• Descent into Darkness

  • Pearl Harbor, 1941, A Navy Diver's Memoir
  • By: Edward C. Raymer
  • Narrated by: Peter Johnson
  • Length: 7 hrs and 24 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (281 ratings)

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Descent into Darkness  By  cover art

Descent into Darkness

By: Edward C. Raymer
Narrated by: Peter Johnson
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Publisher's summary

On December 7, 1941, as the great battleships Arizona, Oklahoma, and Utah lie paralyzed and burning in the aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. A crack team of U.S. Navy salvage divers headed by Edward C. Raymer are hurriedly flown to Oahu from the mainland. Their two-part orders are direct and straightforward: (1) rescue as many trapped sailors and Marines as possible, and (2) resurrect what remains of America's once mighty pacific fleet. Descent Into Darkness tells their story.

©1996 Edward C. Raymer (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Descent into Darkness

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Detailed Account

It’s amazing to listen to a true story of the accounts of divers during the war, specifically in Pearl Harbor and the Pacific. I would assume a lot of people have never thought or heard of these men and their dangerous tasks of raising battleships and repairing other vessels. The grim details of what the inside of these battleships looked like shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor stunned me. Next time I visit Pearl Harbor, these men in particular will be the first thing on my mind and all those that perished that tragic day.

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Very detailed story

Tue story telling and details Kept me engaged the whole time. I really appreciated the details and it took me on an emotional roller coaster.

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A story for Navy Divers

Being a Navy Diver for over 30 years, I can really appreciate the stories as told by Ed Raymer. I think to fully understand and enjoy this book, it really helps to have been a Mk V diver, and experience the challenge of the dive rig and working inside sunken ships and on hogging lines. Definitely not a literary masterpiece, but a great Navy story!

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great book for history buffs

easy to follow. lots of history. great book
the book may not be for the quemish people out there.
graphic , but the truth usually is.

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great story but dont like the narrator.

i prefer a narrator who inserts him/her self into the story and reads like the subject in telling the story.

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Always fantastic

I bought this book the first visit to Pearl harbor and have re-read it. Fascinating men.

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Flawless

Very well written and narrated, If I closed my eyes I felt like I was in some of these situations.

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Very interesting and an all round well written

This reads / listens like you are there. He has a very honest approach and there is no PC in it. He writes like he lived it. There is no super detailed description of how ships were raised but its from the author's perspective only and his role , with his friends, in the salvage operations.

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Observations of a Salvage Diver.

Anyone interested in military history will love this first person narrative of WWII. As a Navy trained salvage diver, some 40 years removed, there were passages that set my heart racing. Presented in a straight forward manor, without histrionics, it took me right back to Pearl Harbor and my time both in the Submarine Service and as a Navy Salvage Diver.

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  • 02-24-19

Amazing story

I'm a commercial welder/diver currently working on repairs to the USS Missouri right near the Arizona. I'm thoroughly amazed by what these men were able to accomplish in those conditions, with the technology of the period, and in such a short amount of time.

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2 people found this helpful