Browning Jr., Robert M. U.S. Merchant Vessel War Casualties of World War II. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1996.

575 pages
ISBN 1-55750-087-8

Abbreviations; Acknowledgments; Introduction; photos; Glossary; Bibliography; Index.

Appendix: "Poorly Documented U.S. Vessel Losses"

Among the many chronologies and compendiums of ship losses during World War II, one of the least documented categories has remained that of merchant vessels. (See, for example, our survey of "Ship Losses" titles in March of this year.) Into this void steps Robert Browning with his remarkable new title from NIP.

Browning has assimilated data from a multitude of sources to compile this volume covering every war-related loss of American-flagged merchant ships from 9 November 1940 to 16 October 1946 (by a leftover mine). Having dug into all the relevant (and previously under-utilized) archives of the Navy, Coast Guard, Merchant Marine, and Armed Guards, the author has further cross-checked the resulting information with enemy records (and key works such as Rohwer's Axis Submarine Successes, 1939-1945) to provide a thorough, accurate list of every sunk or damaged merchantman. Each entry contains thirteen key data fields as well as anywhere from a paragraph to a half-page of textual information. Further notes elaborate on sources, contradictions among sources, and missing information.

The result is a huge, fascinating sequence of sailing and sinking, crisis and courage, death and damage. Although the prospect of perusing what is actually an extensive database might seem daunting, the information is presented so well that each briefly-described incident assumes the dramatic overtones of a short story or one-act play, and it becomes almost impossible to quit reading the accounts of ship after ship in peril on the sea.

Edgar Allen Poe

Date: 11-8-42                           Year Built: 1942
Time: 1947                             Tonnage: 7,176
Position: 56 mi SE Amadee Light, Noumea    Draft: 18 ft 6 in
Owner: US Maritime Commission           Cargo: 6,000 tons general war cargo
Operator: Weyerhaeuser SS Co.             Propulsion: steam
Master: Jack Edgerton                     Speed in knots when attacked: 12
Armament: 1-4"; 1-3"; 4-50 cal; 2-30 cal

The Edgar Allen Poe sailed from Noumea, New Caledonia to Espiritu Santo Island. The I-21 (Matsumura) fired a torpedo that hit the zigzagging ship on the port side and opened a hole twenty-eight feet by forty feet. The explosion destroyed the engine room and caused the boilers to explode. The damage was localized to this spot, and no water leaked into the cargo spaces. The I-21 surfaced six minutes after the torpedo exploded. At 300 yards the armed guards opened fire with the ship's guns, firing two shots from the forward three-inch gun and one shot from the four-inch stern gun. One shot from each gun reportedly hit the submarine. At 2005 some of the ship's eight officers, thirty-two men, thirteen guards, and eighteen passengers left the ship in two lifeboats and a raft. The master, the rest of the crew, and the armed guards remained behind. The lifeboats towed the raft away from the ship, and they drifted during the night. Twenty-two hours later a plane sighted the men, and the USS Russell (DD-414) rescued the survivors and landed them at Noumea. The ship stayed afloat and with the partial crew on board was later towed to Noumea by the New Zealand minesweeper Matai and trawler Kiwi (T-102). Declared a CTL ["constructive total loss"], the Poe was later used by the Navy as a storeship. One officer and one merchant seaman died on watch below.

A remarkable achievement and a great addition to any nautical library.

In print and available through mail order booksellers and local bookstores, or directly from Naval Institute Press for $50.

Thanks to NIP for providing this review copy.