Praise for
"Shepherds of the Sea"

"The first full-scale history of American destroyer escorts (DEs) in WW II focuses on the men who went to sea in the navy's smallest major warships... the book itself can and should drop anchor in any WW II naval collection."

Booklist

“Shepherds of the Sea is a wonderful and well-written study of the noble role U.S. Destroyer Escorts played in winning the Second World War. The amount of original research Robert Cross performed is stunning. Highly recommended!”

Douglas Brinkley, Professor of History at Rice University and author of The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America

“Just when it seems that nothing new can be said about World War II, along comes Shepherds of the Sea, Bob Cross’s well-told tale of a diminutive but decisive weapon in the naval battle, the Destroyer Escort. Cross’s gift is to create a sense of “being there,” with the President who first envisioned this vessel and among the young men, often just teenagers, whose first glimpse of the sea was often from the deck of their Des. A great read and an important chapter in our naval history.”

Joseph E. Persico Author:
Roosevelt’s Secret War

“…These ‘little boys’ soon proved to be most versatile by not only being uncanny in the way their sonar and radars stalked marauding U-boats, but equally adept at zapping Japanese submarines. The author weaves his interviews of 91 former DE sailors into a fine fabric that deftly blends equal amounts of horror, patriotism, sacrifice, duty, and affection into a quilt that will long be worn with pride by anyone who lays rightful claim to the boast, ‘I was a DE sailor’”

Sea Classics magazine

“Cross has brought about nothing less than a moving and thrilling story consistently focused on the people involved and almost miraculously evoking the special character of the destroyer escorts…He has told their stories with eloquence and, sometimes, in graphic detail, portraying the pain, the injury, and yes, the blood and gore that are a necessary part of war. It is a story of the heart and soul of our country and we as its people…and comes at a critical time in U.S. history.”

From the Foreword by
Christopher DuP Roosevelt
Grandson of President Franklin D. Roosevelt

"The DEs were disdained by the regular Navy, from JO to Admiral. By default, they became the empire of the "90 day wonders" and enlisted teenagers of the Naval Reserve. Now they finally have a writer worthy of their heroic story. Using their own words, the historic accomplishments of the DE sailors now take their place in naval legend."

Hon. John F. Lehman
65th Secretary of the Navy

 

Robert F. Cross discusses "Shepherds of the Sea" with with host Ken Hudnall of blogtalkradio in El Paso, Texas. Listen to the interview here.

Rep. Ike Skelton (D-MO), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, selects "Shepherds of the Sea" for his summer reading list. See the C-Span video here.

SHEPHERDS OF THE SEA
Destroyer Escorts in World War IISheperds of the Sea

This compelling tale of courage, heroism, and terror is told in the words of ninety-one sailors and officers interviewed by the author about their World War II service aboard fifty-six destroyer escorts. They reveal many never-before-told details of life at sea during wartime and, along with information found in secretly kept war diaries and previously unpublished personal photographs, add important dimensions to the official record. Unseasoned teenage recruits when they first went to sea, these sailors were led by inexperienced college boys more accustomed to yachts than warships. Their ships were untested vessels, designed by a man with no formal training in ship design, and which many viewed as a waste of money. Yet, as Cross points out, these men are credited with helping turn the tide of the war in the Atlantic as they singlehandedly sank some seventy U-boats and captured U-505, the only German submarine taken during the war and the first enemy vessel captured by Americans at sea since the War of 1812. In the Pacific, the destroyer escorts fought in every major battle, side-by-side with Allied battleships and destroyers.

~ AUTHOR EVENTS ~

September 11, 2010 at 3 pm.
Talk & Book Signing
 Tin Can Sailors Assn.
Best Western Sovereign Hotel
1228 Western Avenue
Albany, New York
For more information:  518-459-8489

November 13, 2010 at 10:30 a.m.
 Talk & Book Signing
National Maritime Historical Society
The Hendrick Hudson Free Library
Montrose, New York

Please check back periodically for future author events!

Previous Author Events | Event Photo Gallery

But this story is not just about battles. It is also about American genius, hard work, honor and growing up in the Great Depression. The author provides eyewitness details about the historic first step taken to end racial discrimination in the military as African-Americans stepped aboard the destroyer escort USS Mason as full-fledged sailors for the first time and earned a Navy commendation of heroism in the Battle of the Atlantic—presented to the surviving crewmen fifty-one years later. Readers also learn about an ingenious invention when a sailor breaks his silence about a secret weapon tested aboard his destroyer escort that rendered a new German radio-controlled glide bomb useless.

 

 

 

 

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