THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER

As he did for the Abercrombie in Little Ship, Big War, Lt. Cmdr Edward Stafford tells the compelling day-to-day detail of life aboard an even smaller warship.

SC 692 was about as small as they came in World War II, other than PT boats. Like the PTs, the subchasers also were made of wood. Meaning, among other things, they had to be careful about scraping up against steel hulls. Stafford commanded it in the Caribbean, across the Atlantic and throughout the Mediterranean, mainly for the invasions of Palermo and Salerno.

The story is, appropriately, on the minutia of a little ship which seemingly everyone on bigger craft could order about. But it’s rarely boring, especially not when a shore battery is finding the 692′s range or the sonar and radar are failing at crucial times. Or the weather and rough seas are standing the little boat on its fantail or bullnose.  Once again the grandson of Admiral Peary of North Pole fame turns a little story into a big one–and a fun read.