Unsinkable

Five Men and the Indomitable Run of the USS Plunkett

By: James Sullivan

Narrated by: Jacques Roy

In the bestselling tradition of Indianapolis and In Harm’s Way comes a “captivating…gripping” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) account of the USS Plunkett—a US Navy destroyer that sustained the most harrowing attack on any Navy ship by the Germans during World War II, later made famous by John Ford and Herman Wouk.

“A reflection on the nature of storytelling itself” (The Wall Street Journal), Unsinkable traces the individual journeys of five men on one ship from Casablanca in North Africa, to Sicily and Salerno in Italy and then on to Plunkett’s defining moment at Anzio, where a dozen-odd German bombers bore down on the ship in an assault so savage, so prolonged, and so deadly that one Navy commander was hard-pressed to think of another destroyer that had endured what Plunkett had. After a three-month overhaul and with a reputation rising as the “fightin’est ship” in the Navy, Plunkett (DD-431) plunged back into the war at Omaha Beach on D-Day, and again into battle during the invasion of Southern France—perhaps the only Navy ship to participate in every Allied invasion in the European theatre.

Featuring five incredibly brave men—the indomitable skipper, who will receive the Navy Cross; the gunnery officer, who bucks the captain every step of the way to Anzio; a first lieutenant, who’s desperate to get off the ship and into the Pacific; a seventeen-year-old water tender, who’s trying to hold onto his hometown girl against all odds, and another water tender, who mans a 20mm gun when under aerial assault—the dramatic story of each plays out on the decks of the Plunkett as the ship’s story escalates on the stage of the Mediterranean. Based on Navy logs, war diaries, action reports, letters, journals, memoirs, and dozens of interviews with the men who were on the ship and their families, Unsinkable is a timeless evocation of young men stepping up to the defining experience of their lives. “If you were moved by Norman Maclean’s A River Runs Through It, by William Kent Krueger’s This Tender Land…by the values we hold dear, decency, sacrifice, steadfastness, then Unsinkable will take you to a place long dead in your soul, and flood it with light” (Doug Stanton, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Horse Soldiers).

Excellent Read

My relative was on this ship and I grew up hearing about his service and some of the names discussed. So cool to hear what actually happened.

Poorly researched.

Well written and entertaining, except thstp the author made up nauticsl stuff. At one point "The squadron commander" has all of the men in the crew called to his cabin, all of them, an entire crew of a destroyer in a single cabin! No destroyer has a squadron commander with his own cabin his own menu his own agenda and his own people. Destroyers are smalle ships, I know, I served on 2! State rooms are not "spacious" it would even be a stretch to call the old man's cabin spacious! These discrepancies were so glaring that I had to stop reading the book btw, the are called "cans" because of the way bob on the sea.

Sea story

Great book and tribute to the men of the Plunkett. For me, the book had a local flavor as one of the men was from St. Charles, MO where we live. One inaccuracy, which did not affect the book, the Admiral, a riverboat, was stated as being on the Missouri. In the 1940's the Admiral was on the Mississippi in downtown St. Louis. One other error mentioned was when the Plunkett headed home to the States from Palermo. The book stated they headed east to home. Looking at a map, you head west from Italy. But these inaccuracies do not take away from the story.

Amazing and riveting story, one of the best ever!

This is the best World War II book I ever read, it was amazing, riveting, and deeply personal story of five men aboard the USS Plunkett

To those who gave so much

Wonderful story of selfless men who sacrificed the ultimate for our liberty. So touching and sad that their deeds are not foremost in our collective memory.