I’m constantly trolling Ebay for books or artifacts related to STRONG, WW2, or DESRON 21. Most recently, I found a book titled United States Destroyer Operations in World War II by Theodore Roscoe. The book looked interesting, but before buying I wanted to have a look at a physical copy. I got an inter-library loan locally and brought the book back to my office. Within 5 minutes of opening this tome, I had decided it had to be added to my ever-growing library. Ebay had a few copies and I was lucky enough to find a first edition from 1953 in great condition. Why is this book so special? There are never-before seen (at least by me) photographs of destroyers in action, charts of Naval maneuvers, maps, drawings, diagrams and the early histories from both theaters of the war. STRONG is in here, Hugh Barr Miller, Jr. is in here and so much more. The information is wonderfully overwhelming.
Another thing that makes the book interesting is the author himself. Theodore Roscoe (1906-1992) was born in Rochester, New York and died in Florida.. Roscoe was known as primarily as a pulp fiction story writer. Educated at Columbia University and a world traveler all his life, he wrote over 400 articles and stories for magazines such as Argosy, Wings, Flying Stories, Far East Adventure Stories and many other publications. After WW2 he ventured into non-fiction territory with several substantive histories commissioned by the US Navy, including this book and a comprehensive study of submarine actions in WW2, United States Submarine Operations in World War II published in 1949. His own biography was published in 2012 by Audrey Parente, Pulpmaster: The Theodore Roscoe Story. A list of his other publications can be found on Wikipedia.
To learn more about the extraordinary and eclectic career of Theodore Roscoe: http://tellersofweirdtales.blogspot.com/2015/12/theodore-roscoe-1906-1992.html
Also see Pulpflakes: http://pulpflakes.blogspot.com/2012/08/TheodoreRoscoe.html
If you are interested in buying this book for your own collection, there are several copies on eBay ranging from $17.00-105.00 from both US and European sources. Amazon.com has several copies available from just under $17.00-48.00, including a handful of first editions.
Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=united+states+destroyer+operations+in+world+war+II+by+theodore+roscoe
If you want to learn more about how destroyers operated in WW2, get some early accounts and see photos and diagrams of task force formations and beach landing operations then this is a must have volume. The 581 pages also has a comprehensive list in the Addenda of the destroyer fleet, listing the name, the date commissioned and the first commanding officer of the ship. Also included are lists of the division commanders for both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets, citations earned, and lists of lost ships with maps of locations. Incredible. I can’t wait to go through this entire volume!
-Tammi
Another thing that makes the book interesting is the author himself. Theodore Roscoe (1906-1992) was born in Rochester, New York and died in Florida.. Roscoe was known as primarily as a pulp fiction story writer. Educated at Columbia University and a world traveler all his life, he wrote over 400 articles and stories for magazines such as Argosy, Wings, Flying Stories, Far East Adventure Stories and many other publications. After WW2 he ventured into non-fiction territory with several substantive histories commissioned by the US Navy, including this book and a comprehensive study of submarine actions in WW2, United States Submarine Operations in World War II published in 1949. His own biography was published in 2012 by Audrey Parente, Pulpmaster: The Theodore Roscoe Story. A list of his other publications can be found on Wikipedia.
To learn more about the extraordinary and eclectic career of Theodore Roscoe: http://tellersofweirdtales.blogspot.com/2015/12/theodore-roscoe-1906-1992.html
Also see Pulpflakes: http://pulpflakes.blogspot.com/2012/08/TheodoreRoscoe.html
If you are interested in buying this book for your own collection, there are several copies on eBay ranging from $17.00-105.00 from both US and European sources. Amazon.com has several copies available from just under $17.00-48.00, including a handful of first editions.
Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=united+states+destroyer+operations+in+world+war+II+by+theodore+roscoe
If you want to learn more about how destroyers operated in WW2, get some early accounts and see photos and diagrams of task force formations and beach landing operations then this is a must have volume. The 581 pages also has a comprehensive list in the Addenda of the destroyer fleet, listing the name, the date commissioned and the first commanding officer of the ship. Also included are lists of the division commanders for both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets, citations earned, and lists of lost ships with maps of locations. Incredible. I can’t wait to go through this entire volume!
-Tammi
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