SOMEWHERE IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC
Severn River Publications, LLC
Inspired by the true story of John F. Kennedy’s daring naval mission at the height of World War II, this historical thriller brings the unanswered question of the past to life with fast-paced action and vivid detail.
It’s mid 1943 when Todd Ingram recuperates back in the U.S. after a horrific time in the Upper Solomon Islands. This is when John Kennedy reports for duty with Torpedo Squadron 2. They were originally based on Tulagi near Guadalcanal, but soon moved up the chain to the Russell Islands and later Rendova, a few miles off New Georgia’s southwest coast. Because of his family background which included extensive experience in small boats, Lt (j.g.) Kennedy is well suited to take command of PT 109.
Somewhere in the South Pacific Synopsis - continued
But young John has baggage. J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI personally investigates young John due to his intense romance with Inga Arvad, a gorgeous and very cosmopolitan journalist from Denmark who was designated at one time as Germany’s (the Nazis) publicity liaison to Denmark. This wasn’t true but Arvad, as a successful newspaper correspondent in Europe, did get around. She interviewed all the top Nazis including Göbbles, Göring, and Hitler. Yes, Inga Arvad interviewed Hitler twice and by special invitation this Nordic Beauty (Hitler’s own words) was a guest in Hitler’s box in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
But, in 1940 the Germans marched into Denmark and Inga Marched out to the United States. There, she again became successful,taking a position with the Washington Times Herald, and later with the North American Newspaper Alliance in Washington D.C. It was there that fellow correspondent Kathleen Kennedy (Kick) introduced Inga to her brother John. They fall madly in love and want to marry. But Hoover soon learns of the liaison and has the two closely watched, including bugging both their apartments with wire recorders. Hoover was so convinced Inga was pro-Hitler that he wanted JFK kicked out of the Navy. One path to this was through his friend, Joseph P. Kennedy Senior who agreed and threatened his son with complete disenfranchisement.
To escape the pressure in the U.S, young Jack joins the PT Navy and receives orders to the Solomon Islands, a hot war zone.
It gets hotter when Kennedy’s PT 109 is cut in half by a Japanese destroyer during a night action in the Blackett Straits. Suddenly, the challenge to Kennedy is not avoiding the jungle crud, or evading the Japanese, or the increasingly overt attempts by J. Edgar Hoover to arrest him. It’s basic survival. But he puts his crew first and provides for them in any way possible while stranded on Olasana Island behind Japanese lines. To them it’s hopeless. The U.S. Navy has given up. No attempt is made for rescue. The Americans believe Kennedy and his crew are dead. They even have a memorial service for him,
But sub-Lieutenant Arthur Evens, a heads up Coastwatcher with the Royal Australian Army, sends out two of his Melanesian scouts, Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana, who discover Kennedy and eleven remaining survivors on Olasana Island. At first, the Americans on Rendova are in disbelief. But finally, they send out two PT boats to pick up Kennedy and his party.
Meanwhile, Todd Ingram recovers to see first-hand, the battle of Vella Gulf where U.S. Navy destroyers get their revenge on the enemy destroyers that sank PT 109 in the Blackett Straits.
CLICK TO SEE PRAISE
PRAISE FOR SOMEWHERE IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC
From John Gobbell’ s preface, to the last revealing page, Somewhere in the South Pacific is a riveting , entertaining, and historical page turner. This Todd Ingram series is well researched and an engaging must read.
Howard G. Kazanjian, Executive Producer/Producer
Raiders of the Lost Arc, The Rookie, Return of the Jedi, Demolition Man
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John Gobbell tells Navy tales like no other writer. Here, he combines historical facts, reasonable conjecture and authentic Navy culture and language to bring a new flavor to the epic story of PT-109, its famous skipper and the woman who captivated him. It is an enlightening and entertaining visit to the danger, discomfort and drama of the South Pacific at war.
Admiral Eric Olson, U.S. Navy (Retired)
Former Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command
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Once again, John J. Gobbell has added to his already solid reputation as a spinner of sea stories. As his fictional hero, Todd Ingram, once again finds action in the South Pacific, Gobbell’ s own experiences as a naval officer shine through as he blends history with imaginative drama, taking the reader back to a time when the future president Jack Kennedy is in command of a PT-boat, fighting the Japanese and in love with an exotic and potentially dangerous beauty. A surprise ending will likely astonish his loyal followers and new readers alike, adding a new dimension to his well-established genre.
Thomas J. Cutler
The Gordon England Chair of Professional Naval Literature
U.S. Naval Institute
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I am more than impressed with John J. Gobbell’ s newest book, Somewhere in the South Pacific. He has crafted a way to make U.S. Navy destroyer fiction into historical fiction and has done so with a flair. Todd Ingram is the main character in most of Gobbell’ s novels and for those who have read the Todd Ingram series books, you know he is like an old friend you just don’t get to visit often enough.
