The Lost Ships of Guadalcanal: Exploring the Ghost Fleet of the South Pacific

by Robert D. Ballard, Rick Archbold, Uwe D. Minge (Contributor)

A chronicle of the search for the ships sunk during the Battle of Guadalcanal integrates a first-person narrative of the expedition with photographs of ships from both sides lost in the battle. TV tie-in. 150,000 first printing. $150,000 ad/promo. Tour.

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

228 pages, Hardcover

First published September 16, 1993

About the author

Robert Duane Ballard (born June 30, 1942 in Wichita, Kansas) is a former commander in the United States Navy and an oceanographer who is most noted for his work in underwater archaeology. He is most famous for the discoveries of the wrecks of the RMS Titanic in 1985, the battleship Bismarck in 1989, and the wreck of the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown in 1998. Most recently he discovered the wreck of John F. Kennedy's PT-109 in 2003 and visited the Solomon Islander natives who saved its crew. Ballard is also great-grandson of American Old West lawman Bat Masterson.

from wikipedia.org

see also
http://literati.net/Ballard/
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/fie...
http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/pa...

Reviews

[Brian Grouhel · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exceptionally interesting book. A brief history of the struggle for Guadalcanal Island during the Second World War with personal stories from both sides which gives a very human perspective to all the chaos. The photographs of warships and sailors both American and Japanese in their prime and then as battle wounds them and wears them down are amazing and then the underwater pictures of the final resting places of many of the sunken ships are also just amazing! A beautiful book.

[Jbussen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Half of the book is the history of the battle and includes perspectives from participants. And of course there is Ballard's sections. Interesting. Not groundbreaking but it is what you think it will be.

[Philip S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent brief summary of the history of the struggle for Guadalcanal. And both heartbreaking and heartwarming accounts of the veterans Ballard brought along on his exploration. But there are disappointingly few views of the actual sunken ships he discovered.

[Jim Purcell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reread, this is still an excellent way to review these important battles of early WW2. We had much to learn but those young men did well.

[David Vanness · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very enlighting military history. It has caused me to move "Tennozan" higher on my 'to read' list. My Marine uncle landed on day #2 and was there thru victory. The malaria he contracted there didn't bring him state-side until after Okinawa. He did open up and talk of the hardships. The book tells of how the Japanese torpedos were so superior to what we had. Military investment saves lives of our service personnel.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started years ago, reading bits at a time, as the format of the book invites this, being divided into distinct sections. Then in the past few weeks read one Guadalcanal memoir, then another, and concurrently went back to this, skimming already-read sections and reading the remainder. Good visuals, good text.

[Timothy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a book that is interesting in the fact that it locates numerous ships in Iron Bottom Sound off Guadacanal, but it is lacking in fact checking on it's history sections.