War at Sea #40

Feb 1961 · Charlton · 0.10 USD

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This anthology issue contains multiple naval warfare stories. "First Crossing" depicts the U.S.S. Bardman's first crossing in January 1942, when howling gales drove seven wallowing freighters across the North Atlantic, with the Navy-manned ship transporting troops to Burma despite treacherous conditions. "U.S.S. Matchsticks" follows a small coastal freighter that runs aground in a typhoon and crashes on rocks while attempting to reach harbor. The final story involves Jim Kegley, a former Olympic competitor turned naval officer, who encounters a German submarine commander and engages in wartime espionage and tactical combat on the seas.

Contains 4 stories

The Magnificent Fools

5 pp · Aviation, War

Trapped in the Baltic Sea with a crippled destroyer, Lt. Comdr. Dick Bennett and the crew of DD413 face an impossible choice: intern in Sweden for the war's duration or make a desperate stand against overwhelming German forces. When the men vote to fight, Bennett charts a bold course straight into a Danish port bristling with Nazi ships and shore batteries—a gamble that will test their luck and courage against the odds.

First Crossing

8 pp · War

In January 1942, seaman Toby Breed joins the crew of the U.S.S. Bardman as it escorts a vital convoy of freighters across the treacherous North Atlantic, where German U-boats lurk in deadly wolf packs. Breed learns quickly that protecting the supply ships bound for England demands sacrifice and constant vigilance—and that modern naval warfare offers none of the honor or glory he'd imagined. As the destroyer races to intercept enemy submarines while shepherding its precious cargo, Breed discovers what it truly costs to keep the lifeline to the Allies open.

U.S.S. Matchsticks

5 pp · War

When a Navy-manned freighter carrying U.S. Army artillery gets wrecked on a remote island near Sumatra, Captain Jug Pender faces an urgent problem: Japanese destroyers are searching the area. Rather than abandon the howitzers, Pender devises an audacious plan to lash the guns onto a makeshift raft and sail it to safety—but first, he and his mixed crew of soldiers and sailors must outrun enemy patrol planes and face down a Japanese warship determined to capture them.

The Last Round

5 pp · War

The bitter boxing rivalry between Jim Kegley and Otto Mann takes to the seas when the two old Olympic competitors find themselves on opposing sides during World War II—Kegley commanding a destroyer escort and Mann captaining a German U-boat determined to trap his former foe once and for all. As a wolf pack closes in on Kegley's convoy off Iceland in 1942, Jim realizes his old adversary still favors the same cunning feints and tactics that made him so dangerous in the ring. With one chance to outthink the trickster at his own game, Kegley must decide how far he'll go to settle their long-standing score.