Battleship Sailor

This is a very well written book about an enlisted man's life in the US Navy before and during World War 2. It really detailed all aspects of Theodore Mason's time as a Navy enlisted man aboard the USS California. It was interesting and exciting to read.

This is a great look at life in the Navy just before the outbreak of World War II. Mason provides unique insight to a world that has been obscured by myth and movies over the past sixty years. It really gives a sense of a sailor's life in the old Navy, and his revisitation of the Pearl Harbor attack is simply riveting. A must-read for students of naval history!

My Dad was assigned to the USS California from 1936 until she was sunk on December 7th. The book reads just like the stories he would tell. My Dad past away Nov 2002. He spent 30 years in the Navy and most of the stories he told were when he was on the "Prune Barge". He played football and baseball on the ships team. I always wondered if the sailor Mr. Mason spoke to when he was touring the ship when first assigned was my Dad - he was a MM3 - "snipe" - worked in the engine room. It sure did sound like a response my Dad would give. One of the sailors awarded the Medal of Honor, Robert Scott (Zeke) was my fathers best friend on the California. They were "Battleship Sailors".

I couldn't lay this book down, once started. Ted Mason put me back in Hawaii during those dark days of 1940/41. He vividly describes how it was to be a sailor in the rigid "pecking order" of the "Old Navy." As a Pearl Harbor Survivor myself, he made that day come alive. More important, he reminded me of the days of the fleet at San Pedro in 1939. Read it if you have any interest in how it was to be a young bluejacket in the pre-war Navy.

It's been some time since I read this book. If I remember correctly, Ted Mason was stationed aboard the USS Arizona and was on board the Arizona when she went down in Pearl Harbor. This book is his first-hand account of his experiences leading up to and including that event. Having been in the Navy and also having been stationed at Pearl Harbor for several years, I thought it was very good. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a first-hand, 'bird's eye' view of a major historical event and not a relatively dry, textbook account