John Gobbell knows what he writes about. He was a lieutenant on board the USS Tingey (DD-539), serving as Deck and ASW officer at different times.
Well, this time he has tied the historical fiction to historical fact, joining the destroyer world of Todd Ingram with the PT Boat world of a young LT John F, Kennedy. Telling both stories and joining them in one volume is a daunting task but Gobbell has done it masterfully.
This was one of the most difficult books to put down that I have read in recent years. So many great characters, each brought to life, whether real or fictional. Many of them are familiar to readers of the series and several of them are real people whose recorded actions blend in with the fictional lives in the heat and humidity of the South Pacific during the largest and most intense naval war in history.
Even if you haven’t read previous Todd Ingram books, this novel stands alone but many references will be lost. So start with The Last Lieutenant, Gobbell’ s first book. You will then want to read the others until, like me, you fidget in anticipation waiting for the next volume to appear.
Terry Miller
Former Executive Director
Tin Can Sailors,
National Association of Destroyer Veterans
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John Gobbell’ s rip-roaring tale of US Navy PT boats battling Imperial Japanese Navy forces in the Solomon Islands bursts with daring exploits by America’s Greatest Generation, including a young John F. Kennedy. Gobbell’ s World War II novels are second to none in portraying the bravery, sacrifices, and human frailties of ordinary men and women during the best years of their lives.
Editorial Director, McBooks Press
An imprint of Globe Pequot Press in the
Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group
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REVIEWS FOR SOMEWHERE IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC
“CRACKCRACK. The aerial bomb exploded…with a brilliant orange-yellow flash.”
The Imperial Japanese Navy Nakajima NK1C floatplane—nicknamed “Rufe”—appeared suddenly out of the nighttime sky over PT 72, surprising the American motor torpedo boat in the Solomon Sea.
It’s spring in 1943, and war rages in the Southwest Pacific, where the sun beats down “with a sizzling intensity.” Life is tenuous for the young officers and sailors in PT Squadron Two, operating from its Tulagi Island base across Iron Bottom Sound from Guadalcanal.
Aboard the 72-boat, Lieutenant (JG) Jack Kennedy, fresh from the United States, is about to command PT 109 in Ron 2 under Lieutenant-Commander Al Cluster.
Navy Lieutenant-Commander Todd Ingram, earlier recovered by PT 72— tagged Little Lulu by her crew— from a near-suicide mission on enemy-held Mondo Mondo Island, off New Georgia in The Slot, is bound for a well-deserved Stateside leave and a shiny new Silver Star.
John Gobbell’s rip-roaring tale of US Navy PT boats battling Imperial Japanese Navy forces in the Solomon Islands bursts with daring exploits by America’s Greatest Generation, including a young John F. Kennedy.
And as with Gobbell’s previous naval thrillers, there’s a mystery, with a shady, unsavory character called “Alvin Chartré”—or maybe “Richard Clausen of the FBI,” suggests Cluster—snooping around about Kennedy, threatening to scuttle his career.
Adding intrigue is Kennedy’s intimate relationship with Inga Arvad, the stunningly beautiful Danish national and journalist who “captivated Chancellor Adolf Hitler during a visit to Berlin, raising FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover’s consuming scrutiny.
The backstory to Somewhere in the South Pacific dates back to the author’s close relationship with the genuine Al Cluster, who commanded Ron 2, in which Kennedy skippered PT 109. Cluster spent hours with Gobbell, recounting his time in the Pacific, including his part in rescuing Kennedy and the PT 109 crew.
As a sidelight, on July 15, 1960, Kennedy crashed Gobbell’s wedding reception in a Pasadena hotel that happened to be his campaign headquarters soon after accepting the presidential nomination.
John Gobbell’s World War II novels are second to none in portraying the bravery, sacrifices, and human frailties of ordinary men and women during the best years of their lives.
George Jepson
QUARTERDECK | SPRING 2022
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CLICK TO SEE BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Brantingham, Hank, Fire and Ice, San Diego, California 1995
Cluster, Alvin P., Letters/ conversations with the Author: 1983-2004 .
Cluster, Tom, Letters to the Author: Letters/ conversations with the Author, 2021
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Potter, E. B. Nimitz. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, Annapolis Maryland, 1976.
———— Bull Halsey. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. 1985.
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______ Chart: Pacific Theater, 1943
______ Chart: Western Solomon Islands, 1943
______ Chart: Gizo Island Group, 1943
Radio / Signal Coding Nomenclature, 1940s
———— Phonetic Alphabet: World War II and Present
———— International Morse Code
Toland, John. The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire 1936——1945. New York: Random House, 1970.
Tregaskis, Richard, John F. Kennedy: War Hero; Forward by John F. Kennedy, New
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Wedding Registry, Website, www.johnjgobbell.com JFK John J. and Janine G.
Gobbell wedding, Pasadena, California
15 July 1960
White, W. L., They Were Expendable, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis Maryland,
1998. Original edition published by Harcourt Brace,1942
GALLERY
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