Murder on Pratas Reef

In July, 1965, before dawn in the South China Sea, the USS Frank Knox has run aground on a reef. The officers and crew must work together to find a way to free the ship, but just as they thought matters could not be any worse, a body is discovered after the grounding. Much worse, it was not accidental, but a murder! An enormous task force of U.S. Navy ships converges on Pratas Reef, and the personalities of men aboard the stricken ship and the ships of the task force shape the events surrounding the immense salvage operation. The burgeoning Vietnam conflict, the civil rights movement, and the Watts riots in Los Angeles affect the men and their morale as they attempt the impossible feat. Finalist in 2007 Nation al Best Books award for historical fiction..