Research Catalog

Details

Description

1. 256 pages : illustrations; 24 cm

Summary

1. On December 7, 1941, even as Japanese carrier-launched aircraft were winging their way toward Pearl Harbor, a small American cargo ship chartered by the U.S. Army reported it was being attacked by a submarine about halfway between Seattle and Honolulu. After that one cryptic message the humble lumber carrier Cynthia Olson and her crew vanished without a trace, their disappearance all but forgotten as the might warships of the U.S. Pacific Fleet burned. Though long relegated to footnote status in Pacific War histories, the story of Cynthia Olson's mid-ocean encounter with the Japanese submarine I-26 is both a classic high-seas drama and one of the most enduring mysteries of World War II. Did Commander Minoru Yokota of I-26 disregard orders and sink the freighter before the attack on Pearl Harbor began, running the risk of alerting the Americans to the impending assault? Did master mariner Berthel Carlsen and his 34-man crew survive their vessel's sinking only to drift away into the vast Pacific, or were they machine-gunned in their lifeboats at the orders of Yokota, who after the war became a devout Christian? Was Cynthia Olson the first American casualty of the Pacific War, and could her SOS have changed the course of history? Based on years of research, this book explores both the military and human aspects of the Cynthia Olson story, bringing to life a complex tale of courage, tenacity, hubris and arrogance in the opening hours of America's war in the Pacific.

Subject

1. Cynthia Olson (Cargo ship)
2. Pearl Harbor, Attack on (Hawaii : 1941)
3. World War (1939-1945)
4. Geschichte 1941
5. 1900-1999
6. World War, 1939-1945 > Naval operations > Submarine
7. World War, 1939-1945 > Naval operations, Japanese
8. Cargo ships > United States > History > 20th century
9. Submarines (Ships) > Japan > History > 20th century
10. Pearl Harbor (Hawaii), Attack on, 1941
11. Cargo ships
12. Military operations, Naval > Japanese
13. Military operations, Naval > Submarine
14. Submarines (Ships)
15. Cynthia Olson Schiff
16. Pazifikkrieg 1941-1945
17. Hawaii
18. Japan
19. United States
20. USA

Genre/Form

1. History.

Contents

1. A ship fine and sturdy -- The family business -- To the land of aloha -- Captain and crew -- Predator at large -- A target found -- Destruction from the depths -- Bad news travels ... -- Rebirth of a mystery -- A story long delayed -- Mysteries resolved.

Owning institution

1. Princeton University Library

Bibliography (note)

1. Includes bibliographical references (pages 240-247) and index.