Book description
The fate of the USS Flier is one of the most astonishing stories of
the Second World War. On August 13, 1944, the submarine struck a mine
and sank to the bottom of the Sulu Sea in less than one minute,
leaving only fourteen of its crew of eighty-six hands alive. After
enduring eighteen hours in the water, eight remaining survivors swam
to a remote island controlled by the Japanese. Deep behind enemy lines
and without food or drinking water, the crewmen realized that their
struggle for survival had just begun. On its first war patrol, the
unlucky Flier made it from Pearl Harbor to Midway where it ran aground
on a reef. After extensive repairs and a formal military inquiry, the
Flier set out once again, this time completing a distinguished patrol
from Pearl Harbor to Fremantle, Western Australia. Though the Flier's
next mission would be its final one, that mission is important for
several reasons: the story of the Flier's sinking illuminates the
nature of World War II underwater warfare and naval protocol and
demonstrates the high degree of cooperation that existed among
submariners, coast watchers, and guerrillas in the Philippines. The
eight sailors who survived the disaster became the first Americans of
the Pacific war to escape from a sunken submarine and return safely to
the United States. Their story of persistence and survival has all the
elements of a classic World War II tale: sudden disaster, physical
deprivation, a ruthless enemy, and a dramatic escape from behind enemy
lines. In The USS Flier: Death and Survival on a World War II
Submarine, noted historian Michael Sturma vividly recounts a harrowing
story of brave men who lived to return to the service of their country.
""Sturma's familiarity with the breadth of his topic is
simply amazing and his research, using many primary and secondary
sources, is impeccable.... I highly recommend this work to naval
history scholars and to those who are interested in learning more
about the intricacies of how modern navies actually work."
--World War II Quarterly" --
Michael Sturma is chair of the history program at Murdoch
University in Australia. He is the author of several books, including
Death at a Distance: The Loss of the Legendary USS Harder and South
Sea Maidens: Western Fantasy and Sexual Politics in the South Pacific.
