The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour

by James D. Hornfischer

His predecessor in command of Carrier Division 25 was Rear Adm. Gerald F. Bogan, who was promoted to command one of Halsey’s Third Fleet carrier groups. During his tenure aboard the Fanny B., Bogan could not seem to bear the perceived indignity of flying his flag from the cramped quarters of an escort carrier. He made sure his officers and crew participated in his misery. Though most were new enlistees and reservists who had never before been to sea, Bogan demanded perfection of them, or at least perfect compliance with “Rocks and Shoals,” which began with the declaration: “The commanders of all fleets, squadrons, naval stations, and vessels belonging to the Navy are required to show in themselves a good example of virtue, honor, patriotism, and subordination.” The indelicate assessment of one senior Fanshaw Bay enlisted man was that Bogan was a “first-class horse’s rear end.” And the disdain was decidedly mutual. With only one officer excepted, Bogan later wrote, “the entire crew [of the Fanshaw Bay] was incompetent.” Years after the war he would harbor bitterness toward the carrier, decrying it as “the worst ship I’d ever seen in any Navy.”