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 World War IIby McCombs, Don - Fred L. Worth - Donald McCombs4,139 Strange and Fascinating Facts 1994, Outlet ISBN 0517422867 Hardcover, 672 pages This is an interesting collection of facts and strange things from the war. Purchase information: (info) |
Get World War II now at Errata list
Please note: This listing may, or may not be complete.
We normally do not flip through a certain book cover to cover looking for mistakes.
| Page | Mistake | Correction |
| 0 | Field Marshall | The correct spelling is Field Marshal |
| 3 | Entry: "Acasta"; "While attempting to protect British carrier HMS Glorious in June 1943..." | This action occurred in June 1940. |
| 7 | Entry: "aircraft carrier"; "CVL small aircraft carrier" | Proper terminology is Light Aircraft Carrier (see p. 540, Ship Designators). |
| 21 | Entry: "Ark Royal"; Entry notes Bismarck is a "pocket battleship." | She was of course a battleship. |
| 32 | Entry: "Auxiliary Cruisers"; British listing omits Rawalpindi. | Add Rawalpindi to listing, sunk by Scharnhorst. |
| 33 | Entry: "Awa Maru"; Incorrect date of sinking: March 28, 1945. | Correct date was April 1, 1945. |
| 43 | Entry: "Batfish, USS"; Incorrect fact: "RO-115" is wrong Japanese sub sunk. | Correct to "RO-55". |
| 77 | Entry: "Brinkmann"; Brinkmann entry states "…British cruiser HMS Hood…". | The Hood was a Battlecruiser, not a cruiser. |
| 98 | Chamberlain, Sir Neville... | Correct to Chamberlain, Neville - Chamberlain was never knighted |
| 117 | Entry: "Columbus"; German liner, it was trailed by the USS Tuscaloosa, which broadcast its location in the clear. | Columbus was scuttled, but was never intercepted by a British warship. |
| 123 | Entry: "Courageous"; Was not the second ship sunk. See your entry for "Bosnia". | Correct entry by deleting notation that it was second ship sunk. |
| 142 | Entry: "Detroit, USS"; "US Navy heavy cruiser…" | Correct to light cruiser. |
| 147 | Entry: "Disasters of the US Navy"; No listing for the USS Arizona (sunk at Pearl Harbor). By this list it should be in first place with 1178 dead. | Add the Arizona to the list, and adjust other entries accordingly. |
| 152 | Entry: "Dorsetshire"; Entry notes Bismarck is a "pocket battleship." | Correct to "battleship". |
| 152 | Entry: "Dorsetshire"; She was sunk on April 5, 1942, not "later in 1941." | Correct to "…in 1942". |
| 158 | Entry: "Dunkirk"; Dunkirk notes 1,200 allied naval and civilian craft were used. However, Operation Dynamo (p. 424) entry cites use of 860. WW2 Almanac cites 861, Encyclopedia… cites "nearly 900." | Correct entry to "nearly 900." |
| 167 | Entry: "England, USS"; The list of subs sunk is I-16, RO-116, RO-104, RO-116, RO-104, and RO-108. That is, RO-116 and RO-104 are repeated. | Correct to: I-16, RO-116, RO-104, RO-106, RO-105, and RO-108 |
| 169 | Entry: "Esmond, Eugene"; Bismarck is noted as "pocket battleship." | Correct to "battleship". |
| 191 | Entry: "Fluckey, Eugene"; Incorrect date: Notes sinking of the Unyo in Nov. 1944. | Unyo was sunk on Sept. 16, 1944. |
| 195 | Entry: "Force Z"; Erroneously refers to the Prince of Wales and Repulse as “…both battleships.” | Correct would be either "…both capital ships." or some other wording, as the Repulse was a Battlecruiser. |
| 242 | Entry: "Iaruna"; Typo: Iaruna is supposed to be Haruna. | Correct to Haruna. |
| 264 | Entry: "Holland, Sir Lancelot" Battleship Bismarck is referred to as a “pocket battleship”. | Correct to “battleship”. |
