A facinating yet dry read at times.

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	• Sea of Thunder: Four Commanders and the Last Great Naval Campaign 1941-1945 Evan Thomas Simon & Schuster, 2007 - 432 pages average customer review:based on 85 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A facinating yet dry read at times.

This was a suggested read by a fellow at the library over a chat about WWII.

As the book mentions, it centers around four commanders. For the Americans Admiral William "Bull" and Commander Ernest Evans.

Halsey is an interesting character. A man of him times and yet a publicity prop used to bulster American courage during the war. Usually in history classes we get a "white washed" version of whom we declare heros. It was refreshing to read about his idiosyncrasies and faults. I had never heard his declaration of "kill japs and then kill more japs"

And often overlooked thing in WWII is the bigotry used to dehumanize the enemy. Mentioned in the book was a song of the time "I am going to slap the dirty little jap" and the mention of a parade float where it showed plans bombing yellow rats. Interesting info I think it was used by the author to explain some of Halseys rather nasty attitude towards the enemy.

The book makes mention of Halseys high points (ie the early raids) and low points(the Battle of Leyte and turning into a hurricane).

One thing for sure is that Halsey was a complex man that can't simply be explained in a paragraph.

Commander Evans was a person I had not heard about and found his upbringing and involvement in the early part of the war interesting. His declaration of taking his new ship into Harms way was rather prophetic for the future of the ship and it's sacrifice at the Battle of Leyte.

The two main names for the Japanese are Takeo Kurita and Matome Ugaki.

Matome Ugaki is probably not one of the more interesting personas of the war. A rather stoic individual who does not say much and longs for a warriors death. It's interesting to see that Admiral Yamamoto did not like him much in the beginning but over time they became friends. Ugaki was present when Yamamoto was shot down. Ugakis plan crashed into the ocean. The one thing that probably set's Ugaki apart is the amount of detail he put into his personal diaries. A fact that does not appear in this book. Again, I will mention, he was not the most interesting character and met his warriors death in a Kamikaze attempt.

Admiral Takeo Kurita is another strange yet interesting character of the war. He is not gungho as his counter parts and seems to have made questionable calls at times that involve saving his ships rather then carrying out his mission. During Guadalcanal he ended a bombardment of Henderson airfield when it might be argued that he he continued, it would have really messed things ups. Even at Leyte is gave up pursuit at a critical time which he quite possible could have wiped out the taffy groups.

Many armchair strategies will argue the merits and actions of wars past and this book will add to the discussions.

I found it interesting overall and gladly recommend it.

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An ocean of detail.

Sea of Thunder, as the title implies tell the story of the last great naval battle -- ever. In almost unbelievable detail the author spends the first two-thirds of the book "setting the stage". He captures the personalities of the American AND Japanese admimrals. As the names of all but the most important Japanese admirals would be unfamilar to most readers, it gets confusing with the stories of the Japanese seamen, but be patient. When the author recounts the actual battle, it becomes quite dramatic. Even sixty years later there is suspense. I kept seeing "war movies" I know in my minds' eye while I read, but there is, of course, no Hollywood ending in war.

The author's main thesis is that Halsey should have been more diligent in following orders and that a particular Japanese admiral was much less aggressive than was the norm for his kind.

My grandfather, in all liklihood was somewhere in that battle. He lived, others didn't. The author doesn't say so directly, but if his analysis of the battle is correct, a lot more "grandfathers" would have come home if Halsey has done what was expected of him and a lot fewer would have come had the Japanese admiral acted as was expected of him. If your grandfather (or father) served in the Pacific in WWII, read this book with him in mind.

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GIGANTIC CULTURAL MISUNDERSTANDINGS

In the Prologue the author, Evan Thomas, notes "Americans routinely referred to the Japanese as "Japs" and "Nips" and often as animals or insects. . . .The Japanese were just as bigoted. They depicted Americans . . . .as reptiles, worms, insects. . . ." These racial prejudices led to fatal misjudgments by both. This book is the story of four commanders, two American (Admiral Halsey and Commander Evans) and two Japanese (Admiral Kurita and Admiral Ugaki); they faced each other in the Pacific during World War II.

