The Ghosts of Genteng

About the Book

THE GHOSTS OF GENTENG is set in revolt-torn Indonesia about six months after the end of World War II. A number of U.S. Navy Auxiliary Ships were still plying the backwaters of the Southwestern Pacific and the Indonesian archipelago on various mopping-up operations. For the officers and men of these ships the thrill and terror of combat operations had given way to monotonous, unpopular and seemingly endless tasks. Morale plummeted. The vast majority wanted desperately to go home and get on with their lives. Others, whose lives had been overturned by the vagaries of war and other gutwrenching experiences, were at loose ends and susceptible to schemes they ordinarily would have dismissed out of hand. A number of officers and men in the latter category had gravitated to the fictional ship USS Zennon (AKA-201), and the scheme involved--- mutiny.

About the Author

Commander Richard H.Tibbets, USN (Ret.) graduated from the New York State Merchant Marine Academy in 1940. Commissioned as an Ensign, USNR, in 1941, he spent World War II with the amphibious forces in the Pacific. He participated in the invasions of Guadalcanal and Bougainville and saw action against kamikaze aircraft off Okinawa. He transferred to the Regular Navy in 1946. Post WW II sea assignments included Command of the USS Jeffers (DMS-27), USS Ingersoll (DD-652) and USS Enoree (TAO-69). He retired voluntarily in 1964. Joining Tracor, Inc. the same year, he was assigned to management positions in connection with the installation and testing of new sonar systems in destroyers and submarines. He retired from Tracor in 1988 having completed a 48year maritime career. The U.S. Naval Institute Press has published two of his non-fiction articles. They are: “The Reservist and the Rust Bucket” in the U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, August 1985 and, “Only Her Crew Kept Her Afloat” in Naval History, May/June 1996. Enclosure (2)