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Author: Craig R. McDonald
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476609691
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 337
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Book Description
Submarines were responsible for about 55 percent of the tonnage of the Japanese fleets sunk during World War II. The 22 percent casualty rate of U.S. submariners was the highest of the military services. This volume traces the career of the submarine the USS Puffer from the laying of her keel and her commissioning on April 27, 1943, until her departure for the scrap yard in late 1960. Compiled from interviews with former crew members, including the author's father, Donald B. McDonald, as well as other contemporary sources, it follows the crew of the Puffer through nine war patrols. Events recollected include the First War Patrol, which resulted in a record-setting 38 hour submergence because of enemy fire; the dangerous transfer of torpedoes while surfaced in enemy waters; and the wild bombardment of Japanese shore installations with the 5-inch deck gun. There are numerous wartime photographs and appendices providing a list of awards earned by the crew and a summary of claimed successful attacks. Brief biographies of the seven commissioned officers are also included.
Author: Craig R. McDonald
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476609691
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 337
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Book Description
Submarines were responsible for about 55 percent of the tonnage of the Japanese fleets sunk during World War II. The 22 percent casualty rate of U.S. submariners was the highest of the military services. This volume traces the career of the submarine the USS Puffer from the laying of her keel and her commissioning on April 27, 1943, until her departure for the scrap yard in late 1960. Compiled from interviews with former crew members, including the author's father, Donald B. McDonald, as well as other contemporary sources, it follows the crew of the Puffer through nine war patrols. Events recollected include the First War Patrol, which resulted in a record-setting 38 hour submergence because of enemy fire; the dangerous transfer of torpedoes while surfaced in enemy waters; and the wild bombardment of Japanese shore installations with the 5-inch deck gun. There are numerous wartime photographs and appendices providing a list of awards earned by the crew and a summary of claimed successful attacks. Brief biographies of the seven commissioned officers are also included.
Author: Michael Sturma
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813129990
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 281
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Book Description
World War II submariners rarely experienced anything as exhilarating or horrifying as the surface gun attack. Between the ocean floor and the rolling whitecaps above, submarines patrolled a dark abyss in a fusion of silence, shadows, and steel, firing around eleven thousand torpedoes, sinking Japanese men-of-war and more than one thousand merchant ships. But the anonymity and simplicity of the stealthy torpedo attack hid the savagery of warfare—a stark difference from the brutality of the surface gun maneuver. As the submarine shot through the surface of the water, confined sailors scrambled through the hatches armed with large-caliber guns and met the enemy face-to-face. Surface and Destroy: The Submarine Gun War in the Pacific reveals the nature of submarine warfare in the Pacific Ocean during World War II and investigates the challenges of facing the enemy on the surface. The surface battle amplified the realities of war, bringing submariners into close contact with survivors and potential prisoners of war. As Japan's larger ships disappeared from the Pacific theater, American submarines turned their attention to smaller craft such as patrol boats, schooners, sampans, and junks. Some officers refused to attack enemy vessels of questionable value, while others attacked reluctantly and tried to minimize casualties. Michael Sturma focuses on the submariners' reactions and attitudes toward their victims, exploring the sailors' personal standards of morality and their ability to wage total war. Surface and Destroy is a thorough analysis of the submariner experience and the effects of surface attacks on the war in the Pacific, offering a compelling study of the battles that became "intolerably personal."
Author: Don Keith
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101118598
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 314
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Book Description
During World War II, the U.S. Navy's submarine service suffered the highest casualty percentage of all the American armed forces, losing one in five submariners. But despite the odds, these underwater warriors accounted for almost 60 percent of Japanese shipping losses, and were a major factor in winning the war. 16 U.S. submarines - and one German U-Boat - that saw action during WWII are now open to the public. Most have been restored and authentically equipped. Final Patrol takes a fascinating look at these subs and the personal stories of the brave sailors who lived, fought, and often died in them. Now, visitors can climb into these cramped steel cylinders, peer through their torpedo tubes, and imagine diving under the sea - perhaps for the last time - to stalk a fanatical enemy who threatened our nation's freedom.
Author: Michael Sturma
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813172896
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 233
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Book Description
The fate of the USS Flier is one of the most astonishing stories of the Second World War. On August 13, 1944, the submarine struck a mine and sank to the bottom of the Sulu Sea in less than one minute, leaving only fourteen of its crew of eighty-six hands alive. After enduring eighteen hours in the water, eight remaining survivors swam to a remote island controlled by the Japanese. Deep behind enemy lines and without food or drinking water, the crewmen realized that their struggle for survival had just begun. On its first war patrol, the unlucky Flier made it from Pearl Harbor to Midway where it ran aground on a reef. After extensive repairs and a formal military inquiry, the Flier set out once again, this time completing a distinguished patrol from Pearl Harbor to Fremantle, Western Australia. Though the Flier's next mission would be its final one, that mission is important for several reasons: the story of the Flier's sinking illuminates the nature of World War II underwater warfare and naval protocol and demonstrates the high degree of cooperation that existed among submariners, coast watchers, and guerrillas in the Philippines. The eight sailors who survived the disaster became the first Americans of the Pacific war to escape from a sunken submarine and return safely to the United States. Their story of persistence and survival has all the elements of a classic World War II tale: sudden disaster, physical deprivation, a ruthless enemy, and a dramatic escape from behind enemy lines. In The USS Flier: Death and Survival on a World War II Submarine, noted historian Michael Sturma vividly recounts a harrowing story of brave men who lived to return to the service of their country.
