All Brave Sailors: The Sinking of the Anglo-Saxon, August 21, 1940 - Hardcover

Carr, J. Revell

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0743238370 ISBN 13: 9780743238373

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2004

Synopsis

Describes the August 1940 attack on and sinking of the Anglo Saxon, a British merchant ship, by the Widder, a German surface raider disguised as a merchant ship from a neutral country, and the desperate ordeal of the survivors of the doomed ship, only two of which made it to safety in the Bahamas. 40,000 first printing.

About this title

About the Author

J. Revell Carr is a former president and director of Mystic Seaport, America's leading maritime museum, as well as president of the Council of American Maritime Museums and the International Congress of Maritime Museums.

Reviews

In the tale of the merciless assault by the German raider the Widder on the Anglo-Saxon, a British merchant marine vessel, Carr has chosen a typical WWII subject with untold riches beneath the surface, crafting a story that remains, generations later, well worth telling. In the war's early days, the heavily armed Widder commonly disguised itself as a neutral Swedish freighter and pummeled unsuspecting enemy ships with massive artillery. On August 21, 1940, the victim of this remarkably effective (and much frowned upon) technique was the defenseless Anglo-Saxon, which came under attack off Africa's western coast. What's unique about this story is its aftermath: the Widder's incredibly effective ambush method resulted in a fatality rate of 100% - but not this time. Seven seamen were able to escape undetected on a tiny, meagerly provisioned "jolly boat"; their fate constitutes the utterly riveting heart of the book. The 70 days before the boat finally washed up on shore in the Bahamas (carrying only two living sailors) is by turns gut-wrenching and inspiring, and always enthrallingly detailed and vividly imagined. Carr also profiles Hellmuth von Ruckteschell, the captain of the marauding Widder, who was eventually tried as a war criminal. Carr, former director and president of Mystic Seaport, where for decades the jolly boat resided before being returned to the U.K., is unquestionably the expert this story needs. Clearly interested in the subject for some years and intending his book to be a tribute to the undersung and heroic sailors of the merchant marine, Carr wrings every fascinating last drop out of this powerful material.
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This solid, powerful maritime history focuses on the 1940 sinking of the British freighter Anglo-Saxon by the German commerce raider Widder. Captain von Ruckteschell of the Widder fired on the Anglo-Saxon's lifeboats. Seven of the crew got away, but only two reached the Bahamas. One of those, flamboyant Roy Widdicombe, was lost at sea on the way back to England, while Bob Tapscott survived another 20 years to commit suicide as a consequence of post-traumatic stress disorder. Besides the harrowing details of the men in the lifeboat, Carr paints a vivid portrait of the Allied merchant navies at war and a good character profile of the ruthless, enigmatic, and skilled von Ruckteschell. Carr, a former president of the Mystic Seaport Museum, has contributed to the survival-at-sea and World War II literatures a book sure to draw boatloads of readers. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0743238370
• ISBN 13: 9780743238373
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384