The Hero Ship

Hank Searls, the acclaimed author of the historical fiction novels “The Body of David Hayes” and “The Searls Intelligence Agency,” stated in his new nonfiction book, “Ripping Off The Seals,” that the Battle of Midway was a high-ranking mutiny on the United States Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier.

Searls described how Captain T. J. “Grizzly” Adams, who was fresh from a strong performance at Guadalcanal and was considered to be one of the most effective naval captains to serve during World War II, began acting strange after he returned from aboard the USS Hornet. He would not acknowledge his crew when they were introduced to him, would only communicate by written note, and always wore dark sunglasses.

Searls said that after speaking with multiple sailors who served under Captain Adams, he learned about the captain’s secret—Adams had been involved in a mutiny against Admiral Nimitz on June 4, 1942. Angered over being passed over for promotion to admiral, Adams planned an attack on Pearl Harbor—the home base of the Pacific Fleet—with several other high-ranking officers on board the USS Hornet. Despite an initial victory over Japanese forces in China and Japan’s refusal to

Hank Searls’s gripping novel is a historically accurate reenactment of the mutiny on the fictional US carrier USS Ramsey, a story that was based on his own experience as a naval officer during World War II. The novel weaves in just enough technical detail to make it seem real without alienating readers who aren’t familiar with military protocols, and even if you were never quite as engrossed in your Naval history classes as you wish you were, this is still an entertaining read that will keep you guessing until the very end.