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Officer of the Deck: A Memoir of the Pacific War and the Sea
Retired Navy commander Herb Kriloff recounts his days as the youngest officer assigned to the USS William B. Preston from 1939 to 1943. Readers travel with the young Naval Academy graduate to exotic locales like Oahu, the Dutch East Indies, and Manila as the "Willy B" and its daring crew patrol Japanese waters, survive an attack by enemy aircraft, and make a daring escape along the remote west coast of Australia. The author also retells of how he met, courted, and married a young English woman who had moved to Australia to escape the war. This classic tale retells in compelling detail a young man's coming of age and his advancement through the ranks as he learns real-world lessons no Annapolis classroom could ever impart.
206 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2000
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April 11, 2020
I got this from the library as an audiobook, and as such I’ve enjoyed it very much. Audiobooks are something I’ve not tried much before, but I may make more use of them while we’re all locked down for the COVID-19 pandemic. This way I combine reading and long walks.
Kriloff’s ship, the USS William B Preston is a WW1 vessel, sleek and fast with the appearance of a destroyer but pitifully ill-armed: no radar, no sonar, no depth charges, no anti-aircraft guns, and deck guns of the most basic sort. Assigned to duty in the South China Sea for most for the war, the “Willy B” serves as tender to Catalina flying boats. My grandfather was a career RAF officer aboard British WW1 cruisers converted into aircraft carriers (Courageous class), operating in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Different nations, different services, different theatres, but perhaps their experiences had something in common. I will never know.
The Willy B saw some action, being struck by a bomb which caused serious but not fatal damage, and it was also present during the bombing of Darwin; all the big battles of the war occurred where the Willy B was not, and thus it survived the war. Kriloff writes well about life on a small to medium sized warship, the routine, his responsibilities, relations with other officers on board and ashore. He starts his career as an ensign and works his way up to the rank of lieutenant and 2nd in charge of his vessel. Career and promotions continue after the war, but that is not the subject matter of this book. Kriloff is evidently an officer of good sense and quite a shrewd observer of men and events. A worthwhile read.
Kriloff’s ship, the USS William B Preston is a WW1 vessel, sleek and fast with the appearance of a destroyer but pitifully ill-armed: no radar, no sonar, no depth charges, no anti-aircraft guns, and deck guns of the most basic sort. Assigned to duty in the South China Sea for most for the war, the “Willy B” serves as tender to Catalina flying boats. My grandfather was a career RAF officer aboard British WW1 cruisers converted into aircraft carriers (Courageous class), operating in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Different nations, different services, different theatres, but perhaps their experiences had something in common. I will never know.
The Willy B saw some action, being struck by a bomb which caused serious but not fatal damage, and it was also present during the bombing of Darwin; all the big battles of the war occurred where the Willy B was not, and thus it survived the war. Kriloff writes well about life on a small to medium sized warship, the routine, his responsibilities, relations with other officers on board and ashore. He starts his career as an ensign and works his way up to the rank of lieutenant and 2nd in charge of his vessel. Career and promotions continue after the war, but that is not the subject matter of this book. Kriloff is evidently an officer of good sense and quite a shrewd observer of men and events. A worthwhile read.
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