The Ship Model Forum

I have a friend on facebook that runs a small historical section that is centered on the Battle of Savo Island. The gentleman is as ardent a follower of that particular engagement as anyone I've known. In fact, he is so into it he is in the process of trying to get published a rather large volume on the subject. At the risk of being accused of making a shameless plug, I'll post some links for your considerations. He has just set up the nasty of nasties ... a go fund me page to try and get this project afloat. I offered to put out some feelers on this site and see where it goes. He has a manuscript of 400+ pages complete but the big name publishers such as Random House do not want to play ball with unsolicited, independent authors so you can imagine the conflict. So, he wants to make a go of self publishing, if possible.

The book's name is "The Sacred and the Profane: Twin Hammers at Midnight -- The 1st Battle of Savo Island".

Author: Lawrence De Graw

https://www.facebook.com/SavoIsle/ His facebook blog

https://www.gofundme.com/zt5dac8 His Go fund me page for the project



This is for any and all's consideration. No fuss, no strings, no angles. This is just a guy with a passion for naval history right along with the rest of us.

If there is any interest, I'll try to get the gentleman to set up an account here and discuss the endeavor as he is able.

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The closer the correspondence between a man's perception of reality and reality itself, the greater the man. - Renato Constantino

Hi tenacioustanaka,
thanks for your post, very interesting! I was wondering whether all has been written already about the Battle of Savo Island... I have already sent some bucks and an e-mail to the author, it´s definitely worth supporting.
Vladi

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Battle of Savo Island Collection (all 1/700)
Recently completed: USS Wilson DD-408
At works: USS Astoria CA-34 | USS Patterson DD-392 & USS Bagley DD-386 | HMAS Australia
Prep stage: USS Vincennes CA-44 | Yubari | Kako

Well, I do so appreciate it. I'll go on the record now and say that I have no angle nor interest in this endeavor other than to see another volume written about a time frame that I'm so very enthusiastic about. As for any new material brought to the discussion, I couldn't say nor know what to expect. I've not read the manuscript but at 400 plus pages, there may be SOMETHING new I would imagine. I speak with the author on occasion and he has disclosed that he has befriended and spoken with men who were actually there at Savo so I'm assuming there may be a few anecdotal stories told from their perspective. If that is the only new material then I'd say the effort is worth it.

We shall see how this unfolds. Keeping my fingers crossed that it gets published and turns out to be a welcome volume in the annals of the Guadalcanal narrative.

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The closer the correspondence between a man's perception of reality and reality itself, the greater the man. - Renato Constantino

Hi everyone,

I´ve been in touch with the author since this discussion, hopefully helped to keep his spirit up a bit, and there are some good news: looks like the book will make it to the shelf in the end! The final title will be

Sitting Ducks at Guadalcanal: The U.S. Navy's Disaster at the Battle of Savo Island
by Lawrence A. De Graw

It is scheduled in December 2023 and it is already available for pre-order at Barnes & Noble.

(I just noticed the original post here is nearly 6 years old, that´s hardly believable...)

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Battle of Savo Island Collection (all 1/700)
Recently completed: USS Wilson DD-408
At works: USS Astoria CA-34 | USS Patterson DD-392 & USS Bagley DD-386 | HMAS Australia
Prep stage: USS Vincennes CA-44 | Yubari | Kako