The text briefly narrates the naval war in the Pacific up to the Battle of Leyte Gulf which is narrated in greater detail. Most interesting is the account of successfully attacking and killing Admiral Yamamoto in his airplane. Like General MacArthur in the west, initially Halsey tried to dislodge the Japanese from their South Pacific bastions. Rather than continue bloody frontal assaults against die-hard Japanese troops, Halsey and General MacArthur, began using "end runs" isolating Japanese forces who could not survive cut off from headquarters. Halsey and Spruance alternated command of the Big Blue Fleet which worked well. However, on occasion the divided command between Halsey and MacArthur seemed a bigger threat than the Japanese fleet.

The Japanese gave little consideration to attacking the enemy elements easy to destroy instead always sought a "decisive battle." The Japanese Sho-Go plan's,was to use a "decisive battle" as the major strategy. Admiral Kurita was to enter the Leyte Gulf through the San Bernardino Strait while Admiral Nishimura was to approach Leyte Gulf through the Surigao Strait and attack the American transports landing MacArthur on Leyte. U.S. Admiral Oldendorf soundly defeated Nishimura in the Surigao Strait during the night of October 24, 1944.

The Japanese with their carriers established a decoy north of Leyte Gulf that led Halsey to abandon guarding the San Bernardino Strait and go after the Japanese carriers and other warships. This allowed Admiral Kurita to enter and steam to attack Admiral Kinkaid in the Leyte Gulf. The text gives an excellent account of the battle between Kinkaid and Kurita. Meanwhile Halsey was attacking enemy carriers and too far north to help Admiral Kinkaid. Commander Evans captain of the destroyer USS Johnson and his crew took early action which contributed to influence Admiral Kurita to abandon the attack and head back north. In spite of desperate pleas to Admiral Halsey, communications problems and distance prevented his joining the action in Leyte Gulf. The account of Commander Evans and the officers and crew of the USS Johnson distinguished early action is well worth reading.

The text continues through the final surrender in Tokyo. Most interesting are the accounts of the postwar status of the commanders The writer had excellent connections in Japan and his post war interviews in both Japan and America are informative. In postwar interviews Kurita ultimately admitted leaving Leyte Gulf because he considered further fighting would be a waste of human life. Halsey suffered from continued criticism for his abandoning the San Bernardino Strait. Commander Evans, who was lost when his ship sank, was posthumously awarded the Metal of Honor.

The author experiences teaching writing at Harvard and Princeton plus writing five previous books is put to good use in this text. This is an excellent work and well worth reading.

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"Opinon Overboard!"

Author Evan Thomas paints a crystal clear picture of his generally low (but on occasion, veiled sympathetic) opinion regarding Admiral Halsey, but unfortuantely he does so with too many brushstrokes. Every time I hear the word "blunder", I now think of Halsey and this book.

The limited coverage of Commander Evans seems a bit out of place at first, but I took great interest in his portrayal as either a war hero who saved the day for Taffy Three, or as an overly driven leader out to satisfy his own agenda. Perhaps the conclusion Thomas wants us to walk away with is both.

The best aspects of this narrative focus on the Japanese perspectives (Admirals Kurita and Ugaki), but again we get more of the same as we make way through the chapters. Indeed, there are numerous other repetitive comments throughout the book, which at times appears to be just a series of notes just cobbled together.

I attribute the somewhat quirky style and attitude of 'Sea of Thunder' to the author's association with today's mainstream media (and all the intrinsic maladies associated with it), as he makes a sincere effort at professional history.

Still, I found the book to be an excellent piece of entertainment, often gripping at times. Yet as one justifiably feels once having consumed a gargantuan dessert after a large meal, 'Sea of Thunder' was purely a guilty pleasure.

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A Different Perspective

Sea of Thunder was an interesting history of the latter part of the naval war in the Pacific during WWII. The author looked at the lives of four leaders, 2 American and 2 Japanese and how their lives developed and how they affected the battles in whihch they were engaged. It added to the understanding of why theses sea battles went in the direction they did. It was an easy reading book and an enjoyable biography of 4 men doing their duty as they saw it.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Sea of Thunder is a taut, fast-paced, suspenseful narrative of the Pacific War that culminates in the battle of Leyte Gulf, the greatest naval battle ever fought. Told from both the American and Japanese sides, through the eyes of commanders and sailors of both navies, Thomas's history adds an important new dimension to our understanding of World War II.

Drawing on oral histories, diaries, correspondence, postwar testimony from both American and Japanese participants, and interviews with survivors, Thomas provides an account not only of the great sea battle and Pacific naval war, but of the contrasting cultures pitted against each other.

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