Yukikaze''s War - The Unsinkable Japanese Destroyer and World War II in the Pacific

Only one elite Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer survived the cruel ocean battlefields of World War II. This is her story. Brett Walker, historian and captain, delves into questions of mechanics, armaments, navigation, training, and even indoctrination, illustrating the daily realities of war for Yukikaze and her crew. By shifting our perspective of the Pacific War away from grand Imperial strategies, and toward the intricacies of fighting on the water, Walker allows us to see the war from Yukikaze's bridge during the most harrowing battles, from Midway to Okinawa. Walker uncovers the ordinary sailor's experience, and we see sailors fight while deep-running currents of Japanese history unfold before their war-weary eyes. As memories of World War II fade, Yukikaze's story becomes ever more important, providing valuable lessons in our contemporary world of looming energy shortfalls, menacing climate uncertainties, and aggressive totalitarian regimes.

List of contents

1. Divine ships of a bluewater navy; 2. Torpedoes, destroyers, and samurai of the seas; 3. Oil empire and Japan's southern advance; 4. Conquest of the south seas; 5. Escorting catastrophe at Midway; 6. Barroom brawl at Guadalcanal; 7. Defending the Solomon Sea and Bismarck Barrier; 8. Mariana Islands and the collapse of Japan's defensive sphere; 9, Leyte Theater; 10. Dangerous homewaters and Shinano destroyed; 11. Yamato and the specter of history; 12. Surrender and the enduring dangers of Yukikaze's haunt.

Report

'This lively tale is a classic strategy-and-battles military history, buttressed by keen insights into the role of technology, Japanese aesthetics, and brilliance wrapped in stupidity. Yukikaze was blessed with excellent leadership, brave, skilled sailors, and good fortune but while those qualities explain the ship's rare survival through 1945, they could not compensate for the cascade of fundamentally reckless and callous decisions that characterized Imperial Japan's war. The book reads like a romp but it is an elegy.' Laura Hein, Harold H. and Virginia Professor of History, Northwestern University

Product details

• Authors: Brett L. Walker, Brett L. (Montana State University) Walker, Walker Brett L.
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 29.02.2024
• EAN: 9781108837293
• ISBN: 978-1-108-83729-3
• No. of pages: 311
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > General, dictionaries; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; USA, Japan, 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000, HISTORY / Military / Naval, HISTORY / Maritime History & Piracy, HISTORY / Military / United States, HISTORY / Asia / Japan, maritime history, Naval forces & warfare, Military vehicles, Second World War, United States of America, USA, c 1938 to c 1946 (World War Two period), Asian History, c 1939 to c 1945 (including WW2), Naval forces and warfare, Military & Naval Ships, HISTORY / Wars & Conflicts / World War II / General, HISTORY / Military / Vehicles / Sea