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by Lionel F. Price (Author)
In the early morning darkness of July 18th, 1965, a U.S. Navy warship returning from combat operations off the coast of Vietnam ran aground on a reef in the South China Sea. For the next 38 days, the officers and men of the USS Frank Knox (DDR-742), supported by salvage teams and assisting ships from the Pacific Fleet, worked against the clock to save their wounded ship. They battled a monstrous typhoon and solved an endless string of engineering challenges to achieve what Pacific Stars and Stripes called "the greatest salvage operation ever attempted in the Pacific." It was a maritime disaster that became part of naval mythology. In this gripping first-hand account, retired U.S. Navy Commander Lionel F. Price, the junior officer on watch at the time of the incident, documents the harrowing story of the grounding and salvage of the USS Frank Knox. This historical account describes life aboard a 1960s warship, with exotic ports of call across the Pacific and battle action in the early days of the Vietnam escalation. The book delivers expert analysis of the events that led up to the grounding, supported by extensive research and official documents secured under the Freedom of Information Act. Frankie Maru is both military history and personal memoir, a window into world events of the 1960s and a love letter to life at sea in the U.S. Navy. Frankie Maru offers the definitive study of events that led to the grounding, why it happened, and the leadership lessons that are relevant today. This is the true story of triumph, disaster, and redemption of a famed U.S. Navy ship. Frankie Maru is a must read for any student of military history, naval tradition, and seafaring adventure.
