Shepherds of the Sea: Destroyer Escorts in World War II

by Robert F. Cross

This compelling tale of courage, heroism, and terror is told in the words of ninety-one sailors and officers interviewed by the author about their World War II service aboard fifty-six destroyer escorts. They reveal many never-before-told details of life at sea during wartime and, along with information found in secretly kept war diaries and previously unpublished personal photographs, add important dimensions to the official record. Unseasoned teenage recruits when they first went to sea, these sailors were led by inexperienced college boys more accustomed to yachts than warships. Their ships were untested vessels, designed by a man with no formal training in ship design, and which many viewed as a waste of money. Yet, as Cross points out, these men are credited with helping turn the tide of the war in the Atlantic as they singlehandedly sank some seventy U-boats and captured U-505, the only German submarine taken during the war and the first enemy vessel captured by Americans at sea since the War of 1812. In the Pacific, the destroyer escorts fought in every major battle, side-by-side with Allied battleships and destroyers. But this story is not just about battles. It is also about American genius, hard work, honor and growing up in the Great Depression. The author provides eyewitness details about the historic first step taken to end racial discrimination in the military as African-Americans stepped aboard the destroyer escort USS Mason as full-fledged sailors for the first time and earned a Navy commendation of heroism in the Battle of the Atlantic presented to the surviving crewmen fifty-one years later. Readers also learn about an ingenious invention when a sailor breaks his silence about a secret weapon tested aboard his destroyer escort that rendered a new German radio-controlled glide bomb useless.

Genres: History, World War II

320 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2010

Reviews

[Elisabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. I think Shepherds of the Sea would be better treated as a collection of reminiscences than a serious historical text. There are many bite-sized quotes from destroyer escort (DE) veterans relating to their own personal experiences—what it was like arriving at boot camp or being blown in the air by an explosion; what they were doing at the moment their ship was hit by a torpedo or what they witnessed while attacking a submarine. A lot of individual views of the moment of impact in a battle, or memorable incidents on board ship. But there is no clear explanation of the chain of command on board a DE, for instance; what officers and men were responsible for which duties, and how the ship was operated as a whole. There isn't really even a listing of what weapons they carried, beyond a basic explanation of depth charges and "hedgehogs"—the different guns are simply mentioned in passing. Anything useful I gleaned for research was merely by chance.

In addition, the book suffers from overall poor grammar and a hard-to-follow, scrambled timeline within chapters and even on the same page. After one sailor's recollections of a ship being hit and a description of the sinking, the narrative will suddenly jump back to another man who was in the radio shack or engine room before the impact. The account of the most famous battle involving DEs, the Battle off Samar, is composed of a lot of these personal moments but gives absolutely no real idea what the scope of the entire battle involved. Fortunately, I'd already read a clear account in The Two-Ocean War by Samuel Eliot Morison previously to reading Shepherds of the Sea. (I noticed Cross actually repeats the Japanese commander's erroneous statement that the American escort carriers in the Battle off Samar were making 30 knots, where Morison points out that their maximum speed was only 17.5.)

The other aspect of DE history dealt with, Franklin D. Roosevelt's campaign to get the DE shipbuilding program launched, suffers from the same disorganized approach: the timeline jumps confusingly from 1940 to 1942, then all the way back to World War I and the 1920s, on to 1943 and then back to 1942 again, and so on. There are frequent cringe-worthy misuses of language such as "coral" for "corral" or "stationery" for a "stationary" ship, and some factual errors as well, such as the ship Melvin R. Nawman being referred to as the Melvin H. Nawman both in the book and the index. Undoubtedly the weirdest error is an excerpt from a magazine article being attributed to two different sources—on p. 69, to Proceedings magazine in 1943, and on p. 68 to the New York Times.

(On a minor note, the author and any editors apparently had little to no grasp of 1940s cinema. Peter Lorre is referred to as "Peter Lory," and there is also a mention of "movie actor Clark Gable, his wife, and Carole Lombard" as guests at a 1940 FDR radio broadcast—when in 1940, Lombard was Gable's wife.)

For in-the-moment recollections by WWII sailors, and a general idea of what kinds of tasks destroyers escorts performed in the war, it's okay; but as serious historical nonfiction, I didn't find Shepherds of the Sea very well written or organized, and was still left with plenty of practical questions about DEs after reading it.

[Clark · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is severely handicapped by a nearly complete lack of editorial rigor in favor of electronic text correcting. Typographical errors are distressingly frequent, including the tragicomic repeated references to the invasion of Iowa Jima. The materials presented are interesting but often presented in such fragmentary detail as to be frustratingly tantalizing but ultimately disappointing. Sentences and paragraphs jump around so much that often it's difficult-to-impossible to determine which ship and/or person actually is being discussed. The book fails to present a cohesive approach to the subject--it's neither chronological nor topically organized. Finally, the book has a hard time staying on topic--most notably a chapter-length discussion on the history of racial segregation in the US Navy which adds nothing to the book itself.

As noted by a previous reviewer, the book presents distressingly little technical detail about destroyer escorts; often saying they looked strange compared to other naval vessels but never quite exactly explaining why.

It could be a good second edition book if it finds its way through the hands of a stern and competent professional editor. As it stands now, it's a pretty marginal text.

[Denis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good stories but the book had no flow.

[Terence Lionel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Good Book

Poor proofreading and author needs to do some fact checking. Several misspellings. The author had a good book but it more work. Overall a good book.

[Ashley Morrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story about real World War II veterans that experienced fighting in ships against Germans and Japanese sailors.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I picked up the book Shepherds of the Sea all I knew was it was about destroyer escorts. What Cross has done is make a compilation of the stories of the crews of the destroyer escorts. His book brings to light stories that might be lost. Destroyer escorts were fantastic ships that are often overlooked since they did yeoman work in the navy releasing fleet destroyers to protect fast carrier task forces. Cross' work isn't authoritative but is an excellent addition to the destroyer escort literature. Other good destroyer escort books are by Lewis M. Andrews, by John A. Williamsonand by Edward P. Stafford

[history49 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book to be an enjoyable, informative, yet sobering read. Like other readers, however, I felt that the book is in need of editing to give it more structure, and would also like to see it more developed in the way of information about the different Destroyer Escorts and other ships. Although the e-book I read was in need of some editing, I can overlook that. Overall, I enjoyed the information the book provided me.

[Doug Haskin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Primarily a collection of descriptions of the actions of various DE's in both theaters, based on first hand accounts from the men who sailed them. The book would have benefited from some greater technical details about the ships, and there were a number of minor technical errors in the narrative, but it was enjoyable none the less.

[Karen (Living Unabridged) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is printed by the Naval Academy. I guess the proof-readers were all busy because, good gracious the typos are legion. Very useful for research, unless you were wondering how to spell the Nazi leader's first name, which this book misspells every single time.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book offers an insight to a little known type of ship, although chapter 8 could be omitted with affecting the rest of the book.