A previous edition covered the pre-war classes, of which there were quite a few ship types. With war looming on the horizon, the US decided to take the lessons learned in the earlier treaty classes and make improvements. This resulted in larger, more capable ships of the Fletcher, Allen M Sumner, and Gearing class. Of the latter class five ships were completed in time to earn battle stars in the last months of the Pacific war.

Though it was the earlier and smaller ships that bore the brunt of the fighting in the first six months or so of the war. The Fletcher and some of her sister ships were first on the scene at Guadalcanal by October of 1942 and participated in every US naval engagement of the war, including those few in the Atlantic theater of operations. Additionally, these newer ships were credited with the sinking of over two dozen Axis submarines.

Author Dave McComb covers these ships with the design and development of each class, modifications made to the various ships, and how they were used in both the Atlantic and the Pacific wars. In fact, much of the book covers their use in battle. This is all superbly illustrated with period photographs and the excellent art work of Paul Wright.

It is an outstanding volume and a great primer on these important ships. I found it quite interesting and I know you will as well. It is a book that I can highly recommend to you.

April 2010

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