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Guadalcanal Decision at Sea: The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal
"Hammel's painstaking reconstruction affords not only a wealth of strategic and tactical detail but also a full measure of critical judgments . . . a kaleidoscopic but invariably intelligible account of key actions."-Kirkus Reviews "Hammel does not write dry history. His battle sequences are masterfully portrayed."-Library Journal "Vivid and memorable . . ."-Publishers Weekly DECISION AT SEA is a vivid examination of the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, November 13-15, 1942, and its crucial impact on America's offensive against Japan in World War II. This three-day air and naval action incorporated America's most decisive surface battle of the war and it was the only naval battle of the 20th century where American battleships fought Japanese battleships. This American victory decided the future course of the naval war in the Pacific. Hammel has brilliantly blended the detailed historical records with personal accounts of many of the officers and enlisted men involved, creating an engrossing narrative of the strategy and struggle as seen by both sides.
492 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
19 people are currently reading
92 people want to read
About the author
Eric Hammel
96 books50 followersEric Hammel was born in 1946, in Salem, Massachusetts, and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Central High School of Philadelphia in January 1964 and earned a degree in Journalism from Temple University in 1972. His road to writing military history began at age twelve, when he was stuck in bed for a week with a childhood illness. Eric's father bought him the first paperback book he ever owned, Walter Lord's Day of Infamy. As he devoured the book, Eric realized that he wanted to write books exactly like it, what we now call popular narrative history. Lord had pieced together the book from official records illuminated with the recollections of people who were there. Eric began to write his first military history book when he was fifteen. The book eventually turned out to be Guadalcanal: Starvation Island. Eric completed the first draft before he graduated from high school. During his first year of college, Eric wrote the first draft of Munda Trail, and got started on 76 Hours when he was a college junior. Then Eric got married and went to work, which left him no time to pursue his writing except as a journalism student.
Eric quit school at the end of his junior year and went to work in advertising in 1970. Eric completed his journalism degree in 1972, moved to California in 1975, and finally got back to writing while he operated his own one-man ad agency and started on a family. 76 Hours was published in 1980, and Chosin followed in 1982. At the end of 1983 Eric was offered enough of an advance to write The Root: The Marines in Beirut to take up writing books full time. The rest, as they say, is history.
Eric eventually published under his own imprint, Pacifica Press, which morphed into Pacifica Military History and IPS Books. At some point in the late 1990s, Eric realized he had not written in five years, so he pretty much closed down the publishing operation and pieced together a string of pictorial combat histories for Zenith Press. Eric nominally retired in 2008 and took up writing as a full-time hobby writing two novels, 'Til The Last Bugle Call and Love and Grace. Fast forward to 2018 and Eric was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease and on August 25th 2020, Eric passed from this life to the next at the age of 74.
Eric quit school at the end of his junior year and went to work in advertising in 1970. Eric completed his journalism degree in 1972, moved to California in 1975, and finally got back to writing while he operated his own one-man ad agency and started on a family. 76 Hours was published in 1980, and Chosin followed in 1982. At the end of 1983 Eric was offered enough of an advance to write The Root: The Marines in Beirut to take up writing books full time. The rest, as they say, is history.
Eric eventually published under his own imprint, Pacifica Press, which morphed into Pacifica Military History and IPS Books. At some point in the late 1990s, Eric realized he had not written in five years, so he pretty much closed down the publishing operation and pieced together a string of pictorial combat histories for Zenith Press. Eric nominally retired in 2008 and took up writing as a full-time hobby writing two novels, 'Til The Last Bugle Call and Love and Grace. Fast forward to 2018 and Eric was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease and on August 25th 2020, Eric passed from this life to the next at the age of 74.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 6, 2023
The final book in author Eric Hammel's Guadalcanal trilogy covers the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, a series of combined air and sea engagements which took place from November 12-15, 1942.
