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Unsinkable: Five Men and the Indomitable Run of the USS Plunkett
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57
/100
I Index Overall Rating
Readers
46/100Critics
67/100Scholars
Author:
James Sullivan
Publisher:
Scribner
Date:
December 8, 2020
In the tradition of Indianapolis and In Harmâs Way comes a new account of the USS Plunkettâa US Navy destroyer that sustained the most harrowing attack on any Navy ship by the Germans during World War II, that gave as good as it got, and that was later made famous by John Ford and Herman Wouk.
What The Reviewers Say
By the end of the book, what begins as family lore (Gallagher was Sullivan’s great-uncle) has broadened and deepened, rippled outward to reflect our national story. Accounts of self-sacrifice and devotion to duty, especially those rendered with humility, have lately been in short supply, and we need them.
... stirring.
... the story of the Plunkett is really the story of its crew, and in this respect, Sullivan’s writing stands out.
Sullivan interviewed some of the surviving crew in their later years, and their recollections add immediacy to his description of life aboard the ship and the amazing survival of the Plunkett from direct bomb hits. In great detail, Sullivan recreates the heat and chaos of the crew’s epic struggles to keep the Plunkett afloat, fighting onboard fires and preventing detonation of depth charges and ammunition as the ship burned. Readers, especially those with command of naval terminology, can virtually become part of the crew’s frenzied reeling as they aided their injured, dying, and dead comrades and kept the Plunkett seaworthy..
