Navy War Heroes #4

Commander Charles Cullen Trant earns the nickname "Cheerful Charley" for his grim determination and unwavering vigilance as captain of the U.S.S. Trident, a high-speed destroyer patrolling the North Atlantic during the Cold War's most dangerous years. When Soviet submarines and aircraft probe American defenses in restricted waters, Trant's uncompromising tactics and willingness to engage the enemy force the Russians to reckon with a commander who cannot be bluffed. This is a gripping tale of naval brinkmanship and the weight of command during a war that cannot be fully won or lost.

In "The Captain's Curse," a disgruntled officer, passed over for command of a new carrier, dies after cursing the ship—leaving his crew to grapple with the ship's reputation and prove it's more than just a vessel of ill omen.

During a brutal naval battle, the crew of a heavy cruiser endures hours of combat below decks in the engine room, feeling the ship absorb hit after devastating hit while gunners above wage war on the enemy fleet. When word finally comes down from command, the men learn the true cost of their unseen sacrifice in the bowels of the vessel. This 1964 war story from Navy War Heroes captures the courage of sailors who fight the battle from below, far from the guns and glory topside.

Joe Yenko dreamed of commanding a battleship, but when a clerical error lands the coal miner's son in command of a destroyer escort instead, he's thrust into the freezing North Atlantic with no sea experience and a crew that doubts him. As his ship faces enemy submarines, brutal winter storms, and a wolf-pack attack on a vital convoy, Yenko discovers that the nimble little destroyer escort demands skills—and courage—all its own.

It's 1951 off the coast of Korea, and the crew of the U.S.S. Waltham faces an enemy unlike any the Navy has encountered in over a century—when a Chinese Communist patrol boat full of troops attempts to board the American destroyer, the cry "Stand by to repel boarders" rings out across the deck once more. With grenades and small arms in hand, the enemy swarms aboard while the ship's crew fights to defend their vessel from an invasion that forces every man, from engine room to galley, into the thick of combat. Captain Hiten and his sailors must turn the tide before the overwhelmed destroyer is overrun.