We were Pirates

[Thagarr]

I ran across this new book while looking for pirate news and thought I would share it. I have always been fascinated with history in general, and WWII history in particular. This book is a recounting of the story of Bob Hunt, a torpedoman that served on board the USS Tambor for 12 of her 13 war patrols in the Pacific during WWII. The following are a couple of quotes from an article in the Decorah Iowa newspaper :

Why now?

Hunt said when he is asked why he wanted to take on the monumental task of preparing a book, he answers, "I've never read a submarine book where they really told what was going on. To me, it was my life. So I said, 'By God, I'm going to write one and tell it like it was,'" said Hunt.

USS Tambor

"We were Pirates" chronicles Hunt's life over three years and eight months, during which he served 12 consecutive patrols aboard the Tambor.

"They usually wouldn't let you stay on more than four runs in a row," said Hunt.

But Hunt did. And over the years, he said he's had many people ask him how he didn't go insane being submerged for so many weeks at a time.

"I tell them I was crazy before I started, so it wasn't a problem," quipped Hunt.

Quick money

To pass the long days and nights on board, Hunt and his fellow sailors played a lot of poker, with Hunt usually emerging on top.

"Back in high school, I had gotten a job driving Ed Waterbury out to Oneota Country Club. He was the best poker player in town, and I used to sit right behind him when he played. By the time I enlisted, I was a real expert," he said, adding he also became the sub's unofficial chief loan officer.

"I used to lend the guys money, but I quit that because I felt so bad when we went ashore. They'd get their checks and have to pay me back first, and they'd be left with nothing," he said.

You can read the full article here, it is some fascinating stuff!

http://www.decorahne...ArticleID=20408

You can also read more here : http://www.robertsch...fiction_wwp.htm

There is also a DVD of interviews with Bob available, here is a YouTube video with an excerpt from one of the interviews :

Robert Hunt, the subject of a new book entitled WE WERE PIRATES: A TORPEDOMAN'S PACIFIC WAR (Naval Institute Press, Fall 2009), describes watching the Japanese bombardment of Wake Island from his submarine, the USS TAMBOR; a bomb strike that damaged his sub, then entering Pearl Harbor days later, viewing the smoking destruction from the bow of the TAMBOR as it made its way through debris toward the Pearl sub base. From an interview included on the DVD, WE WERE PIRATES. See www.robertschultz.us and Amazon.com.

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=I8dEX2380lw

You can find the book on Amazon here :
http://www.amazon.co...c/dp/1591147786

 

[Fred Bob]

Arr, dat be lookin' like goooood readin', Thagarr! 2

 

[Meigger]

I agree with Fred Bob. Next time I am at the bookstore I will be looking for this book.

 

[Thagarr]

Indeed it does mates! I can't even imagine what must have been going through their minds as they pulled into Pearl Harbor days after the attack. That is one of the most haunting interviews I have ever seen about it. I actually got to walk through a WWII US submarine, the USS Drum, when I was a kid. I remember how cramped it felt even to me as a child. The thought of wanting to spend multiple tours, let alone 12, on one of those is just beyond me. We also got to walk through the battleship USS Alabama, absolutely incredible. I had never even seen the ocean till that trip, it sure made a lasting impression on me to say the least!