“The MEN Of The GAMBIER BAY.” By Edwin P. Hoyt. Introduction by Admiral Thomas H. Moorer, USN (Ret.). From the author of “The Battle of Leyte Gulf” and “Bowfin”. The escort carrier USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) was a Casablanca-class carrier, commissioned in December 1943, displacing just 7,900 tons. The lightly armed ship departed Pearl Harbor and went into action in September 1944––she never returned. Gambier Bay took part in the Allied landings on Saipan then later fought for the islands of Peleliu and Angaur. In October of 1944 the vessel and her brave pilots of Composite Squadron 10 (VC-10) found themselves involved in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. On the morning of October 25, 1944 Gambier Bay was sunk by surface fire from the Imperial Japanese Navy. The gallant little CVE became the only American carrier to be sunk by enemy surface ships during World War II. And here is her complete story. The only book to tell of this carrier. Now out-of-print and a difficult book to find. Rare 1979 first edition hardback with color dust jacket, 254 pages, 52 black and white photos with several maps and an index. A large map inside front and back covers detailing Gambier Bay routes in the Pacific. Dust jacket show wear as noted in above photo. Inside is pages are nice and clean.
Good Cond. $69.88
The Author:
Edwin Palmer Hoyt was born in Portland, Oregon, on August 5, 1923, to the publisher Edwin Hoyt (1897–1979) and his wife, the former Cecile DeVore (1901–1970). Young Edwin, became an American writer who specialized in military history. Until 1958, Hoyt worked in news media, after which he produced some 200 works of non-fiction titles.
In 1943, Hoyt’s father, then the editor and publisher of The Oregonian, was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as the director of the Domestic Branch, Office of War Information. The younger Hoyt served with the Office of War Information during World War II, from 1943 to 1945. In 1945 and 1946, he served as a foreign correspondent for The Denver Post (of which his father became editor and publisher in 1946) and the United Press, reporting from locations in China, Thailand, Burma, India, the Middle East, Europe, North Africa, and Korea.
Edwin Hoyt subsequently worked as an ABC broadcaster, covering the 1948 revolution in Czechoslovakia and the Arab-Israeli conflict. From 1949 to 1951, he was the editor of the editorial page at The Denver Post. He was the editor and publisher of the Colorado Springs Free Press from 1951 to 1955, and an associate editor of Collier’s Weekly in New York from 1955 to 1956. In 1957 he was a television producer and writer-director at CBS, and in 1958 he was an assistant publisher of American Heritage magazine in New York.
Starting in 1958, Hoyt became a writer full-time, and for a few years (1976 to 1980) served as a part-time lecturer at the University of Hawaii. In the 40 years since his first publication in 1960, he produced nearly 200 published works. While Hoyt wrote about 20 novels (many published under pseudonyms Christopher Martin and Cabot L. Forbes), the vast majority of his works are biographies and other forms of non-fiction, with a heavy emphasis on World War II military history.
After a prolonged illness, Edwin P. Hoyt died in Tokyo, Japan on July 29, 2005, he was 81 years old. Hoyt was survived by his wife Hiroko, of Tokyo, and three children, Diana, Helga, and Christopher, all residing in the United States.
Other books by Edwin Hoyt:
Leyte Gulf: The Death Of The Princeton
Other books of interest:
The Battle Of Leyte Gulf – Edwin P. Hoyt
I Was Chaplain On The Franklin
The Independence Light Aircraft Carrier
The Last Stand Of the Tin Can Sailors
