PDF Dawn of Infamy: A Sunken Ship; a Vanished Crew; and the Final Mystery of Pearl Harbor by Stephen Harding in History

Review

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Did The Attack On Pearl Harbor Really Start The Pacific War?By Jeffrey T. MunsonOn December 7th; 1941; the Japanese launched a surprise attack against the American naval base at Pearl Harbor. Over one thousand miles to the east; another attack was taking place as the Japanese submarine I-26 fired upon and sunk the American lumber carrier Cynthia Olson. In "Dawn Of Infamy"; author Stephen Harding looks at one of the lesser-known events of the war and how close this attack came to actually being the opening salvo of the Pacific war.Minoru Yokata; Captain of the I-26; was under strict orders not to engage any American ships until after the attack on Pearl Harbor had commenced. He sighted the Cynthia Olson on December 6th and shadowed her until the following day. At approximately 3:30 a.m. (7:55 Hawaiian time); Yokata began his attack. However; the Olson did not die easily. She managed to send off an s.o.s. message before she went down. As for her crew; the Japanese allowed them to lower life boats and get inside before the ship was fired upon. Some thirty-one civilian seamen and two army servicemen were cast into the Pacific Ocean.During the course of the book; Harding centers his discussion around three main ideas: Did Yokata attack the Cynthia Olson before the attack on Pearl Harbor began? Would advance notice of Yokata's attack by the American forces at Pearl Harbor alerted the Americans and made the attack less successful? Finally; what ever happened to the ship's crew? Through much analysis and inquiries conducted by many people throughout the war and afterward; conclusions were able to be drawn about each instance. Harding discusses each of these questions in depth.I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I've read numerous books about the attack on Pearl Harbor and I'm sure I must have come across this story somewhere along the line; but I was glad to be able to read an entire book on this subject. Harding does a good job of providing the reader with background information on the Cynthia Olson as well as her owners and previous work history. I especially liked learning about the sinking and the actions of the Japanese submarine and the mysterious loss of the crew. This book is a fine companion to the numerous books written about the Pearl Harbor attack. Highly recommended1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. LET THE READERS DECIDEBy CustomerI just finished reading Stephen Harding’s DAWN OF INFAMY. The book was a ‘mixed bag’. There were places where I could not wait to get to the next section and there were places I could have skipped several pages without missing anything. The author accepts and contradicts the same ‘evidence’ throughout the book; accompanying that with excessive background material that was often immaterial to the story. I could not figure out whether that was to keep readers involved or expand his contents from a good short story to an average full length book. As to whether he solved the “Final Mystery of Pearl Harbor”; I leave that up to each individual reader to decide on their own. It is interesting to note; however; that several of his other books deal with ‘firsts’ and ‘lasts’: the ‘first American vessel to be sunk by the Japanese in WWII’ in DAWN OF INFAMY along with THE LAST BATTLE; and THE LAST TO DIE.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Dull!By CustomerDull; dull; dull. Every conceivable detail of everything the author ever learned included; apparently to fill pages of a non-story.