Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #682202 in Books
• Published on: 1949-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 581 pages

Customer Reviews

This book would benefit from a careful revision.
First published in the late 1940s, this book is the basic primer for those interested in the U.S. Navy's submarine war against the Japanese Empire in World War II. Based on war patrol reports, action reports, and other wartime classified information, it nonetheless contains many of the errors of the infamous, and faulted, JANAC Report, (issued by U.S. Army occupation forces in Japan after the conclusion of WWII), a blemish which is difficult to overcome. It is notable that at least three Chiefs of Naval Operations have stated that JANAC is flawed and should be revisited based on present day public information in the files of the National Archives and Records Administration. It is a fine read, but, sadly, it is not the most reliable source available to the serious researcher on U.S. Navy submarine operations in World War II.

Very good history, good reference document
The text is a well written and comprehensive history of WWII submarine activities during the war years. My feeling however, is that the text could well be improved with an update that includes information that has been both discovered and de-classified since the late 1940's.

Some war patrols are covered but coverage lacks comprehensive patrol information that was omitted. Notable is the omission is the probable events that lead to the loss of Wahoo and all hands. This is covered as an epilog in Commander O'Kane's book, WAHOO.

None-the-less, this is a good text and reference source, it is far more than a good read.

The Official (but incomplete) History
This book was written shortly after World War II (1949) at the request of the Navy. The author had great access to official records of the submarine war. The book has the strengths and weaknesses you'd expect from that sort of sponsorship.

First, it is very thorough, and within constraints, very authentic. The author and editors had direct access to the people who'd run submarines against the Japanese. And this is very complete (within constraints, again). Maps, illustrations, and informative tables are included.

But there are those constraints I mentioned. This is the "party line" Navy history of the war. Everyone is a loyal sailor, tried and true, selflessly doing his job for Mom and apple pie. There's little hint of personnel problems, such as the near-mutiny of the officers of the BATFISH, or the political problems which lead to flaws US torpedos, and made it more difficult to identify and fix the problems. Because of wartime secrecy requirements, there's also little or no mention of US efforts to decode Japanese naval traffic. The USS Nautilus is given credit for sinking the carrier Soryu at the Battle of Midway, when it is pretty clear that the submarine contributed little or nothing to the sinking.

Despite my grousing, the book is readable, detailed, and invaluable for understanding the US submarine war. I just recommend that it be supplemented with less biased and more modern books...Clay Blair's SILENT VICTORY would be a good start.