Naval Historian and Author James D. Hornfischer passed away from Cancer at the age of 55. If the name doesn't ring a bell, some of his books might, most famous of them all being Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors which detailed the heroic efforts of a small American Destroyer flotilla as they defended the vulnerable escort carriers and Leyte Beach Invasion site from a Japanese Task Force that included cruisers and battleships including the mighty Yamato in the Battle off Samar, the most decisive and important naval engagement during the WW2 Pacific Battle of Leyte Gulf.
Other books he's written include Ship of Ghosts, about the USS Houston, Neptunes Inferno which is about the Naval Engagements of the Guadalcanal campaign, Service, a biography of Navy Seal Marcus Luttrell, and The Fleet at Flood Tide about the rise to global supremacy of the US Navy in the final years of the Pacific War.
Other books he's written include Ship of Ghosts, about the USS Houston, Neptunes Inferno which is about the Naval Engagements of the Guadalcanal campaign, Service, a biography of Navy Seal Marcus Luttrell, and The Fleet at Flood Tide about the rise to global supremacy of the US Navy in the final years of the Pacific War.