Valor and Courage: The Story of the Uss Block Island Escort Carriers in World War II (Maritime Currents: History and Archaeol) - Hardcover

Hruska, Benjamin J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0817320997 ISBN 13: 9780817320997

Verlag: The University of Alabama Press, 2021

Inhaltsangabe

Recounts the stories of the USS Block Island CVE-21 and CVE-106 and their crews, many of whom served on both ships in the Atlantic and Pacific theatres

In Valor and Courage: The Story of the USS Block Island Escort Carriers in World War II, Benjamin J. Hruska explores the history and commemoration of the USS Block Island&;or, more properly, the Block Islands, as two escort carriers bore that name during WWII. The first, CVE-21, was the only escort carrier sunk in the Atlantic theater after being torpedoed by German U-boats off the coast of North Africa.
 
Of the CVE-21&;s 957 crew members, six sailors were killed and eighteen injured in the strike, and four of the Block Island&;s fighter pilots were lost later in the day searching for a safe place to land their planes. When the CVE-106 was commissioned to replace its predecessor, Captain Massie Hughes successfully persuaded the Navy to keep the CVE-21&;s crew together in manning the new ship. After resurrection as the CVE-106, the Block Island was assigned to the Pacific theater where it fought until the end of the war. The saga of these two ships and the crew that navigated two very different theaters of war offers a unique lens on naval strategy and engineering as it evolved during WWII, especially as pertains to the escort carrier class&;generally underappreciated both in naval studies and in public memory.
 
Using archival materials, dozens of oral histories, primary sources, and official records, Hruska traces the life of the Block Island from the CVE-21&;s construction through its missions in the Atlantic, its work as an antisubmarine hunter, its destruction, and the lasting impact of those experiences on its crew. Hruska&;s study juxtaposes traditional military history with an examination of the acts of remembrance and commemoration by veterans who served on the escort carriers, how those practices evolved over time, and how the meanings of personal wartime experiences and memories gradually shifted throughout that process.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Benjamin J. Hruska is a public historian who teaches at Basis Prescott Charter School in Prescott, Arizona. He is author of Interpreting Naval History at Museums and Historic Sites and contributor to Beyond Combat: Australian Military Activity Away from the Battlefield and Volunteering around the Block: Revisiting Block Island&;s Manissean Heritage.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: The University of Alabama Press
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2021
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0817320997
• ISBN 13: 9780817320997
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Anzahl der Seiten: 280
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar