William P. Mack (1915–2003)

The book is about an old WW1 four stacker destroyer in the Philippines at the start of WW2. The main character is a young Naval Officer is the gunnery officer. Just so happens that at the start of WW2 that Adm. William P. Mack USN (Ret.) was was a young gunnery officer on the USS Pope an old WW1 vintage four stacker station in the Philippines.

This is what makes this book unique from the many other fiction books that I have read set in this time frame. There is a feel of authenticity to the show more conversations among the characters;
"Where and when will the war will start. Pearl Harbor, Hong Kong, Singapore etc."

Also the characters or more fleshed out than in most books of this kind. Not only the officers but the enlisted as well. They all have their lives and problems aboard ship and ashore. We care about them.

The battle sequences were well written and the fictional USS O'Leary DD 200 Took nothing away from the actual historical battles.
Overall a good read and recommended to any that like Naval Fiction.There are a few more books that the author wrote to continue the story. I just might look into them show less

Captain Kilburnie is the tale of a young man of great ability and ambition. Fergus Kilburnie is a younger son and knows there will not be a place for him on the family estate in Scotland, so he decides to go to sea. Although he enlists as a seaman, he already knows seamanship and navigation and quickly masters gunnery, for which he will always retain a passion. He is quickly promoted to lieutenant and is posted to a captaincy at a young age. There are issues with this book -- the dialogue is show more a bit flat and Fergus is larger than life, quickly mastering every new skill he turns to -- but it is an engaging, action-filled read. Mack was a career naval officer and his love of the service and the sea is evident in his book. If anything, he waxes a little pedantic as he tries to share his knowledge. There is no suspense here; this is a straightforward tale of the career of an exceptional young man who pursues a naval career and the woman he loves. Still, it is chock full of the stuff that makes historic naval fiction fun to read. show less

This book might be described as old-fashioned. It reads somewhat like a war novel written in the 50s or 60s. However that does not mean that it is not a good read. In the first place, it was written by a man who knows what he is talking about, almost always a good recommendation for a novel. Also it is a well-written and very readable.

I won't ruin the plot by describing it. I will simply say that the book is about an old destroyer in the pre-war Phillipines just before World War Two starts. show more The situation and the people, officers and enlisted, ring true. The events are authentic, written by a man who was there and took part in them.

I liked the book. I recommend it heartily. show less

Accurate and readable fictional depiction of the frustration and chaos of early naval activiies in the SW Pacific written by somone who was there.