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The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors
Non-Fiction recount of the Battle of Samar (during the Battle of Leyte Gulf) during WW2... Reading it you would think it is an action movie and entirely fiction, but it really happened.
A few US Destroyers, made to escort light carriers, turned torwards and charged the Japanese Center Force which included 4 battleships (including the largest battleship ever built), 4 heavy cruisers (battleships with light armor), and over a dozen destroyers... Though most of the destroyers were severly damaged, sunk, and casualties were high... They sank several Japanese ships and allowed the US carriers to escape and then the carriers inflicted heavy casualties on the Japanese as well once safe.
Reading it I'm like "holy sh-t"... Destroyers were made to keep submarines away and had very light armor... They were sinking cruisers and sailing head first through 18.1" battleship artillery fire. Sh-ts hardcore.
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