This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt. You may receive a partial or no refund on used, damaged or materially different returns.

Read full return policy

Payment

Secure transaction

Payment

Secure transaction

We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more

Details

$10.43

Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less See less

FREE delivery May 20 - 24. Details

Or fastest delivery May 14 - 16. Details

Select delivery location

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

$$25.34 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Enhancements you chose aren't available for this seller. Details

${cardName} not available for the seller you chose

${cardName} unavailable for quantities greater than ${maxQuantity}.

Ships from and sold by ThriftBooks-Phoenix.

Other sellers on Amazon

New & Used (25) from $10.43 & FREE Shipping

Follow the author

Russell Sydnor Crenshaw

+ Follow

More books from this author

South Pacific Destroyer: The Battle for the Solomons from Savo Island to Vella Gulf Paperback – September 1, 2009

by Estate of R S. Crenshaw (Author)

4.3 265 ratings

See all formats and editions

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$25.34","priceAmount":25.34,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"25","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"34","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"6sJawWoXNZZfpfDwyrwFXIA3upUN6xdpmWOt09A5dXUiFZZohgKneUJEMxwVKpZbAyOIUsQqYvXfUkgPOcmrrqmcfDLIoBixfHCpPoblEBJMsUkIuWZLd53GPocchhwyds%2B20CCQoyV6%2B3%2Fi7pJAMeR2pvJIhFVFwsyTt%2BEiHyZF9E8EbPop5eqxjJTpUVUZ","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$10.43","priceAmount":10.43,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"10","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"43","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"6sJawWoXNZZfpfDwyrwFXIA3upUN6xdp23SqFrA%2BAiYeIWdU3ViAslhEXwrIGq19%2Bo8qvk79zCWQOoZVAafPdCMXKEK3cNuLsYXIRyUK2k7AbFnVidPC%2BHj2MRLZw8%2FaINiS5HdhmjtRqTArnW6Uxfx12z3arKsxMNcT2WPmhBxNHy4QsvYTaK9a1HwNFfM%2B","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

Today only a select few know firsthand what it is like to feel their ship shudder from the blast of their own guns, watch enemy guns flash back, and see friendly ships erupt in flames. Russell Crenshaw is one of those few. His riveting account of the savage night battle for the Solomon Islands in early 1943 offers readers a unique insider's perspective from the decks of one of the destroyers that bore the brunt of the struggle. Russell Crenshaw was a gunnery officer on the USS Maury. His vivid, balanced, and detailed narrative includes the Battle of Tassafaronga in November 1942 and Vella Gulf in August 1943, actions that earned his warship a Presidential Unit Citation and sixteen battle stars. Crenshaw also discusses the impact of radar and voice radio, the shortcomings of U.S. torpedoes and gunfire, and the devastating effectiveness of Japan's super torpedo.

Frequently bought together

South Pacific Destroyer: The Battle for the Solomons from Savo Island to Vella Gulf

$25.34

Get it May 20 - 29

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

Ships from and sold by secretofthebooks.

+

Neptune's Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal

$13.86

Get it as soon as Thursday, May 16

In Stock

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

Total price:

To see our price, add these items to your cart.

Try again!

Details

Added to Cart

One of these items ships sooner than the other.

Show details Hide details

Choose items to buy together.

James D. Hornfischer
3,028
Paperback
94 offers from $2.75
Jeffrey Cox
118
Hardcover
65 offers from $15.88
Jonathan Parshall
2,558
Paperback
56 offers from $16.98
Russell Sydnor Crenshaw Jr.
69
Paperback
29 offers from $2.98
Capt. Tameichi Hara
1,115
Paperback
69 offers from $3.25
Daniel Wrinn
305
Paperback
2 offers from $9.99

Editorial Reviews

Review

"South Pacific Destroyer is a classic account of a very important period in U.S. Naval history. Russell Crenshaw knows the issues and the answers and provides an informed, dispassionate analysis. That's a rare quality and, for the World War II generation, getting rarer."--Charles R. Haberlein Jr., Naval Historical Center

About the Author

Captain Russell Syndor Crenshaw Jr., USN (Ret.), is the author of Naval Shiphandling and lives in Drayden, MD.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Naval Institute Press (September 1, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1591141435
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1591141433
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.1 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.75 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,251,111 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #4,229 in WWII Biographies
- #5,185 in Naval Military History
- #19,552 in American Military History

Customer Reviews:
4.3 265 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Russell Sydnor Crenshaw

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5

265 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

awaya

No way to go through life.

Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2014

Verified Purchase

This was certinly a good book and his description of the islands was accurate. I was not in the Navy. I flew the islandsin the USAF for almost 5 years starting in 1960. I just cant imagine how the guys could livedown there. Where the book makes mention of rain coming in was absolutely true. Some nights we would get 7" of rain. We were not permitted to pick up any weapons or for that matter anything war related. It was still everywhere. We walked into a large cave where the natives that were with us would not go in. We found an entire kitchen area with mess kits with forks still on the trays. This was in 1962 and most of the Army had left the area in 1944. Incredable to see this.We flew from many of the small island landing strips that were 100 to 125 foot wide and about 2 thousand feet long made by the Army engineers. In fact we used the same wells they had drilled. Just a terrible hardship for those guys. For something to do at night we used to tune our Collins radio to a frequency in Viet Nam and listen to what is happening just 12 hours North. if you experenced any of the conflict inSouth East asia this book is for you.The author did a great job of making you a part of the story.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Illinimuck

Good, first hand perspective of the war

Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2013

Verified Purchase

What's unique about this book is you get the first hand perspective of a junior officer (later XO) on a fighting South Pacific destroyer. The level of detail and the personal insights are very informative. You really get a sense of what it was to "be there." You also get a sense of the hum drum and the routine convoying duties these men faced in addition to the spectacular battles.

What is missing, in my opinion, is the other half of the story. For example, the author talks about engagements where, from his knowledge at the time, multiple Japanese vessels were sunk. Yet, we now know that in that particular engagement NO Japanese ships were sunk. Yet he never really talks about that or fills in the post facto details. This makes the book somewhat flawed. The author does a much better job in his great book "the Battle of Tassaforonga" which I highly recommend!

Overall it was a unique, but limited, personal memoir of a neglected part of naval history. And it was an enjoyable read.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

jakesully01

A Unique and Amazing read!

Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2015

Verified Purchase

This is the most immersive book on naval warfare in WW II that I have ever read. And I've read a lot of them. It is not a book about the details of all the battles, or the strategies. It is simply how life was for the officers & men of one destroyer in the early stages of the Solomon Islands campaign. As they saw it. You only know what they knew, or thought they knew. This was so refreshing from the omnipotent know all, critize all books.
If you are interested in what it was really like to have been there, thus is probably as close as you can get!
As I read this book, I found that I felt like I was one of the crew. When the author had to be transferred off (towards the end), it was almost heartbreaking. As if I was leaving home and family.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Not Enough Personal Experience

Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2000

Verified Purchase

I purchased the book hoping that it was a first person account of a Pacific WWII destroyer officer who was involved in much of the action prior to 1944. About 25% of the book is truly that and was exactly what I had hoped for. I really enjoyed his description of the people and organization and functioning of the USS Maurie. This and the physical descriptions of the power plants and related systems are also unique in my reading experience.
The Author,however, also attempts to interleave in the narrative a history of the surface actions in the South Pacicfic theater in 1942-1943. It appears that he liberally summarizes the Morrison hisory "Breaking the Bismark Barrier" without adding much if anything and deleting a lot. The presentation is certainly mechanical. Even the charts are cheap reproductions from the Morrision book.
For some reason the author does not describe his experinces with the destroyer from Pearl Harbor through Midway and etc. This to me would be much more interesting than a repeat of a book I have read several times and a lengthy discussion of the fallacies of the US torpedo program that thousands of authors have already covered ad nauseum. The torpedo problem was,though, a hugely important issue. What the author did add was that prior to the battle at Vella Gulf, he insisted that the Maurie's torpedo depth settings be set to mininum to compensate for faulty controls. This truly may have had a significant effect on the outcome of the battle.

24 people found this helpful

Helpful

Ice Pick Mike

Enjoyed reading this account of the destroyer and the naval ...

Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2015

Verified Purchase

Enjoyed reading this account of the destroyer and the naval officer that wrote the book. Nuts and bolts story with the authors personal remembrance of early Second World War actions in the Pacific. He must have kept his own personal log as time went as it is detailed and technical with regards to tactics, the ships and weapon systems of the time. The end of the book has a short after action report on the Japanese and American torpedoes which is interesting if you have read any accounts of the devastating effect and extreme range of the Japanese torpedoes and the terrible torpedoes issued to the US naval forces. Gives one an insight to the folks that fought the war in the Pacific and how intense the fighting really was and the tremendous loss of life on all sides fighting. The depiction of the battles is on the dry side but it isn't a movie, just a guy telling what he saw and his involvement.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Thomas A. Knight

Dark Nights, Hellish Battles on High Seas

Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2013

Verified Purchase

My stepdad, a Pearl Harbor Survivor, just died. He was Torpedoman First Class on the USS Radford, America's most decorated destroyer. His stories of night battles with the "Tokyo Express" in the Solomon Islands were hair-raising. I bought this book to check the veracity of Scotty's tales. All true. I am grateful to the author for the research and writing that helped fill in the blanks, bringing this fascinating account to light. Even now, few people realize that the real turning point in the war with the Empiure of the Rising Sun was in this remote island chain near New Guinea. Another book I highly recommend on the same topic is "Neptune's Inferno." I could not put it down. Scotty was very lucky to survive so many hellish nights. Our family has lost a true hero.

One person found this helpful

Helpful