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| The Depths of Courage: American Submariners at War with Japan, 1941-1945 | 
 enlarge | Authors: Flint Whitlock, Ron Smith
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Category: Book
List Price: $17.00
Buy New: $9.65
You Save: $7.35 (43%)
New (27) Used (12) from $9.65
Avg. Customer Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 267406
Media: Paperback
Edition: Reprint
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 448
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6 x 1.1
ISBN: 0425223701
Dewey Decimal Number: 359
EAN: 9780425223703
ASIN: 0425223701
Publication Date: November 4, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
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Product Description
Chosen by WWII History magazine as one of the Best Books of the Year.
In the dark days after Pearl Harbor, the small, illequipped arm of the Navy known as Submarine Force would stand between the shattered U.S. Pacific Fleet and the might of the Japanese Navy. Unfortunately, the spirit and courage of the Submarine Force is being forgotten as the veterans of that force pass into history.
To preserve their heroic tales of war beneath the sea, critically acclaimed author and military historian Flint Whitlock, in collaboration with decorated World War II submarine veteran Ron Smith, set out on a journey of more than two years to interview submariners and to record their accounts before the memories of their endeavors are lost forever. These are their stories.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
 Excellent Read November 29, 2008
There are some wonderful and very detailed specialized histories of the submarine campaigns of WW II, notably by Clay Blair. This book is a little different. First, the authors assume (wisely) that people who want an exhaustive history can consult one of the specialized books or the copious information available on the internet. Second, the authors assume (again wisely) that today's general reader may not know much more about the overall course of the Pacific War than the names of a few famous battles like Iwo Jima. Thirdly, one of the authors, Ron Smith, is a surviving WW II submariner who saw considerable combat.
This books is thus an interesting blend. You get a general overview of the Pacific War, including naval and amphibious operations as well as the submarine war. You get Smith's personal narrative, which is fascinating and frank. And you also get a good overall view of the Pacific submarine campaign, which even casual students of the war soon realize was very important.
Smith has a particular talent for describing the experience of a submariner -- not only life aboard the ships and in combat, but also training, life on the various bases he was stationed at, and how the war affected his personal life and those of his friends.
Perhaps because he's aware of how distant the world of the 1940s is now, Smith tells you about the details of life on the boats and on liberty. He doesn't just tell you he spent a few weeks at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, he describes what it was like to arrive there still stinking and rumpled from a submarine and tells you what he and his fellow submariners did once they showered and shaved (beer, women, and sunbathing figured heavily). The book gives you an excellent sense of what it was like to be caught up in such a huge effort: the struggles, the absurdity, the heroism, tedium, hard work, and sheer randomness of life in the Navy. And also, strangely, the fun and humor and camaraderie. And the beer and women.
The Depths of Courage isn't likely to make you wish you'd been there, but more than any book I've read on the submarine war in the Pacific, it gave me a sense of what it was like.
The War Beneath the Waves October 14, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December, 1941, the Americans had very little left to fight back with. The Pacific fleet's battleships lay in the mud, and, fortunately, the American carriers escaped the attack. But, one force was left undamaged: the American submarine force. Shortly after the attack, the order was given for the subs to conduct "unrestricted warfare" on Japanese shipping. So, the few boats based at Pearl Harbor plus the ones of the Asiatic fleet went off in search of the enemy. Facing incredible odds, these few submarines managed to take the war to the enemy.
Over the course of the Pacific war, American sub commanders were forced to deal with faulty torpedoes which either failed to explode, or exploded prematurely. Many times, torpedoes would strike enemy ships without exploding, thus forcing the sub to dive and evade the now alerted enemy. To make matters worse, the Bureau of Ordnance refused to admit that there was a problem with the torpedoes. But, thanks to the persistence of Admiral Charles Lockwood, the torpedo problem was finally solved, and Japanese shipping began to pay the price.
In this book, authors Flint Whitlock and Ron Smith re-live much of the American submariners' war with the Japanese. Smith himself served on the USS Seal, and he provides many personal insights into the life of an American submariner. Many of the more recognizable names in submarine warfare, including "Mush" Morton and Dick O'Kane, are discussed in this book. Morton's USS Wahoo and O'Kane's USS Tang became legendary in the American submarine force. Wahoo and Tang sunk dozens of enemy ships and rescued many downed American aviators, and the authors devote several chapters of the book to the heroics of these two commanders.