| 264 | Entry: "Holland, Sir Lancelot"; Incorrect date: "Holland went down with the Hood on May 24, 1940…" | Hood sank on May 24, 1941. |
| 270 | Entry: "HS 293"; HS 293 is listed as the weapon that sank the Roma. Entry for "Roma" cites the FX 1400 as the weapon, as does the WW2 Encyclopedia. | Correct is "FX 1400." |
| 280 | Entry: "Iowa"; Iowa entry mistakenly lists the Tirpitz as a "pocket battleship." | Correct to "Battleship". |
| 305 | Entry: "Kerr, Ralph"; Incorrect date: Sinking of the HMS Hood - 1940 vice 1941. | Correct date is 1941. |
| 308 | Entry: "Kinashi, Takaichi"; "…top-scoring commander…" Unclear that he was a submarine commander. | Better would be "top scoring Japanese submarine commander…" |
| 308 | Kinashi, Takaichi | Real name was Kinashi Takakazu |
| 312 | Entry: "Knox, Alfred"; Knox entry mistakenly lists the Bismarck as a "pocket battleship." | Correct to "Battleship". |
| 324 | Entry: "Lansdowne, USS"; Incorrect date: Japanese surrender date noted as Sept 2, 1915!. | Correct date is of course "1945." |
| 360 | Entry: "Mason, Donald Francis"; Incorrect fact: notes his famous patrol as March 1942. | Correct to “January 1942”. |
| 368 | Entry: "Merchant Marine"; "It suffered the most casualties… of any of the US armed forces…" Merchant Marine is not, and was not, an armed force. | Correct to "It suffered more casualties … compared to any of the US armed forces…" |
| 369 | Entry: "Mers-el-Kebir"; Wrong month listed (June). | Correct to "July 1940". |
| 381 | Entry: "Monterrey" [sic]; Correctly identified as a Light carrier, but ship designation (CV) is wrong. | Correct to "Monterey, USS (CVL-26)". |
| 401 | Entry: "Nimitz, Chester"; Misleading fact: "US Navy rear admiral…" Nimitz was made a Fleet Admiral shortly after Pearl Harbor, so misleading to note him as a Rear Admiral. | Recommend the more generic "US Navy Admiral…". |
| 408 | Entry: "Nurnberg"; Incorrect: "It was the only major ship of the German navy still afloat at the end of the war." | The Prinz Eugen survived, was taken by the US Navy, and used in atomic bomb test. The Leipzig went to the British who sank it with a load of poison gas after the war. Correct to read "…one of only three major ships…" |
| 422 | Entry: "Op. Cerberus"; Prince Eugen listed as battlecruiser. | Correct to "cruiser". |
| 432 | Entry: "Op. Juno"; Hipper listed as battlecruiser. | Correct to "cruiser". |
| 436 | Entry: "Op. Neptune"; Incorrect fact: "Planned allied capture of … Cherbourg" | Neptune was the naval portion of Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy. |
| 437 | Entry: "Op. Pedestal"; "… of fourteen transports, only four got through." Actually five of the merchant ships (transports refers to the transporting of troops) got through. | Correct to read "… of fourteen merchant ships, only five got through." |
| 441 | Entry: "Op. Thunderbolt"; Prince Eugen listed as battlecruiser. | She was a cruiser. |
| 458 | Entry: "Pearl Harbor Battleships"; Incorrect fact: "…at battleship row…". | Pennsylvania was in drydock, not on Battleship Row. Utah was on opposite side of Ford Island from Battleship Row. |
| 466 | Entry: "Pinquin [sic]"; Typo: Pinquin, in both title and text. | Correct both to Pinguin. |
| 474 | Entry: "PQ-17"; Mistakenly lists the Tirpitz as a "pocket battleship." | Correct to "Battleship". |
| 476 | Entry: "Pres. Harrison"; Incorrect date: 12 Sept. | This ship was sunk on September 11, not 12. |
| 483 | Entry: "Queen Elizabeth, HMS"; Incorrect date of attack given (1940). | Correct to "1941." |
| 496 | Entry: "Repulse, HMS"; "British Navy cruiser…". | Repulse was a Battlecruiser. |
