Eight Survived The Harrowing Story Of The USS Flier And The Only Downed World War II Submariners To Survive And Evade Capture

by Campbell, Douglas A.

• ISBN13: 9780762771790
• ISBN10: 0762771798
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-10-18
• Publisher: Lyons Press

Summary

The incredible wartime saga of the only American submariners to survive the sinking of their ship and evade enemy capture in WWII On the night of August 13, 1944, the U.S. submarine Flierstruck a mine in the Sulu Sea in the southern Philippines as it steamed along the surface. All but fifteen of the more than eighty-strong crew went down with the vessel. Of those left floating in the dark, eight survived by swimming for seventeen hours before washing ashore on an uninhabited island. The story of the Flierand its eight survivors is wholly unique in the annals of U.S. military history. Eight Survivedtells the gripping story of the doomed submarine and its crew from its first patrol, during which it sank several enemy ships, to the explosion in the Sulu Sea. Drawing on interviews with the survivors and on a visit to the jungle where they washed ashore--where a cast of fascinating characters helped the U.S. sailors evade the Japanese--Douglas Campbell fully captures the combination of extraordinary courage and luck that marked one of the most heroic episodes of World War II.

Author Biography

Douglas A. Campbell is the author of The Sea’s Bitter Harvest: Thirteen Deadly Days on the North Atlantic. Previously a longtime reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, he writes for Soundings magazine.

Table of Contents

Map of the World War II Career of the USS Flier	p. vi
Treacherous Passage	p. 1
Pacific Peril	p. 19
Missing from Action	p. 35
A Gathering of Men	p. 41
A Second Chance	p. 55
Welcome to the War	p. 67
Strangers in Their Native Land	p. 87
The Wages of Winners	p. 100
Mines and Mariners	p. 112
Back toward Glory	p. 123
Trapped in the Path of War	p. 136
Changed Orders	p. 153
In the Shadow of Death	p. 166
Choosing Freedom	p. 178
Spirits of the Land	p. 193
By Land and by Sea	p. 203
Into the Jungle	p. 216
Escape	p. 230
Map of the Eight Submariners' Survival and Rescue	p. 243
Epilogue	p. 244
Acknowledgments	p. 256
Bibliography	p. 258
Sources	p. 261
Index	p. 269
About the Author	p. 289
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