I just finished reading P.T. Duetermann’s The Last Paladin, a book about the U.S.S. Holland - a sub-hunting surface ship during World War II. I picked this book because I have a friend who is stationed in Hawaii and talking with her reminded me of my time sailing around Diamond Head as well as sailing in Japan and other parts of the world.

In The Last Paladin, Deutermann writes a fascinating story about the Holland, a fictional sub-hunter sent to destroy Japanese submarines in the vast, and I mean vast, Pacific Ocean. He uses a technique I have never come across before, writing in the first-person but from two different characters points of view - the Captain and the Executive Officer. As I read this story, I found myself fully engaged in the sea battles between the Holland and the six different submarines they attacked and sunk. To be clear, the Holland takes on each sub one at a time and in most cases alone. Lieutenant Commander deTomasi, Deutermann’s fictional captain, is a consummate hunter, evaluating his prey and devising techniques to scare the enemy subs to the surface or boxing them in with a new weapon - the hedgehog.

One of the challenges for me was the harsh comments and derogatory terms the captain and crew understandably made towards their enemy - the Japanese. These comments jumped out at me because I was stationed in Japan for over six years early on in my Air Force career. I found the Japanese people to be just like people all around the world, kind and generous and fun to be around. And now, of course, the countries of Japan and the United States of America are allies.  What a difference a day makes. This all gives me hope we can find a way to make our current adversaries into our future friends - without a horrific war. I don’t fault Deutermann as he used the terms to create a very realistic experience aboard a wartime vessel facing a determined enemy.

Back to the book, Deutermann creates some very memorable scenes in The Last Paladin. The most salient of which for me is that of Chief Petty Officer Garcia sitting ten feet above an unexploded Japanese torpedo lodged into the side of the Holland. The Chief sits in a bosun’s chair, smoking a cigar, over the top of unexploded ordnance, as the Holland makes five knots in calm seas and lists to port.

If action packed, seafaring stories are for you, then I can highly recommend The Last Paladin. You can grab a copy at your local library. That’s where I got mine. Thank you for listening and I hope you join me next time on Ken Reads The Classics.