The Silent Service in World War II: The Story of the U.S. Navy Submarine Force in the Words of the Men Who Lived It
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The Silent Service in World War II: The Story of the U.S. Navy Submarine Force in the Words of the Men Who Lived It
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, the U.S. Navy had a total of 111 submarines. However, this fleet was not nearly as impressive as the number suggests. It was mostly a collection of aging boats from the late teens and early twenties, with only a few of the newer, more modern Gato-class boats. Fortunately, with the war in Europe was already two years old and friction with Japan ever-increasing, help from what would become known as the Silent Service in the Pacific was on the way: there were 73 of the new fleet submarines under construction.
The Silent Service in World War II tells the story of America’s intrepid underwater warriors in the words of the men who lived the war in the Pacific against Japan. The enemy had already begun to deploy advanced boats, but the U.S. was soon able to match them. By 1943 the new Gato-class boats were making a difference, carrying the war not just to the Japanese Imperial Navy, but to the vital merchant fleet that carried the vast array of materiel needed to keep the land of the Rising Sun afloat.
As the war progressed, American success in the Solomons, starting with Guadalcanal, began to constrict the Japanese sea lanes, and operating singly or in wolfpacks they were able to press their attacks on convoys operating beyond the range of our airpower, making daring forays even into the home waters of Japan itself in the quest for ever more elusive targets. Also taking on Japanese warships, as well as rescuing downed airmen (such as the grateful first President Bush), U.S. submarines made an enormous contribution to our war against Japan.
This book takes you through the war as you learn what it was like to serve on submarines in combat, the exhilaration of a successful attack, and the terror of being depth-charged. And aside from enemy action, the sea itself could prove to be an extremely hostile environment as many of these stories attest. From early war patrols in obsolescent, unreliable S-boats to new, modern fleet submarines roving the Pacific, the forty-six stories in this anthology give you a full understanding of what it was like to be a U.S. Navy submariner in combat.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments Glossary Introduction Hollywood and American Submarines
PART ONE: PREWAR AND EARLY WAR STORIES (1941–1942) 1: Submarine School • BY CORNELIUS R. BARTHOLOMEW 2: Sea Dragon’s Prop Wash • BY J. KILLIN 3: A Vanishing Day-dream • BY CORNELIUS R. BARTHOLOMEW 4: Operational Readiness on December 7, 1941 • BY FRANK E. PERRY 5: Rest and Recreation • BY FRANK KIMBALL 6: The First and Only Patrol of S-27 (SS-132 ) • BY GEORGE J. HEROLD 7: S-37’s Voyage Home • BY ROBERT B. LANDER 8: Bob Rose and Sargo’s Australian Welcome • BY DOUG RHYMES 9: Escape by Submarine • BY LUCY I. WILSON 10: The Doubtful Tale of the S-36 • BY ALFRED SIMS 11: Rivets in the O-2 • BY STANLEY LAMBKIN 12: Aground on a Reef • BY FRANK BOWMAN
PART TWO: MID-WAR STORIES (1943) 13: Pompon Evades Torpedoes • BY CHARLES FOSKETT 14: Gun Boss Pay • BY EDWARD CRAWFOOT 15: Loss of the USS Grenadier (SS-210) • BY ROBERT W. PALMER 16: Midway, Our Refuge of 1943 • BY JACK QUADE 17: Loose Torpedo at Pearl Harbor • BY JAMES H. ALLEN 18: Second Patrol of the USS Bluefish (SS-222) • BY EDWIN J. SHEPHERD JR. 19: S-48, My First Boat • BY CHURCHILL “JIM†CAMPBELL 20: The Ryuho’s Last Stand • BY JOHN M. GOOD
PART THREE: LATE WAR STORIES (1944–1945) 21: Submarine on the Loose • BY WILLIAM DREHER 22: USS Ray’s Great Conning Tower Flood • BY HAL MOYER 23: Ambush on Borneo • BY KEN HARRINGTON 24: Pogy’s Stowaway • BY W. E. BATTENFIELD 25: The Battle of the Philippine Sea • BY ERNEST J. ZELLMER 26: Penny Picked Me • BY BILL GLEASON 27: Story of the USS Flier Second Patrol and Its Survivors • BY ALVIN E. JACOBSON 28: Left on the Bridge • BY JOHN PAUL JONES 29: Dying of the Emperor on Palau • BY NORMAN R. DIREY 30: Picking Up the Left-overs off Palauig Point • BY R.C. GILLETTE 31: A Total Loss • BY FARRELL STEARNS 32: The Sape Strait Shooting Incident of November, 1944 •BY H. E. MILLER 33: From the Perspective of an Aviator • BY C. B. SMITH 34: A Submarine Home • BY MYRON ALEXANDER 35: My First War Patrol • BY JOSEPH CORNEAU 36: Bucket Brigade • BY HANK “NATE†HENDERSON 37: Three Submarines in Three Days • BY HUGHSTON F. LOWDER 38: Bing is Missing • BY BILL GLEASON 39: Absence Without Leave, March 1945 • BY JOE O’ROURKE 40: From Kamikaze Attack to Typhoon • BY K. F. WELTY 41: The Sinking of Hatsutaka • BY WORTH SCANLAND 42: The Man Who Never Made a Mistake • BY JACK BLUMEBERG 43: Gabilan’s Aviator • BY ROBERT TALBOT 44: The Capture of I-401 • BY ALEX LEITCH 45: From Perch to Prisoner • BY B. R. VAN BUSKIRK 46: The S-40 Leaves the Atomic Age • BY GEORGE STANNARD
