For Crew and Country

The acclaimed WWII historian recounts the most dramatic naval battle of the Pacific War and the incredible sacrifice of the USS Samuel B. Roberts.

On October 25, 1944, the Samuel B. Roberts, along with the other twelve vessels comprising its unit, stood between Japan’s largest battleship force ever sent to sea and MacArthur’s transports inside Leyte Gulf. Faced with the surprise appearance of more than twenty Japanese battleships, cruisers, and destroyers—including the infamous Yamato—the Samuel B. Roberts turned immediately into action with six other ships.

Captain Copeland marked the occasion with one of the most poignant addresses ever given to men on the edge of battle: “Men,” he said over the intercom, “we are about to go into a fight against overwhelming odds from which survival cannot be expected.”

The Samuel B. Roberts went down with guns blazing in a duel reminiscent of Davy Crockett’s Alamo defenders. The men who survived faced a horrifying three-day nightmare in the sea, where they battled a lack of food and water, scorching sun, numbing nighttime cold, and bloodthirsty sharks. In For Crew and Country, John Wukovitz vividly chronicles the Battle off Samar, one of history’s greatest clashes at sea.