General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
RE: Merchant ships sunk \\\'39-\\\'45 - where to f
Posted by:
Ken Dunn
()
Date: January 19, 2001 12:46AM
<HTML>Hi Nathan,
The best book I have found on U.S. Merchant Ships lost during WWII is “A Careless Word… a Needless Sinking…†by Captain Arthur R. Moore. Library of Congress 82-73552. Published by the American Merchant Marine Museum at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point NY.
It has information on most all U.S. merchant ships sunk or damaged during WWII. It has a narrative description of the attack including date, time, exact location, who did it (which U-boat, mine, plane, etc.) how many were killed, wounded, etc. and what happened to the attacker. It also contains a picture of most of the ships. It is around 700 pages and has cross-references, tables, etc. It is also pretty current, having just been revised. This is the most respected book on the subject I have found so far.
There is a link to the info on how to purchase it on www.usmm.org at the bottom of their home page. It’s expensive. Mine cost about $90.00 including shipping, etc. I don’t believe you can get it through Amazon.com but try there first (via the link from this site) as uboat.net will get a commission on the sale if they have it.
Another good book is “U.S. Merchant Vessel War Casualties of World War II†by Robert M. Browning Jr. (ISBN 1-55750-087-8. Naval Institute Press). It is not as up-to-date as “A Careless Word†and it doesn’t have pictures, but it only cost $20 - $30. If you can’t get it through Amazon.com you should be able to get it through Barnes & Noble.
These books don’t contain crew lists or anything like that. Survivor’s names aren’t generally listed either. The events that occurred during an attack are usually pretty detailed though. “A Careless Word…†does have lists of persons killed and some survivors. It also contains the text of the citations for the Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medals awarded during the war. It has a lot of other valuable info as well. The sources for Browning’s book are listed for each ship and are mostly from the National Archives, thus you can get the original documents from the National Archives (e-mail inquire@arch2.nara.gov) pretty easily (as I have) as you will know exactly what to ask for.
Both of the above books are used by the National Archives, the U.S. Maritime Administration, and other government agencies. Of course any book can contain an error.
The web site mentioned above \"www.usmm.org\" is an excellent site for the U.S. Merchant Marine side of the war. When you visit, be sure to see Captain Duffy’s link. Another good Merchant Marine site is [www.armed-guard.com]. You can find most of the photos from “A Careless Word…†there. In case you are not familiar with the “Armed Guard†they were the U.S. Navy gun crews stationed on U.S. merchant ships that were armed during the war.
I don’t know of any equivalent books or web sites for merchant ship losses of any other country. I hope if anyone else knows of any they will post them here. I have had a number of requests for that information and have not been able to come up with anything.
Regards,
Ken Dunn
</HTML>
The best book I have found on U.S. Merchant Ships lost during WWII is “A Careless Word… a Needless Sinking…†by Captain Arthur R. Moore. Library of Congress 82-73552. Published by the American Merchant Marine Museum at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point NY.
It has information on most all U.S. merchant ships sunk or damaged during WWII. It has a narrative description of the attack including date, time, exact location, who did it (which U-boat, mine, plane, etc.) how many were killed, wounded, etc. and what happened to the attacker. It also contains a picture of most of the ships. It is around 700 pages and has cross-references, tables, etc. It is also pretty current, having just been revised. This is the most respected book on the subject I have found so far.
There is a link to the info on how to purchase it on www.usmm.org at the bottom of their home page. It’s expensive. Mine cost about $90.00 including shipping, etc. I don’t believe you can get it through Amazon.com but try there first (via the link from this site) as uboat.net will get a commission on the sale if they have it.
Another good book is “U.S. Merchant Vessel War Casualties of World War II†by Robert M. Browning Jr. (ISBN 1-55750-087-8. Naval Institute Press). It is not as up-to-date as “A Careless Word†and it doesn’t have pictures, but it only cost $20 - $30. If you can’t get it through Amazon.com you should be able to get it through Barnes & Noble.
These books don’t contain crew lists or anything like that. Survivor’s names aren’t generally listed either. The events that occurred during an attack are usually pretty detailed though. “A Careless Word…†does have lists of persons killed and some survivors. It also contains the text of the citations for the Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medals awarded during the war. It has a lot of other valuable info as well. The sources for Browning’s book are listed for each ship and are mostly from the National Archives, thus you can get the original documents from the National Archives (e-mail inquire@arch2.nara.gov) pretty easily (as I have) as you will know exactly what to ask for.
Both of the above books are used by the National Archives, the U.S. Maritime Administration, and other government agencies. Of course any book can contain an error.
The web site mentioned above \"www.usmm.org\" is an excellent site for the U.S. Merchant Marine side of the war. When you visit, be sure to see Captain Duffy’s link. Another good Merchant Marine site is [www.armed-guard.com]. You can find most of the photos from “A Careless Word…†there. In case you are not familiar with the “Armed Guard†they were the U.S. Navy gun crews stationed on U.S. merchant ships that were armed during the war.
I don’t know of any equivalent books or web sites for merchant ship losses of any other country. I hope if anyone else knows of any they will post them here. I have had a number of requests for that information and have not been able to come up with anything.
Regards,
Ken Dunn
</HTML>
| Subject | Written By | Posted |
|---|---|---|
Merchant ships sunk \'39-\'45 - where to find?
|
Nathan J. Bayreuther | 01/18/2001 02:37PM |
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RE: Merchant ships sunk \\\'39-\\\'45 - where to f
|
Willy | 01/18/2001 04:18PM |
|
RE: Merchant ships sunk \\\\\\\'39-\\\\\\\'45 - wh
|
Jon C. Balson | 01/18/2001 05:14PM |
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RE: Merchant ships sunk \'39-\'45 - wh
|
Gudmundur Helgason | 01/19/2001 09:30AM |
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RE: Merchant ships sunk 39-\'45 - wh
|
kurt | 01/18/2001 05:17PM |
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for Japanese merchant ships..
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kurt | 01/20/2001 03:12AM |
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RE: Merchant ships sunk \\\'39-\\\'45 - where to f
|
Ken Dunn | 01/19/2001 12:46AM |
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RE: Merchant ships sunk \\\\\\\'39-\\\\\\\'45 - wh
|
Terry Andrews | 01/19/2001 03:54AM |
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RE: Merchant ships sunk \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'39-\\\\\\\
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Tore Setså | 01/19/2001 06:09AM |