The Moon Destroyers

In Short

First published in Wonder Stories Quarterly in 1932, Monroe K. Ruch's The Moon Destroyers is a classic pulp science-fiction novella that merges disaster thriller tropes with space-faring adventure. When a massive earthquake destroys New York, scientists determine that the moon's gravitational pull will inevitably trigger world-ending planetary quakes. To save Earth, a team of researchers launches a expedition into space armed with a revolutionary matter-vaporizing chemical called hexoxen. Their mission to disintegrate the moon quickly turns perilous when they clash with a ruthless band of space pirates lurking in lunar crater caves. It endures as an energetic snapshot of early space-opera imagination.

The Story

The story opens high in the Himalayas at the International Seismographical Institute, where Professor Erickson and his brilliant young assistant, Jack Holden, witness their instruments record a catastrophic quake. The event obliterates New York City, killing millions. Erickson reveals his long-held theory to the World Union's Department of Public Safety: the earthquake has exposed deep fault lines across the globe, and the natural gravitational tides exerted by the moon will continuously trigger increasingly violent quakes until the planet is destroyed. The only logical solution is to obliterate the moon entirely.

Armed with Holden’s invention—hexoxen, a miraculous substance capable of vaporizing solid matter—and powered by anti-gravitational technology, the scientists prepare a fleet of three mammoth space freighters: the San Francisco, the Los Angeles, and the Ganymede. Accompanied by Captain Linet, a grieved airship officer whose wife died in the New York quake, Holden takes command of the flagship San Francisco.

Trouble begins before the fleet even breaks orbit. Holden survives a mysterious midnight strangulation attempt in his cabin, and mid-voyage sabotage disables their steering, forcing them through a dangerous meteorite shower. A traitor named Chambers is exposed and killed, but the true threat awaits them at their destination.

Upon landing on the moon's surface near the Crater of Aristotle to plant timed hexoxen charges, the expedition is ambushed by a hidden fleet of space pirates. These marauders, responsible for years of missing Earth-Mars shipping, pilot needle-shaped vessels and ram the San Francisco, damaging its engines. Trapped on the lunar surface, Holden sneaks into the pirates' base—a fortified cave constructed from the metal hulls of destroyed starships. There, he discovers survivors of a lost vessel, including his long-lost fiancée, Jean, whom he had believed dead for over a year.

With time running out and the pirates preparing to launch another attack, Holden coordinates a desperate assault. The crew rams the San Francisco directly into the pirate stronghold, breaching their air-lock and forcing a grueling, hand-to-hand fight with ray pistols across the freezing lunar cavern. Holden and his crew wipe out the pirates and rescue Jean and the other captives.

Using the space phone aboard the captured pirate ship, Holden contacts the Ganymede and the Los Angeles. The team redistributes the remaining hexoxen charges across the lunar landscape. As the timers expire, the scientists unleash anti-gravitational screens to push the disintegrating lunar matter away. Over eight days, the moon slowly vaporizes into thin clouds of gas that drift into outer space, leaving Earth permanently safe from quakes and space pirates alike, while Holden returns home a hero alongside Jean.

How It Unfolds

Disaster strikes Earth A massive seismic event obliterates New York City, prompting Professor Erickson to warn the World Union that lunar gravitational tides will soon trigger planetary destruction.

The plan takes shape Jack Holden presents his chemical discovery, hexoxen, as the key to vaporizing the moon, securing funding and three space freighters for the expedition.

Sabotage in transit En route to the moon, Holden survives an assassination attempt and mid-space sabotage that steers the San Francisco into a destructive meteorite field.

Ambush at Aristotle Crater While landing to set the explosive charges, the flagship is rammed and grounded by a sleek, needle-shaped vessel belonging to a gang of lunar space pirates.

Infiltrating the pirate den Holden discovers a hidden pirate cave made from scavenged ship hulls and unexpectedly rescues his long-lost fiancée, Jean, who is being held prisoner inside.

The battle of the cavern The expedition rams their damaged ship into the pirate hideout, sparking a deadly, close-quarters ray-gun battle across the cold lunar floor to eliminate the marauders.

Vaporizing the moon With the pirates defeated, the crew plants the remaining charges, broadcasting anti-gravitational rays that successfully dissolve the moon into space and secure Earth's future.

The People

• Jack Holden: A brilliant, muscular young scientist and inventor of hexoxen. Driven by a desire to save Earth and mourning the disappearance of his sweetheart, he assumes command of the lunar expedition. Through sabotage, ship battles, and hand-to-hand combat, he evolves from a laboratory researcher into a resilient action hero.
• Professor Erickson: The stoic, elderly head of the International Seismographical Institute. He spent decades researching planetary quakes and proposed the radical idea of destroying the moon. Though academically focused, he displays surprising physical grit and fury when confronted by space pirates.
• Captain Linet: A towering, prizefighter-built former airliner captain who joins the mission after losing his wife in the New York earthquake. He serves as Holden's steadfast executive officer, managing small arms, tactical defenses, and heavy combat with unwavering bravery.
• Jean: Holden’s missing fiancée, believed lost in space a year prior aboard the Gloriana. Captured by pirates and held in their lunar cave, she uses her wits and cobbled-together acoustic equipment to monitor her captors and assist Holden's rescue effort.

In Its Own Voice

"Observations recorded during five centuries since the first conception of the idea by Dr. Maxwell Allen in 1931, show conclusively that Earth-tides, set up by the attraction of the moon, cause a sweeping series of stresses and strains."

Professor Erickson explains to the World Union why the moon must be eliminated to prevent total planetary destruction.

"The dull red surface of the moon, the black walls of the crater, and the twinkling stars of outer space mingled in a fantastic whirl as Edwards skilfully kept the San Francisco out of the enemy's reach..."

The flagship maneuvered frantically to dodge a needle-shaped pirate vessel attempting to ram them above the lunar surface.

"With the three ships playing their deadly beams on the moon, Holden watched the immense craters, the towering mountains, and the desolate plains of the moon slowly vaporize."

Holden observes the final destruction of the satellite as hexoxen dissolves the lunar terrain into cosmic gas.

What It's Really About

Beneath its action-heavy pulp framework, The Moon Destroyers explores humanity's ultimate assertion of control over natural law. The narrative presents nature not as a sacred balance to be preserved, but as an impersonal mechanical system whose flaws can and should be engineered out of existence. The moon—historically a symbol of romantic wonder—is reframed as an absolute geological menace. The story raises early techno-optimist questions: How far should humanity go to protect itself from cosmic vulnerability? Is the complete annihilation of a celestial body justified if it ensures human survival? It also touches on themes of lawlessness at the fringes of human expansion, suggesting that as mankind ventures outward, old vices like piracy will simply find new frontiers in the void of space.

Why Read It Today

The Moon Destroyers is a fast-paced, unpretentious slice of 1930s science-fiction history. Readers who enjoy retro-futurism will delight in its period visions of space travel, where atomic-era concepts coexist with punchy ray pistols, codebooks, and vacuum-tube communications. Monroe K. Ruch writes with an urgent, visual pace that captures the sheer fun of early magazine space opera.

The story does carry the typical hallmarks of its era that modern readers must navigate. The science is delightfully soft and antiquated: space suits are donned casually, chemical reactions instantly vaporize entire astronomical bodies into harmless gas, and space travel relies on speculative elements like "Europium caps" and "anti-gravitational shields." The dialogue leans toward melodrama, and character motivations are simple and direct. However, these period quirks are part of the book's charming appeal. It reads quickly, offering a nostalgic look back at a time when science fiction approached cosmic engineering with limitless, bold optimism and plain-spoken adventure.