The Sea Hawks: With the PT Boats at War

If not as elegantly written as John F, Kennedy's PT 109, this no-frills tale of boats and men at war gives a clear account of life aboard the dangerous fighting boats of the Pacific war. Hoagland was 24 in 1940, a college graduate convinced that the U.S. would not long remain at peace. He joined the U.S. Navy as an officer candidate and, once commissioned, was assigned to a destroyer. Finding convoy work and participation in the North African invasion too tame, Hoagland volunteered for PT boats. The rest of his war was spent in the Pacific as a boat captain, then as a squadron commander. He participated in all the missions of the ""plywood navy,"" strafing shore defenses, stalking barges, rescuing downed airmen. Kamikaze pilots found PT boats attractive targets, and small arms fire posed a mortal risk to laminated wooden hulls full of gasoline and high explosives. Hoagland earned a silver star for leading a mission that destroyed a Japanese PT base. As a squadron commander, he rode the lead boat into action as a matter of course. Hoagland's narrative is matter-of-fact, with neither retrospective swagger nor false modesty. He tells tales of other PT men, some he served with and some that are just part PT lore. He leaves no doubt of his conviction that the PT boats and their volunteer crews belonged to the navy's elite. We were ""aggressive, determined, innovative and independent."" His book offers a portrait of the ideal of an American citizen officer: learning his craft on the job, leading by skill and example, becoming a warrior while remaining decent and honorable. (Aug.)