Unsung Sailors: The Naval Armed Guard in World War II

About this book

During World War II nearly 150 000 Americans served in the U.S. Naval Armed Guard protecting merchant ships and their precious cargoes around the globe yet this branch of the Navy and its significant contributions to the war effort are little known to the public. As gunners radio operators signalmen and medics assigned to some six thousand merchant ships the guardsmen helped get desperately needed supplies to their destinations. Often working under horrendous conditions they frequently engaged the enemy in the U-boat-infested Atlantic on the deadly Murmansk Run and in the Mediterranean Pacific and Indian oceans. To tell their story Justin Gleichauf spent five years gathering material and interviewing more than one hundred Naval Armed Guard veterans. This dramatic narrative history draws heavily on their interviews and the veterans lively accounts are supported by an authoritative analysis of their activities. The result is a complete picture of life aboard an astounding variety of vessels including the famed liberty ships and a moving tribute to the wartime service of these so-called stepchildren of the U.S. Navy.