News
August 22, 2017Book Signing at USS SLATER this Sunday
Author Martin Irons will be on hand at USS SLATER from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Sunday, August 27th, for the release of his new book, Phalanx Against the Divine Wind. Joining him will be surviving families of two local sailors who were killed during the largest kamikaze attack of World War 2.
“Kikusui Number 1 was an epic battle that spanned thirty hours but little has been written about the attack to date. The warships’ crews were mostly teenagers who faced incredible dangers on the high seas. Phalanx Against the Divine Wind probably will be the last book published that contains numerous firsthand accounts of the attacks by the sailors involved in the action.”- Martin Irons
Using his background as a scientist and former Army Reserve officer, Martin Irons brings unwritten World War 2 stories to light. Firsthand accounts by surviving World War 2 sailors, marines, and pilots bring his narratives to life. Phalanx Against the Divine Wind, the account of the largest kamikaze attack of World War 2, Kikusui No.1, (April 6-7, 1945), is the conclusion of the tale that follows the building of a state-of-the-art destroyer, the training of a teenage crew, and the leadership of the warrior captain, Commander Stephen N. Tackney, and his second-in-command, Lt. Commander Scott Lothrop. The book is published by Merriam Press of Hoosick Falls, New York. Copies will be available for purchase at the book signing.
Kikusui No.1 was the first of ten mass kamikaze attacks against the U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet in the waters off Okinawa in 1945. Nearly 700 Japanese planes took to the air during the thirty-hour battle. Twenty-six American ships were struck and six of these sank. Nearly 500 U.S. sailors were killed including Arthur Goyer, Radioman 2nd Class from Troy, New York, and John R. Dyer, Jr. Radioman 3rd Class from West Chazy, New York. Both men were aboard the USS HAYNSWORTH DD-700, the first warship hit during the attack.