Author: Eugene B. Fluckey
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 0252097440
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 466
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Book Description
The thunderous roar of exploding depth charges was a familiar and comforting sound to the crew members of the USS Barb, who frequently found themselves somewhere between enemy fire and Davy Jones's locker. Under the leadership of her fearless skipper, Captain Gene Fluckey, the Barb sank the greatest tonnage of any American sub in World War II. At the same time, the Barb did far more than merely sink ships-she changed forever the way submarines stalk and kill their prey. This is a gripping adventure chock-full of "you-are-there" moments. Fluckey has drawn on logs, reports, letters, interviews, and a recently discovered illegal diary kept by one of his torpedomen. And in a fascinating twist, he uses archival documents from the Japanese Navy to give its version of events. The unique story of the Barb begins with its men, who had the confidence to become unbeatable. Each team helped develop innovative ideas, new tactics, and new strategies. All strove for personal excellence, and success became contagious. Instead of lying in wait under the waves, the USS Barb pursued enemy ships on the surface, attacking in the swift and precise style of torpedo boats. She was the first sub to use rocket missiles and to creep up on enemy convoys at night, joining the flank escort line from astern, darting in and out as she sank ships up the column. Surface-cruising, diving only to escape, "Luckey Fluckey" relentlessly patrolled the Pacific, driving his boat and crew to their limits. There can be no greater contrast to modern warfare's long-distance, videogame style of battle than the exploits of the captain and crew of the USS Barb, where they sub, out of ammunition, actually rammed an enemy ship until it sank. Thunder Below! is a first-rate, true-life, inspirational story of the courage and heroism of ordinary men under fire. A Main Selection of the Military Book Club. Winner of the Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature given by the Naval Order of the United States, New York Commandery.
Author: Douglas E. Campbell
Publisher:
ISBN: 0359769063
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 422
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Book Description
At last count, more than 80 U.S. submarines recorded some type of actual "friendly fire" incident in which they were involved during their WWII war patrols. From being attacked by Allied bombers, depth-charged by U.S. ships or fired upon by armed Allied merchant ships, submariners quickly came to understand the bitter truth of the maxim: 'The submarine has no friends.' While the majority of submarines and their crew escaped with little more than bruised egos or minor injuries, three submarines and their crews were lost to friendly fire. For the first time in book format, a serious and most comprehensive research effort has gone into capturing all such "friendly fire" incidents involving U.S. submarines during World War II. Compiled through relentless research by the co-authors, their stories of loss and survival by "other than the enemy" is presented within these pages.
Author: Val Scanlon
Publisher: Merriam Press
ISBN: 157638022X
Category : Submarine captains
Languages : en
Pages : 100
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Book Description
Author: Michael Green (Ed)
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 1612001254
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 280
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Book Description
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 AmericaÕs 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.
Author: Michael Sturma
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476642192
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 241
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Book Description
On 12 September 1944, a wolfpack of U.S. submarines attacked the Japanese convoy HI-72 in the South China Sea. Among the ships sunk were two carrying Allied prisoners of war. Men who had already endured the trials of Japanese captivity faced a renewed struggle for survival at sea. This book tells the broader story of the HI-72 convoy through the stories of two survivors: Arthur Bancroft, who was rescued by an American submarine, and Charles "Rowley" Richards, who was rescued by the Japanese. The story of these men represents the thousands of Allied POWs who suffered not only the atrocious conditions of these Japanese hellships, but also the terror of friendly fire from their own side's submarines. For the first time, the personal, political and legal aftermath of these men's experiences is fully detailed. At its heart, this is a story of survival. Charting the survivors' fates from rescue to their attempts at retribution, this book reveals the trauma that continued long after the war was over.
Author: Michael Sturma
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
ISBN: 1612518613
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 249
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Book Description
From unpromising beginnings in March 1942, the Allied submarine base at Fremantle on the west coast of Australia became a vital part of the Allied offensive against Japan. Pushed back from the Philippines and the Netherlands’ East Indies, American submariners, accompanied by a small group of Dutch forces, retreated to Fremantle as a last resort. The location was chosen for its good harbor and the fact that it was outside the range of land-based Japanese aircraft. Unfortunately the base was also far from their patrol areas and supply lines, and it was difficult to reinforce should the enemy attack. Thanks largely to a welcoming civilian population, morale quickly improved. The hospitality and sense of belonging fostered by Western Australians became legendary among Allied submariners and remains central to their wartime memories. Perhaps as a result of such a positive experience, the Allied forces became much more successful in combat. Intertwining social and military history, Fremantle’s Submarines relates how courage, cooperation, and community made Fremantle arguably the most successful military outpost of World War II from the standpoint of troop morale.
