It's 1943 and the U.S. Navy is caught in a fierce battle against the Japanese in the South Pacific. At stake is the Allies' newly won Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. But Isoroku Yamamoto, admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet and architect of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, desperately wants Guadalcanal back. Calling it Operation I, Yamamoto throws everything into the foray, scraping together top-line dive bombers and torpedo planes from all over the Pacific to carry out a series of Pearl Harbor-sized raids in the Solomons.
In response, the Allies introduce the proximity fuse to the fleet – a top-secret antiaircraft detonator that can greatly assist the U.S. Navy in their desperate fight against Japanese dive bombers and torpedo planes. However, in the heat of battle, Commander Jerry Landa refuses to use the fuse – and pays the price as his destroyer, the USS Howell, is torn in half by Japanese "Val" dive bombers. Lieutenant Commander Todd Ingram confronts Landa, questioning his authority as the once-close friends become enemies in the midst of battle.
As Ingram and Landa fight to survive Operation I, Yamamoto personally directs the air raids from Rabaul that will return him to the glory of December 7, 1941, raids that will facilitate the recapture of Guadalcanal and will cripple the U.S. Navy forever.
Filled with epic battles, romance, and the brutality of war, When Duty Whispers Low is a tale that will transport the reader to the South Pacific during World War II with a story as vibrant and stunning as anything Gobbell has ever written.