts, life in captivity and life in the jungle at the hands of a regime far more cruel than anything seen since the dark days of WW2.
And yet, he produces an account of personal achievement for those who possessed that indefinable quality that always meant they were going to survive.
I congratulate Mr Hornfischer on an excellent book, an excellent job of research and a most complete account. Most of all, I congratulate him on making it all so very readable.
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