The Fleet the Gods Forgot: The U.S. Asiatic Fleet in World War II

by Walter G. Winslow USN (Ret.)

The dramatic tale of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet in World War II received little attention prior to the publication of this book in 1982, when Winslow chronicled their short and tragic story of heroism and defeat.

Greatly outnumbered by vastly superior forces, and saddled with defective equipment; a lack of supplies, reinforcements, and air cover; and, towards the end, an incompetent Allied combined command, the Asiatic fleet met the Japanese head-on. Within a matter of three months, however, the beleaguered ships were wiped out.

Captain Walter Winslow, a naval aviator on board USS HOUSTON, flagship of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet, was in a unique position to tell the riveting story. As an active participant in all the major battles the fleet engaged in, he had an intimate understanding of the calamities that befell it. In addition, he drew upon the extensive notes he kept in a POW camp derived from interviews of other American, British, Dutch, and Australian prisoners from the Allied fleet. Winslow also painstakingly tracked down war documents and battle reports from all the ships assigned to the fleet to paint a complete picture filled with graphic details of the fleet's only victory at Balikpapan; the disastrous Battle of the Java Sea that broke the back of the combined Asiatic fleet; the ghastly spectacle at Sunda Strait where USS HOUSTON struggled to survive; the suspenseful episode in the submarine PERCH trapped in the mud at the bottom of the sea; and the daring escape from Corregidor of eighteen crewmembers from the USS QUAIL who refused to surrender to the Japanese forces.

Genres: History, World War II, Military History, Nonfiction

344 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1982

Reviews

[Charles Calvano · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I am well-read in US Navy history in WWII, much of the material covered here was new to me. I was incredibly impressed by the bravery and tenacity of so many of the sailors and officers and found myself wondering if I (a 32-year Navy veteran) would have had such courage.

[Nathan Trachta · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this one long ago, brining an old review forward because it’s still true.
This is an outstanding book written by a man who was there. While it does not cover the individual battles that the Asiatic Fleet participated in, the book does an outstanding job of describing the vessels, the men, and what individual units/vessels when thru in the different battles for the Phillipines and the South-East Pacific. The descriptions are outstanding. If there's a weakness with this book, it's that there's no maps and no summary of the battles the Asiatic Fleet participated in. I highly recommend this book if you're interested in knowning what happened to the Asiatic Fleet, or if you're interested in learning about how the allies bought time to turn the war around. I'm giving it 4 stars because I honestly can't give it 5 due to no summary of the different battles or maps to work with. However, if there were half stars, I'd give it a solid 4.5 stars!

[Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

The dramatic tale of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet in World War II received little attention prior to the publication of this book in 1982; when Winslow chronicled their short and tragic story of heroism and defeat.; Greatly outnumbered by vastly superior forces; and saddled with defective equipment; a lack of supplies; reinforcements; and air cover; and; towards the end; an incompetent Allied combined command; the Asiatic fleet met the Japanese head-on. Within a matter of three months; however; the beleaguered ships were wiped out.; Captain Walter Winslow; a naval aviator on board USS HOUSTON; flagship of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet; was in a unique position to tell the riveting story. As an active participant in all the major battles the fleet engaged in; he had an intimate understanding of the calamities that befell it. In addition; he drew upon the extensive notes he kept in a POW camp derived from interviews of other American; British; Dutch; and Australian prisoners from the Allied fleet. Winslow also painstakingly tracked down war documents and battle reports from all the ships assigned to the fleet to paint a complete picture filled with graphic details of the fleet's only victory at Balikpapan; the disastrous Battle of the Java Sea that broke the back of the combined Asiatic fleet; the ghastly spectacle at Sunda Strait where USS HOUSTON struggled to survive; the suspenseful episode in the submarine PERCH trapped in the mud at the bottom of the sea; and the daring escape from Corregidor of eighteen crewmembers from the USS QUAIL who refused to surrender to the Japanese forces.

[Ryan Robicheaux · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! It is an amazingly detailed account of just what the title says- a fleet all but forgotten to most. I am so glad that Mr. Winslow recorded this history so that future generations may know of the service and sacrifices that these brave sailors made in such a critical time. It's been a few months since I finished it, and I still think about some of the passages if that's any indication of how highly I think of this work and its contents. I highly recommend this to anyone who is deeply interested in WWII history and doesn't want pure Hollywood antics but rather the real story, complete with all of its ups and downs!

[Albert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not the definitive guide to the story of the US Asiatic Fleet or the Battle of the Java Sea, but if you don't read this book you will certainly miss out on a very good story of someone who was actually there and who did a fair bit of research after the war and even interviews during his time as p.o.w.

[Garrett Murchison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a decent book about a conflict that is mostly forgotten during the second world war.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite an oral history, but still a very readable history of various units and people in the Asiatic Fleet at the start of World War 2 for the US. A bit dated and my, original copy, could have used maps of some of the escapes.