Sink 'Em All by Vice Admiral Charles A. Lockwood, the U.S. Navy commander of the Pacific submarine fleet during World War 2, is the exhaustive and definitive account of submarine warfare between the US and Japanese 1942-45. Lockwood's intricate narrative is the breathless story of every submarine in the US fleet and what they did during the war, their misses, near misses and hits. He takes us into the cramped quarters of mess-halls and control rooms and brings the chief actors in the grueling conflict to life.
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."
Sibert Honor author Deborah Hopkinson paints a vivid portrait of the deadly battles that raged in the Pacific during WWII and the remarkable courage of the US submarine sailors who fought them. Dive! World War II Stories of Sailors & Submarines in the Pacific tells the incredible story of America's little known "war within a war" -- US submarine warfare during World War II. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the US entered World War II in December 1941 with only 44 Naval submarines -- many of them dating from the 1920s. With the Pacific battleship fleet decimated after Pearl Harbor, it was up to the feisty and heroic sailors aboard the US submarines to stop the Japanese invasion across the Pacific. Including breakouts highlighting submarine life and unsung African-American and female war heroes, award-winning author Deborah Hopkinson uses first-person accounts, archival materials, official Naval documents, and photographs to bring the voices and exploits of these brave service members to life.
When first published in 1995, this book was hailed as an absolutely indispensable contribution to the history of the Pacific War. Drawing heavily from Japanese sources and American wartime intercepts of secret Japanese radio messages, a noted American naval historian and a Japanese mariner painstakingly recorded and evaluated a diverse array of material about Japan's submarines in World War II. The study begins with the development of the first Japanese 103-ton Holland-type submergible craft in 1905 and continues through the 1945 surrender of the largest submarine in the world at the time, the 5300-ton I-400 class that carried three airplanes. Submarine weapons, equipment, personnel, and shore support systems are discussed first in the context of Japanese naval preparations for war and later during the war. Both successes and missed opportunities are analyzed in operations ranging from the California coast through the Pacific and Indian Oceans to the coast of German-occupied France. Appendixes include lists of Japanese submarine losses and the biographies of key Japanese submarine officers. Rare illustrations and specifically commissioned operational maps enhance the text.
"The author details the challenges of communal life aboard ship and explains the intense loyalty that bonds crew members for life. Ultimately, Williamson offers a portrait of himself, an inexperienced naval officer who, having come of age in Alabama during the Depression, rose to become the most successful WW II antisubmarine warfare officer in the Pacific."--Jacket.
"When submarines failed to return from a wartime patrol, they were officially listed by the Navy as "overdue and presumed lost." Loved ones were notified by the War Department that their siblings, spouses, and sons were missing in action and presumed lost. During World War II, the crews from fifty-two U.S. submarines were "presumed lost" after being sunk in the Pacific. From these lost submarines, the Japanese only took prisoners of war from the survivors of seven of these boats. Presumed Lost is the compelling story of the final patrols of these seven lost submarines and the long captivity of the survivors." "Author Stephen L. Moore draws on personal interviews with the survivors, as well as diaries, family archives, and POW statements to reveal new details and correct longstanding errors in previously published accounts. Of the 196 sailors taken prisoner, 158 survived the horrors of the POW camps, where torture, starvation, and slave labor were common. This is the most complete and accurate record of their captivity experiences ever compiled." --Book Jacket.
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.
Japanese Anti-Submarine aircraft are not well known, and not very well covered in the literature. This book is the first in English on this subject. Details are provided of a wide selection of historic machines and fascinating color schemes, as well as full technical details. Described aircraft: * Aichi E13A Reisu (Jake) * Aichi H9A * Kawanishi E7K (Alf) * Kawanishi H6K (Mavis/Tillie) * Kawanishi H8K (Emilly) * Mitsubishi G3M (Nell) * Mitsubishi G4M (Betty) * Nakajima B5N (Kate) * Nakajima B6N Tenzan (Jill) * Kyushu Q1W Tokai (Lorna) * Q1W1-K Tokai Ren * Mitsubishi Q2M Taiyo * Kyushu K11W Shiragiku * Kyushu Q3W Nankai * Kayaba Ka-Go * Kokusai Ki-76 (Stella) * Kobeseiko Te-Go * Mitsubishi Ki-51 (Sonia) * Nakajima Ki-49 Donryu (Helen) * Tachikawa Ki-36 (Ida) * Tachikawa Ki-54 (Hickory)
