BOOK REVUE*
” i ’ •
'THE SEVEN: :.NAVY SUBCHASER”
WAR ADVENTURE ABOARD A PATROL CRAFT is told in detail* in this most electric book
of the year for that vast army ,pf farmers, advertising hen, ' accountants, rail
road men,. truck drivers, and- men still in the armed services who virtually over—
. night met the sea, the ways of fhe Navy, and anti-submarine warfare in our Sub
chasers, Patrol Crafts, and Destroyer Escorts during World War -II, 'This is the
story of that wonderful cross section of humanity that became the officers and
crews of our small escort vessels,Zt is faithfully told by a former PC commander.
To the reserve Navy of the escort fleet,these pages will create profound excite—
^nient as the reade^r relives the days and nights of training and war mission ad—
^^Ventfcure aboard a typical PC, This book is by far the best and most authentic re
creation of those days of fast build little ships and fast made' sailors.
It took three months tq build a PO^Navy designation for patrol craft. These
ships were used as hurry-up substitutes for the larger destroyers and destroyer
escorts whose demands for construction time and materials were triple the nimble
little PC’s. By the nature -'of things the PC was primarily a sonar listening
Pihatform and a deck from which to fire depth charges. Surface guns were limited
to 40 mm, 20 mm and 3 inch. But the- PCfs under the exigency of war often found
themselves on destroyer missions'.
The whole story of the Seven Is told through they eyes of Sam Chance,who started
out as the Seven’s exec. The reader picks up his career as he conspires to get
out of his dull billet ashore and get assigned to the ihmous Miami anti-submarine
school where the vigorous McDaniel held forth sc brilliantly. We meet the Seven
at the outfitting base on the Mississippi, and venture to sea with her raw crew.
Only her captain has ever been to sea before. On training shakedown the young
exec, is promoted to command even before his first mission.
On that mission, a Caribbean convey, the Seven loses both her tankers. From
'Panama she heads to Pearl. This time, through a hurricane she loses her convoy.
Then cut in the Marshalls she gets into a firstrline invasion, acting as a marker
for landing craft in an assault. From this she goes on a hot night mission close
in to the enemy shore. She loses many of her people and almost goes to the bottom
tiers elf*
Throughout the narrative the ccol gray-eyed wife clings to the notion that Sam
didn't need to go to sea. But there's a dark-eyed gal, and she fellows Sam to
Pearl—full of understanding. Sc we have the shore situation that beset sc many
flavy families. It is here that the writing tendswto lose its freshness and
realism, for cur author is weaker as a novelist dealing with human emotion than
ae is as a first-rate*reporter of naval small craft' action* THE SEVEN: Navy
Subchaser, is written by William Edward Syers and published by Duell, Sloan and
Pearce, New York. $4*95. This bock is not available at the Fletcher library at
this time.