Combat Loaded Across the Pacific on the USS Tate

by Thomas E Crew. Texas A & M University Press 2007. $29.95. ISBN 9781585445561. Hardcover. 232 pages.



The book is the first authoritative history of any of the more than 350 attack transports or attack cargo ships of World War II. Combat Loaded: Across the Pacific on the USS Tate contains gripping combat narratives alongside the sometimes heartwarming, sometimes tragic details of daily life on board the ships of Transport Squadron 17 during the waning days of World War II.
Author Thomas E. Crew interviewed over fifty veterans of the Tate, including all her surviving officers. Crew weaves a rich tapestry of voices, combining it with extensive analysis of the Tate's daily action reports and ship's logs, accented by lively letters of the period from private collections—including previously unpublished accounts of the last days of famed war correspondent Ernie Pyle.Crew also presents a rare unit-level perspective of joint operations involving the infantry fighting ashore and the navy transports that sustained them with their vital combat cargo. The resulting richly illustrated work presents perhaps the most comprehensive account to date of the experiences and courageous contributions of those who served on amphibious transports during World War II.
Author Thomas E Crew, a veteran of more than 20 years service at the Naval Oceanographic Office has done a superb job in this, his first book.
Profusely illustrated with photographs, maps and data tables, the reader has a fairly clear understanding of what is going on during the narrative. Numerous interviews were conducted with former crewmembers (which included Mr Crew’s father) and their spouses. The writing style flows well and is done in a warm and inviting style. Never does the author "talk down" to readers, which is always refreshing in works of history.It was USS Tate that delivered famed war correspondent Ernie Pyle to the battle where he was killed, the assault on Ie Shima.
Crew also brings to light how poorly the enlisted ranks on US warships were treated. Only the officers were permitted fresh water showers -- the crew had to make do with salt water! 
Not mentioned in this book was the lack of toilets for sailors. Many ships were fitted with glorified latrines. Essex-class carriers did have toilets, but there was no privacy with several dozen in the same compartment. Many ships the Royal Navy received under Lend-Lease had toilets fitted in UK yards.
A couple of minor errors were noted such as USS Laffey at Okinawa was DD 724 and not the DD 459 sunk in 1942 off Guadalcanal and LSM being identified as Landing Ship Mechanized instead of the correct Landing Ship Medium.
However these minor errors are easily to forgive with the overall superb quality of this work. I cannot recommend it more highly. This reviewer looks forward to Mr Crew’s next book. (DS)