Having gained worldwide fame from his undersea explorations of both the Titanic and the Bismark, Robert Ballard and his team from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute journeyed in 1992 to the Solomon Islands to explore the ruins of the ships that went down in ''Ironbottom Sound'' a half century ago. Here on the Seelark Channel, American and Japanese naval forces fought seven epic sea duels that helped to determine the outcome of the pivotal Battle of Guadalcanal and the Pacific war.
Utilizing the three-man submarine Sea Cliff and the photo-and-video submersible Scorpio and aided by historian Robert Frank, naval experts and survivors of the naval battles. Ballard and his crew managed to locate and examine 17 of the nearly 50 ships that went down in the Sound in 1942-43. But this coffeetable-styled book is not merely a recounting of their exploration replete with beautiful photographs of their discoveries. The photos are, indeed, stunning, but the book is much more than just a picture book.
Each section of ''The Lost Ships'' starts out with a description of the particular battle being discussed, complete with photographs, paintings and personal accounts by the surviving participants. Then, after the reader is thoroughly familiar with the battle, e.g., the Battle of Savo Island, the greatest defeat in American naval history, Ballard takes him beneath the waters of Ironbottom Sound to view the ships that went down as they appear today. He thus combines effective historical narrative with remarkable then-and-now photography to produce a stunning recreation of one of the most crucial engagements of World War II.
Perhaps the most impressive work of art in the volume comes near the end where there is reproduced a two-page, colored artistic rendering of Ironbottom Sound the surrounding islands of Guadalcanal, Savo Island and Tulagi with the location of 12 of the sunken vessels clearly shown. This drawing, as well as Ballard's final commentary on the epic naval battles and the men who fought the makes a fitting conclusion to an outstanding and colorful volume.
Naval and military history buffs and enthusiasts of underwater archaeology and photography will surely find ''The Lost Ships of Guadalcanal'' a rewarding investment. And they will await the story of Ballard's next project, the exploration of the Lusitania off the Irish coast.
Morris is professor of history at Christopher Newport University.
THE LOST SHIPS OF GUADALCANAL
Exploring the Ghost Fleet of The South Pacific
By Robert D. Ballard
with Rick Archbold
Illustrations. 227 pages. $39.95