Description

On January 16 1944 the submarine rescue vessel USS Macaw ASR11 ran aground at Midway Atoll while attempting to get a towing line to the stranded submarine USS Flier SS250 The Flier was pulled free six days later but another three weeks of salvage efforts failed to dislodge the Macaw Then on February 12 the sea accomplished that task nudging the ship into deeper water

As night fell and the ship slowly sank the twentytwo men on board sought refuge in the pilot house By about 0230 Sunday that compartment having flooded almost entirely Burton gave the order to open the portside door and make for the foremast Five of the men including Burton himself died as did three sailors from the base at Midway in a pair of unauthorized and effectively suicidal rescue attempts that morning

This book traces the lives of the Macaw and her enigmatic captain from birth on San Francisco Bay to death at Midway Ultimately for Paul Burton and the Macaw the real enemy was the sea and in a deadly denouement told here in riveting detail the sea won Highlighting the underreported role auxiliary vessels played in the war A Strange Whim of the Sea should engage the military historian and layperson alike with the previously untold story it tells of struggle sacrifice death and survival in the Pacific in World War II