By mid-November 1942, the Japanese had failed several times to eliminate the American forces on Guadalcanal, coming up short on the land and the surrounding seas. Another push was going to be made in which significant troop reinforcements were to be landed on the island while naval forces bombarded the airfield in the hopes to remove American airpower from the battle. It is the clash between the Japanese bombardment force and an American force combined of two smaller groups of ships which comprises over half the book, providing the reader with a graphic description of not only major ships blasting each other to pieces but of what it was like to be there through the personal recollections of dozens of American sailors. The battle was chaotic and filled with incredibly bravery on both sides, and while the book could have used a couple extra diagrams of ship movements to give a better idea of how the battle played out, author Hammel does a really good job of going ship by ship on the American side and recounting what they went through. Although tactically a Japanese victory, the Americans kept Guadalcanal from being bombarded that night.
Unfortunately for the Americans, the battle didn't affect the approach of the Japanese reinforcements, nor prevent a bombardment of the American airfield the following night by Japanese warships. However, the next day American planes were able to exact some revenge on the Japanese with repeated attacks on the bombardment force and the approaching troop transports.
The final act was another attempt by the Japanese on November 15, 1942, to bombard Guadalcanal and which resulted in the first battleship vs battleship action involving American and Japanese forces. Since the number of ships was smaller than those involved in the action a few nights previous, the narration covers less of the book, but the detail is still just as good. After this battle, the Japanese never seriously attempted to reinforce their troops on Guadalcanal and any further offensive action was predominantly done by the Americans.
I think I enjoyed this book the best of the three in the trilogy as the narrative really just seemed to move at breakneck speed when covering the naval battles. Well worth picking up to complete the trilogy or as a standalone volume.
By mid-November 1942, the Japanese had failed several times to eliminate the American forces on Guadalcanal, coming up short on the land and the surrounding seas. Another push was going to be made in which significant troop reinforcements were to be landed on the island while naval forces bombarded the airfield in the hopes to remove American airpower from the battle. It is the clash between the Japanese bombardment force and an American force combined of two smaller groups of ships which comprises over half the book, providing the reader with a graphic description of not only major ships blasting each other to pieces but of what it was like to be there through the personal recollections of dozens of American sailors. The battle was chaotic and filled with incredibly bravery on both sides, and while the book could have used a couple extra diagrams of ship movements to give a better idea of how the battle played out, author Hammel does a really good job of going ship by ship on the American side and recounting what they went through. Although tactically a Japanese victory, the Americans kept Guadalcanal from being bombarded that night.
Unfortunately for the Americans, the battle didn't affect the approach of the Japanese reinforcements, nor prevent a bombardment of the American airfield the following night by Japanese warships. However, the next day American planes were able to exact some revenge on the Japanese with repeated attacks on the bombardment force and the approaching troop transports.
The final act was another attempt by the Japanese on November 15, 1942, to bombard Guadalcanal and which resulted in the first battleship vs battleship action involving American and Japanese forces. Since the number of ships was smaller than those involved in the action a few nights previous, the narration covers less of the book, but the detail is still just as good. After this battle, the Japanese never seriously attempted to reinforce their troops on Guadalcanal and any further offensive action was predominantly done by the Americans.
I think I enjoyed this book the best of the three in the trilogy as the narrative really just seemed to move at breakneck speed when covering the naval battles. Well worth picking up to complete the trilogy or as a standalone volume.
June 28, 2018
This is an incredible recounting of the naval actions around Guadalcanal that prevented Imperial Japan from succeeding in that struggle. It is very well-sourced and well written. I strongly recommend it for anyone who is fan of the Navy or any person interested in the history of World War II. The writing is gripping, the story is compelling, and the research is thorough. I cannot even imagine what those sailors and airmen went through in this epic battle. Words can't do it justice. A must-read for history enthusiasts.
March 12, 2018
Unremittingly excellent. Hammel manages to methodically relate events minute-by-minute while retaining the urgency -- and excitement and terror -- of these crucial night surface actions. His prose is clear and his narrative sure, but is also the result of painstakingly detailed research. Highly recommended
September 3, 2020
One of the best books I have read on the Guadalcanal Naval battles.
May 22, 2021
Another superlative tome from Eric Hammel. The actions and results are very well described.
October 7, 2007
Great book, good detail, not overwhelming. Learn about some of the major players during the battles, and you get a good sense of the chronology of the battle, especially this free for all melee.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews