Thomas F. (hardtack) -
This was an interesting book about the submarine service during World War II. While it covered the eight men who survived the sinking of their boat, it followed many of the men---those who survived and those who didn't---from their homes, through their training and their lives after the war.
As a result, we learn about the men who became submariners. While not mentioned in the book, the WW II submarine service had the highest casualties of any branch of the military services, slightly over 20%. I can say, even as a former Marine, it took guts to volunteer to serve on submarines. Remember, you can't bail out of a submarine which has been hit or severely damaged, you usually just died.
The experiences of the men who survived are really only covered in a few final chapters. The rest or the book lays the groundwork for these chapters, even introducing Filipino coastwatchers and American and Filipino guerrillas fighting the Japanese. This is a good aspect of the book. as the Filipino/American guerrilla resistance is one of the great stories of World War II.
The only mistake I saw in the book occurs on page 63. The author states in 1943 the U.S. broke the Japanese code in a system called "Ultra." Actually, this was the name given to the breaking the German military and political codes. The Japanese intelligence gained through code breaking was called "Magic" and the U.S. actually broke the first Japanese codes before the war.
As a result, we learn about the men who became submariners. While not mentioned in the book, the WW II submarine service had the highest casualties of any branch of the military services, slightly over 20%. I can say, even as a former Marine, it took guts to volunteer to serve on submarines. Remember, you can't bail out of a submarine which has been hit or severely damaged, you usually just died.
The experiences of the men who survived are really only covered in a few final chapters. The rest or the book lays the groundwork for these chapters, even introducing Filipino coastwatchers and American and Filipino guerrillas fighting the Japanese. This is a good aspect of the book. as the Filipino/American guerrilla resistance is one of the great stories of World War II.
The only mistake I saw in the book occurs on page 63. The author states in 1943 the U.S. broke the Japanese code in a system called "Ultra." Actually, this was the name given to the breaking the German military and political codes. The Japanese intelligence gained through code breaking was called "Magic" and the U.S. actually broke the first Japanese codes before the war.
