By: Bradley Peniston
Hardcover Edition
Autographed by Author

"Mesmerizing...riveting...should be required reading for those who choose a career in the small-ship navy." — Adm. (ret.) William J. Crowe Jr., former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

In 1988, the captain and crew of the USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58) sailed a Gulf aflame, escorting tankers in Operation Earnest Will, the largest convoy operation since World War II. Forbidden to fire unless fired upon, they relied on wit and nerve to face down fighter jets and warships. The Roberts' sternest test arrived on 14 April 1988, when an Iranian mine ripped open its engineroom, ignited fires on four decks, and plunged the ship into darkness. With seawater rising around their boots, the crew fought flames and flooding into the night.

The ship's tale of bravery and cool competence has become part of Navy lore and a staple of naval leadership courses. No U.S. warship since the Korean War has come closer to sinking in hostile action. The mining provoked Operation Praying Mantis, the biggest surface-ship battle in decades; helped end the Iran-Iraq War; and set the stage for conflicts to come.


Bradley Peniston is managing editor of Defense News, the weekly newspaper of defense policy and procurement, and a former reporter for Navy Times. He has covered the U.S. military in more than a dozen countries and spent time aboard more than 50 warships. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Naval Institute Proceedings, and elsewhere. He holds a B.A. in Soviet and Eastern European Studies from Yale University.

No Higher Honor: Saving the USS Samuel B. Roberts in the Persian Gulf (Naval Institute Press, 2006) is Peniston's second book. His first, Around the World with the U.S. Navy(Naval Institute Press, 1999), presented an on-the-scene look at the sea service at the end of the 20th century, describing its people, ships, and aircraft as they grappled with new demands from Iceland to Chile to Iraq.

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