Raymer\'s World War II memoirs throws light on a dark side of Pearl Harbor andthe Pacific war--the salvage efforts on sunken and damaged ships.
After Pearl Harbor they moved on to other crucial salvage work off Guadalcanal and the sites of other great sea battles..
Among their credits, Raymer\'s crew raised the sunken battleships West Virginia, Nevada, and California.
Though many of these divers were killed or seriously injured during the wartime salvage operations, on the whole they had great success performing what seemed to be impossible jobs.
The divers learned how to cope with such unseen dangers as falling objects, sharks, the eerie presence of floating human bodies, and the constant threat of Japanese attacks from above.
By memorizing the ships\' blueprints and using their sense of touch, the divers groped their way hundreds of feet inside the sunken vessels to make repairs and salvage vital war material.
Once Raymer and his crew of divers entered the interiors of the sunken shipwrecks--attempting untested and potentially deadly diving techniques--they experienced a world of total blackness, unable to see even the faceplates of their helmets.
Descent Into Darkness is the only book available that describes the raising and salvage operations of sunken battleships following the December 7th attack.
Raymer, USN (Ret.), tells the whole story of the desperate attempts to save crewmembers caught inside their sinking ships.
Edward C.
Now for the first time, the chief diver of the Pearl Harbor salvage operations, Cmdr.
The divers have been given a Herculean task: rescue the sailors and Marines trapped below, and resurrect the pride of the Pacific fleet.
Raymer are hurriedly flown to Oahu from the mainland.
Navy salvage divers headed by Edward C.
On December 7, 1941, as the great battleships Arizona, Oklahoma, and Utah lie paralyzed and burning in the aftermath of the Japanese ttack on Pearl Harbor, a crack team of U.
S. 21 photos.
Navyat the time of its greatest trial.
Raymer paystribute to fallen comrades--diving was nearly as dangerous as combat--to goodand bad superiors and divers, and to the technical ingenuity of the U.
S.
Raymer\'s World War II memoirs throws light on a dark side of Pearl Harbor andthe Pacific war--the salvage efforts on sunken and damaged ships
