Days of Steel Rain: The Epic Story of a WWII Vengeance Ship in the Year of the Kamikaze

Brent Jones upends the typical viewpoint to bring us history from the perspective of the captain and crew of the fabled USS Astoria CL90. Commissioned as a vengeance ship after her namesake sank in Iron Bottom Sound at Guadalcanal in 1942, the light cruiser took a green crew to the most forward positions of the Pacific theater in 1944–45. Jones stays with the ship from launch through the thickest battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, utilizing maps and never-before-published action photographs. In wave after wave of Kamikaze attacks, some caught on film, the ship and crew earn a reputation all their own.

Unlike many works of history that offer a comprehensive progression of events, this narrative remains focused on the narrow scope of daily crises, just as those making history would have done. Remarkably researched, the account unfolds alongside a variety of conflicts beyond the war itself. For example, a Pacific war veteran led a small band of sailors AWOL only to be returned to the ship in shame for having shirked their duty. Without preaching, this narrative shows how honor and respect are earned one decision at a time, often without knowledge of other factors that only become clear later.