The Ghost Ships of Archangel
The Arctic Voyage That Defied the Nazis
1 of 1 copy available
On the fourth of July, 1942, four Allied ships traversing the Arctic separated from their decimated convoy to head further north into the ice field of the North Pole, seeking safety from Nazi bombers and U-boats in the perilous white maze of ice floes, growlers, and giant bergs. Despite the risks, they had a better chance of survival than the rest of Convoy PQ-17, a fleet of thirty-five cargo ships carrying $1 billion worth of war supplies to the Soviet port of Archangel—the limited help Roosevelt and Churchill extended to Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin to maintain their fragile alliance, even as they avoided joining the fight in Europe while the Eastern Front raged.
The high-level politics that put Convoy PQ-17 in the path of the Nazis were far from the minds of the diverse crews aboard their ships. U.S. Navy Ensign Howard Carraway, aboard the SS Troubadour, was a farm boy from South Carolina and one of the many Americans for whom the convoy was to be a first taste of war; aboard the SS Ironclad, Ensign William Carter of the U.S. Navy Reserve had passed up a chance at Harvard Business School to join the Navy Armed Guard; from the Royal Navy Reserve, Lt. Leo Gradwell was given command of the HMT Ayrshire, a fishing trawler that had been converted into an antisubmarine vessel. All the while, The Ghost Ships of Archangel turns its focus on Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin, playing diplomatic games that put their ships in peril.
The twenty-four-hour Arctic daylight in midsummer gave no respite from bombers, and the Germans wielded the terrifying battleship Tirpitz, nicknamed The Big Bad Wolf. Icebergs were as dangerous as Nazis. As a newly forged alliance was close to dissolving and the remnants of Convoy PQ-17 tried to slip through the Arctic in one piece, the fate of the world hung in the balance.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
May 14, 2019 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781984889430
- File size: 294980 KB
- Duration: 10:14:32
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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This audiobook provides insight into yet another group of unknown heroes of WWII, the soldiers on four Allied ships who braved the Arctic to deliver supplies needed by their fellow troops. Arthur Morey's performance complements the author's detailed description of how these soldiers accomplished their mission. Like a newsreel broadcaster, Morey's presentation is well paced. But it is his sense of awe at what was accomplished that transforms this audiobook into one that will appeal to both history buffs and those with only a casual interest in the war. Morey pays special attention to soldiers such as Navy Ensigns Howard Carraway and William Carter, whose tireless efforts showed how delivering supplies was as important to winning the war as the efforts of the troops on the front lines. D.J.S. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine -
Starred review from March 25, 2019
In this gripping history, Geroux (The Mathews Men) recounts the fascinating story of multinational convoy PQ-17, which sailed through treacherous ice-filled waters to deliver tanks, explosives, and other supplies to support the Soviet WWII effort. While this mission remains part of popular Russian history, the Allied invasion of North Africa later in 1942 soon superseded any American interest in the large-scale cat-and-mouse game in the Arctic. Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin argued over the schedule and necessity of the convoys; Stalin pushed hard for specific supplies to bolster the Eastern Front. After British Admiral Dudley
Pound illogically ordered the convoy
to “scatter” (leaving the slow-moving freighters unprotected), Nazi bombers, warships, and U-boats hunted the Allied vessels, sinking 22 out of 35. Drawing on diaries, firsthand interviews (with, for example, merchant mariner Jim North, who was on the Troubadour), and several memoirs, Geroux focuses on multiple first-person perspectives to shed light on everything from boredom in the Icelandic port to the sailors’ new reality of life as prey susceptible to German attacks. WWII aficionados, and anyone else who likes a good story, will find this well-written adventure tale a real pleasure.
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