Antisubmarine Warrior in the Pacific: Six Subs Sunk in Twelve Days Hardcover – March 6, 2005

This is a wonderful book. Having met John Willaimson and some of the officers and crew of USS ENGLAND DE-635, I cannot say enough about these men, there heroes. John Willaimson had said he was working on a book when I met him in 2002 and when he passed away I was curious as to what happened to the book. I was elated to see it in print and after reading happier still! It is well written, personal, and detailed as it discusses both John Willaimson's path to the USS ENGLAND and USS ENGLAND in the Pacific at war where she sunk 6 submarines in just twelve days in 1944! This was not well publicized at the time but ENGLAND's effort was well known in the Navy, "There'll always be an ENGLAND in the United States Navy." CNO Admiral E. J. King 1944 "May there allways be an ENGLAND. Well done and congratulations to all hands." Admiral Halsey. This is a must read book. It is also imperative that an ENGLAND return to the US Navy to honor these men and this legacy.

I enjoyed this book. The style was a bit different, so this reads more like a history book in some accounts as to a personal account. Perhaps it is more nuts and bolts and not dramatically written. It is a must read for anyone interested in Naval Warfare history.

An especially well written book on naval combat in WW-II. I served on the second USS England (DLG-22) so it had special interest to me. I recommend it to anyone interested in naval warfare.

I really enjoyed this book. I have always like the USS England and this book added a lot of details and made the story come alive. I wish it were longer and I would have liked to speak to the author. He sounds like quite a man.

someone we know was on the England during this time and we gave it to him as a gift

The victories of the destroyer escort England get a couple of paragraphs in any general history of the war in the Pacific, always focusing on the decrypted intelligence that alerted the Navy that a scouting line of Japanese submarines had been set up.Rolling up the line is then treated as a routine operation. According to John Williamson, who was executive officer of England, it wasn't so simple.England's skipper was, according to Williamson, a dud who did nothing, so that Williamson ran the ship and, crucially, took the conn during the six successful attacks. Moreover, the other escorts in England's division made unsuccessful attacks, before, at last, Williamson came in to finish up.This sounds credible. Williamson seems to have had a geometrical mind, suited to judging where to throw his rounds to intercept a sub moving unseen below. (England used hedgehogs or mortar throwers, which exploded on contact.)He developed something called a Williamson turn in order to bring a ship back exactly on a line she had traveled when attempting to retrieve a man overboard. This involved a a kind of complicated geometry that would be none too easy to work out on paper. He did it in his head.Williamson wrote this memoir late in life. I wish he had said more about his background.In the introduction, he says his family was so poor that they lived in a "tent with a retractable roof," whatever that is. But after moving to Birmingham at a low point in the Great Depression, Williamson's father, an electrician, seems to have done well enough. Well enough that Williamson was able to attend a four-year private college and graduate before Pearl Harbor.Not many Alabama country boys managed that.As a reserve officer, Williamson ended up in social circles that probably no other country boy did. You will recognize the names of some of his dates.For those more interested in warfare than in debutantes, Williamson provides a clear account of the difficulties of attacking submarines. His description of what it was like at the surface when a sub broke up below is more detailed than any I have read elsewhere.The scene is grim.Later in the war, as commander of England, Williamson's ship was hit by a kamikaze plane, and his description of what happened then is also exceptional.

Most WWII memoirs tell important stories of brave men and women, but unfortunately many are not written well enough to convey the experience. ( I'm not writing very well myself today.) This book draws you into the narrative, helps you experience what the author did. Maybe I should say it is a great read, the story amazing and true. And if you are not familiar with what amazing things Destroyer Escorts did in the war - and it wasn't escorting Destroyers! - this will help you learn how unique they were and what heroic things they did. Highly recommended.

The USS England (named after a sailor killed at Pearl Harbor, not after the country) was a small destroyer escort ship (DE 635 306 feet long, 1200 tons). This book is the story of her wartime career from launching in San Francisco through her nine month career. Yes, nine months, launched December 10, 1944, she fought in the South Pacific until hit by a kamikaze at Okinawa. She struggled back to the Philadelphia Navy yard and was in the process of extensive rebuilding when the war ended and such a damaged ship was no longer needed by the Navy.The crowning point of the England's career was the record it set for killing six enemy submarines in twelve days. This was enough to make the Navy use her name on a guided-missile cruiser (CG-22) to keep the history alive.The author was exec and then commander of the England during her short life. He writes a tale of navy life during the war that is fascinating and interesting.

This is one of the best WWII Destroyer ASW action books I have read. Written by the USS England XO and later CO, describes in detail the famous hostorical event where the same ship sunk 6 Japanese submarines in just 12 days.I will surely read it again.

good first hand account

9.5" by 6.5" with seven pages of picturesThis book is written by the second in command and eventual captainof the uss england a ww2 us destroyer escort of exceptional accomplishmentThe author joined the us navy just before the second world war.The book ends just after VJ day and is typical story of this mans advancement and adventure in the war.In short a good book on an interesting story in ww2.