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In the dark days of World War II, merchant mariners made heroic contributions to the eventual Allied victory and
suffered tremendous casualties in so doing. Among these were the engineers who toiled deep in the bowels of the
ship and suffered appalling casualties. In part, this was because enemy submarines typically targeted engine rooms
to cripple the vessels, but often it was because ships engineers remained at their stations aligning fire pumps,
securing the boilers, and performing the tasks that would give the ship and crew a fighting chance for survival.
After the war, engineering personnel were unlikely to talk about their experiences, let alone write them down.
These modest and self-effacing men were more comfortable in a world of turbines and pistons, so they seldom
brought their stories forward. Libertys War sets out to explore the experiences of one such engineer, Herman
Melton, from his time as a cadet at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy through his experiences at sea as a third
assistant engineer.
Herman Melton (19202013) was a World War II veteran of both the Murmansk Run and Pacific convoys.
Will Melton, son of the author, retired in 2015 after forty years as a public relations officer and fund-raiser for
schools, colleges, and scientific research organizations. His lifelong interest in military history was inspired by
family trips as a boy to battlefields and history museums.
Naval Institute Press
August 15, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-59114-640-7
256 pages
Paperback & eBook: $24.94