| 512 | Entry: "Royal Oak"; This was not the first major loss of the Royal Navy, as the Courageous was sunk on Sept 17, 1939. | Delete reference to first major loss, or change to “first battleship lost”. |
| 512 | Entry: "Royal Oak"; Notes 810 sailors killed, while WWII Almanac and Encyclopedia… both cite 833. | Correct number killed to "833." |
| 519 | Entry: "St. Louis, USS [sic]"; USS is a navy term (United States Ship). Civilian ships are typically SS (Steam Ship). | Correct to "SS." |
| 519 | Entry: "St. Louis, USS [sic]"; Poor writing. "…Hamburg, Germany to Havana, Cuba…only to have the US deny the Jews entry." | This should be better worded. The passengers left Germany with invalid Cuban visas, and sailed to Cuba, which refused them entry. They then tried the US, were refused entry, and then Canada, which also refused entry. To isolate US for scorn is unfair and incorrect. |
| 527 | Entry: "Schleswig-Holstein"; "German cruiser…". | She was an old battleship, not a cruiser. |
| 540 | Entry: "Ship 41"; Typo in name: "Kormann". | Correct to “Kormoran.” |
| 541 | Entry: "Shokaku"; "Shokaku’s sister carrier, the Taiho…" Taiho was not the sister ship of Shokaku. | Better would be "The Taiho, another Japanese carrier…" |
| 565 | Entry: "Submarine Prefixes"; "S-United States" S was the prefix for older subs, but SS (Ship, Submersible) was used for the more modern boats. See entry "Ship Designators" (p. 540). | Add "SS-United States" to this entry. |
| 566 | Entry: "Sub shellings of US West Coast"; Vancouver, BC is not on the US West Coast. | Revise Heading to read "Sub shellings of West Coast". |
| 572 | Entry: "Two Pounds"; Incorrect date: "…Bismarck on May 26, 1940." | Correct date was "1941." |
| 575 | Entry: "Tang, USS"; "nine crew members survived.." | Encyclopedia… notes that nine men survived. |
| 599 | Entry: "U-29"; Typo: "Lt. Shuhart". | Correct is "Lt. Schuhart". |
| 600 | Entry: "U-47"; Royal Oak was sunk (not Royal Ark) on Oct 14, 1939 (vice Oct 13). | Correct to “Royal Oak” and “Oct 14.” |
| 600 | Entry: "U-73"; Incorrect date: "…in August 1941". | HMS Eagle was sunk on August 11, 1942. |
| 600 | Entry: "U-110"; Incorrect date: May 9, 1940. | Correct to "May 9, 1941". |
| 616 | Entry: "Vian, Sir Philip"; "…board the German ship Altmark and rescue over 300 British POWs." | Correct is "…299 British merchant seamen." |
| 630 | Entry: "Wasp, USS"; Incorrect battle reference: "During the Battle of the Coral Sea, September 15, 1942…". | Wasp was torpedoed, but not in the Battle of the Coral Sea (May 1942, by the way). |
| 630 | Entry: "Wasp, USS"; Incorrect name (typo): “Landowne". | Correct is "Lansdowne". |
| 639 | Entry: "Wilhelm Gustoff [sic]"; Incorrect name. | Correct to "Wilhelm Gustloff". |
| 648 | Entry: "X-6 X-7 X-Craft" Entries list the attack on Tirpitz as September 11, 1943. The attacks occurred on Sept 22, according to references. | Correct to “September 22, 1943” |
| 650 | Entry: "Yagodnik"; States "…to bomb…Tirpitz in the last days of the war." | This is misleading, as it causes one to think this occurred in April-May '45, vice Nov '44. |
| 656 | Entry: "Z209"; Bismarck noted as a "pocket battleship". | Correct to "Battleship". |
| 656 | Entry: "Zacharias, Ellis"; "…cruiser Salt Lake City, which delivered aircraft to Wake…". She most certainly did not, but task group she was in did (USS Enterprise?). | Correct would be "…cruiser Salt Lake City, which was part of Task Group that delivered aircraft to Wake…". |
| 659 | Entry: "Zuikako [sic]"; Typo: should be Zuikaku. | Correct to Zuikaku. |
71 errata entries located for title World War II.