Knowing My Father: The Collision of the O. B. Jennings and War Knight

Knowing My Father: The Collision of the O. B. Jennings and War Knight relates Joe’s methodical search to know more about his long-lost father. In that search, Joe discovers the tragic story of the fiery collision of the US tanker O. B. Jennings and the British merchant ship War Knight during World War I as their convoy evaded German U-boats in the English Channel. A US Navy armed guard defending the O. B. Jennings, gunner’s mate Michael Tedeschi was heroically rescued by the British Royal Navy escorts from the burning sea. Joe satisfies his search to know his father better and, at the same time, reveals and exposes one of the unfortunate naval disasters that occurs in times of war. Knowing My Father serves as a companion to Joe Tedeschi’s memoir, A Rock in the Clouds.

Pages: 128
Pub Date: 09-16-2025
Softcover: 15.95 979-8-88824-819-5
Hardcover: 25.95 979-8-88824-821-8
Ebook: 9.99 979-8-88824-820-1

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The reviews are in…

“Joe Tedeschi has produced a great piece of work describing and highlighting the terrible events of March 24, 1918, when so many merchant seamen risked and lost their lives in a disastrous collision at sea during the Great War. In paying testament to his father, Joe has vividly exposed the price paid by these men, amid the survival of his own father in the catastrophe.”

Dave Wendes, owner of Wight Spirit Diving Charters and author of South Coast Shipwrecks off East Dorset & Wight 1870–1979
“In Knowing My Father, Joe Tedeschi gives us a multifaceted gift. First, he takes us on a poignant journey to meet and salute his long-deceased father. He also provides a painstakingly researched account of a naval tragedy set against the wider scope of a world war. He relates a compelling military story of sacrifice, courage, and heroism. He tells a touching family story of patriotism and resilience that helps us understand our country and the people who help to build it. For those who have read Joe’s previous book, A Rock in the Clouds, he gives another opportunity to admire an accomplished author’s intellectual curiosity, wisdom, and extraordinary humanity. Lastly, he invites us, as we write the final chapters of our own life stories, to reflect on the legacy we are leaving to others, both loved ones and strangers.”

Bill McCusker, founder and CEO of Fathers & Families, Inc.
“I found great interest in the recounting of the author’s detailed, painstaking research of news, records, and documents regarding his father’s personal and military life. This work is a labor of love that will capture the reader’s undivided attention from beginning to end!”

Brig. Gen. Ray Ong, Philippine Army, West Point class of 1963

Joe Tedeschi began his college education at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, before initiating his Army career at West Point, graduating in 1957. He earned his master of science degree from Iowa State University in 1963 during his service to fill roles in nuclear, biological, and chemical operations and materiel acquisition. Upon retiring from military service as an Army colonel, he worked fourteen years in the defense industry, developing a counter-battery radar for three European nations, and then entered the deaconate program in his Catholic diocese of Trenton, New Jersey, where he served for eighteen years, retiring in 2020. His first book recounts how his 1966 combat tour in Vietnam was cut short by a violent airplane crash, his near-death experience, and the fifty-five years of learning answers to the ultimate question, "Why am I (still) here?"

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