This is a very good book. Smith describes his own life in the submarine force, from his enlistment until the end of the war. All major battles of the Pacific war are covered, and the authors describe the submarine actions involved in each battle.
I highly recommend this book. For anyone interested in a brief overview of the submarine war with Japan, this book would be a good one to start with.
 Sheds light on many things... September 13, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Ron Smith was my grandfather. His stories in both this book and Torpedoman are as true as can be. From a kid until a full grown adult, I can remember him recounting his days in the submarine service. He was so proud of his service that his F-150 even had the submarine insignia on both sides. You will find no truer stories than The Depths of Courage or Torpedoman. The tales he retold to us were brutally honest at times, but were always the truth. My grandpa was passionate about his country, his service, and his family. I believe this is expressed in both of his books.
Unfortunately, he passed away last night (9/12/08), but his memories remain in the pages he's written and the stories he has told.
Mixed results at best.... May 23, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I was eager to see how this book portrayed the US submarine effort in the Pacific, and how it would stack up against what has to be the Gold Standard, Clay Blair's "Silent Victory". One of the authors, Ron Smith, was himself a submariner during WWII, and Flint Whitlock is an experienced author. Basically, I wanted to like this book, but in my opinion, it just came up short.
The book takes an interesting tack; interspersed with descriptions of the submarine actions during the course of the war, the authors also describe highlights of the Pacific campaign itself. Intertwined with the historical descriptions, we also follow Ron Smith as he enters the Navy, and his somewhat circuitous route to submarine school, via aerial torpedo training. The author ends up aboard one of the older submarines, the USS Seal, one of the mid-1930's designs on the road to the definitive fleet submarine design, epitomized in Gato. We get a parallel narrative which details the problems with torpedoes, and covers many of the early key exploits and losses (such as Howard Gilmore and Mush Morton's Wahoo). If you have never read a history of WWII US submarine action, these will be new to you. However, for those familiar with the historical record from reading "Silent Victory" or a number of other prior histories, these will be rehashes. Nothing new added to these already well know tales. The stories that revolve around Smith himself are certainly very interesting and make for worthwhile reading, Smith is assigned to the base torpedo shop at Pearl in 1943 and then transferred stateside as an instructor. He more or less exits the story at that point, making minor appearances later in the book.
The story continues, with the alternating submarine warfare and the Pacific "island hopping" campaign. Surface fleet battles are described, along with submarine roles in these engagements. In terms of the personal focus, the latter part of the book relates the tragic story of Richard O'Kane's Tang. Tang was sunk off the Chinese coast when, in a surface attack, one of her torpedoes made a circular run and struck the stern of the submarine, rapidly sinking it. This is told with the spotlight on Clay Decker, one of the crew members who escaped from Tang, and imprisoned in Japanese POW camps along with a handful of other crew members (including O'Kane) who escaped Tang. Again, this makes a very good human interest story, and the suffering they experienced at the hands of their captors is truly disturbing. This part of the story is interspersed with later war history, such as the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the exploits of Gene Fluckey in Barb, and George Street's action with Tirante.
And speaking of history, several "facts" presented in the book are inaccurate. Submarines were never painted in a mottled camouflage pattern of "blue and gray splotches". Barb was not greeted at the pier by Nimitz, MacArthur and Roosevelt after her 11th war patrol (for which Fluckey received the Medal of Honor). Fluckey met the President and the two commanders privately after the 9th patrol. Also, afterwards he was not making his 12th patrol as captain of Barb, it was his fifth. Barb had gone out under other captains in earlier patrols. Finally, Admiral Halsey did not die in Pasadena, California, but rather on Fisher's Island, off the coast of Connecticut. If you're going to write history, check your facts!
In the end, I think the authors attempted to take on too much in a 386 page book. The entire scope of the Pacific War, the US submarine force role, and two very interesting human stories is too much to do more than sketch out in a book that long. While I would not discourage anyone from reading the book, I don't feel particularly strong about it either. It wouldn't be the first book I would recommend to someone interested in WWII submarine history.
Well written, always interesting... a real page turner! January 13, 2008
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
I just finished reading this book and I have to say, it's one of the best I have run across in a long while. This book now only talks about the experience of Ron Smith, it also does a good job illustrating the struggles America faced in War World II. It's starts in Pearl and ends with the official surrender of Japan and details the battles fought, along with all the important events that happened elsewhere in the war.
The book also has many illustration, photos and maps that are placed in pages where they relate, not in the middle of the book, like most other books are done.
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