Eight Survived: The Harrowing Story of the USS Flier and the Only Downed World War II Submariners to Survive and Evade Capture

· Rowman & Littlefield
4.7
3 reviews
Ebook
336
Pages
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About this ebook

On the night of August 13, 1944, the U.S. submarine Flier struck a mine in the Sulu Sea in the southern Philippines as it steamed along the surface. All but fifteen of the more than eighty-strong crew went down with the vessel. Of those left floating in the dark, eight survived by swimming for seventeen hours before washing ashore on an uninhabited island. The story of the Flier and its eight survivors is wholly unique in the annals of U.S. military history.

Eight Survived tells the gripping story of the doomed submarine and its crew from its first patrol, during which it sank several enemy ships, to the explosion in the Sulu Sea. Drawing on interviews with the survivors and on a visit to the jungle where they washed ashore—where a cast of fascinating characters helped the U.S. sailors evade the Japanese—Douglas Campbell fully captures the combination of extraordinary courage and luck that marked one of the most heroic episodes of World War II.

Ratings and reviews

4.7
3 reviews
Tyler Kamps
May 26, 2020
I will edit this once I've finished reading, but I learned today that my friend's great uncle was one of the crew of the USS Flier, I cant wait to hear more about them so the family can learn more about it. His name was William Bivens.
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About the author

Douglas A. Campbell is the author of The Sea’s Bitter Harvest: Thirteen Deadly Days on the North Atlantic. Previously a longtime reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, he writes for Soundings magazine. 

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