Audiobook11 hours
Battleship Commander: The Life of Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee Jr.
Written by Paul Stillwell
Narrated by Walter Dixon
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
5/5
()
About this audiobook
Battleship Commander explores Lee's life from boyhood in Kentucky through his eventual service as commander of the fast battleships from 1942 to 1945. Said to be down to earth, modest, forgiving, friendly, and with a wry sense of humor, Lee eschewed the media and, to the extent possible, left administrative details to others. During his service in the Navy Department from 1939 to 1942, Lee prepared the U.S. Navy for war at sea, and was involved in inspecting designs for battleships, cruisers, aircraft carriers, and destroyers. He sent observers to Britain to report on Royal Navy operations during the war against Germany and made plans to send an action team to mainland China to observe conditions for possible later Allied landings there.
In 1942 Willis Lee became commander of the first division of fast battleships to operate in the Pacific. During that service, he commanded Task Force 64, which achieved a tide-turning victory in a night battle near Guadalcanal in November 1942.
Continuing his career of service near the end of the war, Lee, in the summer of 1945, directed anti-kamikaze research efforts in Casco Bay, Maine. While Lee's wartime successes and failures are compelling, what is here in this biography is a balanced look at the man and officer.
In 1942 Willis Lee became commander of the first division of fast battleships to operate in the Pacific. During that service, he commanded Task Force 64, which achieved a tide-turning victory in a night battle near Guadalcanal in November 1942.
Continuing his career of service near the end of the war, Lee, in the summer of 1945, directed anti-kamikaze research efforts in Casco Bay, Maine. While Lee's wartime successes and failures are compelling, what is here in this biography is a balanced look at the man and officer.
Related to Battleship Commander
Related audiobooks
Devil Dogs: From Guadalcanal to the Shores of Japan Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sink ‘Em All: Submarine Warfare in the Pacific Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sea of Thunder: Four Commanders and the Last Great Naval Campaign 1941-1945 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5One Damned Island After Another: The Saga of the Seventh Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pacific Thunder: The US Navy's Central Pacific Campaign, August 1943–October 1944 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Measureless Peril: America in the Fight for the Atlantic, the Longest Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Morning Star, Midnight Sun: The Early Guadalcanal-Solomons Campaign of World War II August–October 1942 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Steel Boat Iron Hearts: A U-boat Crewman's Life Aboard U-505 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Danger's Hour: The Story of the USS Bunker Hill and the Kamikaze Pilot Who Crippled Her Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pearl Harbor: From Infamy to Greatness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5At Close Quarters: PT Boats in the United States Navy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lions of Iwo Jima: The Story of Combat Team 28 and the Bloodiest Battle in Marine Corps History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Civil War Commando: William Cushing and the Daring Raid to Sink the Ironclad CSS Albemarle Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJohn F. Kennedy and PT-109 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dawn of Infamy: A Sunken Ship, a Vanished Crew, and the Final Mystery of Pearl Harbor Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5War at Sea: A Shipwrecked History from Antiquity to the Twentieth Century Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5China Marine: An Infantryman's Life After World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wolf: How One German Raider Terrorized the Allies in the Most Epic Voyage of WWI Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Heart of Hell: The Untold Story of Courage and Sacrifice in the Shadow of Iwo Jima Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Hunt the Bismarck: The Pursuit of Germany's Most Famous Battleship Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hit the Target: Eight Men Who Led the Eighth Air Force to Victory Over the Luftwaffe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How Carriers Fought: Carrier Operations in WWII Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Incredible Victory: The Battle of Midway Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Last Mission to Tokyo: The Extraordinary Story of the Doolittle Raiders and Their Final Fight for Justice Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wahoo: The Patrols of America's Most Famous World War II Submarine Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942-1944 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Thunder Run: The Armored Strike to Capture Baghdad Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Wars & Military For You
Valiant Women: The Extraordinary American Servicewomen Who Helped Win World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/577 Days of February: Living and Dying in Ukraine, Told by the Nation’s Own Journalists Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Diary of Anne Frank Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You're Stepping on My Cloak and Dagger Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of September 11, 2001 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Five Rings Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Rape of Nanking: The History and Legacy of the Notorious Massacre during the Second Sino-Japanese War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ghosts of Honolulu: A Japanese Spy, A Japanese American Spy Hunter, and the Untold Story of Pearl Harbor Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Kill Anything That Moves Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Watchmaker's Daughter: The True Story of World War II Heroine Corrie ten Boom Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Last Kingdom Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Korean War: A History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Saved: A War Reporter's Mission to Make It Home Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5When I Come Home Again: 'A page-turning literary gem' THE TIMES, BEST BOOKS OF 2020 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unbroken Bonds of Battle: A Modern Warriors Book of Heroism, Patriotism, and Friendship Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin - Book Summary: How U.S. Navy SEALS Lead And Win Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Countdown 1945: The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days That Changed the World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Invisible Generals: Rediscovering Family Legacy, and a Quest to Honor America's First Black Generals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Palestine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Heart of Everything That Is: The Untold Story of Red Cloud, An American Legend Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Battleship Commander
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
5/5
2 ratings1 review
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I really enjoyed this book...VADM Lee was one of the finest men and Naval officers that this country has produced.